Lars Erik

Hey everyone,

thanks for all the info,

me and the focus puller calibrated it several times. Everytime without wireless video and made sure all BFD cables were isolated. All cell phones were off. We made sure the calibrating button was in the middle. Tried all channels, even tried different channels in case the switch had been twisted. Nada, zip, nothing. Getting a Chroziel back-up from a steadicam collegaue tomorrow morning. So hopefully it'll all work out.

Jerry; I've used the unit several times with no problems. And no updates have been made to either. So I don't think this can be the problem. Not sure though. I'll have to send it to Michael Hofmann (I bought it from him), and he'll probably send it to Jim.

S**t, it totally sucks when these things happen. Felt like an idiot in front of the focus puller. God it testing me, that's it. Arrrghhhh!

LE

Hey, tried all channels. No wireless video attatched at the time. Still nothing. Going to get a preston.

Hey everyone,

I have the BFD, sucessfully calibrated. But the RX cant find the TX. Just a red light. Please help if you can. Have a job tomorrow.

LE

Hey Chris,

the 2nd battery mount can't be removed. The 3rd wire has to be wired, but in the top stage itself, Tiffen has made 24v system ready. So you just add the wire.

And no, there's no cheapskating using a removable 2nd battery. Sometimes that can even be better. I just want to keep my cables running outside the post to a minimum.

Now with my 2nd battery I have to figure out a way to attach Antlers in low-mode...

LE

Hello Gordon,

the 450 is the same housing as the DVCam 570. The differences are the placing of some external buttons, the 450 has the same menu as the XDCam series and the 450 also has progressive mode, which the 570 lacks.

This is a 2/3" camera, so the weight with viewfinder, lens, FF, Modulus and onboard battery (I suggest you use it, as I've found that most video cameraes are front heavy, specially when shooting with a lens like the J11), you should be up on the 11-12,5 kg scale. So you should be fine.

Yes, the 450 has a 12v D-power tap. It's located behing the viewfinder to the right. There's an on/off switch also for this button, as this was designed for onboard camera lights. It's on the opposite side of the D-tap. It's has 2 options; auto and manual. I think manual is when the D-tap is on all the time.

Haven't used the Modulus myself (I have the-boxx), but I've powered the-boxx and a BarTech via D-tap on 2/3" cams. If there's only one D-tap on the camera house (sometimes there's also a D-tap by the battery, but this depends on the type of battery mount on the camera) you can always get a hold of a powertap multi, which is a D-tap male which has 4 D-tap female attached to it.

PS! I seem to remember when using the D-tap, this actually draws battery power from the camera battery, not the rig, even if your rig is giving power to the camera. I might be wrong, but last time I used the Sony camera I think that happened. So you should bring extra onboard battery and charger for this camera.

Good luck

Hello Jaron,

as Jerry has pointed out, the Archer can take a lot more than the weight informed by Tiffen. You need a custom mount on the bottom of the rig, and with a 24v upgrade, you basically get that. I've found that the G-50 is more of a limitation than the rig and the gimbal. Had 18.5 kg on the rig, and that worked fine. The rig itself weighs 4 kg. And that's the max of the G-50. (22.5 kg)

LE

Hey Chris,

good to hear you're back in business and running around with your rig. I've got lots of shoots myself. Just got a documentary series. 10 days of steadicam. Grrrrreat!

Here are the pics. Quite simple. The extra battery is mounted under the post as I said. This extra battery plate has a on/off switch. Wires go up the post and into the top-stage. The top-stage is wired for 24v, so the tech said it was real easy to do.

LE

LE

Hey Charles, wasn't too bad. About 6000 NOK. Which is about 500 Euro.

Hey Chris, happy new year. How is everything? You back in Amsterdam and started working yet? The documentary feature I was talking about is coming along. So we might be able to work together at the end of 2007 or beginning of 2008. Have to be honest about the upgrade, I only pushed Michael Hofmann on it and told him I wanted the extra battery under the post. He and his great technicians did the rest. Will post pictures by the weekend. A fellow Archer owner in Sweden has had the same upgrade and tested it with the 435, and it worked fine he said. They changed my gimbal, Tiffen said that some of the first Archer's had a faulty gimbal.

LE

Done. Hofmann of Sweden upgraded my rig to 24v. New battery attached to rods just under the post. 12v/24v option by button on the new battery plate.

LE

Hey Jean Nicolas,

I really like your two first shots. They get my attention because it's difficult to see if it's a dolly or a steadicam. An experienced DP I once worked with told me that you're only really good at steadicam when the viewer can't see it's a steadicam.

Your second scene is a bit long for my taste. No real new information about our operating is introduced in this scene after a 10-12 seconds. And in the wide shot you have really a lot of headroom, and it doesn't seem like there would be a reason for there to be so much headroom. This is something DP's really can dislike. So be careful about that. Did it myself a few times and the DP told me to do the shot again.

Other than that I second Matt that it's good work, specially on a V8. You'll most likely kick some a** when you get upgraded to a "real" rig.

Music is fine.

Keep up the good work.

LE

Hey everyone,

very off topic this, but just wanted to share a bit of information.

Was out shooting in the cold harsh winter landscape of Norway this weekend. Insane snow blizzard and -10 celsius. The snow at the end of the day covered parts of the camera. Had snow cover, but high wind rotated the snow in under the cover.

The camera didn't complain once. I'm impressed! Go Sony.

LE

Interested! Just got my rig upgraded to 24v. Have AB and will keep AB if they can compete with the PowerCubes.

Jaron,

on steadicam.com on used and demo section, there's a Clipper 24 for sale w/ G-50 arm. No vest though.

LE

Hello everyone,

I'll follow your advice and replace the mounts. Thanks for all the replies.

Have a great Christmas!

LE

Good point Imran,

anyone know?

LE

Ok Jerry,

thanks for clearing that up.

LE

Ooops! Thanks Erwin. Will be more creative next time. Promise.

LE

Hey Erwin,

of course the Archer can't fly a 535 or a fully loaded 435, but I encounter jobs with the Arri Lite. Sometimes also a 235. I've had the Archer rig maxing out at 18,5 kiloes. So it can take quite a little load.

And yes, one must ask oneself what kind of jobs one is looking at. But investing in FF, Antlers, wirless video, countless monitors, cables and the list goes on and on...AND investing in a 24v first time rig can be a bit too much for some. So I decided to buy the Archer after testing it. Because I also wanted to invest in a full rig with all the above mentioned items, which I have done in just one year. I didn't expect to get offers of 35mm jobs so quickly, but they've come, so now I have to prepare for that. But the jobs on 35mm in Norway isn't that often, so investing in a new/used 24v rig now, is just too early. I'm guessing in 3-5 years I'll probably sell the Archer (or keep it if I can afford to), and get a 24v used rig like a Ultra or something.

In the US I'm guessing that if you do 35mm jobs, they expect you to show up with a 35mm rig like a PRO, MK-V or a Ultra. But then you have budgets we in Norway never will be able to come close to having. Remember that a BIG movie in Norway, has a budget of about $ 3 million. That's including marketing! So it takes us longer to be able to make the amount of money you're making. And then there's the fact that there isn't that many jobs around for ops.

And I believe when you also say that the Clipper II is under video, that's probably because Tiffen don't want the cheaper rigs to compete at the same market as the most expensive ones. Of course one can't compare a Clipper or God forbid a Archer to a Ultra, but that doesn't say they can't fly some 35mm cams...

Personally I like the Archer, because you can use it for fiction or documentary. I've been doing some documentary stuff with it. That wouldn't have been possible with a Ultra, it's just too damn heavy to have on for a whole day shooting docs. But it can be done with a Archer. So in that sense both the Archer and a original 24v rig have both limitations I guess.

LE

Getting my Archer system switched to 24v in the beginning of January. Hofmann of Sweden has made this possible. Will post pictures then. The second battery is based under the sled, as we've talked about earlier.

LE

Hello,

I swear I've seen a adaptor to put on AB systems, which makes it possible to use V-lock based batteries. Changing from Hytron 120's to IDX Steadicam batteries in the near future.

Anyone know what this thingy is called? Checked out bhphotovideo.com but with no results. Any tips on where I can get my hands on one of those is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

LE

Was watching Miami Vice, season 2 (1985) on DVD. And being used to the rough, shaky look of it's grip dep. I was surprised to see a long steadicam shot on a beach where the camera reveals all the characters of the series working under-cover. It's from season 2, the episode called "Bushido", Dean Stockwell guest starring. The whole episode has quite a lot scenes with steadicam.

Anyone know who operated on this? Didn't find anyting on IMDB.

LE

I'll give my support for the Archos AV500. It's a very versatile, nicely compact DVR. I've got the 30GB version, and I haven't even come close to running out of hard disk space on a shoot day. With the travel adapter, it's an easy out-of-the-box solution that runs on its own battery (which has never run out on a shoot day either).

 

Hi Afton:

 

I'm not getting anywhere close to a full day on the battery of my Archos AV500. What power saving settings are you using for screen / HDD etc.?

 

Thanks!

Rob, have the same problem as you. It's true as stated, that if you have on power save it'll last the day. Until the DP/director wants to see the shot again. No way I'm gonna say 'no -I don't have the battery to do that'. I just bought a second battery. Cost me $40. No problem ever now. Decided that was more cost effective and easier than to buy cable.

LE

I usually have a 48 hour cancellation time-limit. If you cancel 2 days prior to shooting there's a 50% fee. 24 hours or less is 75%.

 

LE

That sounds great, but I would guess you've never gotten anyone to pay it. Or have you?

Hey Brad,

no, but at least it scares the unserious "customers" away. So I don't have to deal with them. :D

LE

gents,

have had the same thing happen to me in u.k., here in norway and denmark. So this is a worldwide problem I'm afraid.

Best thing to do is what Sean mentions. I usually have a 48 hour cancellation time-limit. If you cancel 2 days prior to shooting there's a 50% fee. 24 hours or less is 75%.

LE

Just weighed my G-50 with a fish weight. 9 lbs.

LE