Joe Bigornia

Beautiful work! Its just sad that other countries are getting their ideas on movies based on our school shootings here in the USA. I hope that we will hear the last of these acts of violence one day.

Monitor or Battery mounts are loose

Thank you Eric,

So do you think if I tell her to fly the sled only first to narrow the problem?

I am almost certain now that is the sled or camera area from replies from all of you

Hi Scottie, welcome !!

 

This is beyond a Zephyr or even a particular manufacturer. Anything with screws can have them work loose. When the gear is transported by airplane, or used on vehicle mount, screws work loose even faster.

 

Rocking with the camera/ dovetail place interface is always a problem when you have an uneven or very small surface. Notably offensive in this area are the Sony EX1 and EX 3 bodies as well as the entire range of Canon XL cameras. ( Both SD and HD ). The footprint of "grab area" is small and sometimes not dead flat.

 

Two cheap and very effective solutions exist. The first is the universal solution used by camera assistants: Take a 1" strip of camera tape and run a few inches on either side of the mounting hole. This adds a slight bit of padding and "grab" as you bolt the plate to the camera body. Even on very large cinema cameras, if given only one 3/8-16 threaded hole, the potential for sideways rotation exists. ( Especially when you whip pan ! ). Using a strip of camera tape on either side stops this for the most part.

 

The same trick will allow the plate to be much more firmly bound against the surface of the bottom of the camera. Lacking camera tape, go to Michael's Arts Supply or AC Moore Arts Supply. Ask where they have the 1 foot square foam rubber craft sheets. Buy one. ( Less than $ 2.00 USD ). Cutting a panel of this very thin closed cell foam rubber and making a gasket will eliminate a heck of a lot of gap. No gap, no shuddering in the shot due to vibration at this source.

 

Others posting here are correct, though- check every single thing you can. Especially on the Flyer of all Generations, check the screw holding the monitor in place. If you've lost the "O" Ring, you'll get vibration from that. Tiffen can get you a new one of the proper fit for very little money. Also, is there a viewfinder on the camera? If it's a type that sits off to one side, they are notorious for vibrating. Tape or zip tie it down. Ditto with a shotgun mic on the side of the camera body. The rubber isolation mounts allow the mic to jiggle as you walk.

 

Anything that can vibrate will given the opportunity. The gimbal and arm are miraculous at removing body motion and isolating the sled, but if something on the sled itself is not nailed down, you will get shuddering.

 

Out of curiosity, which generation Flyer are you using?

 

Best,

 

Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

I thought we found the Culprit but I guess not.

We are flying a Canon 60d, With an older generation Anton Bauer Battery, Cables going to battery and Camera, Z96 LED light on top.

Thank you for this, I will fully inspect it once again.

I am not sure what generation it is . The Flyer is the Arm and Vest only, She is using a Glidecam HD4000 on it now since we gave up the original sled to get some extra money on some Lens. We have used it with no problems before but we noticed the shake is on the left side and my wife is pretty upset it is still there. We just did a shoot today and noticed the "jitter" again on the left if you watch the following video.

https://vimeo.com/59328435 Password is Help. Thank you everyone for helping us out.

Joe

Thank you so much guys. I will definitely check it for sure. Thanks a million and have a great weekend.

Allow me to introduce myself, My name is Joe Bigornia and I am the VP of Big7 Media. My wife who is the CEO is also our Steadicam operator. We have a problem with our Steadicam Flyer, She has been flying for about a year and she only gets better until recently we noticed a shake whenever she takes a step. I am linking a video so you can see for yourselves but please give us some feedback on what it could be. I am thinking that it is probably too bottom heavy? But also there was a time when we were missing a little screw in the arm and then we replaced it. Thanks in advanced for your feedbacks and help and we look forward to being part of this community forum.

https://vimeo.com/53205366 Password is steadicam