Michael Desiderio
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Posts posted by Michael Desiderio
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Picked up one of these on ebay
Surprise, it works with broadcast equipment. Even accepts a p-tap unregulated power source (supposedly a 5v-12v unit but hey no guarantees)
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Get a high quality easily serviced Zacuto plate and call it a day. If it's something you plan to use frequently it's worth it. That Chinese plate above looks just awful.
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You get a whole gimbal, gimbal handle, and zalex grip attachment for your metal gen 1 flyer post
gimbal was serviced last year by Tiffen
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Greeting everyone. I need some advice. As background, I bought my first Steadicam from CP in 1979. A Universal II model. ser.#165. This was so early, that when I called Garrett Brown to ask for operating tips, he told me to meet him onset that night and he'd go over the basics with me. (Altered States) What a great guy.
So, this year a young friend I'm mentoring brought me a Chinese Steadicam asking me to check it out. I haven't operated for 15 years but I told him the key is balancing the unit correctly.
My question is this: I'm mounting a large DSLR & Small DP monitor to the dovetail mounting plate. I spent 2 hours trying to balance the unit. I got it close, but even when it's balanced it still wants to float / roll and the bottom lags on starts and swings out at stops. The spin tests shows an oscillation as well. I tried less weight on the bottom, heavier rear weight to offset the DSLR - monitor weight on the dovetail... The drop test is 1second. Lateral/vertical balance is good, until i rotate the unit.
It's been so long since I balanced a Steadicam, I must be leaving something out of the process. Please give me a few pointers as the you tube balance tutorials I've watched are incomplete.
Thanks in advance!
Pretty sure it's a crummy gimbal. You could properly balance a post with bungeed rocks if you had a precision gimbal to support it.
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Brian, that's really reassuring to hear. And yes I'm planning to bolt straight through the existing threads.
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So after a long wait I managed to get Tiffen to send over a few new pieces so that I could tool around with our Gen 1 flyer and make it a little more interesting
-original top stage is backwards compatible with new CF extending post
-new gimbal also works with original flyer arm
-bypassed the "spar" at the bottom of the sled and instead have a 15mm rail system (thanks Tom Wills for supply the original basis for the upgrade on the old gen 1 post; I have changed it up in a lot of ways to accommodate the larger post)
-yes that is a cute little J-Box at the bottom. Made from a standard aluminum project box. Prototype really, for 12v only. Don't think there's any reason to go 24v.
-75ohm bnc at the top and bottom with hd-sdi run through the sled
I designed the J-box with the idea in mind that I think it is more comforting to power things like Red setups by keeping the battery mounted to the camera. The power can be looped back through the sled from the top stage, and the breakouts at the bottom can accommodate accessories mounted to the 15mm rail system. Means less V-droop from extensive wiring. Means being able to exchange a ton of accessories from the top stage and putting them at the bottom instead (ex. going to be using a Hyperdeck 2 mounted to the bottom instead of up top).
Fully adjustable, can have bottom rails as wide as you want via extensions for absurd levels of pan inertia. Any battery type easily swapped out. All 2 pin lemos, very easy to work with. You can mount anything you want to the bottom as well via those 15mm rails....example, I did a couple of 360 gopro steadicam shoots that requested there be no footprint below the cameras and the rails can be made to just a few inches and also provide mounting. Pretty neat stuff.
Just a little project I had been working on this past week. It's been repair and upgrade season for me here.
Next step is probably going to be figuring out a couple of circuit breaker points as well as creation of a j-box for the top stage. I've seen Brian Freesh's old implementation but I can't help but get the feeling that having a box so large and close to the gimbal must be troublesome....
Click the link for the rest of the photos.
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Ah I meant losing my video/power combo ports not camera ports
Oh I know a way to be successful. It's not worth the trouble though. I would have to destroy the lemo ports to make it happen.
Hi Michael, I do the wiring at PRO and Jarrett is correct, you cannot hack the video line and turn it into an HD line. From what I know the data packets get lost throughout the unshielded wiring and solder between the upper and lower junction box. I don't have an old junction box in front of me to know for sure, but I also don't think there is enough room between the lower junction box housing and the junction box connector to run anything like a mini BNC. I'm kind of adventurous when it comes to this stuff so I know it'd be fun to do if you decide to do it. Whether or not the end result will be successful is another matter. Have you talked to David Hable (sp) at Cramped Attic yet? He has done quite a few upgrades and may have some good information for you.
If I understand what you mean, you do lose the Lemo 1S 12v only connector if you upgrade to a cinelive but you still have 2 larger Lemo 2B power connectors for camera power.
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Peter do you know if the flyer le post is identical in proportions to the scout post?
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As someone who did some modification to my UJB and LJB in attempts to do what sounds like the same thing, I'll just say this: dude, just pay for the HD upgrade and sell off the parts. I did a number of attempts at the mods, and in the end, I just did the HD upgrade anyway.
Oh I can see that this is a no turning back situation if I decided to mod the analog stuff. It's sort of a situation where I'm looking at either 30 bucks of parts and a no-turning-back modding to get *just* HD video (and, I believe, lose my camera/power combination ports in the process), or spending $1K+ on the HD upgrade. I mean, I can't even find the part numbers for the 18/19 pin lemo upgrades (if they even exist for end user purchasing).
or, buy yourself an Aja V2analog for $350 and be done, seriously you don't need HD (1920x1080) on a 7" steadicam monitor.....none of them are anyways....
Why the HD video hate? Can see more stuff, can pull your own focus if you have to. There's .... literally no downside.
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Ah I see. I don't believe it's possible to do it this way. Have a pro post with bayonet mount, and the upper j-box's lemo connector pretty much fills the entire space. I thought maybe you passed a very thin gauge coax directly through the female lemo or something.
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As far as I know it is not. I believe there are issues with impedance and shielding in the SD wiring (that are perfectly fine for a composite signal) that will not allow it to work with HD. That being said, I have not tried it myself. I did do an HD upgrade, but ran an independent mini-coax down the barrel, connected with RP-SMA connectors. It did require a bit of mechanical modification to make the cable fit through the joints in the rig, but was fairly small and did not harm the integrity of the rig. What rig do you own?
It's a pro rig, with the standard 8 pin pro lemo connector. Not sure what you mean by mechanical modifications to make the cable fit through the joints in the rig.
Are you saying you ran a mini-coax straight through the female lemo from one end out to the other end? And capped it out of the coiled cable bundle and connected it to a regular coax and ran that alongside the coil bundle?
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Just curious, is the standard pro SD cable sufficient to provide HD-SDI if I were to axe the POWER/VID wiring? The top stage I would wire the old video BNC solely to a 75ohm female BNC, and at the bottom I would add a 75ohm BNC as well and cut the video away from the pro 5 pin monitor out.
Anyone have any luck in doing such a mod?
Of course I could always go the nuclear option and drill out the video pin from the lemo socket and feed a wire straight through it......but that might be a little overboard.
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Is there a chassis mountable P-Tap connector anywhere? Something that can be mounted inside of a project box or similar?
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Haris those are all male
Jim thanks, there must be something wrong with the way these things are setup in their system. It is listed as a 1 contact connector and that is why I was unable to locate it :D
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I can't seem to find one of these (0b.302 variety) anywhere....0 in stock. Most places don't even have a part number available for them.
Any preferences on suppliers for these varieties?
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Looking for one
edit: pro post wrap grip sorry, not a pro gimbal grip
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This is the same post as the Flyer LE as well, correct?
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Received both decimators back today, they didn't even bill me for the repair or shipping back actually....not sure what to make of that. Perhaps legacy units are being treated differently due to the switch over recently to the new repairs partner.
Both units seem to function fine, though heads up the HDMI on both units seemed to be faulty. Strangely they both needed to be ... physically broken in. Intermittent signal that cut off at the slightest bump of the cable. Almost as if there was a short in the unit, or the contacts were coated in something preventing a clean signal. Lots of unplugging and wiggling fixed it from being useless to almost perfect....never had to do that before with any device.
edit: super fast symbiosis response from Julian suggesting that the units sometimes get a layer of flux residue that can settle on the connectors and it should wear off with time
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Heads up. Symbiosis received my decimators 11/10 and shipped out replacements 11/24 with fedex tracking stating expected delivery date 11/26
I think this is reasonable. Will update when received.
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As far as Decimator support goes, I popped two Decimators in the mail just a little over two weeks ago. They have been relatively responsive over email, they have an online system that gives you status updates for your RMA. It shows as received and in progress with the manufacturer, and the service rep Julian informed me that the repairs have been authorized and will be completed in the "next couple of days."
Though it wont have been the speediest, I think it looks like it will turn out to be a lot better than it has been in the past.
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Been looking and looking lately all I see is people not using brackets anymore. Just flipping upside-down and adjusting sled length or gimbal placement. Guessing it's due to all the ergo-handles out on the newer equipment.
I've tinkered around with a 3A gimbal and low-mode J-bracket http://steadimoves.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hh2.gif actually that bracket minus the hill handle. It seems really difficult to make function right when using a long post due to the awkward off-angle with a 3A handle being upside-down. I have resorted to actually attaching the bracket to the gimbal itself instead of at the arm, so that the gimbal is right side up. A long post is then fed upward through the arm and secured at the top to prevent it from sliding out. This way the post isn't canted at a massive angle / gimbal arm isn't hitting the post.
My best guess is that the bracket just isn't appropriate for use with a 3A gimbal handle. Is that pretty much the case, that the 3A gimbal handle is unfit for long arm post low-mode ?
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Hey fellas,
This was replaced long long ago. Kyle stripped it on pretty much the first job he ever did with the rig, not realizing that the tension shoe was so delicate and didn't require much force. All is well!
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Thought Jon Beattie has one, can't get a response back from him. Anyone else have one for rentals? 9/11 and 9/12
edit: hah Jon messaged me just as I posted this, good timing
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Curious, do these units have a heatsink?
Gen 1 flyer gimbal with Zalex grip upgrade
in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale
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