Jonathan Pfundstein

Hi Robin, thanks for your response.

I'm located in Durham, North Carolina.

I agree, in most cases vibrations would most likely be coming from the camera stage or sled.

With the Zephyr being so prone to flexing of the center post I pretty much exclusively run it without the post extended.

I've gone through everything on the sled checking for play, added soft velcro to my Anton Bauer mounts to make sure there is zero play in any components.

I recently upgraded to the Skymagic Monitor yoke (thanks Frederic!) which added even more rigidity to bottom stage.

As far as any vibrations in camera builds I've flown multiple setups without issue, but also have had random/almost sporadic problems with these phantom vibrations in a couple builds over the last year, each time only being noticeable on longer focal lengths. With that being said when we noticed these problems ,the first thing we checked were the camera builds, and we came back with no issues from the camera side.

The last time this happened my AC suggested I boom the sled through the arm range to see if we noticed any vibrations and sure enough we noticed a small bump (in the image) while booming down on a 75mm. We tired the same thing again, no bump. So isolating this issue has been very troublesome, but leads me to think its the arm.

I've done testing with my practice camera and weight cage setup (about 12-13lbs) to see if I could recreate these problems which show up very occasionally as vibrations, normally when I'm stomping around trying to illicit some negative response. Besides that I've checked the top stage and the dovetail receiver plate will definitely flex with the mass of the huge 10lb weight plate, but doesn't wiggle or have any play. I checked the screws which I could tighten more, but weren't lose and once tightened the flex in the top stage didn't appear any different.

I won't be sending it anywhere as of now because its been over a month after the first email, almost two weeks since a follow up email, I've tried calling and leaving voicemails, no response at all.

In short it'd be great to talk to anyone that could give me ANY more info on what the next steps should be, but besides you Robin, I've had zero luck.

Thanks for your help in helping to try and isolate the problem.

As of now my best option is to just upgrade to full sized rig and quit fussing with this tiny noodle of a sled!

Anyone? How about having other rigs serviced through the Steadicam Service department/Tiffen?

It's been a month now and no response to the email I sent to Joe Wilbur in Repairs, anyone else who I should contact?

The problem is not with wether the product will ail or not. Every gear you put on your back and run with is vous to break some day. Wether it's a pro Steadicam or Wondlan. The issue (to me) is the quality of the response when it breaks. I have had issues with the locking clamps on my zephyr sled. Took me a couple of month to get two replacement clamps when even Tiffen recognizes that it's a design flaw. I ha to call multiple times to get an answer. And my first answer was sen it back to the factory. I'm in New York and the sled was still working but just to change two clamps, I was supposed to send the whole think back. After longer explanations I was able to get the clamps by mail but we could have avoided the whole month of conversation an I would have been a happier customer. As another example, I contacted heden for a broken motor clamp on a friend's kit, the offered to send him a fee replacement immediately without asking anymore questions (and thank you heden for that). Now that the rant is over let's put out rig on and let's go shoot some more.

I recently just started a thread asking about Tiffens service of the Zephyr line and it doesn't look promising according to everything I've read here.

My problem specifically being this exact part of the Zephyr arm. This seems to be a known issue of them being weak and I always though the implementation was pretty shotty.

Any updates from anyone contacting Tiffen about this problem?

On the other hand have never had a problem with this pin falling out. The one I purchased with the rig with (used) was short and slightly bent so I purchased another slightly longer one, but when It's inserted from the top I couldn't imagine it just falling out. #checkyourshitbeforeyoufly

Does anyone have any experience getting their Steadicam Zephyr serviced through Tiffen? Just the arm, costs, results?

I've recently been noticing a vibration in my image when shooting with longer lens, that seems to be coming from the arm, different than the vibration that can come from Zephyrs being maxed out and noodling (which I've found to occur even around 13lbs).

The only visible issue with the arm is a gap (thats slowly gotten larger over the last couple years) between the socket/and quick release pin. (see attached picture) Under load however the space does not seem to be an issue as the arm presses down against it.

There's also a slight bit of play in the gimbal laterally when just the gimbal casing is shifting, but through the yoke and handle it doesn't present itself.

My concern is that the Zephyr seems to be a fairly concealed system where servicing individual parts didn't really seem to be a focus (I could be totally wrong here and hopefully I am) I just don't want to send my rig to Tiffen for them to tell me the whole grip and gimbal needs to be replaced (at a high price) for what may not be the real culprit of the vibration.

Do they just service everything like it was an overhall, or do they actually test to see what the issue could be?

I'm certainly willing to pay the money to get the the rig serviced and any parts replaced to resolve these issues, I would just hate to send everything off and then still be left with issues.

Thanks!

Does anyone have any specifics for the 2nd battery dovetail mounting or battery configuration in terms of inputs, switches, orientations? I mounted it the most intuitive way with the plug to go in the 12/24v input (which I assume is correct) and its in opposite orientation from the other AB mounts.

Also as I understand (I switch position) is 12v and (II) is 24 volt? Why is there such little literature from Tiffen on this product?

Follow up to this post, any other cable makers on the East coast that are available?

Normally I've been using Media Blackout but timing isn't working out to my advantage for needing a cable by Friday.

Jonathan

 

I make these.

 

They're really long, I don't remember exact length. One set is 3/8" and other is 1/4-20.

 

I'm out today but I can measure them

 

Janice

That's exactly what I need Janice, thanks for your response! I will definitely pick up a set of the 3/8's

Two stations on my tm4 just mysteriously stopped working (red lights for these two stations stay on, no blinking) -- before I dig deep and/or call AB I was wondering if anyone else has this issue?

John from AB just contacted me and suggested the absolute most obvious thing that I can believe I didn't try first.

Try switching the switch in the back from Camera to charge. Some how mine unknowingly got switched, bam problem solved!

call Anton Bauer directly, they are very knowledgeable and will help and yes it depends on the firmware

Agreed definitely the best way to go.

Older 2401 chargers can not charge Dionics without a firmware update. The update chip is $75 from Ritter. Anton Bauer doesn't support them anymore and no longer has the firmware updates.

Then why would the manual state that they can charge Dionics when it was released? Trying to wrap my head around that.....since it seems like AB would give me the same info?

All in all a mute point because I found out it was running on REV. # 4.2 Would a 2401 Dual Charger be a good deal for 210$ shipped? Seems like it from Adorama with a 90 day warranty at least....

I've read conflicting information of whether or not Dionics can be charged on older PowerChargers without the firmware revisions.

http://www.ritterbattery.com/Battery-Manuals/2400_2700_dualquad_Charger_Manual.pdf

The manual says yes it will charge dionics (and I'm guessing that was the original models from the factory, regardless of firmware) , and in general that's what I've found.

But John's other charger table: http://www.ritterbattery.com/Battery-Manuals/AB-Chargers_table_sheet.pdf says that they can be used with those chargers with the firmware 3.6 or higher.

About to purchase a 2401 Dual Charger and trying to find out the firmware version, but wanted to clarify if it would charge regardless, I know some of the newer firmwares was to support discharging.

Thanks!

Two stations on my tm4 just mysteriously stopped working (red lights for these two stations stay on, no blinking) -- before I dig deep and/or call AB I was wondering if anyone else has this issue?

I'm having the exact same problem with my Titan T2! Its a shame that it sounds like this problem is virtually un-repairable for the cost!

How can a company that specializes in such high end equipment fail so hard on service follow through?! Ron have you contacted John Ritter to see if he could repair your charger before I bother with contacting him as well?

EDIT: Contacted John directly after reviewing his website repair options.

Hi Ken,

I have checked on B&H which is the best selection I found, but still lacks in specific varying lengths.

For instance I really need a 3/8 tripod plate screw, that has a long un-threaded shaft before the threads to clear the thickness of the plate. No where (in the film world of products) can I find a website that gives actual specs, in turn leaving me to search the industrial side.

I've looked high and low, far and wide, and can't seem to find anywhere online that provides a solid selection of different size, and length camera screws, washers, fittings.

I've tried searching camera screws, hardware, mounting hardware, and no dice!

Surely there has to be somewhere?

1700$ or best offer

1750$ or best offer

1800$ or best offer

1850$ make some offers folks!

Selling my starter rig that I picked up a little under two years ago.

A complete Steadicam Pilot package that has been mainly used for light dslr work. It has been upgraded to an AB battery mount but the original AA battery mount will be included as well. It includes sled, vest, arm, case, merlin weights, monitor hood and a few misc accessories.

The sled has been upgraded with a 7" Lilliput Hdmi monitor (see link), and rewired with an hdmi cable through the sled, and a mini hdmi connection at the top stage. The stock wiring that supplied power and video to the stock monitor has been redone with with soldered and heat shrunk connections. The 4 pin xlr power cable has been upgraded to a right angle connection to clean up the monitor power connection.

A case for the 7" monitor will be included as well which is nice when breaking the rig all the way down for flying or shipping.
The stock 5" lcd wil be included as well, although the original owner said it was not functioning.

$1900 or best offer. Willing to ship at buyers expense. Can meet in Atlanta or other areas in the Southeast.

1900$ bump

Hi Bo,

I'd suggest running off the native HDMI connection of the camera and upgrading the monitor.

Here's my pilot that I set up to be used with my GH3/4.

1950$ all offers considered

1st ACs that use mine love it and don't have any problems. Its the best £4000 I've spent. If you engage the motor before you power up it will auto calibrate no problem. Also you might have been holding the controller very near the transmitter when you first got it without being able to set the wireless power setting to low. Did the super speeds have stiffness near the infinity stop to cause that callibration issue?

The motor was engaged which is great and fine on len's with hard stops, but on the dslr lens I was testing it with, that wasn't the case. It just would've made more sense to send that command from the controller.

I was fairly close maybe 3-5 ft on powering up so that definitely could have been a problem getting it to connect, thanks for the tip on the power setting.

That's one feature I do really enjoy is how intuitive and well laid out the menu settings are on the controller, an absolute breeze to find almost anything.

The super speeds were fairly stiff all the way through the focal range, so I don't think the end stops specifically had too much to do with it, I think the motor was possibly trying to compensate for the added torque need to actually move the lens, causing it to be slightly off.

It was the first time I noticed a much greater latency while focusing so I know the motor was really struggling, but with that being said it performed fairly well. The DP even commented that the heden/bartech had problems last time they used that lens set.

Unfortunately the rental house's lack of general maintenance of them is what I'd really blame. The marks were all off on the lens, possible even enough to cause the inf. focusing problems, where millimeters matter.

After working with my 3.1 for about 3 months now, its been a pretty much love, hate relationship.

The first time powering it on it took me about 30 mins of powering the receiver and handset on and off for it to final connect, and it was automatically trying to auto calibrate the second the motor cable was plugged in, with no way to stop it via the handset.

Besides that I'm still on the very first lp6 battery I loaded in with the handset sitting at 75% power still! Not really sure how that works? The motors are strong and fast, and overall the system is really well made.

Although upon upgrading the motors firmware recently, the auto calibrate mode was calibrating the Zeiss super speeds I was working with, to just before infinity, a huge pain in the ass to manual reset, and at times had trouble with the motor actually being set at that and not the hard stop of the lens.

Luckily it was a shoot I was 1sting, so I had the joy of cursing at it and not someone else , gonna try downgrading the firmware now.

2000$ buyer pays shipping obo

Selling my starter rig that I picked up a little under two years ago.
A complete Steadicam Pilot package that has been mainly used for light dslr work. It includes sled, vest, arm, case, merlin weights, monitor hood and a view misc accessories. It has been upgraded to an AB battery mount but the original AA battery mount will be included as well.

The sled has been updated with a 7" Lilliput 663/O/P hdmi monitor and rewired with an hdmi cable through the sled, and a mini hdmi connection at the top stage.

The stock wiring that supplied power and video to the stock monitor has been redone with with soldered and heat shrunk connections.
A case for the monitor will be included as well which is nice when breaking the rig all the way down for flying or shipping.

The stock 5" SD monitor will be included as well, although the original owner said it was not functioning.

The whole package is in overall great shape, with a few minor scratches from about 4 years of light use.

With the extra weight of the upgraded monitor and AB mount, it flies like a much a larger rig and really works well with lighter cameras.

2100$ obo