Afton Grant

I'd give the guy a break. His awe of Garrett seemed genuine enough to me. He certainly knew about the inventor of the Steadicam... he just may not have known his name was Garrett Brown, or known what he looked like. Garrett doesn't exactly push his image onto the public. Who knows what the production team was. Could've just been one guy going around to booths asking if there's someone that wants to come talk about their product. I definitely got a good chuckle out of it, but I think it was an honest mistake.

I have one way up here in CT if you want to make the drive.

Frame delay?

I'd agree on the shape. With the PRO 3 base, I frequently take advantage of the flat sided batteries to set the rig down on a countertop, table, or apple box when I'm standing around and the stand is either too big or not immediately accessible. Maybe these will sit flat too. I don't know, I haven't seen them, but they don't look like they will.

I've had conversations with AC's in the past about the future of various technologies on set. Focus pulling seems to be one that has popped up more than once. And way before I'd ever heard of this particular product, the concept of a Tag/Receiver system was discussed in theory. Each time, I give it some good thought, but keep running into one obstacle.... If you hide a tag on a subject you wish to pull to, I have no doubt the technology exists that would accurately determine the distance between that tag and a receiver somewhere on the camera. The key problem, however, is the distance is measured TO THE TAG... not to the eyes, or the hand or whatever it is you need to focus on. What if the actor turns sideways? Puts their back to us, but turns their head toward camera? Bends over? Leans in? Even simply standing up straight, facing camera, the distance to the tag will be different than the distance to the eyes - simple geometry will tell you that. Soooo....I always like to say "never say never", and I try to be as open minded as possible when it comes to new trends. In this case, however, I think the problem of pulling focus for cinema was solved a long time ago by the focus puller! These people do everything the technology can do, except they do it faster, they do it more intuitively, they do it more reliably in the long term. Sure, they complain to no end, but they get the job done. Why? Because that's their job and their skill, and they train to do it well and most of them do. If I were a DP and an AC brought a fancy system like this onto my set, I'd say, "Awesome! Go ahead and use it. The first time that thing goes glitchy and ruins a take because the battery died, or it didn't have a good connection, or you received a text message or something....I'm throwing it out the stinking window."

If history is any guide, we are frequently impressed by various transmitters' performances at NAB, citing the large amount of RF activity at the event as something that would weed out all but the most kick ass wireless kits. Then, we'll get the same devices on a practical set, only to have them not live up to the performance we saw at the convention. I'll handily admit my ignorance when it comes to the science of wireless technology. As a layperson observing the phenomenon, however, perhaps other wireless devices in the vicinity is not nearly the hinderance we think it is. Perhaps a large open hall, even with its wireless activity, is no match for the concrete canyons of New York City, or a party scene with 100 extras densely packed together. I won't be making it to NAB this year. For those who are, and for those who can play with a few of these things, put them through their paces. Mount it in a non-optimal place on the camera, or even on the bottom of the sled. Have someone hold the receiver close to their body or in their lap - as a director might. Put a plastic bag over one or both as you might have to if it rains. Tip a stripper with one and see if it survives her throwing it across the room. Have fun!

Small HD and Cinetronic Gen 1 are both good buys. Small HD, I feel is a little more future proof than the Gen 1, but about $1000 more. At around $3000 (for Small HD), however, neither one could be considered expensive. They'd both serve well as primary monitors, and at the same time allow you to save some $$ for when the TB7 does come out, at which point a new benchmark will likely be set, you can use your saved money to buy one, and still have a good backup...or sell the old one for some extra cash.

I just wanted to quote a couple things here because I think this is about as good as the advice is going to get. XCS, PRO, Tiffen, MKV, others.... they all make very good gimbals. They all make gimbals that are owned and used by operators around the world working on big budget, small budget, and everything in between, and I think it's safe to say these operators are reasonably happy with their decisions. A rational thinking person could only conclude that it comes down to little more than personal preference. Could we take these gimbals into a laboratory and measure the performance differences on a microscopic scale? Sure. Will those results affect your success as an operator? Absolutely not. It's very easy for a new operator (and heck, some veteran ops) to become hyper focused on their gear thinking it is the key to their success on set. Always remember the most important part of your kit is you. Your personality, your skill, your knowledge, your experience.... focus on those. Your gear is useless without them.

If it's the same thickness as an XCS plate, it will raise the camera a full half inch. Even if it is just a quarter inch, however, you know as well as I, that makes a big difference, especially with a full size camera like the Alexa. You've argued dozens of times on this very site why a short sled is ideal, as well as bragging about how high you can get your XCS gimbal in order to shorten the gimbal to lens distance....winning that competition over the PRO rig by fractions of an inch if you mount the docking ring as Baldwin suggests. To quote you yourself, "I suggest reading about a gentleman named Archimedes and his lever."

I would say the cam jam is the way to go then since it'll work with the unique width plates you already have and also won't raise the camera - very important with a small rig like the flyer.

Can the Flyer LE support an Alexa?

Is the upgrade THE fix for the psf issue, or is the software fix separate to the upgrade - covering monitors that get the upgrade and those that dont?

Fair enough if you don't agree. It's a personal thing though. Everybody deals with such events differently, and we just don't need to be calling one way of dealing any more or less strange than another.

We've all experienced losses. Sharing Sarah's picture and telling her story, even using it as a lesson to help avoid similar stories in the future is not, by any means, invading her or her family's privacy.

Eric, so you've never ever felt a twinge of pain or sorrow, or perhaps even shed a tear when hearing a tragic story about someone you didn't know personally? How about even while reading a book or watching a movie that moves you to feel some sort of emotion? It's called empathy. It's a wonderful little evolutionary trait we humans have, and it has great power. If you want to get down to the psychology of it, those of us who did not personally know Sarah aren't necessarily mourning Sarah herself. We mourn what she represents because we find ourselves working with, interacting with, and befriending people like her every day. Attaching a picture of her to a monitor is not because Sarah Jones is personally missed, but because she represents a lesson that should never be forgotten. Calling such an action "strange" is borderline insulting.

Just as every director and DP are different, and we operators have to learn on the spot how best to work with each, every Steadicam operator is different in terms of how they like to be handled, what help they need, what their limits are in terms of risk taking, etc. Realistically, your best resource for this information is the operator him or herself.

Just trying to get a better idea of how it works and performs, that's all. Your original post says the plate does not raise the camera. That's not true.

Oh wow. I thought they didn't raise the camera? PRO plates are about as flush as you can get with the top of the DBox. If they're as thick as XCS, then they raise the camera a half inch.

So how thick are they?

How thick?

What are the dimensions?

This thread is getting repetitive and straying from productive discussion. Let's get it back on track.

$4600 for the whole package. It's as new, exactly as you would get it from the manufacturer minus a few cosmetic scuffs (not on the display), and minus over $2000 and a wait period.

Is the rear tie-down screw adjustable in height, allowing it to work with an Alexa Studio (which doesn't have rod mounts, by the way)?

Yes, as Jens said. I have had both the Gen 1 and then Gen 2 for the last three years. I've never had an issue in the sun. Never even needed a hood. It's the best screen available right now.