Tom Swiss

I got in contact. 

Could someone DM me contact infor (an email address or website) for Janice Arthur, I am interested in her practice cages. (I DM'd her here, but she hasn't been on in nearly a month). Thanks...Tom

Athos.

I have a Steadicam Zephyr and seem to get tired pretty easily with a fully loaded RED Dragon. I've watched all the videos on fitting the vest, but was wondering what other's have found useful for longer useage?

Do you generally want to make the vest as tight as possible? How far do you want the front metal rail to hang beneath your chin? The vest seems to ride up in the back. Should this be lower?

Do you prefer more weight on shoulders or waist or equally distributed?

Any pros/cons to moving the arm-block attachment bracket up or down on the front rail? 

Do you expect to be able to raise your knee to your waist without your thigh bumping the lower strap?

How long is reasonable to fly a fully loaded cinema rig (camera, mattebox, lens, battery, follow focus, and teradek bolt)?

My back would appreciate any insights. Thanks.

Is there a doughty clamp that will work with the Zephyr socket block? Other than the WK gear, how do most people mount a steadicam to a vertical pole?

I have a Mitchell car mount with the wrong socket block. I think the socket block is from an older EFP model. I have a Zephyr. My mount has a row with 4 screws and another row with 2 screws.

I was shooting a girl walking through a path in the woods (her face was towards camera). Occasionally, she would need to bend over and duck under a branch. Any opinion on what looks better - A. Boom down and maintain the same headroom in frame or B. Hold the frame steady and let her head go down to the lower third or midpoint of frame and back up.

I used to hang my Steadicam Zephyr arm through the O-ring around the aircraft pin over the stud on the docking bracket. It fell off and bent the aircraft pin; not a good solution.

If you hang your Steadicam on the same c-stand of the docking bracket, how do you do it? Any photos on the internet? I only come up with guys wearing the Zephyr.

I know this is somewhat subjective and a function of focus puller's skill, but what focal lengths are usually used with Red Dragons?

I have a Tokina 11-16mm 2.8, Angenieux 16-42mm 2.8, and Schneider Xenon FF primes 2.2 (25, 50, 75, & 100mm). I would think that filming in 6K would allow for cropping in post. In a complicated shot, how wide open do you generally shoot? I think you would need a depth of field of at least 3-4 feet.

Got it. That makes sense. Thanks.

Why does the Steadicam Zephyr have 2 different ways of locking the monitor and battery posts? Each one has a separate lock, then on the opposite side, there is a master lock that locks both.

My Dragon eats through HC-Dionics in about 25 minutes (with Bartech FF and Teradek Bolt) and sometimes Small HD monitor so a better battery would be welcome. These look to come in 90WH and 150WH. The HC-Dionics are 91WH. The new cube batteries weigh more 1.8lbs vs 2.2lbs for the same power.

It looks like the only difference is the new cubes have a d-tap.

EXCELLENT!!! Yes. Thank you.

This seems to be the only place for the screw. It locks into a permanent nut on the other side. I still don't see how you can stop the post from sliding a couple inches because of the slot in the post. Am I missing something?

To clarify, if you tighten the screw that goes through the post, it only tightens the screw to the mount. The screw still slides a couple inches through the post slot. This is a problem when doing the drop test or resting the steadicam over the shoulder as it shifts the battery the balance significantly.

I have a Steadicam Zephyr. At the bottom of the sled, there are 2 posts that slide in and out from the center. After I push out the battery post, I can lock it down with the knob on the center console. However, when I lock down the battery mount, it can still slide 3 inches along the post.

Temporarily, I put gaffer tape to lock it down. What is the best method to block the battery mount from sliding a couple inches?

Does anyone know where to purchase an Anton Bauer plate with a flexible cable with the 3-pin connector? Does this connection have a specific name? I'm not sure which plate to buy.

I want to convert my Steadicam Zephyr from Switronix to Anton Bauer so all my gear runs on the same system. Any thing special to consider when doing so or do most AB plates work?