Tom Wills

A few thoughts on cables, especially for starting out... I'd add to your list a 4 pin XLR. That's one connector I've seen used all over - from the D Box on an Alexa Mini to the F55 to every broadcast camera ever made seemingly. In addition, it's something that most people are familiar enough with that if you're in a tight pinch, you can often get a cable from 4 pin XLR to whatever it is you need to power, rather than having to order in the special LEMO for your sled. I think you're on the right track with P Tap, and I'd add a P Tap extension cable (Male to Female). For 99% of my operating at this point, the only cables I use are the camera cable (usually the Mini/Amira, but occasionally the Red or Alexa), the cable for my Wave, and the P Tap. It's so nice to be able to give the assistants all the power they need in a plug they're used to, without any hacked workarounds. My thought on buying specific camera power cables is (and this is how I worked for the first 5 or so years of my career) buy what you need, and only what you need. Cables are incredibly expensive, and let's face it, most cameras nowadays are more than comfortable with a battery on the back. The only cameras I've found where not having a power cable is a death sentence are the Alexa 65, and 35mm film cameras. Pretty much anything else - from Alexas, to Reds, to Minis, to Amiras, to F55s, can be flown with a battery on the back. It is much more elegant to be able to power the camera off of the Steadicam, but it does thrash your batteries (I'm sending in my third dead battery in 2 years to be rebuilt), and it's a lot of money that can be spent elsewhere in places where it could impact your comfort or allow you to pull a better job, both of which are far more critical. So, buy the cables you need. Assess your market and figure out what that is. In my market, it's 2 of the 24V ARRI Alexa/35mm cables, 2 4 pin XLRs, and then whatever else I want to add. What I carry at this point is: - Alexa/ARRI 35mm 24V - Amira/Mini 12v - Red Weapon/Epic 12v - 4 Pin XLR 12V - Sony FS7 - Panavision XL2 24V (only used once, sadly) - 3 Pin XLR 24V (built for a special rig that I've never seen again)

The Walter Klassen wheels work exceptionally well with the MoVI and MoVI Pro.

This was my primary transmitter setup for several years, but since I am finding I no longer need it on the jobs I am on, it’s going up for sale. It works just as any Teradek system of this kind does, and apart from the shorter range (compared to one of the newer and much more expensive systems), it works just fine. Kit Includes: 1 Bolt Pro SDI transmitter 2 Bolt Pro SDI receivers 2 Bolt AC adapters 4 P Tap to 2 pin LEMO cables (some short, some long) Bag of Misc. mounting hardware (not pictured) Hard plastic case (not pictured, originally from an Atomos Samurait kit) Asking $1800 - you won’t find another kit with this many cables for this price. Expecting this to go fast. Email me if you're interested.

This was a monitor I picked up for use as a director’s monitor, and it’s only been used on 4 jobs. Comes in a Wooden Camera monitor cage with an Anton Bauer plate on the back, ready to work for ACs, Directors, or DPs. Wooden Camera cage/handles cost me $300 last year, and have only been used twice. Almost brand new. The monitor is lightly used, and in good shape. Asking $700 for the kit. This is currently on my gear on a job right now, and will ship once the job’s over (next week). Email me to reserve it (serious buyers only), and you can pay for it when it’s ready to ship.

I'm making a batch of 3D printed ones. Email me if you're interested and I'll send some photos. Willsvideo@gmail.com.

I have a machine shop, and made a bushing for the gimbal handle, as I already had a full set of PRO arm posts I wanted to continue using. If you're thinking of doing the same, give me an email at willsvideo@gmail.com. I can probably help you out.

Absolutely - you simply need an arm post sized for the M-1 sled, or a bushing in the gimbal handle to reduce the .740" arm post hole down to 5/8". I've been flying the M-1 on my PRO arm for a few months, and I love the way it works.

Sent you a PM.

Marco, who have you been trying to contact? Your dealer in Europe, or Tiffen Steadicam in the US?

Low mode cage sold!

PRO Monitor spud and 15mm Rods are sold! All the rest is still available! Shoot me an email at willsvideo@gmail.com for more information or to make an offer!

This Analog Bartech kit is in beautiful condition - only lightly used, even though it has an earlier (400s) serial number. One owner for its life, and has mostly been used for focus on video lenses with a G-Zoom or other controller. It comes with several extra spare gears for any TV or film lens, and plenty of extras. If you need a special cable made up for powering this off of your rig, let me know, and I can make it for you for an additional amount. Asking $3000 OBO (was $5935 new!) Includes: - BFD Handset - BFD Receiver - M-One Motor - 15mm, 5/8”, and 1/2” bushings for M-One - 0.4, 0.5 (2), 0.6 (2), 0.8 (one normal, one wide), and 48p gears for M-One - Thumbwheel Hardwire Focus Control - Cinewidgets Dual BFD Mount (bolts easily onto PRO sleds and possibly many others) - “DATA” Cable for hardwiring BFD handset to receiver (#6785) - 4 pin XLR Power Cable (#3000) - 3 pin LEMO Power Cable (for Tiffen or PRO Cine-Live rigs) (#3015) - Fujinon/Nikon video lens Run/Stop Cable (#6795) - Fujinon/Canon video lens Run/Stop Cable (#6791) - 2 Motor Cables (#6112) - Pelican 1120 for M-One Motor & AKS - Hard case for BFD & AKS

Helping a friend clear out some gear he hasn’t been using. There will be more gear coming soon, so stay posted! Open to reasonable offers on all items. Pictures are available here: http://imgur.com/a/PLsGg In this batch: - Baer-Bel “Sushi Server” Low Mode Cage - New $448, Asking $250 While most of us fly low mode upside down nowadays, this is one of those tools that could get you out of a bind if needed! Also useful as a starting point for a weight cage, or for adding accessories above a DSLR or smaller camera. (I can help you set it up for this). Includes 4 15mm rods - 2 long, and 2 short, and hardware. - 15mm Rods and Dogbones - $50 for 4 rods, $40 each for Dogbones Very strong rods from Tom Gleason, and 2 Baer-Bel Dogbones, ready to get a motor wherever it needs to go on a camera. - PRO Monitor Spud - $40 - PRO 4 Pin PWR/VID LEMO to Modulus Transmitter Hirose - $25 - Steadicam 4 pin Power/Video Hirose to Modulus cable - $20 (also compatible with PRO Cine/Live) - Steadicam 4 pin Power/Video Hirose to Canatrans Cables (2 available) - $20 each (also compatible with PRO Cine/Live) -XCS 8 pin to 8 pin LEMO monitor cable - $100 Compatible with any 8 pin monitor - Cinetronic, Boland, TB-6, PRO Greenscreen, for PRO or XCS rigs

FYI, while the roll control is limited to around 25 degrees off of level when controlled via a knob or the zoom rocker, by putting the controller into Mimic mode, but turning Pan and Tilt scaling down to 0, you can still use remote wheels (or the joystick) to control pan and tilt, but you can now roll the MoVI Controller up to 90 degrees - or potentially even more! We've put the MoVI Controller on a fluid head (at 90 degrees to its usual orientation) to allow for smooth rolls. In this configuration, one major caveat is that you must roll the MoVI Ring along with the camera's roll. If the MoVI goes beyond the 25 degrees or so off angle from the ring's orientation, the MoVI will react poorly, as it begins to get into gimbal lock. With some coordination and a set of headsets, it's totally workable, however.

I just spent my first normal day on set with the Wave, rented from my good friend Larry McConkey. It was quite the experience, and it confirmed my feelings, and made me all the more glad I have one on order. First of all, a few things that are of note. Flipping to low mode now has an added step. You must, and I mean must lock the Wave before you flip, or you will be forced to reboot it (and wait for it to re-calibrate - thankfully a very quick process). On my show, especially on the promo unit, we move very, very quickly, and often flip to low mode without even docking. This is a small step, but forgetting to lock the Wave a few times today did slow me down by a few seconds. Cable management is a big deal. A coiled BNC which I've taken to using for most of my video feeds into the sled ended up pulling on the Wave, and while it didn't seem to have any significant adverse side effects, I did have to disconnect the cable to get the balance of the Wave correct. The motor cable from the MDR mounted on my sled was also in the way, and took a bit of dressing to make neat, but still flexible for the full range of motion. Also important - you still do need to keep the sled pretty darn level! While some may view this as a tool to save an operator with poor horizon control, the Wave will only add to a poor operator's shots one of the banes of the gimbal world's existence - lateral translation. While the horizon may be level, there is a significant amount of side-to-side shifting if the sled's level isn't consistent. As for balance, after some testing with Larry, we found it was of incredible importance to have the top/bottom CG of the camera correct. A bottom heavy camera means that if the sled gets even slightly off level, it will begin to fall in that direction. Very disconcerting! Some of the vertical balancing can be done via proper placement of motors, but I've added a kit of small screw-on weights (scavenged from a small Steadicam Solo), which can be screwed onto the top cheese plate of the camera to immediately add some top weight. From our testing, a Mini (which is the camera that makes the most sense to use the Wave with, I think) will require additional top weight in most configurations, as will an Amira with a zoom. Further testing may reveal a better solution, but for now, the weight is useful, and little seems to be needed. Side to side balance appears to be something you can get close, but I'm guessing I will need to be a bit more hands-on with my ACs to make sure that the camera isn't loaded asymmetrically - all the motors on one side, for example. Operating with the Wave, as others have said, was a breeze. Most of the time, I forgot it existed, apart from a few times banging it into my hip in low mode. A quick twist of the fine adjustment knob allowed me to tweak to the verticals in the studio we were in, and I was ready to shoot. I ended up having to do a few shots with the rig directly in front of me, backpedaling down a hallway - a position I sometimes find myself stuck in because of the width of my harness (and my shoulders). I can't stress enough how amazing it was to be able to concentrate on framing. What would have been a challenging shot - rounding several corners with bad sightlines to the monitor - was suddenly doable. The footage looked beautiful, and because I was able to let my muscle memory keep the sled upright, rather than chasing the bubble (and splitting my attention to watch the level), I was able to devote more attention to the shot. I also experimented on one of our shots with taking the sled deliberately out of level, to push the camera over obstacles. Leveling the sled back out (if done correctly) lets the camera perform a beautifully slow slide. Overall, I'm incredibly impressed. It doesn't seem to contain the gremlins I was expecting from some of the early prototypes and reviews (no off horizons after whip pans or going around corners, very minimal drift over the course of a shooting day, etc...). I can't wait for mine to arrive, and I certainly wish I didn't have to give this one back!

Have you lowered the socket block to be as low as it can be - on the same level of the waistband? (see the bottom of page 7 of the manual here: http://www.tiffen.com/userimages2/Steadicam/LIT-815780.pdf ) If not, that seems like an easy solution.

Hugo, Does your Pro 1 post have the threaded connectors top and bottom, and LEMO connectors on both sides? If so, it is absolutely possible to remove the connector with a snap-ring removal tool, and a few minutes of time. Simply remove the radial screws (either 6 or 9, depending on the post type) around the top and bottom of the post and slide out the threaded ends. Each threaded end has a retaining ring inside of it (it's a different color than the aluminum, usually silver or gold) with 2 holes in it. See picture below for what it looks like. Use a set of retaining ring pliers or snap ring pliers (different names for the same tool - also see pictures below) to remove it. Upon removing one, the cable will slide through the threaded end piece. Do the same for the other side, and the cable will be free. Snap ring pliers or retaining ring pliers should be available from any big-box hardware store (Home Depot or Lowes or the like), or can be ordered on Amazon. They're a quite useful tool for PRO rigs, as PRO uses snap rings throughout their rig. If you have any issue with following these steps, let me know, and I'll see if I can find time to take apart my sled and take some pictures of the parts for you.

Looking for a male socket block, either Tiffen or PRO. Needs to be the tools-kind, not the tools-free version. It can be well-used, just going to be a backup for my main block. Email me if you have one. willsvideo@gmail.com

This is what I use. Sadly no good pictures of it in use, but I'll take one of it loaded tonight. Holds 2 batteries, low mode brackets, arm posts, bongo ties, Velcro, allen wrenches, and screwdrivers. I hang it off of a strap wrapped around my stand, and it nestles nicely between 2 stand legs. It's got hard sides, so it holds up pretty well. I did add some Velcro so the top closes fully, which adds some security. https://m.lowes.com/pd/AWP-Polyester-Tool-Bag/50149590

Here's the best one I've ever seen. Wonderful video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTIzOZJemc0

Send me an email. willsvideo@gmail.com

Hi Janice, I have a full HU1, in decent shape, but without the transmitter. If you want it, let me know. willsvideo@gmail.com

Hi Zac, I remember early on in my operating career when I had a Merlin Arm and Vest, I asked Peter Abraham the same question. I believe he had in fact tried a similar thing, just to get the lightest vest possible. The plastic top portion of the Merlin vest is not rated for heavy loads, and can (and will) snap if overloaded. I believe some newer vests may have a metal top that is stronger, but I am not sure how that is rated weight-wise. Best bet is to fix the chest clip. Even if it is quite broken, you can generally hold webbing quick release clips like that together with zip ties in a pinch, which should be enough to get you through until you can get a new clip with a lightweight rig like yours. Also look at local fabric stores for quick release clips - you may be able to find one that fits locally.

That doesn't sound quite right to me - I'm pretty sure the Master arm can do up to 65 pounds before detuning, down to 40 at the low end of the adjustment. From what I remember it is a 25 pound range though. The 20-45 pound range would then be approximate camera capacity, given the weight of the Master sled.

They've changed their name. They are now Core-SWX. No idea why, but they're in the same place with the same employees and the same products. http://www.coreswx.com/