Thomas English

Your right... a crazy idea, sorry gentlemen. So i won t mention having the electric fan at different settings pointing at the bottom of the sled. Or the electric water pump pumping water between 2 large bottles one on the front and one on the back of the sled. . . . actually maybe thats not such a bad idea..... hmmm maybe I should join a different forum. Very interested as to how you get on . thomas

I am selling the following items. Please be in touch quickly as I would like to pay for some kit that has been kindly been sold to me. 1 provid arm with regular steadicam male socket block (fits klassen s , 3a vests, pro etc) and a 5/8' bearing post for Pro and 3a etc asking £1500 or nearest offer 1 progear arm, 4 heavy duty titanum springs capable of carrying anything from a pd150 to an Imax camera. Spares of every bearing so any problems you can have serviced quickly and efficiently by your local steadicam engineer. asking £3500 ono 1 3a vest £800

I want a gimble that extends up above the bearing by an inch. So when I am in low mode I can operate off the gimble and not on the post itself.

Does any body know of any steadicam op s in columbia ? Do you know the rates ? I am being offered a feature for 2 months there and I love columbian girls but I now have to do the rates salsa with the producer. I know that a focus puller there is only 100 dollars a day. What should I do ? 2 whole months ? how much ? what discounts do you give on features ? kit 3 for 5 ? thanks thomas

get good at triming your 3a topstage whilst shooting! I reckon its possible but much easier on a pro topstage or tiffen.

seems like a crazy idea but somehow having the battery on a easy to move rail on the bottom of the sled or a magic arm. Have the start point for the battery s weight and an end point and so trim the sled during the locked off parts of the shots. Grip the sled real tight and have your trusty assistant dive under your sled and move the battery. You could even have the battery on a long pole that is ratchet strapped to the bottom of the sled and trim it by pushing it in or out while twisting it. Have 2 trims one in the first third and one in the second third. Although I would be very tempted by the magic arm.

these are quite comon brian busbee will see you one for certain +44 (0) 208 863 5666

I heard of some problems with a f900 on a gyro helicopter mount. However There s an awfull lot more electrical noise in a helicopter and there s a chance it could have simply been wind messing with the tape. Mike Brennan uses his f900 on gyro helicopter mounts all the time with no problems at all. I think its absolutely fine.

stephen, I found this in my camera weight folder. ? Millennium 17.5 lbs. (7.95 kg) body only - 29.12 lbs Steadicam mode with short zoom The source i believe was ericoh, so with thanks to ericoh.

rent an ultra sled off someone and get someone to trim it during the shot ? sorry not the best idea but I know someone in england that would give u a wicked deal on the sled that it would be worthwhile if it worked.

900mhz bounces around walls more than 2.4ghz, which is more line of sighty. I believe the preston does both. The bartech is on 900mhz.

I reckon I am quicker setting up my bartech (integrated into my rig) for each "steadicam shot" and then for each lens than most AC s are with an LCS that they only use once a week or every 2 weeks. I am pretty good at knowing the order to turn turn off an LCS so it actually reboots properly every time it crashes... but i still prefer that "hardwired" feel of controll that will work whatever happens that I get from the bartech. Often we scrap the LCS or preston in favour of the bartech that works and has power and works and just works ! I ve just got very good at engaging the motor at exactly 5ft for every lens and then the AC thinks the setup is slick. As far as he s concerned its as good as anything. But then again I set it up for him. Please can we have some proper discs please..... I think thats the 15,000 dollar difference. The other thing is I charge 70 pounds a day for my single channel. Hire company s get 160 pounds a day for a preston nowadays in england, and my bartech is not half the price. I would buy a preston if I had the randomn cash.... just to look good. But the bartech works very very well, but I don t let the AC set it up.

I promise you that you should spend the extra money on a flier. Then when you have built up your reputation/profile you will easily be able to sell it and buy a bigger rig! On the subject of cheap rigs... I learnt my "oats" years ago on the hollywood lite rig now owned by varizoom. It worked and I learnt a lot. I would entirely avoid basson purely on this elbow snapping bussiness. Imagine dropping someone elses dsr500 and lens !

Dear All! Your advice would be much appreciated. I have a 3 day shoot coming up which will consist of all running shots as people jump over cars and the like. I have nt the time to build my own rickshaw and the production do not have the money to hire optical supports rickshaw. So I am examining some options (also found in the archives) Using a western dolly? hard mounted with a bazooka. http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cinemasupplies/wesdolbymats.html Is this any good at high speeds, constantly all day? (high speeds being running not sprinting) Or modifing a wheelchair. These are three wheelchairs I found on ebay. Which do you think is best? I was thinking of building a structur off it to the left and right so the 2 grips would push u from either side thus adding stability. I have a week to come to a solution!!!!!!! or run

Joe mcNally sells his kit in London, so I have had the oportunity to try his kit side by side with mine. The arm is brilliant, very smooth and light, Whilst not iso-elastic and fairly centre weighted. These attributes make it the best running arm in the bussiness by far! some of the running shots i pulled off with this arm up and down stairs and through fights still amaze me (brian tuffano s "kidulthood" soon to be released). slick/smooth arm with many bearings but not iso-elastic. It weighs nothing! The sled is like people say "rock solid" . you ll understand that when you play with it. It works very well. try it out for certain!

sell your master sled and by an mk-v nexus you ll be back in the world of easy mods rather than trying to drill into the dashboards that were made to look pretty. I am sure whitehouse AV can put you in the right direction for extended posts for the master arm. When I use Joe McNally s master arm he has had machined up a post at 3a size (5/8") if thats easily possible I am sure any good machinist could make up your extended posts why don t u sell me your master arm and get yourself a nice new g50 perfect for your lightweight cameras?

if your doing these crazy mods why don t u simply use an oscilloscope it took me 2 seconds when making up my "pro" lemo cable for my panasonic lcd. And I am no techie!

Thanks Stephen unfortunately I had already tried panastores and they only sell the "backstage" conversions that don t fit NALPAK ...... Does anyone know anyone that can make the backstage conversion fit the NALPAK

I have had a few situations recently when I have gone through the kit hire company for the job. When the client to the kit company cancelled with 14hours notice. The kit co. said quite clearly, "No thats full rate" . If it had been me on my little own I would have been rubbish, but the kit firm charged full rate and told me to invoice them for full rate. When I was speaking to an agent the other day who was trying to take me on. They said what was normal was (in the UK) within 24hrs of call time = full rate 24 to 48 hours = half rate confirmed booking cancellation = 25% You may be surprised that the accounts department simply expect an invoice from you for cancelling. Remember there is already a political devide between the DoP/Director against production, and its the DoP/Director combo that hired you and like you... maybe just send them a 25% to 50% invoice with a covering note as a little slap in the face, I don t mind annoying production a bit because I know that the DoP won t care and would probably respect me for it even. politics

Your refurbished IIIA has the silver springs in it though? with the full 13 - 63 lbs weight range?

Ok.. non isoelastic arms, some are more unisoelastic than others. Have any of you rig engineering folks compared your arms to the progear or baerbell arms. How much effort do you need to lift your arm away from the centre point? thomas

I have just been trying to "steadicam" up my magliner. However my problem seems to be that my magliner is NALPAK . As I am trying to do the wheel conversion to 8' wheels. NALPAK refuse to ship outside of the states. will the backstage conversion fit? thomas

no not yet. There certainly is no "cheap" way to wireless HD yet. I am sure someone will pop on this forum the moment there is!

magnum The Paris workshop is intended as an advanced workshop so will be quite different to the optex course, hence why I am considering it. I suspect howard is now concentrating on his AR training but he does also offer advanced training days. In paris, I think you ll want to use their kit.... for the simple reason that you can learn how the others live. the little mods u could later make to your rig. Take your rig and keep it in the car... im sure you ll end up playing with it on one of the days. Trying and playing with different rigs all the time I feel is very important. There are often circumstances where you need to hop into some elses rig at short notice.

I think its all fine. Surely if the producer gave you permission, its then the production company thats at fault for authorising reproduction. I cut mine at home... was once an editor at the bbc . The problem is you really need someone to butcher your reel for you savagely. Otherwise you just end up with shed loads of sentimental shots like on mine. I think people just switch straight off after about a minute.