nealnorton

Well Doctor Holway, glad to see you helping out the guys with their E.D problems! Neal :lol:

I use the cine 3 SB as a full time monitor. I find the coating to be a 'must-have' as with out it the glare is very troublesome. The coating does cut down the resolution which is really amazing when bare. Neal Norton

After years of cleaning main bearings and then using a lube - arri high speed cam lube for the most part - I have changed my approach. I replace my main bearing for my PRO much more often than I used to. After about a year, or sooner if working in a very dusty environment for a long time (Planet of the Apes dust storm) I buy a new main bearing. I install the new bearing dry. No lube at all. On the advise of a very knowledgeable person I run the main bearing with no lube of any kind. Said expert told me the lube was for longevity - not best performance. I did a simple test on my rig with the bearing lubed and then dry. It will rotate more freely with a new bearing and no lubricant. No lube equals less friction (and shorter life of part). I won't burden the person who gave me the above advise by naming him on the forum in case I have mis-interpreted or misunderstood what he told me. It does work well for me. Regards, Neal Norton

The reason I replaced my Seitz system (long ago) was not because it didn't work. My first A/C and very good friend started asking if he could use the Preston System that the Motion control guys had on the set on my steadicam and the remote head. I bought a Preston system right after that picture and have used FIZ ever since then. I know other focus systems work very well. Bartech has a great reputation and I would be happy to have one if I wasn't already invested in Preston gear. The real issue I think is that A/C's trust FIZ systems to be the best focus remote controls on the market. They truly depend on these things for continued employment. I think you will be hurting yourself in the long run if the A/C's you work with feel like they are at any disadvantage on the job. Calling an insecure focus puller a "Dick" will not be of any advantage to you in the long run. . . Neal Norton

The travel adaptor for the 504 will work, you need to find some one who can make a cable that will work with your sled. I bought the bullet camera and intend to strip the cable and find the right leads to work with my sled - I just haven't gotten around to it. . . 199 is 300 dollars less than I paid! Damn. Neal Norton

I don't like people grabbing the steadicam, or me for that matter. On occasion I have put on the Antlers when a grabber is around. It really gets their attention when I accidently smack the weight into their temple. I have found that bully's are pretty insecure and use bad behavior to cover how inept they feel. I start by completely ignoring them - literally act like I can't hear them. If that dosen't work, I attack. If they don't back down - bye, bye. I have only walked off once and the guy was stoned so nothing would work. Neal

Hi Rusty: I just did a couple of days with a 435 running at 120fps. I had no problems at all. Pro rig with 2 dionic 90s on the back and a hytron 120 on the front. This is my standard battery setup. Camera came right up to speed. I keep waiting for my dionics to fail, but so far after 2 years they are still working very well. I think you would be happy with the performance. Also, I have found that the FX box is a great addition to the 435 in doing high speed stuff. . . very slick. Neal

Here is a simple exercise you folks should try: Make a list of the names on this thread. Go to IMDB.com Run a search for all the names. (Make sure to check for other names in the same category, there are guys listed on films I worked every day as the A operator that I have never met) In my experience people with a long list of credits also have a great deal of integrity - it is a major part of why they work alot. As far as I can tell, "can do attitude" has resulted in zero credits. Maybe I should look under "non-US" based production no one has ever seen? Neal Norton

Marianne and Noel at Transvideo have been wonderful to work with. My monitors have been great in all respects and the customer service is second to none. Marianne has always been prompt and courteous and when she doesn't have an answer she makes sure to do the fact finding and then calls back to let me know. Merci Marianne! I'm glad you are there. Neal Norton

Bravo! What an amzing sequence. Look forward to seeing this one. Regards, Neal Norton

Hi Will: Are you talking about Lithium Ion batteries? Dionics? I haven't had the opportunity to try out the Genisis camera but I have found my dionics 90's to be very stable. I am waiting for all 7 to crash at one time! And just imagine how much it would cost you in Gym fees to duplicate the workout Panavision is providing you! Maybe we should pay them? After this Picture, an XL will feel like a toy! Regards, Neal

After reading Jerrys post about the arm boom range, I thought it would make sense to re-measure the PRO arm boom range - The G70 was already shipped back. Well, I found a mistake in the way I measured the range on the arms. . . I re-measured with the arm hard mounted on a garfield mount and discovered that the boom range is shortened by a small but significant amount. In fact, I came up with 26 inches on the PRO arm hard mounted which is 4 inches less than the numbers I had while body mounted. I forgot to take into account the attitude of the operator when booming up and down. Because of my error, I would have to defer to Jerrys numbers in measuring the arm boom ranges. Sorry about the mis-information. Neal

Big Thank You to Tiffen and specifically Peter Abraham who made a G70 arm available to me in order to try it out right along side my PRO Arm. Peter sent along his personal arm posts to adapt to my PRO sled. I am prepping a movie and am working with a Pro Sled and a Panavision XL Camera with Primo lenses. The G70 arrived last Friday and I gave the instructions a quick look and then put it right to work. I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the "Iso elastic" adjust on the arm. This is something new for me so it was quite fun seeing how much resistance I wanted to dial into the arm. Really pretty neat having the rig stay right where I put it in the boom range. I can see a real value in using this feature dependant on the type of work at hand. I guess no surprise but when the G70 was adjusted to where I liked it best, it was very similar to the PRO. After quite a few years with the PRO arm I am pretty used to that feel. I had an assistant measure the arm range with both the PRO arm and the G70 and the range was exactly the same. The PRO would range very slightly higher and the G70 would go slightly lower. Even though it is really marginal I would have to give the nod to the G70 here because it is easier to go higher rather than lower. The G70 is a great product and it is at a great price point. Well done guys. Kind regards, Neal Norton

I came up with this idea for a dual use Garfield. Just loosen the clamps and slide off the post. . . and then onto a speedrail rig. I also added a threaded hole at the top for additional grip tricks if needed. Probably not a new idea but I thought it came out pretty good.

Hi Lars: You can control the wireless dimmer pack with any of three products, the FIZ handset, the F+I hand control or the radio microforce that attaches to the microforce zoom control. The dimmer will also work with some of the non-Preston lights such as the mini-flos (I Think). I bought both the 3200k head and the 5600K head and the dimmer and cables. Very pricey but in this case I felt like I got a great product for the money that was really well thought out and of course backed by Preston which is a big plus in my mind. Give the DP a dimmer or an Iris control . . .he or she will be having too much fun to, uh, never mind :lol:

Check out the Preston on-board light. Great light and wireless dimmable with a FIZ handset or FI unit. I really like mine. Regards, Neal Norton

SOLD Preston handset 2 for sale. Works with MDR-2 and includes Transmitter. Handset s/n 2142, Transmitter s/n 49208. 4 good batteries. Charger. spare antennas. Custom pulse/velocity switch for use with Panavision zoom motors directly. $4,000 Panavision motor driver unit (custom Preston one-off) $500 Contact: Neal Norton e-mail: Neal@24fps.biz

It really is great to hear such positive comments about the Tiffen equipment and customer service. I have been a GPI user for more than ten years and my PRO equipment has been very close to flawless. The GPI customer service HAS been flawless! I waited for a couple of years before switching to a PRO rig (from a CP 3a) because I wanted to see what the (then) new CP gear would look like. At that time I felt there were very good reasons not to buy CP equipment - such as a 12volt system and my perception of poor quality control and poor customer service. Over the past few years the Tiffen products have been improving constantly. The new Ultra 2 and G70 look to be world class products that would be as good or better than anything on the market. The tilting stage is something I would really like to have! I really do think the PRO arm is the best overall arm available under all conditions, but I have been thinking about also carrying a G70 for cleaner environments such as stages. The XCS gear is without a doubt first rate and I would not hesitate to work with Greg at some point. You have 3 really good options for top quality steadicam equipment now. We have never had it so good! Best of Luck Neal Norton

I have switched to Tamrac Strongbox cases (642/644/646) for all my gear. I first bought one to carry my Preston FIZ, then liked it so much I went to the Tamrac strongbox of various sizes for everything except the sled and arm/vest. The Tamrac 660 works perfectly for my arm/vest. The Tamrac 661 is perfect for my sled. These have proven to be great cases. Much easier to travel with and also to organize the equipment. After years of ATA cases and then (much better) roto molded cases like the Thermodyne, I am very happy with the Tamrac cases. Also, I found a light and inexpensive cart called the "Rock N Roller" R12 that works very well for me. They even sell a top shelf for this cart for very little $$$. Best to All. Neal Norton

I saw the movie last night. I think the director should have listened to his cameraman. The 'Clive on the run" sequence was very powerful and I felt very much a part of the action. Much of the rest of the film, I just found the handheld camera a little annoying. The premise seemed pretty weak. A strong premise isn't really important for an action movie but this movie seemed to ask for a level of belief that was hard for me to generate. When faced with a great crisis, how do people really behave? Why would people at the end of the world behave in the way proposed? How would you coerce/force people to be soldiers? Did not seem very well thought out to me. . .

Well I'm #121 on the list. Wonder how long I will be waiting. Sure looks to be a fantastic new tool. Regards, Neal Norton

Iris Control sold. Thanks, Ramon!

For sale: Preston Panaflex motor bracket -fits onto Panaflex rod support casting for 2 motors $250 Preston iris control and 12' cable - for use with FIZ $400 Preston 12volt to 24volt converter box and cable $100 Preston 30' control cable for FIZ $100 Preston MDR-1 camera control cable for moviecam $50 Preston MDR to steadicam support bracket (2) $50 each contact: Neal neal@24fps.biz

The FIZ is SOLD

Preston F I + Z for sale: Handset with Microwave transmitter 3 batteries and charger (2) DM-1 motors MDR-1 microwave receiver and motor driver Microforce V+F zoom controller and handset bracket Iris control unit Panavision bridge Arriflex bridge (4) swing arm motor brackets bushings for panavision and arri (4) (4) motor cables (1) 30' control cable for wired operation (6) camera on/off control cables (6) power cables (Panavision, Arri, Moviecam) (1) Iris controller cable (2) zoom control cables spare antennas neckstrap case $13,000 call: Neal Norton (813) 494-6771