Geoff Owen

Anyone selling a CineTape interface cable for preston MDR2. PM me at geoffowenis@gmail.com Many thanks Geoff Owen Australia

Thanks all, have found a G3 board I was looking for. Sorry Kevin if I posted this topic in the wrong spot. Many Thanks Geoff Owen

Hey Jake, I'm interested . Please send me your contact phone number. I'm in Oz. Geoff Owen 0411616199 geoffowenis@gmail.com

Hi all, I'm looking for a Preston MDR with G3 board. thanks Geoff Owen

All good here Damo. Hope you get the vest quiet. Those soundos hate the creaky vest. Good luck. Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk

Hey Damo, I've no experience with these vests. However with my Tiffen Vest I have noticed that it can get a bit noisy when the screws get a bit loose. Try going over the whole vest and tighten everything you can. Perhaps some lubricant could help as well. Hope it helps. Geoff Owen

Hi all who took the time and trouble to contact me. I have sourced the MDR from a supplier. I have tried to PM all who contacted me with offers but may have missed a few so thanks for your replies. Kind regards Geoff Owen Sent from my D5503 using Tapatalk

Hi Remi, Have you sold your MDR 2 yet? You can email me direct on geoffowenis@gmail.com. Thanks Geoff Owen

I'm looking for a MDR 2 or MDR 3 to buy. Motors, cables not particularly needed, maybe some remote start cables could be handy. Hand unit not needed. So i'm not looking for a complete system just a MDR. I'd prefer that the unit has been checked recently by a reputable dealer . If you can email me direct geoffowenis@gmail.com as I'm not always connected to the forum. Many thanks Geoff Owen

Interesting Chris, the test did prove that the boys could count backwards from Three. As you said this test isn't really very conclusive of the arms performance. From what I saw the Tiffen arm performed slightly better. Much of the movement can be put down to the natural response of the spring. Although these arms are great they still have a natural float position depending on how they are trimmed for weight, I notice that both cameras are not identical and so the load on the arms aren't the same amount. Do the guys get to the high point, up on their tip toes at the same speed, etc. do they have different size feet which would dictate how far they raise the socket block, etc etc. Both guys are dramatically different in height. As a better test if both operators were standing on a mechanical platform that jumped them up and down at the same speed and the same vertical distance, that would take that speed/rate of movement out of the equation. Perhaps a platform like this may be able to vary this speed/rate, it would be interesting to see how these arms perform at different rates of movement. Ultimately the only way to make an accurate conclusion is to take the human out of the equation for a start. Another variation of this test is to grab hold of the elbow of the arm and giggle it up and down, Again a mechanical device could be rigged to do this with a set amount of lift up and down as well control the rate of oscillation. That's my two cents worth. Happy giggling. Geoff Owen

Hi all, on a similar topic of splitter boxes, do any of these companies make a box that will flip and flop the signal as well. thanks Geoff Owen

Thanks Peter, will look forward to your next post. Geoff Owen

Hi Peter, Nice work, what are you methods of payment? Regarding the set-up in the picture above with the Ikegami plate. I'm not too familiar with this camera or mounting plate, I presume that it is different to the "sony" style plate or you would have attached the camera to your long DT plate in the same way that you would with a Sony or Alexa. Or am I mistaken? With a Sony or Alexa, can you mount the camera at any position along the plate? (sorry for my lack of technical terms here) If I dont have the Sony style "V" block for the Alexa and only have the standard Arri block, do you have a riser block for the rear "button" ? In this case, to keep the camera parallel to the DT plate, Is the L to R spacing of the slots in your DT plate equal to the off-set that the Arri block creates if I had to mount the camera with the arri block in place? Can I have "no block" at all (Sony "V" or Arri) on the bottom of the camera and use a longer 3/8 tiedown bolt straight into one of the two mounting holes used for the "V" or Arri block attachment? If this is the case will the spacing of the slots line up for the tiedown "button" at the back , depending on which 3/8 hole I engage at the front of the camera? Many thanks Geoff Owen

Hi Lin, As you would expect, Tiffen sell these , here is a link to the page http://www.tiffen.com/displayproduct.html?tablename=steadicam&itemnum=MSC-079901 These are for the newer vests but I would expect that they are much the same. Send them an email. They seem to be very well priced. Also noticed in your photo that the plate that this strap attaches to is upside down. Hope this helps Geoff

Hi all, I too have an upcoming job with an f55, so this post has been of interest. Naturally I've done no work with the f55 and know little about it and I wouldn't be asking these questions, I expect that next week I will be in at Panavision to find out some answers. With regard to monitoring, you all have mentioned the decimator 2, some have talked about HDMI, some about PSF. I have an old decimator 1 so I expect that I will need to upgrade for the job. So looking at the redbyte/decimator products I was looking at the "MD Cross", is this a better option than the decemator 2 as it has hdmi in to sdi output? They don't mention the weight of this init but it's pretty big and offcourse it will be a pain in the ass. DIMENSIONS 79.5mm x 123mm x 29.5mm (3.1” x 4.8” x 1.2” http://www.decimator.com/Products/MD-CROSS/MD-CROSS.html MD-CROSSHDMI / SDI CROSS CONVERTER with Scaling and Frame Rate Conversion MSRP US$695 • Features the following four modes: 1. HDMI to SDI while simultaneously converting SDI to HDMI 2. HDMI to HDMI while simultaneously converting SDI to SDI 3. HDMI to SDI and HDMI 4. SDI to SDI and HDMI Could I use this converter to take in the HDMI output from the camera and feed SDI to the SDI line in the sled to my monitor? Am I foolish to think that the HDMI output will be consistant from the camera no matter what recording format is chosen (2K, 4K, psf, frame rates etc)? Does HDMI follow the PSF format or can it be set to Progressive no matter what the other output settings are? Is there any latency produced by the camera converting what ever recording format to HDMI? Look forward to your comments. Geoff

Hi Peter, I'm sure that the guys who are going to make up and use these Wdges will be happy to know this fact. I've never seen one of these "Wedges" so I wasn't sure exactly how they operated. I guess that having 2 of these wedges for/aft means that you don't have to clamp them down too hard, just enough to fill the space. Scott, glad you have had some success with trying the shims. My solution on my rig was intended as just a test at the time and originally thought that if my celuloid shims sort of worked I was going to make up a more accurate and perminant shim that would work better, but as I was lucky with the size of the gap and the thickness of the film I lucked out as it seemed to work pretty well. I'm just about to buy a new Ultra 2 so I won't be spending any more time on the testing now, However if I see a gap in the Ultra 2 stage I might just do the same thing to it just to make sure it's as solid as it can be too. All the best Geoff

Hi All, I've never used gyros, haven't even seen one in the 26 years of working with steadicams, so please excuse my total ignorace on the subject. However I'm interested in finding out a bit more about them as I'm just about to buy a new Rig and thinking that perhaps I should include gyros into my kit. If bought they may never be used judging on my past experience of not having enough time to put them in place and start them up plus having the sound deptartment complaining about their hum and the producer wanting to know why they have to spend extra on ADR. One question I have relates to the pound Inch2 (squared) inertial force created by the gyro. Eg. The Tiffen site quotes that the inertial control given by expanding the battery - monitor distance to the maximum gives 2,564 pound inch 2 (squared), naturally this figure would vary depending on how many batteries and what type of monitor you use but can a similar figure be quoted about the strength of a single K6 gyro acting on the pan axis? In a previous post it was said that Larry M's set up replaces the Rig's batteries with his gyros (I hope I understood this correctly), I presume that this configuration maintains the Rigs inherant inertial control created by the distance between the Monitor and Gyro as well as adding the stability that the Gyro generates. Is this correct? Although whip pans are probably not a consideration when you add Gyros and I expect that Dynamic Balance is not a huge consideration either, however in the previous Larry M set up what happens to Dynamic balance. I expect that while the Gyros are not running dynamic balance can be achieved as usual, however when the Gyros are spinning and creating a new force beyond just the mass of the Gyro itself does this effect the dynamic balance? Is Dynamic Balance important when using Gyros? If dynamic balance is altered does this effect even a slow pan? Thanks, Geoff

I've only dealt with a Master series rig so I don't know if this solution will work with all the other older Stages of different Rigs and I'm not even sure that it works half as good as the CP wedge talked about here in this post. My simple solution was to make up Shims that sit under the section of the sliding shoe that the dovetail/camera mounting plate sits into. As you know there is about 1.5 mm between the sliding shoe and the body of the stage, if you press down on the ends of this section you can see it flex. The shims that I made were cheap, I used strips of 35mm film, I was too lazy to go and buy special shim material but film is a very resiliant material and the "Black" side is fairly slippery, I cut the film to be about 1 1/2 inches long X 1/4 inch wide, I sandwitched 2 layers together with thin double sided tape to make the shims the desired thickness . I made up 4 pieces like this and I then stuck them down with thin double sided tape onto the main body of the stage under the 4 corners of the sliding section, making sure that I possitioned them to cover the full travel of the for/aft adjustment. To fit them, start with the 2 back ones, adjust the for/aft all the way forward and slide the shim into place, I needed to flex the stage up just enough to slide the shim into the space. For the 2 front shims, adjust the for/aft all the way to the back and do the same. My "film" shims were a bit oversized but that made for a tight fit but the shoe still slid nicely across the film. Again I don't know if this is half as good a solution to this problem as the CP Wedge, but this way I have full adjust-ability of the stage for/aft, I presume that if you use the CP wedge and want to adjust for-aft with your clamp in place you need to take the pressure off the clamp - adjust for/aft- and re-clamp. However using these clamps provides a much larger footprint and you can lock down the Stage and camera plate very positivly. With all my 4 shims in place the end result is a pretty stable stage. Vibrations from all the other components are still and issue.

G'day back to you Jerry, Another thought on this topic, although not all Rigs have a motorized stage, but for the Tiffen Rigs that do, could the same result be achieved by having the level sensor talk directly to the "Stage", instead of a separate device? Saves adding the extra kilo to the Rig. Naturally the WXB separate device needs to be available for all users of all different Rigs, giving everyone the option of using this device if they want it, however for the people who have paid several thousand dollars more to have a motorized stage on the Rig which essentially does what the WXB does, move a weight with a motor to achieve desired balance, seems logical to have this feature built into the system.

Hi Steve Wagner, I'm wondering if 2 of these WXB units were coupled together at 90 degrees to eachother as you would set up Gyro's, would they have a similar effect as using Gyro's? One controlling Roll and the other controling Tilt. If so, I expect that the 2 units would keep your Rig vertical quite easilly but how would they cope with keeping the rig at a preset tilt up or down? I realize that Gyros are most usefull for windy/gusty conditions and this suggested idea would probably have little bennifit in those situations however for some shots it would be a far more sound and power friendly option, Interested in anyones thoughts. Regards Geoff Owen

I've never met Larry either and expect that I sadly never will. Seems that this topic has drifted off from the original topic of "what new gear we would like to see in the future". But to continue on the Larry topic, in the future perhaps we can have a micro chip installed in our head that has the "Larry" programmed into it so we could all think and operate like Larry. Perhaps we could have a choice of personality programes like a "Garrett" program or a "Ted" program. Sorry to all the other fantastic operators that I haven't mentioned here but once we have the tech to make all this happen we can expand the personality/operator choices. I guess I'll be stuck with my personality and operating shortfalls for the rest of my career, but the new operators coming through might have something to look forward to in the future. If I get the option I think I would get the "Garrett" simply for the ability to "Smile even though your in pain" element. To a more realistic idea on this topic, I would like to see the standard "Rigs" to be "Waterproof" or at least "Showerproof", this goes for cameras as well. It's rediculous that as soon as a sprinkle of rain begins to fall we all have to wrap up the camera and Sleds etc with poorly fitting plastic bags etc. The job is hard enough to do without all this plastic stuff wrapped around the gear and the associated paranoia that surrounds the camera department when this common weather condition happens. We don't all rush out to our cars and throw bags over them when it rains do we, perhaps a few do. I do realise that a lot of money is invested in our equipment and downtime fixing a shorted-out Rig is an expensive time consumming pain. However I suspect that our gear is far more resilient to water than what we think and to make it "Showerproof" shouldn't be that hard. I think that Pro says that you can hose off their arms, can't this be done with the G series of Arms from Tiffen or anyone elses? Surely the amount of sweat that drips down your arm and into the Steadicam arm must do more damage than simple fresh water. The Vests, well the amount of sweat that poors into them should mean that we can hose them off as well. Most of the Sled is made of elements that are waterproof, it simply can't be that hard. Some monitors are waterproof etc. I just bought a new Sony mobile phone (cell phone) thats "Waterproof" to 1 metre for 30 minutes, although I haven't tried it out just yet, it isn't bulky or come with a plastic bag to put it into, it just is, simple. I don't expect that the amount of "Waterproofing" of a Rig would allow us to simply walk into a swimming pool and submerg the whole Rig and back out, (but that would be interesting shot), but enough to be able to walk around in the rain without fear that the Rig will short out. Perhaps this is worth a new Topic to be discussed on the forum? Anyone? Thanks for reading Geoff Owen

Hi James, I’m also sorry to hear of your back problems, getting the best surgeon you can find is definitely the light at the end of your present tunnel. I suffered a disc bulge (slipped disc) in 2004, this bulging disc pushed straight into the spinal cord and I had about 5 seconds to give the rig to the grip before my legs collapsed. So I was quickly in to see the surgeon (I had seen him before). A few days later I was into surgery and received a decompression (cutting away some bone of the vertebrae to make room for the bulging disc and the spinal cord) and then a spinal fusion of L3 - L4 (2 titanium rods are fixed to the vertebrae) and then a bone graft (they cut some bone from your hip, grind it up and make a paste/glue and cover over the titanium rods and screws). The recovery, excruciating is to put it mildly, you can’t press the morphine button enough. However with modern medical practice you are put on your feet the next day and encouraged to walk. The first day you don’t get very far as you can imagine, maybe 10 metres. Trust me this is no walk in the park, just getting out of bed is enough to make you cry, walking is just a bit worse than that. But each day you get a bit further, by the end of the week I walked out of the hospital and down the street to the shop. I won’t say what I bought, very bad. Anyway, it took a while to have a pee without a tube, number 2’s is a completely different matter because you can’t actually sit, I think it was 10 days, not very comfortable but well worth it in the end. It does take a while before you can sit in a normal position. So, things do go back to normal and after a couple of months pains are fairly bearable. After six months you can start to do some strengthening exercises for your back. Leading up to this point walking as much as you can is best, only after the scare has healed, swimming is great, but don’t go into the pool until the scares are completely healed because you could get an infection. Back to six months down the track and exercise, as I had become completely pennilessly broke by this time and couldn’t afford to go to a gym so I became a brickies labourer so I got paid to exercise. If anything is going to get you strong this activity will, but be extreme careful, but if you can simply go to a gym that would be best. I would also suggest surfing, particularly paddling, catching a wave is unimportant. As usual Yoga is a great way to increase your flexability and strength. I eventually got back into Steadicam work and I’m still doing it, just about to buy a new rig, I was 41 years old when I had the surgery and I’m 51 in a couple of months time and hope to get another decade out of my back with regard to Steadicam. I don’t do live TV style work, this is way too much for me and always has, I take my hat off to those super fit guys. I only do drama or commercial work and I wear the rig as little as possible, at the end of the take I give it to the grip or have the docking stand close by. I remember that I often had more discomfort from the area where the surgeon cut out the bone for the bone graft. I still get twinges of pain and my lower back definitely doesn’t have the stamina that it used to, but in all I'm pretty pain free now. Heavy Steadicam days have the usual effect of soreness that we all experience. In conclusion, if you can avoid surgery, do it, but if you can’t, find the absolutely best surgeon money can buy. Don’t be afraid to research them, speak to other surgeons on who they recommend. The surgeon who worked on me is world respected and an absolute leader in his field, his name is Dr. Paul Licina, he lives in Brisbane, Australia. I'm sure if you contacted him and asked his recomendation for someone in the UK to would, if he doesn't send me a message and I will try for you. Surgery methods are getting better every year and a successful recovery is more than likely, especially with a top surgeon. I hope I haven’t scared you with my story, but I just wanted to give you a reason to search for a non-surgical solution. If you do have surgery then at least you will know what to expect, steadicam ops are tuff as nails and you’ll get through it in time and back into the rig. I’m happy to try to answer any questions you might have, you can email me direct, geoffowen1@bigpond.com Good Luck Regards Geoff Owen

From Geoff Owen, Hi forum Steadicamers, I haven’t done much posting on the site, so forgive any of my shortfalls. Perhaps it's worth putting this post into the general discussion as well, moderators please advise on this. Last year I had an equipment failure that I thought I should share with everyone just in-case the same happens to one of you, or better still, you can avoid it happening at all. Perhaps this topic has been covered in the past and I’m simply unaware of it. But unless you have had the failure that I describe below you won‘t even think to look through the archives for it, at least I didn’t. So it serves as a reminder for us to check for the fault. This particular failure was on my Master Series Vest, the Socket block assembly, specifically the “Lock-off Bolt” that secures the whole assembly to the Spar of the Vest. This single ¼ inch bolt snapped in the middle of a “cross-over” manoeuvre and consequently the rig hit the floor. This happened around “take 20”. After inspection, I think I've worked out the reason for the failure. The Stainless Steel block that the “Lock-off Bolt” screws into had become bent. This allowed the bolt to be bent back and forth to the point of failure from fatigue. This particular set-up required 3 cross-over’s in a 15 second take, so the bolt got bent 6 times every 15 seconds, so after 20 takes the bolt had been bent at least 120 times, in my mind it’s no wonder that it snapped. Also to clarify that this vest was made about 1996, so it’s 18 years old and the bolt that snapped was the original Lock-off bolt as is the stainless steel block. So I’m not blaming poor workmanship or sub-standard components, to get 18 years of service without breaking is great, this is simply a point of maintenance that users of old vests should be aware, if you use one of these old vests it’s worth checking before a failure possibly happens to you too. How many of us who use these Master Series Vests, perhaps other vests have the same design, are depending on just a single ¼ inch bolt holding up our Rigs and cameras and are in potential danger of fatigue and failure. I’m un-educated in the methods that are employed on the newer vests from all the manufacturers today, but if any of manufacturers methods use a single bolt to lock the rig to the operator, then serious thought should be put in to ensure that it doesn’t fail. I have seen that some Master Series Vest wearers have made modifications in this area but I’m not sure if these modifications have been done simply because the Socket Block Assembly kept slipping down the spar and so they have put in a screw to keep it in place. The Socket Block slipping on the Vest Spar may be due to the Stainless Steel Block being bent, mine never slipped but I did have to tighten the lock-off considerably to stop it from slipping, so you too may be only a cross-over or two away from disaster. My solution was to have an engineer straighten the Stainless Steel Block and tap threaded holes into the top and bottom of this block. Drilling two matching holes through the main front plate of the assembly. So now I have two ¼ inch bolts that connect the assembly to the vest, (see photos). The height adjustment lock-off now works better then ever before. However, there is a drawback with this modification, it’s more time consuming if you want to disenguage the Socket Block to change operating sides. I hope that this posting helps just one operator to not suffer an embarrassing and expensive situation. regards Geoff Owen

As far as I know the arm is original, 12 - 14 years old. I have only had it for the past 4 years, I will check with the previous owner and see if he ever had any work done to it. I guess that it is due for a rebuild, however until the other day the arm was working perfectly. The engineer that I have taken it to for repair said that he has seen a few old 3 arms with this problem. Thanks for your reply Osvaldo. Geoff Owen