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Maxwel Fisher

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Everything posted by Maxwel Fisher

  1. My two cents: If you have a tap and die set, maybe try clearing out any burrs that could be on the inside thread of the female side socket blocks. Also, replace any socket screws that are bent. I've notice over time that the bottom of the screws will round out more and more from tightening down, but I can't say I've experienced the sides of the threads getting destroyed like in your photo. I say this having owned and used both the Pro and Klassen vests. Hope this helps!
  2. Hi Will, Congrats on your upcoming graduation, that really quite exciting! As far as your first steps into the world of steadicam outside of school, there are a few things that we're all recommended when we begin our walk down the path of balance and pain. First, grab a copy of the steadicam operators handbook. Second, sign up for a class or workshop with a certified steadicam instructor (Tiffen, SOA, Maine Workshop, Steadicam Lessons). After that, reach out to your local steadicam operators, get to know them. See if one of them is willing to take you under their wing. I know Savannah has a few and if you ever are in Atlanta, there are a lot more of us. This is going to be the best way for you to get hands on experience with different sleds, arms, vests, etc. As far as a first rig goes, it's purely subjective. Try everything and decide what you like. Weigh the opinions from others, but ultimately make a decision based on what works for you, not someone else. The vest especially is a very personal piece of kit. The "right" rig for a first time rig again is subjective and depends on what you can afford. A lot of people believe in the "buy once, cry once school of thought". This is practical if you have the money for it. Don't disregard buying gear second hand. Do not, if you can help it, buy anything that is "knock off" gear. It's cheap for a reason. Since you're a graduating student, consider offering up shooting any thesis films for your friends. Music videos, short films, etc. Paid work comes in time, but focus on mastering your craft first. I've seen and heard of people buying their rigs and then landing a job only to not be able to perform the task. Your ability to operate is your reputation. In time, people will come to know your talents and skill and the phone will ring. As far as resources go, use the search function on this site. Dig through the archives of the steadi-newbies posts. Too many people overlook the wealth of knowledge that lingers in this forum. If you have specific questions, make sure they haven't already been asked. You'll often find all the answers you need already exist in a thread somewhere. You can also offer to buy a cup of coffee for any of your local steadicam operators. We love coffee and we love talking about our craft. All the best, Maxwel
  3. I've seen posts in the past of people having the spherical rod ends fail on their pro arm from this setup (the rod end develops a stress fracture and cracks), but it seems like a pretty rare occurrence. I ran my arm for about two years this way and never had any problems and I know people who have been doing it longer and it's been fine. I did finally buy a rigid socket block adapter for peace of mind though. I guess the idea is, you can run the arm and vest together knowing that it might fail one day, or get the rigid socket block adapter and know that if anything fails it very likely won't be the mount.
  4. Hey Christian, If it makes life easier for you, you can write a message within your post and it will automatically bring it to the top of the forums activity. That way you don't have to keep reposting the entire thing every time. Good luck with the sale! It's a beautiful rig!!
  5. Geoff Shotz has two that he was selling as a package deal. His post is still up along with some other kit for sale. Might be worth reaching out to him.
  6. @JensSchroeder, when I still had my pro vest, I found that a little blue loctite solved the problem pretty effectively. Also, a little loctite on the screws that hold the latch pin (or rod) for the torso pad and waist pad. Sometimes they work themselves out and before you know it, the pin goes too. It happened to me once.
  7. Hi Friends, Cross posting here from Facebook for exposure: I have a used Pro vest that I'm selling. After getting into a Klassen vest a few years back, I stopped using it. It's got a brand new Torso pad for someone with a 40" chest (purchased in October when I made one last effort at whether or not I wanted to keep it) and an old waist pad from the previous owner, that I cut down to size at 34". It's been in my possession for about six years, buying it from the original owner (George Pattison - Vest #122). I've got two back up sets of all the screws and washers you need for the vest as well as an assortment of buckles that come with it. The vest shows its wear, in the form of the powder coating (maybe anodizing) having worn away in the shoulder buckle, a couple small seam tears and some velcro residue, but nothing is cracked or broken. This vest does not have the T-Wrench holder that Pro started installing on their vests. It is worth mentioning that at one point, one of the bolts that holds the socket block to the bridge piece broke. It was drilled out. The threads within the socket block were inspected and completely unaffected, the bridge piece was marred a little. I used the vest for several projects after that incident with absolutely zero issues. Asking $4000 (Continental Shipping included | International at buyers expense)
  8. For sale is a used, but loved Paralinx Tomahawk Kit with 1 Transmitter and 2 Receivers + Panel Array. Used a handful of times since I acquired it a few years ago. Sitting on a shelf now. Everything works as it should. Never had any issues with it. For those unfamiliar, the Paralinx brand was bought by Teradek and then dissolved, but the Tomahawk is on par with the Teradek Bolt 2000 if memory serves. Located in Atlanta, GA Happy to ship at buyers expense. Asking $2800 | OBO Includes the following: 1 x Paralinx Tomahawk transmitter (SDI) 2 x Paralinx Tomahawk receivers (w/ Gold Mount) 1 x 12" PTap to Lemo Cable 1 x 18" PTap to Lemo Cable 1 x Paralinx Sidearm transmitter mounting bracket 2 x Paralinx Perch receiver mounting brackets 1 x Paralinx Array MIMO panel antenna for receiver (Gold-Mount) 7 x Type-N to RP-SMA Cables for use with Array 1 x Battery Plate (male) for mounting Array to receiver (Gold-Mount) 4 x 5G Mushroom Antennas for transmitter 2 x Standard 5dbi Antennas for transmitter 10 x Standard 2dbi Antennas for receivers 3 x AC Adapters for receivers or transmitter 2 x IR Cables 1 x Remote for menu access 1 x Mini-USB to USB Cable (for future firmware updates) 1 x Custom Pelican 1550 Case Hardware and spuds to mount receivers to stand
  9. @Kevin Kisling, Ultimate - 5lbs 5ozs Ultimate 2 - 4lbs 8ozs Ultimate 3 - 4lbs 6ozs
  10. Don't know if these meet your requirements, but George has these for sale:
  11. Hi all, Looking for an old XCS docking station you might have collecting dust to turn into a mini dock for a second stand. Let me know. Thanks!
  12. I don't know the actual cost, but I think it's somewhere in the $7,000 range. This is a big guess based on someone who sold one gently used in 2019 in the UK for 5,500GBP (~6500USD).
  13. Based on this older post here it seems like the plates Haris has should fit with potentially a small adjustment to the lock mechanism (found in your Tiffen manual). The bigger issue seems to potentially be the height of the plates. Hope this helps.
  14. Hey John, Nothing from Greg (he's stated a few times now that he's got no interest in retooling his gimbal to fit the volt or the volt to fit the gimbal) or Tiffen, but there is a post on one of the Facebook steadicam groups that shows a photo of a supposed Volt/MK-V setup on MK-V's 2" post. No additional information yet. Betz's sled is 1.86" so that wont work on Greg's 2" post. Greg started making a 1.75" for those who wanted a volt with his system. Holding out a little longer might prove fruitful if MK-V brings something to market, but who knows if it will actually happen. Since they don't own any rights or patents to the volt, they'd have to partner with Tiffen I suspect. Realistically, it might have just been a one off that they did to see if it could be done or they will offer up some kind of service to modify the volt to 2" for those who want it.
  15. It's a long shot, but maybe Optical Support in the UK can help? As far as doing it yourself, while it is not identical to the Pro arm, there is a service video that they have on their website (linked below). I suspect you could use that tutorial as a rough guide to replace it yourself.
  16. Spent the better part of six hours at Greg's shop trying to sort out a peculiar issue with my Pro Cinema HD J box and DBIII. Until recently, I noticed that my sled doesn't maintain static balance once tilted either forward or backward. When returned upright it would seek a position way out of balance. Having recently adopted a longer drop time, I wonder if the problem always existed, but went unnoticed. We started with my sled. Pro Cinema HD. DBIII. Gen 3 Battery. 2" XCS Post. XCS Gimbal. XCS Monitor Bracket. 4 second drop time. We then tested the gimbal and the battery rack with an Ultimate top stage (pro mount bottom, xcs bayonet mount top) and weight plate. The sled would seek it's original balanced position after each tilt test so we ruled out the gimbal and the battery rack (although there is a great deal of flex in the AB mounts since it's held on by one thumb screw and two banana plugs). Doing the same test as we did initially with my sled at the same drop time did not yield any irregularities. We measured the conical pins in my top J box mount and found one was out of tolerance, though not terribly (the right rear suggesting that might be the culprit). Trying Greg's XCS/Pro mount with four pins was better. When tilted back the sled did a better job of finding its initial position, but when tilting forward the sled would still seek a position way out of balance. We also discovered that the mount he made took some extra machining to fit my J box. Based on the specifications he used to design it, it seems not all J boxes are made equally. For reference, it has S/N 093 stamped on the side. We also tested the flex from the camera plate on the weight cage and found that at its worse, there was 56 thousandths of an inch in flex. Not the worst he's seen from Pro, but not the best. While 56 thousandths is not something you can necessarily see, it is by all means not great. By the end of it all, it seems that the issue might lie somewhere in the mating of the donkey box to the junction box. That flex seems to be what causes the sled to not seek its original static balance. One expects some flex as there are a number of components that are stressed when you put 30+ lbs of weight on something that has such a small footprint holding it all together to the post. What we saw was the flex when tilted would not release when returned upright, essentially sticking and then the sled finding itself out of balance. I'm planning to send the Junction Box and Donkey Box off to Pro to be serviced in the coming weeks, but am curious how many other people have experienced this? When Pro redesigned and released the Cine Live J Box, did they make it more robust or has the problem persisted? Overall, this isn't meant to lambast. I love my sled and all its quirks. It has served me well and I know it will continue to do so. It's just frustrating.
  17. Hey Kevin, I was actually at his shop today and didn't think to ask. I kind of forgot that I posed this question. Now that it's up at the top again, maybe someone will chime in and I'll shoot Greg a message in the meantime.
  18. Maxwel Fisher

    LEH Weight

    Curious if anyone can give the weights of the various Ultimate LEHs? Thought I'd ask here first before going to Greg. Cheers!
  19. @Alfeo Dixon SOC I believe Nate Anderson has one. If you need his contact, let me know.
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