John E Fry

The NFTS often run a second workshop in September if there are enough participants, so if you can wait that long it would be great to see you there!

As promised, here's a little test film I shot last week in Andorra, skiing with a Sony CX730 (same as their 'pro' version, the NX30 just wining the XLR block). Let's hope they don't introduce Balanced Optical Steadyshot into big cameras or we Operators might lose a lot of work! Seriously though, I've never used an easier setup on skis, and never had better results. If your footage is only going to be 10% or less of the final programme, or not for HD broadcast, I can't recommend these cameras enough. NX30 or CX730 in the UK, CX740 or CX760 in the US. But don't take my word for it, check out the video: PS. After playing with the camera before the trip, I left the JR at home...

Hi Greg, Just to add to Rob's suggestions, I have used a couple of the newer Sony little cameras (NX30 & CX730) which have the new and truly amazing Balanced Optical Steady Shot, which for most people works even better than a Steadicam Merlin, especially on snow as I've found the Merlin is affected too much by the wind. In fact the Balanced Steadyshot is so good I would use a camera with it instead of a bigger camera on a Merlin in many other situations too. I shot the on-snow parts of a little snowboarding programme for Sky earlier this month with an NX30, & the director was overjoyed with the footage, which is full 1920x1080 at 50fps. Yes it's compressed AVCHD, but that is still better bitrate than the otherwise excellent (but non-stabilised) GoPro Hero 3. You also have all of the functionality & control on the NX30 or CX730 that is missing from the GoPro, such as manual control of iris, white balance, etc. I haven't got as much experience filming on skis as Rob, but having tried many of the options for filming steadily on the snow (back as far as my trusty Steadicam JR!), depending what format is required or at least can be gotten away with, for all round ease of use vs cost, size vs quality & stability vs safety, the Balanced Steadyshot Sony cameras for me have given by far the best results, and thanks to the large LCDs, the most pleasant & adaptive filming experience too. I'll be shooting a couple of ski films in Andorra over the next fortnight & will be taking a variety of cameras including a CX730 & GoPros so will try to do a little comparison video for when we get back. All the best & happy shooting!

Hi, Do you have a plate that fit's a Flyer LE with gear track? John

Sadly selling my most popular monitor due to upgrade (well, not really upgrade as the new one isn't wireless, but I can't use both at once so this one has to go!) Nice light monitor to give directors to stop them peering over your shoulder while operating! The Teletest OZL7000 series screen is good resolution & brightness, inbuilt receiver for the radio link, and also has two other inputs (one labelled SDI but never tried it) so can be used wired on camera, or as a general video monitor. The monitor comes with a great case that includes neck strap, collapsible sun hood and rear compartment for battery. It even has a clear plastic insert for drizzley days. The transmitter is very small, only just bigger than the Sony NPF (Z1 style) battery that powers it. Again, this has composite or SDI labelled input, but never tried with SDI. I'm including 3 batteries and a charger, all in a good small metal edged flight case. Pictures shortly. Looking for £475 ONO + delivery.

Great thank you! Anyone have any more useful info or corrections? Pictures also greatly appreciated please!

Well, thank you for pointing that out, but without supplying the correct info I can't update the chart. I haven't included any other rigs than CP/Tiffen yet, although if you all could give enough info about other comparable manufacturers rigs it could be useful, or at least interesting.

Hi again, Here's the Steadicam® Model Comparison image and chart I put together. There's two PDFs, one with current models & basic info on them, and the other with (almost) all Cinema Products / Tiffen models and a few more specific details. Please everyone help me fill in the blanks & correct any info, or indeed send me any better pictures! Most of them were found on the web & aren't very good quality or resolution, so if you have a shot of your rig (preferably against white but not necessarily) do send it to john at fryfilm dot com. Meanwhile, hope you find these useful, or at least interesting! John PS. Sorry about the spelling! When I have enough info to complete the detail chart I'll correct it! SteadicamModelComparrissonChartv1.pdf Steadicam-Models-Basic-Comparison-Chart.pdf

How does the Blackmagic converter handle the signal changes? Is it quick to adjust when you hit record & the resolution drops? Hatefully I've had to do a few DSLR Steadicam jobs recently & my HDMI - SDI doesn't seem to cope with the sudden change over the HDMI, & either takes ages to get a signal back or doesn't lock up at all! If the Blackmagic works well & quickly lock to all resolutions than that's next on the shopping list!

Brilliant work Mitija! I made a comparison chart (with pictures!) of most CP/Tiffen rigs to illustrate what rigs are currently available for students while I'm instructing Steadicam. It might be a useful starting point for a Buyers Guide or at least Model Comparison section. I'll dig it out & email it to you. Some of the information & rig pictures will need updating by 'the community' here, as some are just Googled images of low quality, but where else do you go quickly for a shot of an SK or ProVid these days!? Hope Tiffen are contributing to your running costs for their ad at the top by the way! With that in mind you could happily add a 'Donate' button at the bottom of each page so some of us already impressed readers could contribute to your site to help maintain it & keep it growing. I can see Steadicam News becoming a brilliant one stop shop for all things Steadicam, for Operators, industry professionals and casually interested alike. Fantastic job, well done! Now, where's that chart.... John

Love it!! So many times I (& I'm sure many of you) have been asked if there's a cup holder attachment for the Steadicam arm! I will say yes, show them this video & watch their eyes grow wide!

Hi all. So it seems the Phantom perhaps was too scary a name for a Steadicam, so instead what appears to be the same rig is now called the Shadow series. Does anyone know what the differences are between the Phantoms & the 'new' Shadows? Literature seems almost identical. And perhaps someone knows what prompted the name change? Is it just a renaming for some copyright issue, or do the Shadows represent a markedly different or improved take on the Phantom design? Many thanks!

Any news on when the new vest might be available in the UK, & what sort of price? Might there be different versions to take different weight setups & rigs? For example, three weight rated models, smallest could be for the Scout, Flyer, Zephyr, then a mid-range one for Archers, EFPs, Clippers, Phantoms, and a big version for Phantoms, Masters, & Ultras. At least two sizes & prices should be reasonable. TV operators & smaller full rig owners should be able to take advantage of this great new design & not potentially miss out because the new vest is only available at Ultra spec & price. Any thoughts?

Well I took the plunge & removed the mini-DIN on the Flyer monitor cable, & answered my own question above. I wanted to rewire my Flyer LE to run a Marshall V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI 7" HD-SDI monitor, which for the money has got to be the best value 7" monitor out there (yeah yeah, it's no Cinetronic, but you wouldn't put a Cinetronic on a Flyer, it costs almost as much as the rig!) but was uncertain about the existing loom specifications. Very happily I found that the original internal Flyer video loom WILL take HD-SDI with good signal strength through the rig. Removing the existing mini-DIN connector revealed SEVEN small wires going to the connector. They are: a Yellow coax video cable, 2 x Red (one coax), 2 x Whites (one coax), a Black, and a Brown wire. From there it was simply a question of putting a BNC on the end of the video wire, and XLR 4 pin on the correct power wires, with some strain relief of course. The Flyer LE now powers the monitor directly and happily runs composite, SDI, and HD-SDI through the rig from the original BNC input on the stage to the new BNC connector at the bottom. I expected to have to run an new cable down the post for HD-SDI, but no need! The Marshall displays 70% signal strength & everything looks very neat and tidy. I'll put some pictures up when I get a mo. This mod will of course allow the Flyer to run any monitor that take XLR 12v power & video through BNC, or RCA with adaptor, & I don't see why this simply fix wouldn't work on an original Flyer, well as LE, F24, Pilot, Scout, etc. which all take composite video through the rig in the same way. Happy flying - now in HD!

Out of interest guys, I've just rewired my Flyer LE to run a Marshall V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI 7" HD-SDI monitor, which for the money has got to be the best value 7" monitor out there (yeah yeah, it's no Cinetronic, but you wouldn't put a Cinetronic on a Flyer, it costs almost as much as the rig!) Very happily I found that the original internal Flyer video loom WILL take HD-SDI with good signal strength through the rig. Removing the existing mini-DIN connector revealed SEVEN small wires going to the connector. They are: a Yellow coax video cable, 2 x Red (one coax), 2 x Whites (one coax), a Black, and a Brown wire. From there it was simply a question of putting a BNC on the end of the video wire, and XLR 4 pin on the correct power wires, with some strain relief of course. The Flyer LE now powers the monitor directly and happily runs composite, SDI, and HD-SDI through the rig from the original BNC input on the stage to the new BNC connector at the bottom. I expected to have to run an new cable down the post for HD-SDI, but no need! The Marshall displays 70% signal strength & everything looks very neat and tidy. I'll put some pictures up when I get a mo. Smooth Shooting all!

I have a similar problem! Has anyone got any advice for finding a replacement EFP gimbal clamp? I think it must've been overtightened during last weeks course, & it's broken in two! There's work lined up for it so if anyone has any suggestions for a modern replacement anywhere near the UK we'd be much obliged please! It's the original Allen keyed ring at the bottom of the gimbal grip, without which the gimbal just slips freely up & down the post, just to avoid any confusion! Cheers all!

I need some HELP on this topic too please! I'm looking into simply splitting the existing SD monitor wire into video & power, either by making an adaptor for the existing connection or 'hacking' into the wire, so I can run a different monitor with composite video & 12v XLR power from the existing loom. I don't have time to send the rig away before my next job - otherwise I know the stock answer is 'Terry West! (or Optical Support here in the UK) so thought I'd ask here. My issues are thus: - if I was to make an adaptor to go on the end of the existing Flyer monitor wire, would that DIN connector be able to support 12v at up to 3amps (or whatever a Marshall 7" needs)? - if instead I was to cut the cable & split it into power & video (and make a reverse adaptor so I could still use the stock monitor as backup) where would be the best place to cut that cable & does it even run 12v through, or is it already taken down to only what the stock monitor needs? The least I need to do is separate out the video from the existing loom at the bottom of the sled, as I could run an 'external' power lead to the new monitor directly from the D-tap on a battery, but this is an ugly & short term solution when all the wires are there to do it internally - I just am not sure exactly how best to do it! If anyone knows or has any perhaps better suggestions I'd be most appreciative! Copius amounts of beer & free lodging (to sleep it off) will be provided if you are ever in my region of the world!

Teletest Cyclops HD TV Logic LVM-071W Sony EX3 LCD

More pics:

Hi all, Keen to see for myself, I went down to Teletest yesterday to take a good look at their Cyclops HD monitor. Yes, it is BRIGHT! We took it outside & it was easily viewable on the overcast day, very well viewable at almost every angle. It is supposed to be 1500 cd/m or 1500 nits, or at least equivalent too, and it is certainly one of the brightest monitors I've seen. However, the picture itself I have to say was pretty awful. There's a distinct colour shift, the contrast seems just too high which I couldn't adjust to claw back the details without underexposing the camera, and the sharpness & detail is really poor. The Teletest man had a TV Logic LVM-071W on hand to compare the brightness with, but I couldn't help noticing how different the pictures were too! I took my Flyer LE with me so took a few shots to compare the three monitors. All these were taken with an iPhone 4, and I haven't edited them at all except resizing. The full size originals are at the bottom of the post. - TV Logic LVM-071W, Teletest Cyclops HD, & Flyer LE standard monitors So, all in all I was disappointed with the Cyclops HD. It is definitely bright, one of the brightest I've seen, but to be honest if a director was looking over my shoulder he or she would complain that the picture was out of focus, and a DP would say the white balance was off. I'm looking for a bright monitor that I can use happily on Steadicam, but is good enough to pop on top of the camera too, and sadly, this just doesn't cut the mustard as a broadcast monitor. Its a shame because I've used Teletest screens for a long time & whilst they've never been the sharpest they have proved very useful, robust and reliable, but the colour, contrast and detail level of the Cyclops was even worse than my old OZL7000. If brightness was the only consideration, I might have bought one, in fact I was quite prepared to yesterday, but not with a picture that I genuinely have no hope of exposing OR focussing correctly with. I'm ordering the Marshall V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI today! More pics: Unedited full size pictures: (copy & paste into address bar) http://www.fryfilm.c...ogicEX3LCDs.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...stTVLogicUP.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...ogicCloseUp.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...testCloseUp.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...yerMonitors.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...erMonitors2.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c.../EX3CloseUp.jpg http://www.fryfilm.c...yerMonitors.jpg

Thanks Dean, I'm pretty sold on this monitor, both for Steadicam and on camera monitoring, but was wondering how it fared in direct sunlight. The 6.5" transflective Marshall is supposed to be better, but it's only 4:3 & I do absolutely nothing that would benefit from a 4:3 screen. Useful to know about the battery mount offset too, as I find I'm adding weight to the monitor side quite often. Anyway, I guess this is really a discussion for the 'monitors' section! Thanks though! Any more pictures, news or interesting things at NAB?

Hi Andrew, Yes it certainly does look like that Swit thing - & at 400 cd/m I think I'll keep saving for that Cinetronic... Having said that, I'm edging more & more towards the Marshall 7" LCD70XHB SDI, which, at 800 cd/m is double the brightness of the Swit, but for much less than double the price - with no compromises (unless you count lack of HDMI as a bad thing!) Anyone tried this Marshall on their rig? For my Flyer LE & occasional EFP use it's not worth a Cinetronic, as nice as that would be, as I wouldn't get the return on it. could stretch to the Marshall though. Good idea? Any new contenders at NAB?

Hi. Did anyone catch what HD monitor is on the new Pilot & Scout at NAB? Might be a nice upgrade monitor for older rig users - if we can't afford a Cinetronic!

Thanks Jerry, I can't wait to try out the new combo when it all gets back to Britain. When that happens Robin do give me a call & I'll gladly take some promo photos in exchange for a demo! Out of interst, what does Garrett think? Any more memorable or amusing quotes?!

Hi all. If you've not already heard about it, Blackmagic announced their new CAMERA at NAB which could be a bit of a game changer. 13 stops of exposure latitude, 2.5k sensor, EF & ZF mount, inbuilt SSD recording & LCD monitor, live metadata entry, and it's bloody small! http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/ Glad we have a Flyer as well as the big rigs... Not much info on power yet, but it does appear to have an SDI output, which will be useful for some, but not for others. A friend has just ordered one so we should have one of the first UK models to play with in June, so I'll try to post a review & Steadicam balance test ASAP. Has anyone actually got their hands on one of these at NAB? Any thoughts?