Jason Torbitt

I have operated with both pedal and leansteer versions and it's great fun. A constant surprise is the small intricate moves and pushes possible...as well as the long, fast paced shots.

The obvious answer for me at least, is 'both' - great for playback on film sets, but also very useful for the reel also. Although beware, for those of us with full HD sleds, it generally means downconverting an iso feed to the recorder as it's standard def in most instances.

The Boxx is what I use for all of this type of work. It is reliable and I've not needed multiple RX units yet. Don't forget on 9 out of 10 instances the vision control will be behind the stage / screen, so your RX won't be far away most of the event... Also you will need power options for your Flyer LE unless you're going to power TX off the camera. I've got an LE as a running rig and I am having mine adapted with a power breakout box.

Just to let you know, Afton has made me up a neat solution for iPhone charging on-set. It's an iPhone charger that can be powered through either a D-Tap or a 4-pin XLR. It's all black and works fantastically well. Great product!!

45 minutes is nothing when you are working live. On the football, it's not even 45 minutes. There's (more often than not) warm-ups, then teams out, manager's handshake, 45 minutes of play, walk off the goalscorer(s), THEN break. Then another 45 minutes, followed by on-pitch celebrations / managers shots etc. It is hard work and very tough. Similarly for awards shows and music shows - there just isn't chance to put it down. Stamina and adrenalin get you through. It's good fun, though! Hats off to Bo and the other guys out there, it's tough work. I've seen Mark Ellison and I think Hugh Richards is also out there for us? EDIT: It seems it was the same unlucky Operator whose camera was shouted into by Wayne Rooney (England) who also got spat at by Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) yesterday. Fortunately it wasn't also him who got hit by Heinze! (Argentina). The last thing you need after a long match is for things like that to happen.

High brightness outdoor viewable LCD monitor with a fantastic quality panel. PAL/NTSC. 8-pin Lemo monitor connector, BNCs in/out, 4-pin 1B Lemo battery input and 4-pin 0B Lemo 12v/video video assist input. In excellent condition, aside from usual marks from light useage. Asking £2,000 GBP + VAT if applicable Please email me for more information and photos. Thanks!

I emailed Brooks about this off-forum, but for other's info, I've pasted it below - a very quick rundown of how I've found the system so far...any questions I'm happy to answer. I'll start off by saying that I love it. It has a good range. Within 80 metres it does really well. Outside of that, digital break-up starts, where the odd small square here and there doesn't arrive. This does also occasionally happen when you're in closer range but is not a regular occurance. Just yesterday I had it on a RED inside a set built in a studio. Video village was through 2 woodens walls, about 20 metres away, and it worked fine, just the occasional glitch. The biggest selling point for me is that it is full uncompressed HD-SDI, so the signal outputted is identical to if a cable was hardwired from the sled to video village. At the receiver, it also automatically changes channel, if you change the TX the RX automatically senses it. Also another great feature is that it simultaneously downconverts at the RX. So as well as outputting HD-SDI, it can also output a composite at the same time - ideal for continuity and other people who may have clamshells and other SD monitors. I have used this for live events on 66metre screens, and the quality is fantastic. I have also used it on an SR3, SR2 and an ST. No problems at all. Composite standard def transmits just as well as HD. It tends to look dirtier, but that's the difference between composite and HD-SDI I guess. Surface area of the TX is a bit of problem sometimes. It's very light but it is quite wide and flat. Velcro is OK but it often needs tape to hold it in place too. I didn't get a v-lock battery plate version as I operate with so many different cameras, so I opted to save weight and do it in that way. Power input is a 4-pin hirose. BNC connectors are for HD-SDI / SDI and composite. There are component connectors on phono / RCA connectors, and also audio can be sent on mini 5-pin XLR. There is also a 12-pin hirose which can be used for data for racking video and broadcast cameras.

Me also - great work by both of you - it looked stunning. Some of the moves were so incredibly quick and precise. Some top-class operating, which looked fantastic. Brilliant!

MK-V V2 Hummingbird monitor for sale. Extremely bright outdoor LCD Steadicam monitor that's built to last! In great condition, lightly used. For more info and photos, please email me - jason@steadicam-facilities.co.uk Thanks!

I'd also add that I've had one of Erik's G-Zooms for a while now and I echo the sentiments of the guys in this thread. Great piece of kit and outstanding customer service. I did have one problem where my zoom rocker spring disintegrated. But Erik's communication was first rate, I sent it back and I had it back in the UK within around 10 days. Perfect!

Afton: yes please! Brilliant. If you make any more of these, count me in.

Afton: yes please! Brilliant. If you make any more of these, count me in.

Peltor makes a low profile behind the head electronic headset that is probally what your looking for Yes - I use these regularly also. There is also a version out there which has a standard cup size on the left ear, and a low profile thin cup on the right ear, to allow for the camera body on your shoulder.

Great product. I'd also reccommend anyone who does a lot of live music work invests in a comms headset from Peltor. These are the same people who make the aviation comms headsets and their ear defence is well-established. I have a couple of sets and are indispensible. They also mean you can hear the director properly, too...not always a good thing.

Brian Busby has one, and Baer-bel have one, which you can use with your standard dovetail, and the newest MK-V dovetail has a Sony attachment at the back, so you don't need to use two plates (however this only works if you are working with a standard lens - the optics of the wide angle make it too front heavy to use unless you have an RF link or large battery on the back end)

It's a 20-pin connector under there. The G-Zoom does interface with this, or if you have any other system, e.g. a J7 Focus or similar, designed for the 6-pin analogue connector, Canon sell adapter cables to get you to a 20-pin. The same applies for zoom - 8-pin to 20-pin are available (but even the newest digital drive lenses still have an 8-pin connection, in addition to the 20-pin, so you should be safe) Personally for this type of work, I either use a lens with a built in focus servo like the one pictured, or I have a Canon Focus Servo which is compatable with virtually all broadcast lenses. But, again, there can be connector issues. The servo has a 12-pin power cable for analogue lenses...so I had to buy a 12-pin Hirose to 20-pin for the digital drive lenses. Once you've dealt with that, you then realise that a similar problem exists for Fujinon. Also, don't forget the Bartech - best of both worlds. It has a potentiometer you can utilise for this - just hook up your usual lens motor and do it with a device on the gimbal. A lot of the time it is good to have a focus puller as you normally would. But I've found with a lot of this type of work, it's so quick and the environment is so busy, it is often the best scenario to have a spotter or grip with you, who can concentrate 100% on your safety and the removal of obstacles, and either pull your own focus or have a Focus Puller sat by a monitor - if it's practical to do so - but they need to be quick! It's easy to develop a shot or work around focus issues when you're working with video lenses, as the depth of field is very forgiving, and you can creep the zoom in combination with your movement.

Afton Grant is also good at knocking these up with Belden or Mogami cable.

If anyone has a spare aircraft pin for the socket block lying around, please let me know and I would love to buy it. I have 2 vests and 2 socket blocks but only 1 aircraft pin at the moment. Cheers - jason@steadicam-facilities.co.uk

Boxx are in the UK. The Meridian does do composite as well as SDI and HD-SDI. Also, at the receiver, it automatically downconverts from HD-SDI or SDI to composite. So it can output both HD and SD at once...with no delay. Also a useful way of implementing the old analogue gear - I have a 2.4.Ghz Teletest link too. A great idea is to loop the TX for that out of the composite RX of the Boxx. Because the Teletest anlogue TX is no longer moving in space, it works a million times better. So now it is possible to send a HD-SDI feed to a big director's monitor, 17" or whatever, other SD monitors, such as continuity etc, and also to a portable LCD for anyone who needs to be on the move.

V2 MK-V Hummingbird Monitor for sale. High brightness outdoor viewable LCD monitor with a fantastic quality panel. PAL/NTSC. 8-pin Lemo monitor connector, BNCs in/out, 4-pin 1B Lemo battery input and 4-pin 0B Lemo 12v/video video assist input. In excellent condition, aside from usual marks from light useage. Photos and more info available, email jason@steadicam-facilities.co.uk

I think I recall Bryan Trieb has had something done with his - I'm sure he will reply when he sees this.

I have one of these now. Not had chance to use it yet, but the build quality is fantastic. Very robust and well designed. It also has all the usual functions, inc. camera run/stop, which usually get sacrificed when using lightweight cables - but the G-Zoom had both tiny flexible Mogami cabling, and all the functions...so far, so good. Erik is great with communication too, and is always quick to respond to emails.

So, a quick summary of my findings so far with the Boxx: - TX and RX are very lightweight, but the large surface area can be a headache sometimes. Not a problem for those with the V-lock plates, but I don't have those on mine, so it's a velcro job every time. Works well, but would be nice if it was smaller. Not a problem for tape/solid state/systems cameras, but more of a problem on 16 and 35 packages...where to put it can be a challenge. It's my personal preference to always put it on the top, rather than the base of the rig, as it makes much more sense to have as much line of sight as possible. - There are four antennae on both TX and RX which are each 5 inches long. For normal video assist this works fine. For increased range it helps to spread the antenna at the RX end. I've been trialling this with a T-bar wind-up stand and spreading the antennae at the outer edges with low-loss coax from the RX to antennae. - LCD display is white text on a blue background. Clear info. Menu and controls are push buttons which are encased in the same surround as the LCD display - very tidy. - Range: I have the TX and handheld RX. I've used the RX both with a 7" LCD for use as a portable director's monitor, and I've also used the RX mounted on a stand either at video village or with the Vision Mixer if working on live events. I've had 80-100m out of it, maintaining reasonably good line-of-sight. Most notably I operated underarm handheld camera on a show in November, where the signal needed to pass through a few thousand people to reach the RX, which was mounted 3 metres high on a stand, 80 metres away. The signal didn't drop once. - When you are on the edge of range, the signal doesn't freeze or go to black, it starts a process of digital break-up, where small squares don't arrive. This gets worse until the signal drops entirely and goes to black. - Inputs - HD-SDI, SDI, component (on 3 x RCAs) and composite. DC input is through a 4-pin Hirose. Exactly the same arrangement on TX and RX. Audio can be sent down on a mini XLR too. There is also an instantaneous downconverter at the RX end - so you can output composite if needed. Overall I am very happy with the performance of the Meridian, although I would like to do more longer range tests. One important item of note - Boxx are first rate with their support and communication. They respond to calls and emails straight away, get in touch with suggestions, maintainance advice and usage advice, and are always there. No problems whatsoever. I have a big show in January which I'm using the Meridian for, and Scott is coming along to take a look at how we work and to test some more things out. A classic example of how they are willing to work with their customers. Photos and more details to follow when I have time - too busy right now to do it in detail. But overall, I'm very happy with it, it provides much improved production value, and helps everyone on set when you can deliver rock solid HD images 100% of the time. Happy New Year to all!