Afton Grant

Looking for a good accountant in the NYC area that works well for people, understanding some of the nuances of our business. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Prices if separated: Monitor, battery back, and yoke: $4000. New, $5624. Level sensor (brand new, never used): $1100. New, $1250. Package: $4800. New, $6874 + about $600 tax if in CA + 4 week (at least) lead time.

Ron does have nice boobs.

Hi Damian, It's a personal preference thing, really. The monitor is just not for me. I know a lot of people are very happy with theirs, and they're willing to keep working with the company through the firmware updates and any bug fixes. We just welcomed a new baby into the family and I simply don't have any time whatsoever to focus on my equipment. It may not have all the features of the Gen 2, but my Gen 1 always performed solidly, so I'm going to stick with that for now. Cheers, Afton

The pencil pouches, yes. The binders, I haven't had good luck with, however. The problem becomes the cables (their connectors specifically) are bulky. This causes the pouches to bulge, which prohibits the pouches from lying flat against each other. After 4 or 5 pouches loaded onto the binder rings, you won't be able to get the binder closed. I tried this with the largest binder rings I could find - like 3 inches thick - and it still wasn't nearly enough (I've probably got 15 pouches or more). I eventually ended up just forgetting about the binder, using the rings to keep all the pouches together, and then attaching a strap to the rings, so they can easily be carried. I've more recently built some drawers for my cart, and now have a cable drawer. I still have all the pouches, but they're lined up one behind the other, and I flick through them like CDs.

I've had a lot of inquiries asking if I'd be willing to break the monitor and level up. The answer is yes.

Package includes: Cinetronic Generation 2 Monitor Anton Bauer battery back Cinetronic Monitor Yoke (attached analog bubble level) Cinetronic Digital Level I'll even include my connector plugs for the unused ports on the back of the monitor. They are gasketed and improve the weatherproofing. Monitor is seven months old. Digital level is brand new, never used. Monitor recently serviced by Cinetronic and updated with the latest firmware (12/5/13). There is a small bug with the level in that it must be unplugged in order for the monitor to power up. Once powered up, the level can be plugged in and works just fine. This is NOT an issue unique to this monitor. Chris at Cinetronic has said it's an issue with the latest firmware and if rolled back to the previous version firmware, it will correct the problem. I do not have the ability to update firmware on my own, otherwise I would have. Brand new, everything included would be $6,874 plus tax, and a 4 week lead time. Asking $4800. Ready to ship now. Buyer pays shipping. Call, text or email: 781-883-4235, aftongrant at gmail.com Cheers!

You're right, Chris, a company must have passionate people working for it in order to survive. But a company is not based in its employees. It's based in its customers. Your headquarters can be overflowing with passion, but that passion is all for nothing without customers. What I feel you fail to comprehend over and over is the customer is the important person in this equation. In this industry, you're standing next to the likes of Jim Bartell, Preston, XCS, PRO, Tiffen, and a handful of others I'm surely forgetting. These are companies with impeccable customer service reputations. Companies, who when a customer calls with an issue with one of their products, a replacement unit is in the mail almost before the phone conversation is over. These are the companies who, fortunately for us, we have grown used to. Are we spoiled? I don't think so. We demand of our equipment the same level of quality our employers demand from us. This leaves very little room for products that don't live up to those standards. Which brings me to your case specifically. What I think you're failing to hear over and over is that nobody is trashing you personally. In fact, every email I've ever sent you, as well as most of the posts on this forum discussing issues with the monitor, include the caveat that your hard work, as well as Mike's and the rest of your team, has not gone unnoticed. Not a single person reading this right now is ignorant enough to think a brand new product will work flawlessly right from the start. What we all DID expect, however, is that considering the faith and money we have invested, you would stand behind your product and work to make us happy. You may be thinking, "Well if everybody would leave me alone and let me work on the product itself, then they would be happy." Unfortunately it just doesn't work that way. We know you've got production delays. We know you were promised things that weren't delivered on time, or of a certain quality (believe me, we can empathize with that one). We know many things are largely out of your control. That's fine. Forcing us along for the ride with no way out, is not. This is the source of much of the negative feedback you're receiving. People have paid a handsome amount of money for a product that was advertised to do a number of things. They are experiencing issues with your product, and it is not doing all it was advertised to do (regardless whether it is still being developed or not), and they don't feel there is a solution on the horizon. They feel stuck. And further, with posts of yours like those in this thread, they do not have the confidence that you have their best interests in mind. Implying the customer might be the problem has GOT to be at the top of the Business 101 textbook's "Don't" list. The value to you and to us in making us feel like you've got our backs no matter what is so much greater than the value of fixing that pesky PsF issue.

...and the HDSDI loop out.

Yup. I've got the Cam-Tec plate as well. I use it all the time with a PRO DB3. Low profile. Rigid. Has built in rod mounts and can also be used with the Alexa, securing both the front, and the rear shoe. It's extremely versatile. I couldn't tell you the weight, exactly. It's heavier than a regular PRO plate simply due to its length, but it's a hell of a lot lighter than the old quick release plate alternative.

The PRO arm is brilliant. No doubt about that. Just to speak fairly about the G70x, however, I just finished 5 months on a show. We went from zooms, to master primes, to weird 200mm lenses with no matte box..... I never had to adjust the lift either. I think it's just a personal preference thing. I probably could have, and I'm sure there are operators that love to tweak all the time to get things just perfect, but I feel that's a statement more about the operator rather than his or her gear. I don't see my footsteps, and I've been specifically complimented by multiple DPs in the past about my lock-offs. Again, this is not a brag. I guess my point is, and this point has been made before, we the operators are what makes all the difference. Focus on your gear, and you'll always have shinier fancier gear. Focus on your operating and you'll be a better operator.

Ahhh. Of course...my mistake.

Brian, can you elaborate on your setup? I ask because, as far as I know, the Gen 2 Cinetronic will not loop through yet. The Gen 1 will, and will also take any type of signal. Rephrased, the only Gen that needs the P signal is the 2, which doesn't yet loop. Wassup?

I will say, the size of the Gen 1 IS an issue. My Gen 2 had to go back for service recently, so I mounted up my old Gen 1 and it wasn't long before I was banging it into everything on set. The matte box comparison is some strange apples/oranges comparison that was made a while back in defense of the Gen 1's size, but is very misleading. That said, I loved my Gen 1 for the couple years I had it and never had a problem. I got used to its size in a relatively short period of time and it was no longer much of an issue. There will be a small adjustment period where you retrain yourself to know the size of your sled, but after that, you should be good to go. At its current price point, a refurbished Gen 1 might be your best buy.

Disagreement is fine. Criticism is fine. Needless negativity and bullying is not. It's like porn - difficult to define the exact line where one ends and the other begins, but we all know when it has been crossed. I agree with Dave. We should all take a more active role in calling it out when we see it.

I see more and more of these one'r videos lately. There's obviously a lot of effort in the choreography of the whole thing. I just wish sometimes they'd put a little bit of that effort into the basics of filmmaking - basics like hiding the operator's shadows.

Nerd

Send me a PM or email. My show might need a camera intern.

Now how do street and road signs look if you do that, how about other cars.... You're not flipping the image, you're just playing the footage backward. The other cars, however, could be an issue. I've had luck with doing exactly this (shooting out the back and reversing the footage for a "car pov"), but the roads were empty and there was no center line so we were able to drive on the opposite side - which is key.

I'm very curious to know how this monitor performs, as are a lot of people. Thank you for the attempt at posting the pictures, Joshua. It's difficult to judge a monitor's performance by a few still photos, however. I've got a few of my Cinetronic Gen 2 in the sun, and from a certain angle, there is no usable picture whatsoever. This is not to say the monitor doesn't perform well, nor does the Small HD, but there is always an angle you can find that will make any monitor look bad (except perhaps the old greenscreens...). I'm waiting to hear reviews from operators after having used these new monitors in the field for a while. That will tell me more than any single photograph.

I'd like to argue a bit for both sides here. For the record, I've always found Chris to be prompt in replying to my communications. If we can't figure out a solution over the phone/text he'll usually just say to send it in and he'll fix it. At the same time, I can absolutely understand the frustration of someone just starting out, with a fixed budget, trying to piece together the best kit they can for their money, only to have issues with a key piece of equipment. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have backups to everything should try to remember the time when we didn't. In addition to our limited budgets, we also had a small but growing knowledge about the gear, and we relied heavily upon the advice of those who were more experienced and had that knowledge we needed. Eric, I've seen you many times answer quickly and bluntly to the [paraphrased] question, "Which monitor should I buy?" with simply, "Cinetronic." Now coming from someone with as much experience as you, to someone relatively young in the business, that answer carries a lot of weight. Never once did you qualify your answer with the follow up information, "But be aware of the following list of issues still being worked out...." I'm not trying to point fingers or take a side, I'm simply trying to empathize with both. Regarding shipping in general, for any piece of equipment, I personally believe if I pay for an item in full, and it does not perform as was advertised when I paid for it, the manufacturer should cover shipping until it does. This goes for defects in the original parts, as well as updates to the software to fix/add features that it was advertised to have when I paid for it. If all original features are active and the unit is performing reliably, and then upgrades or updates are released, and I want them.... then I should cover the shipping. If I crash while running and crack the screen, I should cover shipping. Since Preston was used as an example, yes, they will not cover shipping for future updates or if something breaks on a unit I've had for a few years. However, if I were to purchase an MDR from them for $6,000 and it arrived not working, I'm confident they would provide me with a FedEx number until it did - and possibly even ship me out a loaner in the meantime. Concerning the Cinetronic specifically, there are still a few key issues and features that have yet to be worked out. There are software updates rolling out every so often fixing a thing or two at a time, but I know myself and a number of other people are unable to install those updates ourselves. FedEx both ways each time there is an update will add up very quickly - and I live in the US. I don't feel it's productive to suggest to someone to "just deal with it". Chris's team has undertaken a monumental task. They've come further than any of us would have expected a few years ago when he first showed up. For that, I am thankful. I don't yet have the monitor of my dreams, but it is getting closer all the time. The communication and customer relations issues seem to be more than just a couple isolated incidents. Chris, perhaps a customer service rep would be a worthy investment at this point. Someone to always answer phones and return emails. They don't need to provide an immediate solution. They just need to be able to listen, and let people know their message will reach the right person.

Or, the much more disturbing definition: the eggs of head lice.

I'd say very much the opposite, Osvaldo. Russell won't just sign up anybody that wants to. Among other things, having steady work is necessary before even starting the relationship. The truly great thing about a large number of guys in one area being with the same agent is it forms a sort of mini-union. If a bad job comes to town offering a crap deal, the entire roster will pass. I've seen this phenomenon force rates UP in the past. Whenever I take a call, and the subject of rates comes up, regardless of what number they might throw out I'll simply tell them to give my agent a call and he'll take it from here. I've been on the phone with producers in the past offering far too low. When I suggest they call my agent, they ask his name. On multiple occasions, immediately after I say "Russell Todd", I'll hear a groan or large sigh of some sort, suggesting they've been looking for a while, and I'm not the first person to send them to Russell Todd, who they know will not agree to their offer. I have nothing against these producers personally. I know they often have no control over the budget, and they're just doing their jobs. I do get a little satisfaction, however, when I can be certain that having a certain agent is very valuable.

I got a call for this film too. I know a lot of people in the Boston area. I'll find out who it is. There's an op here in NY that works for rates like this, despite repeated advisements not to. I know that production was given the OK to bring in an op from NY. I really hope it's not the same guy.

I don't know, Sami. It's almost literally a round peg in a square hole, leaving friction alone to keep the two pieces from sliding against each other. The Gen 1 cross piece was square so it made sense, but now that its hexagonal, it would only make sense that the arms had hexagonal recesses too. Or perhaps a set pin? I think that's what I'll end up doing is drill a small hole and add a set pin in either side.