Richard James Lewis

Update: I've sent Tom a few emails over the past couple of weeks and just haven't heard anything at all, which I have thought a bit strange. Any suggestions? Rick.

Hi Charles. Initial quotes made it just too expensive to have made here and sold at anything near an acceptable price. For a project that would make me no money, it's just taken a back seat. I'll give Tom at Cinewidgets a shout, and see if he's interested in coming to some kind of arrangement. I'll let you know. Rick.

Hot!

Yeah and I'll chuck in a free AR too! Actually, that's just silly, nobody would do that... R

Don't even get me started...

Hello everyone, I have been listening and I've been talking with my guy about various possibilities and working out a sensible price. I've had a few people contact me privately too, and the numbers are going up. If anyone else might be interested, now is the time pipe up while I'm trying to cost this out. I shan't be really making anything on these things especially in the quantities (probably 10) so far that im looking at. So consider it for the greater good. I was thinking of putting it together as a kit: 2 x 7" 19mm bars, 2 x 7" 15mm solid bars, 2 x 1.3/4" 15mm solid bars, 1 x bridge space plate. With this version the bars that go into the plate would make it flush to the front of the dovetail, I've found the added length not to be of use really during the last month I've had this working on jobs. I'd like to hear opinions tho. I’ve added a couple of pictures of various solutions to issues. Production matte box, ring light, diopter etc. Rick.

Better late than never ehh!? 100mm 2.54kg 75mm 2.32kg 50mm 2.2kg 40mm 2.24kg 32mm 3.2kg 25mm 4.3kg The 25mm and the 32mm will need lens support. Best. R

Hey Charles, yeah this is just for the XCS plates, and plays off the fact you can easily mount and slide bars into it. I took some pictures of the bracket in action. The first shows the bracket set up for Steadicam use. The second shows it combined with the cat griller bracket in full production configuration. You will notice you can mount FF3 / 4 or equivalent and all the usual bits, its not brain surgery, you can see for yourselves. Like I said, I’ve had quite a few questions regarding these brackets. We could do a run of them, I’m just getting prices. It's also possible to do the bracket with 15mm bars if you are interested. The final brackets would be hard anodised, a little prettier, and the rods would be precision ground. If people could please let me know if they are interested at all. Best, Rick.

Hey Jamie. With the socket screws tight, there is no real chance of them rotating. I could look into a pin, but I don't think it’s really necessary. The 15mm rods are a set length at about 75mm and they slide into the holes on the plate. In the picture you see they are fully inward, they then can extend out as you pull them from the plate around 1.5" I guess. You could have the rods shorter, but you would sacrifice the potential reach of the 19mm bars which are currently 7" long. You could always have two sets of bars, one short and one longer, they would only take a matter of seconds to unscrew and re-assemble. How it's set up now seems to cover a good range for various lenses. With everything nipped up tight, it’s all very solid so I wouldn’t worry in that respect. The 19mm bars are aluminium tho, so obviously not as strong as steel, but this bracket is designed to be partially braced by the lens support bracket which would totally eliminate any slight ability to bend the bars outward or inward. You would only use this bracket in such a configuration anyway. I’m going to try and get a picture of the bracket in use in the next day or so. Any other questions welcomed. I’ve had a few people off forum ask about this, might be worth getting some prices and doing a run if anyone is interested. Rick.

I discussed a problem with "chattering" with Master Primes, and thought it was only when the motor was in contact with the lens, but a while back I experienced this off the lens, with one of the rollers at its extreme position, and the motor went off on one too.. Rick.

I thought I'd share this. It's a bracket I designed and had made up for my XCS plates. I've had a few anamorphic jobs recently where it has been necessary to support the lens. It allows you to use a 19mm lens support bracket, and attach it directly to the dovetail. This setup saves you having to use a bridge plate, and base plate. I know Baer-Bel do something similar, but I don't have their plates. The bracket allows for the bars to be raised up and down, and side to side, compensating for where you have placed the plate in relation to the camera. Let me know what you think. Rick

Work on your gimbal grip control. It's advantageous to have a friction free gimbal, that's what we all aim for... It could be that you are flying cameras that are too light, this in conjunction with having a wider gimbal grip diameter could make things more twitchy if you don’t watch your control. It puzzles me that you have come back from a workshop thinking that a stiffer pan bearing is desirable. Best, Rick. Beaten to it by Jerry...

A mate of mine used their plates successfully for years with his Master Series... Perhaps it's something you need to specify when ordering... Wouldn't have suggested it if they didn't work ;) Best, Rick. Hey Rick, thanks, but unfortunately the baer-bel doesnt work, the side has a different angle. :( thanks alot though, Peter

http://www.baer-bel.de/ possibly. Rick.

I know Jim has in the past had some snap on marking rings and a little mod to the BFD. I spoke to him a while back, and was told that there wouldn't be any available again for the immediate future. Every focus puller I know hates the marking strips with a passion. Trying to get them on and catch those little tabs while in a rush etc. Not practical at all. I just hope Jim gets those discs back in stock soonish. Rick.

1 = + 24v 2 = GND Both power connectors. rick. quote name='Nitin Rao' date='Jun 30 2009, 04:33 PM' post='46767'] Hello could some one please help me out with the connections to the Panavision cameras. Need to know the Pin configuration for the power connections and also the camera On/Off for remote focus. Thanks Nitin Email. getagrip07@gmail.com

Well like I said, PAG chargers will not top up lithium batteries when on the charger, so you can keep them on the charger, or gaffer tape them to your face, glue them to the ceiling etc... Won't make a difference... Don’t keep them fully charged tho… Rick. Hitron 50's are Ni-MH !

My info come from having a long conversation with one PAGs head engineers while he was doing a software upgrade on my set of new L95's That's right, a SOFTWARE upgrade on a battery. There is even a "hidden" menu system which will give you an exact percentage battery life, and will also tell you how many cycles your batteries have had. They also have a new high current battery coming out soon too... Rick.

Just a quick note on Lithium batteries. It's not good to keep a lithium battery at full charge, so best not to keep them on the charger. PAG chargers from what I have been told will not continue to top up lithiums if kept on the charger anyway. If you are not using your lithium batteries then keep them at about 40% although they will slowly discharge over time. R

We can't actually see from your picture if the pins have been paired, we can only see pins 5 and 6 bare, which should be the case anyway... Rick.

They need to be twinned onto both pins. The attachment also clearly states this. I'd change if for you if you were local, but best call Marell. Worst case, just power it off a brick. I've not even used my RED cable yet... Rick.

Yeah, a rep from their legal department asking you to stay more than 100m away from the Lemo UK offices and its staff at all times... Lower minimum dosn't bother me, I order bags and bags of those things. I had a home visit from a Lemo rep the other day, do you get that!?! :P ...And I had a personal tour of the factory.

Well I think Silla loves me more than Mel loves you, as I get a lower minimum ;) Rick.

10-32 TPI for the Panavision plate. R

Thanks Eric, but my real question is in the need to re align these gimbals. Apart from a big knock, why would these gimbals be going off axis? Is this something that happens to all flavours of gimbal over time? Part of the wear and tear of things? I can't see it being down to shimming, if it's solid, which these gimbals are... I reiterate, my gimbal isn’t shimmed to high heaven anyway! Any V2 users with any input? Cheers, Rick.