Jerry Holway

Interesting!

Tiffen is working on a rain cover - I've seen a clever prototype but I can't test it as I don't own a Volt (yet!) - I'm going to give it to an op to test soon. I'll post the results when I know more.

The docking bracket helps when using the Volt in several ways, including preventing the small possibility of injury to the cables, and preventing a much bigger possibility of injury to the Volt motors and motor electronics. Also, the dock is padded, so there is less shock on the gimbal bearings when docking. A related minor concern, but still an advantage - no little bits of anodized aluminum get ground off and potentially drop into your gimbal. The gimbal is always at the right height for docking, regardless of how long or short the sled might be. The gimbal can get closer to the stage than with a traditional dock. The primary balancing stud is low and close to the stand center, so there is very little lifting off the dock for balancing (less effort!) and nothing to move around for balancing. Nothing slides or interferes with docking. The over-centers locking lever is easy to use and it is clearly engaged or not, and there is a secondary lock on the OC lever.

Oops- forgot... with long modes (high or low), a tilt head preserves that precious lens height, and keeps the opposite end of the sled from hitting things behind you. I learned that last thing the hard way, on my very first shot with a superpost without a tilt head...

An integral tilt stage (like on the Tiffen rigs) can be used to preserve dynamic balance when the lens is pointed up or down, which, of course makes operating easier. Trimming to aim the stage up or down with a "flat" or non-tilting stage will always take the rig out of dynamic balance. The more you tilt, the more out of balance you will be. A vertical post is easier to operate with than a non-vertical one. Again, it's a matter of degree. A tilt stage is really useful in low mode, when one is often looking up – it's hard to tilt up when the arm is boomed way down. BTW, a non-integral, an add-on tilt stage may give you re-balancing problems (big c.g. shift) or create viewing problems with wide angle lenses (i.e., seeing your MDR...), as well as increase the minimum lens to gimbal distance.

Guido - The electronics need a cover; a small "skirt" overt the gimbal does the trick nicely. Low temps should not be a problem. It's been tried in pouring rain (Kentucky Derby for one).

GENERALLY: Boom a little, tilt a little, and let her drop somewhat in the frame. The move should follow, energy wise, how she is moving through the woods. If she's calm, your moves moves should be calm and not overly excited about her dropping a bit in the frame. And if she's frantic, you need to be as well. It also depends on the frame size... If you just boom, it feels unnatural, like the world is moving up. Classic Steadicam 101 stuff.

I see the XCS plate also has the Tiffen-style safety screw; see first pix. I assume there is one on the front. Gregory, are these standard on XCS or did you add them later?

Thanks, Tom. I was thinking only about the dovetail width, apologies. Brad - Tiffen plates are .400 inches high; but there is another issue using non-Tiffen plates: The safety system to keep a loose plate from sliding fully off is a couple of 4-40 socket head screws protruding from the bottom of the plate at each end. If your plates are tall enough to clear (.400 or more), you may still have to add the safety screws. It's not a big deal to add them, and it's cheaper than buying new plates. For your PRO plates that are .270 high, adding a sheet of 1/8 inch aluminum as a spacer might also be solution to keep your old plates.

Yes indeed, but depending on tolerances, you may need to adjust the tension ever so slightly; easy to do.

No! it's done with the trunnions.. one on each side. There's a procedure to test for centering, and also to center it. Not too tough but maybe better if the dealer did it? I haven't done an Archer in a long time... don't remember the exact steps, which is why I suggest your dealer do it.

Yes, but no need to do it hard. It's just a set screw to fill the space.

The 3 "thru" holes with set screws installed were for the Tango - no adjustment there. The other screws hold down the top cap/plate and should be tight. No adjustment there either. What are you trying to adjust?

Try several vests out - the fit of a vest is very personal.

With the right arm post, of course.

Tenerife! November 18-24! Should be amazing!

Marco, if you remove the motors, it's still a gimbal like any other, so it can be re-centered. The M1V will compensate for slight imbalances in not so perfect gimbals, and not so perfect static or dynamic balance by the operator. Of course, the more perfect the gimbal and balancing are, the better it works.

Yes, viewing seems more important than clearance for the operating hand; photo 1 is more typical for regular operators. BTW, I thought the hand clearance would be the deciding factor when it was designed... so for once something was designed for goofy first.

Christian- M1V goes on the M1 - and now on other sleds. What the M1 can carry, the M1V can handle. (sorry to hijack any part of this) I agree with Alec re the Exodus.

There is the possibility of adding the Wagner level display from the control unit in the future.

Send it to Tiffen/ UK rthwaites@tiffen.com The bearings are all in standard sizes, so some bearing should be available, somewhere.

More on #7, "getting confused." What you describe in your question it always handles like a charm. Even flipping it upside down, whip panning, and doing all sorts of wild things all at once (we've watched folks try this at demo's...) and it has always worked.

1. I notice that the Volt gimbal doesn't have the remote control for the motorized stage, I think I understand why but can you clarify that the functions that the remote (side to side, for and aft and GoTo buttons) gave you previously are now no longer required with the Volt gimbal? not required but if you already have it (U2 for instance) you can still have it and use it. 2. Understandably having a dynamically balanced sled is preferable but to what extent can the Volt gimbal handle a sled that is not dynamically balanced when panning? A lot. handles out-of balance sleds, gimbals. Better if all true and balanced, especially for big moves, whip pans. Your skill as an operator matters 3. What is the un-assisted speed or virtual drop time the tilt function of the gimbal can give you? . So for example, How many seconds does it take to tilt from a 45 degree tilt to vertical? Can this speed be varied? quite variable from infinite to quite fast in either tilt or roll and independent in each axis 4. Reading a previous comment above from Gregory, re Resting position on the shoulder, at what degree of Tilt does the system switch off ? It rolls off gradually around 45 degrees 5. In relation to the above question, at what degree does the Roll function of the system switch off ? Does the tilt and roll function switch off simultaneously? close to 5 degrees 5a. If a shot begins by looking straight up a skyscraper and then tilting down to find a person exiting the building, how long does the system take to engage and realize that you are not resting the rig on your shoulder but doing a shot? instantly, and gradually increasing 6. I can see that the amount of strength the gimbal motors can exert can be varied, what is the maximum strength ? How many pounds of pressure from say wind blowing on the rig can the system hold the rig stable? That would depend on the wind shadow of the rig. It helps. Good on vehicles. 7. Can the system become confused in any way? As an example, if the system is in the tilt and hold setting and you have to do a slow switch with the rig tilted up, the tilt bearing of the gimbal progresses to be the roll axis and back to the tilt axis, similarly the roll bearing progresses from roll axis to the tilt axis and back to roll axis. Beauty of it, it rarely gets confused. I haven't ever seen it, but I suspect that with very, very long continuous accelerations, like on a merry-go-round, would cause level drift. But you can ALWAYS hold the rig to any angle you want. 8. Can the motors be damaged if the Volt is set to hold the rig vertical and you hold the rig in a non-vertical position for an extended period? Nope. 9. Maintenance? I notice that the two drive gears with toothed belt is exposed, why is this component not covered? Does it need constant adjustment? How susceptible is this system to dust and moisture? How many hours of operation can we expect before having to replace motors, belts etc. Most of the time the motors and belts, etc. are doing almost no work, barely move, and are under no big strain ever. Belts of this type should last well nigh forever, but are easily available all over the world. Tensioning is easy. Needs to be covered (with a temporary "skirt") for conditions where you would also cover your camera. 10. What is the power consumption of the system? Almost nothing most of the time - the neutral balance and dynamic balance and inertia of the sled is doing most of the work. I think you won't notice it in terms of battery replacement. I believe it can draw 2 amps if it needs to (not sure when it would, and certainly not for any length of time). 11. Gimbal centering, it would seem that the simple system of previous gimbals to center the gimbal isn't obvious in the Volt gimbal, can you comment on how this is done in the Volt or is this now a non essential adjustment? It's set at factory - centering matches the system for the M1. It can handle out-of-center gimbals as well (a little more power draw, of course). 12. Is it foreseeable that future versions of this Volt system could offer a virtual Pan inertia as well, which could be an alternative to using gyros? Not contemplated at this time. Thought about it, of course - the little Volt for smart phones has motors for pan as well. Increasing pan inertia with weights and/or Antlers would be useful up to a point, then one could add gyros for the odd shot.

Tom is correct. .740.

Arm post for Archer, Pilot, etc. is about .495 -.493