Lawrence Karman

How can GPI not stock spare parts for something that was stilll being made only 5-6 years ago? This isn't like trying to find a bumper for a 63 Oldsmobile. i's just not that unreasonable to ask for parts like this.

Try a test powering the Cantrans from a separate power supply and hold it near where you would wish to mount it. This will tell you if it is a grounding issue. More than likely it is a shielding problem within the Panatape box. My assistant has had problems before with interference and has Panavision has added thin copper insulation around the whole interior of the Pantape box. (Which was light weight plastic) This seemed to help. You could also try extending the antenna only to the back of the mag or some place where you might be interference free. We've had Panatape boxes come with the proper Lemo connector for the Preston Panatape interface cable only to discover that the connector was not actually wired up in the inside. I hate the PITA crutch.

The terrorists have won. Thank you for the info.

Anyone replaceing their HH2 for the new HH3 want to sell the old one? I need one. Email me at : lkarman@mac.com.

Got one. E mail me. Best, Lawrence

Hey, as long as you're talking Mac, my MacBook Pro just got dropped by someone who wasn't being very carefull. Still works but it's got a nasty dent in the corner and it's a bit deformed. :-( What do I do now? Dan, I use .mac for online backup. Works well, but you have to purchase additional space. I also have an external clone hard drive.

Hey Matias. I was talking about you with Ellen Kuras a few weeks ago. She's a big fan of yours. Why not try Anton Bauer directly: pdudeck@antonbauer.com Fed Ex and you've got it in a day.

Just a footnote to my previous post: Today on a commercial I mounted my fairly new MDR2 on the rig because I thought there might be a mid-shot zoom. Well, of course we wound up switching to a prime for reasons of minimum focus distance and eventually the MDR locked up. Wouldn't cycle, no communication from host was the message on the hand unit. Power LED was unlit, receiver LED was green. Off came the $25,000 unit and on went the $5,000 Bartech/motor and the day was saved. One thing I did not think of before was that if you have a 2nd BFD unit for Iris, you essentially have a complete back-up unit on hand, unlike the usually reliable Preston. Interesting shot today involved circling around a long Thanksgiving dinner table in low mode while walking on raised steel deck until I stepped up onto the end of the table a marched down the length with cups, saucers, plates, cutlery, wine and water glasses being flown out of the way and ending on the freshly steamed turkey being carved. All in 11 seconds for several of the many versions. Stepped on a few plates but broke none. Must be light on my feet. They actually asked how tall I was before I got the job, as the ceiling was quite low. I hate to admit it but this may have been the perfect shot for the AR, although given the limitations of the impractical location the battery end might have run out of manuevering space.

I own both Bartech and Preston. Both work well, almost always flawlessly. I've had problems with both. Sometimes the Preston has worked better with certain lens/camera combinations with my camera plates and rods.Sometimes the Bartech is just the right thing for the weight factor, or the convenience of passing off the iris to the DP or 2nd AC. (Preston has since made a wireless single channel unit to do just that). I know many big time 1st ACs that own Bartechs (including the one pictured running with Dave Emerichs in that picture from Transformers) and have used them to great success. So the attitude you got from that AC is really unfair. That being said, at this point in your carreer, you can't afford to lose jobs because some one didn't like your equipment. One bad word to the DP behind your back is all it takes sometimes to not get called back. Save up for a Preston and get in line to get one. You won't regret it. And for those that think the equipment investment is too much for the return, I beg to differ. Considering the 100 day payback formula that is sort of the industry standard, it's right in line. Insist on a fair rate for your gear and you can afforf to get the best.

Nice! I Like.

Thanks. It's a bit pricey.

Are you putting this on the receiving end or on the rig? What receiver are you using?

Irwin, have you considered a small trailer? No need to load and unload at home. Just drop it off in the driveway. And a ramp door for loading the cart. You could pull it with stingy diesel.

I don't know who you are but your posting sounds awfully smarmy to me. This is serious business, Bill has made a choice to give up his livelyhood in order to back up his principles, and possibly yours as well. And if you knew anything at all about the state of unions in this Rebublican led country you'd know they are anything but "high and mighty". Besides, the union deals with issus that are common to all it's members like working conditions, wages, and P&W, not personal rentals that only pertain to a small percentage of it's membership. Let me also say to all that as someone with experience in the equipment rental business and someone with an agent, you might get a contract signed by a commercial or music vide company, but you will have a very hard time getting a contract signed by the sudios. These things get passed on to their legal dept where the lawyers must justify their jobs by crossing anything out that lays liability on the studio. Additionally UPM's will quote "studio policy" or "can't set a precedent" and refuse to sign. Save your money drawing up a contract with a lawyer.

That is outrageous! I support you 100% in your decision to leave and I hope they call me so I can tell them off.

I've got one available. E mail me at lkarman@earthlink.net.

Well thanks for the reply. I could have been mistaken, but it sure seemed like it happened that way. I rarely get to press the on/off button on the hand control. I know the MDR 1 and 2 don't care about the momentary switch thing, it seemed different in conjuction with the HH3. What it does do that I don't like is take away the on/off capability at the camera switch when the turnover cable is plugged in. I suppose this is done to keep the on/off function in sync with the led on the HH3, but I'm used to turning the camera on and off when I operate in conventional mode.

Thanks for answering that. How was it sorted? What camera was used? Looked like an SL cine, but I coudn't be sure.

I watched "Curse of the Golden Flower" yesterday on DVD. LOTS of Steadicam shots going up and down hallways that had a lot of verticals, columns and pillars. The horizons were really good, very level, but there was a great deal of vibration evident. It made me wonder if they were done on the Steadicam. After I looked at the special feature segments on the making of and noticed the operator using the AR. Perhaps this explains the vibration. Did you have this experience, Will?

Just a reminder to select the camera you are using (Panaflex Platinum or Liteweight vs XL for example) in the Hand Unit 3 software so the on/off switch functions correctly. Some cameras have a "momentary vs constant" switch for turn-over. Found this out the hard way when the camera didn't turn off when the AC hit the button on the XL and it was set for a different camera. 300' "camera test"

Where did you get the foam? Thanks It was a large piece of set dressing foam from some show (free). I cut pieces and glued it to the top to fit around the rig. I think you can purchse foam at Diamond fabrics/foam on LaBrea just N of Wilshire.

I use a 4" thick foam "bed" with a cut-out that fits the rig. I just lay it down on a shelf with a shot bag across the post to keep it from bouncing out.

I believe high frequency vibration is one reason the Libra and Stabilized Scorpio heads always have a dampener between the head and crane or fixed mount. Here's a link for one: http://www.rocketjapan.com/stabi.html Maybe that would help. Of course it would be quite heavy on the rig in conjuction with the Mako Head. ;)

Usually the receiver is mounted off of a bracket on the top stage of a rig. It is independent of the dovetail plate. I'm not sure if this is possible with the Glidecam, but it would give you more room on the rods to mount lens motors. It seems to me that the receiver would get in the way of this. You could just velcro the receiver to the camera. Sorry if you already know all this.

Actually, if they shot Christina in 3 perf 35mm or 16mm they would have more than enough for that with a 400' mag. Anyway considering what she had on I would rather have seen Cristina shot in the cold, if you know what I mean. Who knew the Swiss could rap?