Frank Born

Looking for a pre-owned Scout/Zephyr/Flyer vest in good shape. Thanks, Frank

The price is of course tempting - but what is your (Jorge) experience with this setup? Can you confirm drift, lag, nonreliability etc.? @Justin: Have you tried these or ist it hearsay? Cheers, Frank

Anyone tried one of these? Availability in Europe? Cheers, Frank

SmallFeedback: The position of the lower bolt should be altered to be in the middle of the grip - that way the fit might be even better (I had some slippage on very hard whip pans), it's pretty much useless under the excenter anyway. Still: Best add-on for a Pilot. Cheers, Frank

Still looking...

Looking for a pre-owned RainbowHD7 SBL, preferrably located in Europe. Thanks, Frank

Anybody knows if the system is anywhere on show at IBC?

@ Jonathan: As I'm quite interested in that system too, have you already had a chance to test it? I'd very much like to know if the normal EF motor has enough torque for e.g. the focus ring of Samyang primes (not as stiff as proper cinema primes, but a little more than the normal SLR lens). Best, Frank

This should do the trick, these boxes are sold under many different brand names: http://www.amazon.com/Composite-Converter-Blue-ray-White-1080P/dp/B009CL8NH0 The newer ones (sold since this year) get along with just power over HDMI. No 5v battery required. But draws a lot from the cams internal battery. Cheers, Frank

Lightweight HDMI to Composite converter is about 20$ and electrically fed by the GH4 HDMI output. Have the setup on my Pilot.

Have one for sale, wanted to try one of these (stupid me); rig with HDMI line, carbon pole, weights, arm & vest for up to 8 kilos - the problem is that if you ever only once try a Pilot or better in comparison, you're hooked. And you wonder how the latter works like magic where the knockoff doesn't at all. I think these things sell because of the looks - they almost have a big rig appearance. And people don't know how it should work because they never had a chance to try the original. Mine comes with an off-centered gimbal and a top stage that is almost impossible to balance. The sled is heavy as led. The aluminum the metal parts are made of is almost as soft. All tolerances are way off the charts. The arm bearings are not seated properly, the springs are held by a way-too-thin non-hardened screw at one end and make funny noises while moving the arm, the spring angle and pre-tension is a total disaster making it totally non-iso-non-elastic. If you want to try, buy mine..! ;-) Best, Frank PS: Imho, Tiffen maybe should do something about this - the entry-level price for the Pilot is too steep, especially in Europe. If they would get the street price for the SD system below 2,500€, they would sell a LOT more of these and take out many of the knockoff makers. They could drop the price for the HD version to 2,990€, add a HDMI-SDI converter in the top stage and get rid of the HDMI aluminum fixed post model.

Just PM Frederic. ;)

While it was a little complicated to get it on (the cables in my post are quite short), this grip is amazing - it's a big performance improvement. Feels right now, much better handling. Very light but tough material. Thanks for a good idea turned into a nice product! Cheers, Frank

The SD V-Mount Package is just $2500.- (w/o batteries) at B&H, you could talk the guy down a lot. Upgrade from AA to V is expensive though - around $400 for the battery mount.Best, Frank

I'm definitely in for one. Do we mail? Best regards, Frank

Thanks to everybody for kind offers and mails - in the end I had to go with a new Pilot VL as the rebate offer by Tiffen was too tempting. I ordered the lowmode f-bracket as well and will hopefully be the first customer for Frederic Sturms incredible Pilot Grip. Great idea and very professional make, that one. Maybe I'll come up with some noob questions in the near future - next thing would be a lightweight remote focus. Anyone selling? ;-) Thanks again to the forum, Frank

Thanks to all of you guys - I sent PMs with some questions. Cheers, Frank

Anyone selling an entry level kit, not too old? Rig should be able to fly about 4,5kgs. I'm able to invest about 3.000 EUR / 4.000 US$ and located in Germany. Thanks and cheers, Frank

Hi Joel; "affordable" depends on things... ;-) That would be way beyond my budget - maybe s.o. wants to upgrade to a bigger artemis and sell..? I tried two smaller systems at Photokina fair in Cologne and the Pilot at the Tiffen booth worked great, though it's not optically appealing. But I was really impressed. Great operator there, too. Another taiwanese system in comparison looked impressive, did not work at all isoelastic... What other options are there... Basson Lucy? Does it work for anybody? MovCam/Wondlan/Other chinese/indian stuff: I've not seen so much good footage yet. All I know is that I tried a Pilot (with 5DMKII and some weights on it) and it felt fantastic. Just like waltzing. *Sigh* Newbee stuff... you all must have been through posts like this a hundred times. ;-) Best, Frank

Looking for an entry-level system, used but complete and mechanically fully functional (may be w/o monitor). HDMI mod would be nice. I'm in Germany. Thanks and all the best, Frank