chris fawcett

Very interested, Ron. It does depend a lot on upcoming work, but please keep me informed about the trip. Chris

Good tip, Peter, thanks. Salomon makes great in-line skating kneepads that are better designed than the usual ones. They are less clunky and restrictive, and you really can forget that you are wearing them. They make different protection levels too. here's a review of one set: http://inlineplanet.com/Articles/areviewofsalomon.html Fly safe! Chris

Hi Leigh, I was checking out monitors at the IBC, and decided that until a good multi-format HD monitor comes along, I'll manage fine with the one supplied with the Archer. It is 700 NITs, and really is daylight visible. It stands up well in a direct comparison alongside more expensive monitors. I used the older 500 NIT version to sucessfully judge exposure in direct 35 degree latitude summer sunlight. It's $1,895, or $2,895 with frameline generator. Good Luck! Chris

Hi Matt, I'm fine, thanks.and still awaiting your impending visit! If I could find a pc5 for a couple of hundred, I'd snap it up. Let me know how you get on with the Achos. I've heard it's a bit fiddly, not that a mini dv would be any less so. Yours, in confusion, Chris

Dear Shining Ones, I have been to the brink of buying one of these gizmos several times over the last year, but taking all your comments on board, I shyed away at the last minute. I decided instead to buy one of the mini dvs many of you seem to favour, the Sony PC5, only to find it discontinued. Any suggestions? Wishing you all a peaceful season, Chris

Congratulations Howard! Here's to your continued success. Chris

Don't worry, Matt. I doubt you did yourself any lasting harm. The human body has a huge amount of redundancy built into it. If you use it right. The position you describe is going to be tiring, whatever. To reduce the stain on your spine, the next time (for there will be a next time, whatever you promise yourself), you should be careful not to arch your back, especially your lower back like the arch of a bridge. This loads the disks and inhibits the back muscles from supporting your vertebrae. Think of your back instead as more like a rope suspension bridge, and let it 'hang' between your hips and your shoulders, so as you dip, your bum sticks out. Think of the posture of a gorilla displaying, if that helps. if you do it right, you will feel tremendous strain in the muscles of the lower back that run like 2 cords along your spine, and in the muscles in the backs of your thighs, but hey, they're only muscles, right? Avoiding loading those postural muscles is to transfer the weight into bony stuctures that are not evolved for the task. Fly Safe, Chris

Priceless tip, Rob. I'm going to buy some now. Thanks!

Hi Ben, Hi Jay, Long time indeed. I hope you are keeping well. And yes, Jerry and I have had various discussions on this subject. Before coming to camera work, I slipped a lumbar disc and spent 10 months horizontal. I have consequently devoted some time to figuring out whether steadicam is bad for the back, and have concluded to my own satisfaction that it is not?providing that the back is used well. Some fairly recent research shows that when properly used, the back auto erects to the extent that ?when the soft tissues around the spine are under appropriate tension, they can ?lift? each vertebra off the one below it.? [Robbie, David L 1977 Tensional Forces in the Human Body (Orthopaedic Review)] The implication is that when the back is not used well, it functions like ?a stack of blocks,? and can fail in the same manner. In the still-unfinished Some Thoughts on Steadicam Posture, on the Steadicam website, I go into more detail, and generalise 3 main ways in which we can misuse ourselves while wearing a steadicam. The second of these involves pushing the hips forwards while throwing the shoulders back to counter the weight of the rig cantilevered out front. Apart from being an inefficient counterbalance, because the centre of gravity of the body is just above the hips, this posture disables the muscle groups that auto erect the spinal column. My belief is that operators adopting it will suffer back problems. I have looked at photos of 14 operators using rigid (back-mount) vests, and 12 of them appear to adopt this posture. (A study of a sample of over 100 operators in flexible (front-mount) vests showed a rate of adoption of this posture of about 30%, almost invariably among young operators. Older operators, by experience, or by natural selection, seem to have the best operating postures of all.) It might be coincidence, or it might have a cause. It could be that operators adopting this posture find considerable relief in a vest that directs the weight away from the back and into the hips. It could be that the vest itself encourages the posture. (I?d love to see before and after photos from rigid vest users, if anyone would oblige.) On the four occasions I tried a rigid vest, the only way I could stop the front section digging into the tops of my thigh bones, and the vertical back spar burying into the spine between my shoulder blades, was to push my hips forward thus opening the area between hips and legs, and throw my shoulders back such as to pivot the vest on my sacrum. In looking again at photos of rigid vest wearers, I notice that the more ?well-padded? the operator, the better he or she wears the vest. Skinny ones, like myself, seem to struggle with it. This makes some kind of sense to me. Rather than working like a collection of columns and levers wherein forces act locally, the human body resembles more a tensegrity structure (such as a geodesic dome), within which forces are distributed by interconnecting webs of tissue. (A good example of this is the shoulder. The bulk of the weight supported by the arm is not transferred into the body by means of a bony joint, but via the shoulder blade, which floats within the trapezius muscle of the back.) A ?well padded? operator in a rigid vest would be transferring load into underlying tissue, thus distributing it, whereas a skinny one would be inserting it locally. A flexible vest tends, by its nature, to distribute load more globally. I am aware that a tailor-made rigid vest might be supremely more comfortable, but I suspect that given the lightness of my personal padding, any rigid structure encroaching on it will encounter bone, and cause me to adopt a posture I am wary of. It might be worth the experiment, but as it is, I am very happy in a flexible vest. Whatever way I transmit the weight to my body, I ultimately have to carry it anyway, and since the weight of the vest does not contribute to the inertia of the rig, I?d rather wear a lightweight, low-profile vest, and teach my body to react well to the forces imposed upon it. This is all guesswork, of course, and nobody should read any of the above as an endorsement of one product over another. Musing over photos is no substitute for an experienced operator deciding what works best for him or her. Above all, fly safe, Chris

I far prefer a front mount 'soft' vest. If I'd liked the rear mount vest, I'd have bought one at any cost. Chris

These North Face Duffels are great: http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencm...e=EU&model=AAW1

Well done Lars, I also love that rig. Don't forget the workshop, and good luck!

Mmm, Glad I didn't buy that Archos. Good work: it looks just the job. Chris

Have a great day, Mikko, wherever you are. Chris

Check this out: http://www.ulik.com/handsfree/ under 'Steadicam' you'll find a link to a video. Chris

Glad to be of help, Joe. I'll try fitting bushings to the lower section of my arm, to see how it responds, and I'll post if it works. Where exactly did you experience the problem? I've inspected my arm, and all is well after nearly a year of use. Chris

I ask only this: Not on a full stomach. Maybe?

Gus! Suenan las dos un poco raro. Qual es el contexto? Di me lo en castillano, y quizas te lo puedo traducir mejor. Chris

Dear Matt, Congratulations! I took a Hostile Environments Training Course with these guys a few years ago. It comes in very useful if you intend to work a lot in difficult countries. They teach you how best to respond to extreme situations, so when they happen, you don't have to try to work out what to do from first principles. It can lower your insurance premiums too. http://www.centurion-riskservices.co.uk/ For freelancers, there is funding available to take the course: http://www.rorypecktrust.org/ Contact me if you need any more details. Good Luck! Chris

Here's a thought. Why not put the bronze bushings in the lower section where the bearings failed? They will have the same damping effect, and are bullet proof. Harder to fit there, though; but if you have to replace the bearings anyway, it might be worth swapping them around. Spooky: Mikko just emailed me with the same plan. Actually, it was probably his idea in the first place. I seem to remember stealing it off someone.

Joe, I assume that the bearings are the same size all over the arm. They look the same, but I haven't measured them to your impressive level of accuracy. You know how to dismantle the arm, I suppose. If not, please take advice. Perhaps someone on the forum has practical experience. Failing that, I know in theory, but as Chuck Reid said: "In theory there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is." No, like Matt's, my arm has never had a problem. It feels, if anything, better than the day I bought it. These bearings are the ones I replaced in the bronze bushing revision. Call me this morning on +316 2391 8492 or text me your address. Priority post should reach you by tomorrow or, at worst, Monday. Chris

Where are you based, Joe? I can put a couple of my own spares in the post (or Fedex?) tomorrow morning, Amsterdam time, if it's a big rush. Chris

Don't blink, it just happened: http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500594.html A hard disk on-board recorder with wi-fi email and browser?

Gefeliciteerd jongen!