Colin Donahue

Guys, thanks for the responses. Rob, the DP7 Pro SB has the analog video input in the same spot, so it would be the same problem. I only wanted analog so that I could use my Marell digital level, while my Nebtek monitor and level are being repaired. Iain, thank you for the offer the the BM upconverter, but I think the Marell level only works with an SD signal to SD signal overlay. Matthias, your yolk may be the best solution. If my Nebtek turns out to be not repairable, , I may be contacting you about a new yolk. Thanks again.Oh, I forgot to ask the most important question. When I called small HD they said the video connector on the side was a "high rose" I always thought it was pronounsed " hi- row -see. Have I been pronouncing it incorectly all these years? Colin

Got a DP7 Pro monitor last week. I planned to use it as a back up, but my Nebtek died the day after I got my DP7 so for now it is a primary. The picture is sharp, and pretty easy to focus off of. The contrast ratio is not as good as I was expecting, but I got the standard model not high bright. One thing I didn't really realize is that the composite input is a Hirose on the side of the monitor. I was going to make a cable for my analog Marell digital level which would be 8 pin lemo to 4 pin hirose, but I now see that the cable will be sticking out of the side of the monitor right where the yolk is. I will have to unplug the video cable to clear the yolk each time I reposition it. Not an impossible situation, but not ideal either. Has anybody using this monitor figured out a solution to this? Colin Donahue

I got my first Pro in September of 2013. I bought a CineLive package. I arranged a cash deal with Michelle over the phone. When I went in to get it, I had to be "interviewed" by Jack. :angry: He said he was very particular about who owned his products. He wanted to know what kind of work I did and how long I had been doing it. He asked if I had just mortaged the house, or was this my son's college fund. He wanted to know if I had a viable plan for recovering my investment, or was this a crazy pipe dream that I hadn't really thought out. I laugh everytime I think about this because at the time I was both irritated and amazed. I'm thinking "Dude, heres the cash, just give me th damn sled!" (How dare he "qualify" me as an owner!! :D ). The thing was he was putting me and my famliy's best interest ahead of his own. He was deciding if this sale was something he would be morally and ethically happy with. This is a rare quality in a vendor and one that I truly appreciate. Also, I almost got the whole sled tutorial, but I had to leave early to get my son from school. If you don't stay for the whole tutorial, you might get yelled at two weeks later for messing around with the screws inside the donkey box . Not that that happened to me or anything..... :blink: Colin Donahue

Osvaldo. Thanks for the info. I talked to Rob and the Cinemonitor is a bit steep for me. I'm not a baller either. :lol: Colin

I see 10 monitors have been listed for sale in the last two weeks! Are people trying to unload before NAB? I am in the market for a back up monitor, but I can't make up my mind about new or used, OLED, LED, or recordable (coming soon ). :huh: I have a daylight nebtek solar HD 7. So many choices now.! Colin

Rob, thanks. I was thinking about calling him. Colin

The end cap nut of one of my monitor cables fell off ... no idea where it is. I called Mouser Electronics and they said there is no part # for it. Has anybody figured out a way to solve this without buying a new cable or re-soldering a new connector? Pretty sure it is FHG 1B 308 Thanks, Colin Donahue

Osvaldo, I am in a similar situation. Robert, really nice job on the cases! I want to get a custom foam setup for my Pro CineLive, but I don't want to rush it and then six months later wish I had done something differently. I have an old 1650 with pick and pluck that I never used. I thought if I sprayed it with Plasti-dip, it might hold up for a while until I figure things out. I plucked out a space for sled and monitor only and then sprayed a whole can on the foam. It didn't seem to make much difference .This was the first time I have ever used it on anything, so I wasn't sure what to expect. After a bit of You Tubing, I learned that if you put Elmers glue on the foam first, it seals it a bit and the plasti-dip isn't all soaked into the foam.I started with the Elmers, but when I ran out I switched to wood glue because that is what I had sitting in the garage.The wood glue doesn't dry as clear, so this isn't the most elegant solution.I sprayed it again with maybe a quarter of the can of the Plasti and it now seems substantially stronger. Elmers will get sticky if it gets wet again, so the Plasti dip should protect it :unsure: . Just did this yesterday, so it I have a black sticky mess in a couple of weeks I will post. If anybody has used this stuff and can share experiences I would like to hear. Thanks! Colin Donahue

Robert, What brand/model cases are these? Thanks Colin Donahue

Brett, This case looks really nice. I had Thermodyne re-do my Archer case when I rebuilt it. They did all the custom foam and replaced the wheels with heavier duty ones and replaced all the latches. It was around $300 and took less than a week. I have since purchased a Pro Cine Live and need a case. Is this the same size case as your Archer 2? I can't believe you can fit all that in there! Also, what docking bracket are you using? I don't see it in the case. Colin Donahue

Mikhail, I see this post has been sitting here a week without a response, so I will chime in. You have some nice shots here, and some shots with problems. Since you have been operating for three years, you probably already know you have headroom and framing issues. Do you really need other ops to tell you this? You might get better feedback if you point out the problems you see you have and how to minimize them to improve your reel. Using longer clips does not help you at :50 in with the woman at the bathroom door because you have too much head room. You should cut that shot earlier. Your first shot in the reel is nice but you are cutting the guys feet off. Start a half second later and you have a better frame. I see you are using a lot of slow mo. I know from personal experience that this can be used to hide a lot of operating flaws. Don't use if you don't need it or to drag out a take. I am not sure why the shot in the strip club is sped up but it seems like it might be a nice shot in real time. Obviously if you had a bunch of perfect shots, those would be in your reel. You have to use what you have. The question is are they making the reel better or worse? I think if you are more specific in the feeback you want, you will get more responses. Good luck Colin Donahue

What city is this jib located in? Thanks Colin Donahue

Bonnie I used a place called AB upholstery on Victory near Magnolia to make some new vests pads. They don't regularly do stuff for video and film, but they did a decent job and were really reasonable. Contact Maria Martinez 818 845-4511 415 North Victory 91502 Colin Donahue

sold

Guys, thanks for the info! Colin

Fellow operators, Does anybody recognize this monitor mount? The thread insert on it is damaged and I can't remember where I bought it. It fits my Transvideo spud. I checked their website, but they don't show anything like this. I would appreciate any help you can offer. Thank you, Colin Donahue

Sale of sled is pending. Colin

Sale pending for arm and vest Sled with monitor still available. $5500 http://s719.photobucket.com/user/colindon/library/Archer%20Stage/Archer%20sled%20only This is an original Tiffen Archer 1 with major upgrades. It has a Transvideo monitor mount to allow for monitor movement not possible on the original Archer. The base has been replace with the Hofmann Teknik model from Sweden. This provides the battery movement needed to dynamic balance. Dual AB battery mounts with diodes so the batteries cannot back- charge. HDSDI wire through the sled HDSDI BNC added to the stage and base The stage for and aft knobs upgraded to beefier "Ultra" model. Additional power lemo added to the stage for accessories Sled rewired with upgraded 16 AWG for better power flow. The monitor is SD and is the original one that comes with the sled. It is rated at 700 nits, but there is a coating on it that makes it fairly viewable in sunlight. Tiffen dovetail and F bracket included Hard case with custom foam Long docking bracket for dynamic balance This sled was recently checked out at Tiffen and flies nice. It can fly anything from an Alexa to a Sony 800 to a Canon 5D. Located in Los Angeles area. $5500 Contact Colin at wlvvideo@gmail.com

I have tried to follow the advice of "just walk how you walk normally" . The problem is I have terrible posture and I sit and walk very hunched over. I was taught to have my shoulders back when operating, which I often forget to do. When I do I have them back, I sometimes end up balancing more on my heels and less on the balls of my feet. I was getting a pendulum swing on the sled that I couldn't figure out how to get rid of. This thread http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=16171 helped me out a great deal. (the part about balancing on the balls of your feet... not the fight over which arm is better :lol: ) I had to retrain myself how to walk. Every time I sit down, I remind myself to sit up straight! Practice, so that whatever you need to do, it becomes automatic and you can concentrate on about shot. Colin Donahue

Benjamin, I will be curious to hear what Transvideo has to say. I called them last week about the possiblilty of a mount for my Nebtek Solar 7. I was told "No way. we have nothing". I mentioned that they had a lot of mounts on the web site and maybe I could come in and check them out. He said if I was living in LA I could possibly come by. "Great, when can I come by?" "We'll call you". I have not heard from them since. Colin Donahue

Complete Tiffen Archer Sled for Sale Sled, SD monitor, G50 arm and LX vest. $14,500 This is an original Tiffen Archer 1 with major upgrades. It has a Transvideo monitor mount to allow for monitor movement not possible on the original Archer. The base has been replace with the Hofmann Teknik model from Sweden. This provides the battery movement needed to dynamic balance. Dual AB battery mounts with diodes so the batteries cannot back- charge. HDSDI wire through the sled HDSDI BNC added to the stage and base The stage for and aft knobs upgraded to beefier "Ultra" model. Additional power lemo added to the stage for accessories Sled rewired with upgraded 16 AWG for better power flow. The monitor is SD and is the original one that comes with the sled. It is rated at 700 nits, but there is a coating on it that makes it fairly viewable in sunlight. Tiffen dovetail and F bracket included LX vest has newer buckles and thicker padding. G50 arm has been serviced twice at Tiffen for cleaning. Soft case can hold the vest and arm Hard case with custom foam Long docking bracket for dynamic balance This sled was recently checked out at Tiffen and flies nice. It can fly anything from an Alexa to a Sony 800 to a Canon 5D. Located in Los Angeles area. I would like to sell this as a package. $14,500 Contact Colin at wlvvideo@gmail.com

Manny, I have two of these cables that I don't use anymore. I used them with my Archer and a Nebtek Solar HD sled. I sent you a PM. Colin Donahue

I have had my Archer for 7 years and it has seen a lot of use. Lately I have been having some issues with my sled not returning to level after a drop test. After much effort and testing, I I was convinced it was the gimbal. I had checked the stage and the battery mount and everything was tight and nothing was moving. (I thought). I took it to Tiffen and they were reluctant to put a new Archer gimbal on. I insisted. But it turns out I was wrong! I stil had the same problem of it not returning to level. It was a relief on the one hand that I did not need a new gimbal, but frustrating that I could not figure out what was wrong. Tiffen spent an entire day with the sled and ended up putting in new upgraded fore and aft adjusters. They are the ones for the Ultra and Shadow that are a bit beefier than what I had. The problem dissapeared. My sled flies like it did when it was new. Thank you to Tiffen for spending the extra time to figure this out. Robert Orf gave me the VIP treatment. Colin Donahue

Tracked down the USB to RCA break out cable. Couldn't find it anywhere for sale in stores so i ended up borrowing one from a friend who has a Canon 1 DX. Got to the shoot and cable did not fit because the 5D I was using had a micro mini to RCA breakout connector. Maybe the later Mark II models changed to USB. Turns out there was a micro mini buried in the case at the bottom. Hooked it up and it worked great. No HD on my monitor, but I really didn't need to see HD anyway. Colin Donahue

Tom, is this still available? I have the Nebek solar hd 7. with transvideo rods and mount, but a homemade version of the yolk. Do you think your yolk would fit the transvideo rods and mount? colin donahue 818 5192504