Benjamin Treplin

No Frightening

I'm looking for a PRO-DB 1 to build my new Frankenrig. If somebody has one sitting around collecting dust please send me a mail. steadicam(at)gmx.com

Good virus scanner works with the same virus, worm, whatever devinitions as all the others and it's for free. http://www.clamxav.com Superduper is a must. In case of a hard drive failure you can boot within seconds from the last backup. For media VLC, PLEX(can stream dvd over 100 Mb ethernet), Perian and Candelair Just a few. Best

Doesn't work for goofy I guess. Gets in the way of the waist pad latch. I was dragging this in my head for a long time. Nice to see it happen.

Bump! Again. Please, serious inquiries only! Don't waste your and my time. Thanks.

Bump.

Bump.

SOLD!

Modulus 3000 in good working condition for sale. Comes with Original antenna and 2 ARRi IVS to Modulus cables. For details and pictures mail to steadicam at gmx dot com.

cit DX-400 diversity tuner in excellent condition for sale. Works perfect with Modulus and Canatrans PAL vers. incl. 3 cit sharkfin antennas and 4 BNC antenna cables. For details and pictures mail to steadicam at gmx dot com.

Baer-bel Sled in very good condition for sale. For details and pictures mail to steadicam at gmx dot com.

Have look at this soles: LINK Better than any other I had so far.

Brian, you missed my point and I should have been more precise. I did not take this as an anti Artemis stance, not at all. I took it more as an anti forum stance. On the one hand you reduce this place to markets most people work in and equipment brands most people use here and on the other hand you tell people to go to other forums because there is only few or old information here and you imply that this will be the case in the future. This is absurd. Instead we should have encouraged those "few" (how can we know that) like Adam, Gus, Frederic and others to cime in and share there insights. "… and there's a reason the Artemis isn't included in those threads." You make vague statements made of quick assumptions. "Again, I don't have an opinion of the Sachtler rigs, as I've never used one." So why do you post on this topic in the first place? Eventually you tell someone this is the wrong place without knowing if this is the case. This forum might be based in the USA but it is a world wide forum with professionals working in all kinds of market with all kinds of equipment and if they use a broomstick as long as they are professional Steadicam operators (use the search function before asking the same question over and over again :) ) and have something to contribute, they should be welcome to share there knowledge. It is the sole purpose of any forum to make information and ideally knowledge and wisdom available to it's members by it's members. Enough rant. Fly safe.

Brian, no disrespect but the Artemis rigs, at least the Cine and CineHD, are top of the line sleds. Frederic Chamberland used to have one and was very happy with it till it was stolen. They do have smaller setups for a budget but so do other manufactures. There are quite some sleds here in Europe and Japan I think. BTW what is the market most people work in here? My impression is that this forum is not about certain markets it is for steadicam operators working on a professional level, making a living from the nobel instrument. Disclaimer: No I do not work for Sachtler or have any involvement in their company. Just my 2 cent.

My thoughts on this: The three sled in Question represent three different philosophies. Where as the PRO and the Ultra2 are the furthest apart. That is my personal opinion. The Ultimate is some where in between the PRO and the Ultra in some aspects but very different in others. Lets start with the PRO, Paddock Radical Options. IMHO there is nothing “radical” about this sled. It is a reliable sled. No bels, no whistles. It is build of modular components that are easily exchanged and serviced. Super post is an extra. No tilt head. When it comes to adjustability or better inertial control, the PRO has not that much to offer. The relative fixed monitor position results in a defined battery position. The adjustment of the battery module is designed to achieve DB for that given monitor position not to control the inertia of the system. Don’t get me wrong here, PRO is top notch equipment. The arm and vest are superb, I own both. The sled is of the finest engineering but in how the three main components work together it is a very basic sled. Old school comes to my mind. Again don’t take this as an offense. The Ultra has a reverse concept some folks would say just bells and whistles. It is not modular in terms of components like the PRO. It is not as easy to remove the electronics or the gimbal. I think they made improvement to the electronics with the Ultra2. Boards that can be easily replaced. The options you have to control the inertia of the Ultra are huge. The motorized stage and the integrated tilt head are killer and I know exactly that I miss it. Integrated super post. I second Jerry here, a super post without a tilt head is almost useless. Shots that are PITA, can be a breeze to operate with that features. The Ultimate is a bit of a combination of both worlds. The modular components like the PRO and the ability to control the pan inertia. Not as easy and seamless as with the Ultra but easy enough to make use of it on a regular basis. No integrated super post or tilt head. Exchanging posts due to it’s integrated connectors and bayonet fittings can be quite fast. The power management as stated before surpasses the other two. No matter if you need to power 12V or 24V devices the sled gives you both voltages at the same time with 1 to 3 batteries. This opens a tremendous flexibility to adjust the sled for different cameras weights. At least for the Ultimate 1. The rigidity of this sled is second to none with the regular post or the super post. You have to get used to the x-y adjustment on the bottom of the sled but ACs even more, at least here where I live. They just can’t come to you and hand over the camera body and like to use your rig as platform to build the rest. It is a bad habit but happens all the time. You need the camera with everything that has to be on it to find the cameras c.g. To make a decision you need to know what kind of operator you are. Are you more the old school guy who has a fixed setup and uses this for every shot and is perfectly fine with that or are you the kind of guy who wants to control more parameters of the stabilizer. For me, to be able to control the pan inertia is a very important feature. I use different setup for different lenses and different shot requirements. I went for the Ultimate1 because of the power management, the modular design, the 2” centerpost, I like the post to be short and the ability to control pan inertia. I spent a fortune and some engineering on a tilt head and I love it. I’d love to have a motorized X-Y. But hey you can’t have butter on both sides. :) I don’t miss an integrated superpost. All stated is my personal opinion. If I got the facts wrong please feel free to correct me.

I came across this on CML which explains a lot: Quote from CML General: "Once I heard all these things I was very suspicious and got in touch with some of the crew who worked on this, and of course all I heard were horror stories and unpaid invoice. So I kept things quiet and I was given a script, and their latest demand was that they needed that one invoice (with all the expenses including gear and crew...) to be made as if it was coming from abroad. They told me they were getting in touch with some production companies services from abroad. After all these things I told them I didn't want to get involved on this, and I am pretty sure they are going to try to get the DP they previously had on this shoot last year, although he left them in the middle of the shoot." "This sounds too familiar. The impression I have is that they are now trying to get someone from outside the UK to do this. Be aware. BECTU here in the UK have just won a famous victory against them at an Employment Tribunal when with BECTU’s backing an Art Dept. Assistant won her claim for National Minimum Wage plus holiday pay for all the hours she worked on the film last year. They are in a black list of companies here and they owe money to a lot of people and hiring facilities. They shot most of the film in 2008, with the DP leaving them due to all the chaos. Most of the crew haven't got paid yet after 1 1/2 years...My first impression was also that they were after the gear..." Link to the BECTU To generate some Google search results: The guy who called me named him self Matthew Jerling or Matt Jerling. Probably not his real name. He uses Two 1 Production or Take 1 Produktion as company names. The main production company seems to be London Dreams Motion Pictures Ltd. The titel is "Coulda Woulda Shoulda" Nuff said self-explanatory! Fly safe!

Happy you enjoy it. IMHO it is about equipment theft. In this scenario here they hand over the rental of the camera package and labor to the guy they contact. They try to allure you in the deal by offering you participation on money they will get with an incorrect (overpriced) invoice you provide to them. Greedy as you are you go ahead book folks, rent the equipment, bring it on location and some how loose controle over the whereabouts of all the stuff. "Sure we have security over night and the building is locked the hole time. See ya tomorrow." The only one showing up next day is you and your crew and Mr. Big Trouble. This year we had some serious burglaries of camera rentals here in Europe. Several Arricam STs and LT are missing and lense sets as well. The rentals enforced all there alarming and security measures. It's just a guess but that could be a way to get there hands on the equipment without picking one lock. Fly safe

On Wednesday I told him that I would be more than happy to do the job but he has to provide me with the names of the DoP, Director, Production Company etc… You could hear his brain starting to work. DoP went back to Thailand… so he is no longer on the project (creative!) errp… the new guy? yes sure… his name? … we are still looking… ahh Director mmh ya first time Director ahhh… I was just heading for the cast. Sure send me a mail with all the details. I really love to do the job sound promising! Silence so far.

Hi, Yesterday I've been contacted by a guy from the UK looking for a Steadicam operator for mid Dec. 5 to 8 days. The first mail and phone call was a bit hard to follow. He wants me to get the camera crew and rent equipment for the shoot which will take place in the UK and a few other "special" service for the invoice. Asking for more details on the project (DoP, Dir, Titel) I was told that further information will be disclosed if I sing in. There is NO information about his name or prod. company on the web Altogether I get the impression it could be a scam. If you have you been contacted too please send me a PM. Thanks

Have a look at this LINK

AFAIK Kenyon has a dedicated 14.4 Volt inverter and the 12V one doesn't like higher voltage. I learned this from a fellow operator who had just that issue and bought the proper inverter from Ken-Lab. Best

Hi Christopher, Most likely the voltage regulator that supplies this port got fried by the canatrans. The fastest way to repair is to bypass this regulator. I have done that with my LEH and cameraplatform. When you open the LEH you'll find the regulator is on the top board that is right behind the 28V converter. Have a look at the picture. Hope this comes in time. Best

Yesterday I had the chance to test the setup again. Same camera same Canatrans but "unfortunately" I was not able to recreate the dropouts. I placed the sender and the cable at the exact same positions. No issues. I tried it anywhere at the camera body and right next to the card reader no dropouts. No clue what caused it.

Hi all, had a shoot this week with a Red One. I used a Canatrans. All went fine until I pumped up the transmitting power to 1 Watt because we going from outside into a building and tried to keep a signal at the videovillage. After the 4th take we recognized we had 280 something dropouts. Our data wrangler checked the media and all 4 takes where unusable. We change CF cards and tested and still got dropouts. I then unplugged the Canatrans and the camera recorder without an issue. We went back to 1/8 Watt and continued without issues. I powered the Canatrans through my XCS sled and the cable (power + vid.) was running close (right on top) the CF card slot. The Canatrans was mounted on a XCS transmitter bracket on top of the camera. So I don't know if it was the RF from the antenna or additional RF that came over the cable close to the CF card slot. Hopefully next week I will have the chance to test the configuration again to track it down. Any similar experiences out there? Best

Richard, I'm definetly interrested. Great idea! Best