Matt Petrosky

Now in some cameras, the start-stop might have been connected in this connector, but that is probably an after-market modification as Arri want us to use the 3-pin for this.

I'm pretty sure all 435s come with the 11-pin wired for start/stop from Arri. This is the only modern Arri that has this as far as I know. The stock 535B does not and the Arricams don't have 11-pin connectors unless you use the power breakout box and then I don't believe they are wired for start/stop.

Anyway, it is best to use the 3-pin for the modern style camera's.

This is a good rule of thumb to follow for the modern Arri cameras.

-Matt

A follow-up?

After sending my Steadicam insurance inventory to production I received a phone call at the end of the week asking me a few more questions and notifying me that I would be added to production's insurance policy and issued an insurance cert. Yesterday I took delivery of the insurance cert and so this particular issue is resolved for me.

I?ll be honest, if they would not have agreed to do this, I would not have rented them my gear. It?s not fair and it?s just not worth it, period. Thankfully though I bit my tongue, held my cool, and let production work out what they needed to, all without making any enemies or making a huge fuss. So all?s well that ends well I guess.

I do think this issue of insurance certs is serious, and I?m glad that other people share my concern. Chris is right, we all simply need to stand our ground on this one and as Charles mentioned, it?s black and white. We need to make a decision and stick by it regardless of rate, location, or production; do we want to work for a company that cares so little that they will not do the right thing and insure our equipment? Absolutely not.

-Matt

P.S. Thanks for all the great responses, this is exactly the dialogue and support that I was hoping for. Neal, you make some great points about others being involved with our equipment and how it is used, and it is most definitely not a box rental.

I personally, as well as others I know, continue to have a good experience with this one from Wolf Seeberg Video:

http://www.wolfvid.com/datasheets/Antenna_UHF_flat_panel.pdf

Not sure where to get them overseas though...

-Matt

Happy birthday Erwin. Thanks for everything you've done around here!

Yeah, thanks for being such a reliable friend and a great precision-Swiss-brain of knowledge!

-Matt

I am currently hired as an operator/Steadicam operator on a feature film that is being produced by Paramount Classics. I asked for an insurance certificate as I will be renting them my Steadicam package and I was told by production (who so far has been honest and reliable and comes with good references from friends) that Paramount does NOT write certs to individuals for personal equipment. I replied, ?Well, they can make it out to my company.? To this I was told that my company is viewed as the same as me, and no, it was against their policy.

I was also told that Fox, Sony and Disney all have similar policies. I have been hearing for sometime now that Sony and Disney in particular are not renting equipment from individuals at all, excepting Steadicam equipment because the gear is so specialized and cannot really be rented from a rental house and the studios don?t own them. My production tells me that my gear will be covered by the studio?s insurance policy. I reply, ?So can I have a copy of the studio?s production insurance policy?? I am told, ?Paramount will tell us to tell you to call them to find out that your equipment IS covered.? I say, ?Well if it is really covered and they are willing to rent it from me, why can?t they just put it in writing??

So as of today, production is going to submit my insurance inventory to some studio executives for approval, or something like that.

Now, it seems to me that if a production is willing to rent specialized equipment -- which they are in my case -- they have to insure it. I know for a fact that Panavision or Otto?s will not let any gear out the door without an insurance cert from the production company, so why should my Steadicam equipment be any different?

What are your experiences of late with the Hollywood Studios regarding insurance and rentals? Do they really make it this ridiculous now? I?ve rented gear to Paramount and others in the past with no problems. I?m not talking about some fly-by-night shady music video production company here, these are the biggest film production studios in Hollywood making union features. I would never walk out the door without getting an insurance cert from a commercial or music video production company, why should the studios be any different? It all sounds like some studio lawyers have found a way to distance themselves even further from responsibility and liability and our rigs are to be put at risk for it.

Any advice or experience, legal or otherwise, would be appreciated. As for now, I am going to see what comes of the ?executive approval,? but I don?t think I can, in good conscious, cave on this one ?- I have too much money, time, and energy invested in my equipment to simply let a massive corporation use it without talking some responsibility for it.

Thanks,

Matt

Here the website for the Maine Workshops, also known as The International Film and Television Workshops, Rockport, Maine.

http://www.theworkshops.com/filmworkshops/index.asp

The diode will introduce other problems including blocking your ability to playback on the steadicam's monitor. You could change the video switch over to a double pole double throw (DPDT) using the the additional switching side you gain (from the stock SPDT) to cut the video signal off from the recorder. Wait a sec, actually that won't work because then you will have blocked the signal and nothing will be recorded unless you are in playback mode. I would just consider adding a simple SPST or DPST switch that cuts the 5-pin's recorder signal off from the rest of the rig. Make it a habit when you power down to cut the video off. Of course the best solution is to have a recorder that remembers the last position it was in and boots up in recorder mode.

This is a similar problem that the Supacam suffers from. The Supacam has a separate input and output, but the output is ALWAYS active, so the deck is always sending a video signal into the rig. The ideal steadicam recorder would have a single input/output that intelligently switched and remembered the last setting. When you are in record mode on the deck it would automatically become an input and when you played back it automatically switch over to an output.

Good luck with it,

Matt

Yeah, great site Afton, this is an excellent resource. Thanks for all of your time and effort, it's appreciated.

-Matt

Didn't the old UHF Preston MDRs (pre-microwave MDR-1) require an external box for 12volts? Maybe I have it backwards and they needed a regulator for 24volts?

And as Erwin said...

the microwave MDR-1 and the MDR-2 should be fine at 12volts.

-Matt

I'm in for Gladstones. I guess the subliminal messaging worked. :blink:

-Matt

Dan,

 

Jerry Hill:

 

http://www.steadimoves.com/parts.html

Dan,

This Jerry Hill cover is great. I think it's made by Patti Harrison's company, Camera Essentials (same material the CE camera covers are made out of) and similar to what the changing tents are made from. The Hill cover has a drawstring and is a triangular at the top, which fits nicely over the sled/camera and balancing spud that sticks out of the backside of the stand.

-Matt

Anyone know anything about the Modular 51 folks? (http://www.modular51.com/)

Also Canadian, but I assume not the same people. Looks like they took over the Rock-Steadi stuff.

Hey Alec,

I bought their Steadi Sled Bag last year and it's great. Really well made and $140, a fair price. Paid them with PayPal in US Dollars. Only downside, it took somewhere between 8-10 weeks to arrive from the time I ordered it. Even with a week + for ground shipping that's a long time this day and age. In all fairness though, Modular 51 told me this when I ordered it so I am assuming that they are made-to-order. Right when I started getting antsy and was ready to drop them an e-mail it arrived. Nice bag for company-moves and keeping the sled built/protected on a camera truck shelf.

-Matt

My do it for ?free? rate is now $200 to cover insurance, petrol and the endless mobile phone calls that seem to come with low budget shoots. If they can?t get $200 then they are not that serious and the job is not worth doing.

I couldn't agree more, and a friend that you are helping out / anyone who appreciates the time and money invested, should understand this.

-Matt

It's so much easier to find stuff!

Nice work guys, well done.

-Matt

Yes the adapting of a current film camera is something already done with medium format stills cameras. I can't seeing such a setup being cheap. The advantage though would be that upgrading the sensor is just a matter of getting a different mag.

Joe Dunton (JDC in the U.K. and Wilmington, NC) did this with an SR3 a couple of years ago. Basically an HD back with a sensor that looked like an alien SR mag. I saw it up an running once, I have no idea what ever came of it.

-Matt

And finally, all this work is so I can power an Arri SR-3 camera which correct me if I'm wrong is a 2pin Fisher connector.

You are correct. The SR-3, 535, 535B, 435, 235, ARRICAM ST, ARRICAM LT, and 416 all use a 2pin Fischer connector with pins on the body side. So the connector on the cable is "female." The part number for the cable connector is: S 105 Z087-130 + or SI 405 Z087 C3J2R (or something close to that, I have to look it up) if you want it with the lightweight teflon case. There is an additional part number needed for the collet which varies with type and size. As with most ARRI stuff pin #1 is the ground and pin #2 is positive.

Hope this helps...

-Matt

Also Matt great idea with (next time just post it):

 

-Cases/Carts/Stands and Transport

Ha ha, Erwin you are one lean-mean-forum-editing-machine!

To elaborate, the -Cases/Carts/Stands and Transport would include the obvious: cases (what kind of foam, where to buy, how many in your kit, etc.), carts (Erwin's custom stuff, MagLiners, where to buy, how much, you get the gist), stands (duh), and transport (airline weight limits, FedEx Ground rates, bad experiences with XYZ Transport, who reliably ships overseas, and on and on).

Kudos to Erwin for this major push to do some much needed spring cleaning!

-Matt

These balls are fun... I just did a shoot for Disney Channel with these. The kids were zipped inside them and they raced around a padded course. I was running ahead of them backwards at top speed trying not to get mowed down by some very energetic competitors. It was a lot of fun and the closest I've ever gotten to being Indiana Jones (the opening of Raiders). Yeah for big clear balls! :P

-Matt

Michael I just sent you and e-mail via the forum. If you didn't get it send me one at mapcam *at* earthlink *dot* net.

I'm not certain that we should get crazy with the sub categories.

I agree, too many is a bad thing, but there are some good suggestions. I think the -Video-

(Transmitters/Receivers, Video taps, Onboard recorders, etc.) is a must, but it's a lot of cleanup for you mods because that topic is everywhere now. The -Cameras- mostly seems concentrated in general now, but a separate category makes sense. -Mounts- could also use a home of its own.

Going with what Stephen said, I would hate to see this forum divided by brand. Brands are obviously discussed, but I think any sort of segregation/seperation is a mistake.

And yes, thanks to the mods for your time and energy.

-Matt

Just thought I?d add my impressions?

I bought my Canatrans over a year-and-a-half-ago, before anyone or any rental house in LA had them. I was on a TV series and needed a transmitter after two of the camera department?s Modulus 3000's died on us. We contacted CIT, the manufacturer of Modulus, and inquired about an expeditious repair or a loaner unit. Their only response was, ?Send it to us in Maine.? (In the end it took months before we got it back, and no loaner unit was provided.) I refused to purchase anything from a company that would not support their customers or that made a product with so many flaws that could be so easily remedied--a discussion for another thread.

I saw Lentequip's ad in American Cinematographer and gave them a call. Emery, basically the Howard Preston/George Paddock/Jim Bartell of Lentequip, answered the phone and was great. Everything he said seemed the "right" thing to say. His whole philosophy on customer service and making products the right way -- not the cheap way -- was exactly in-line with what I believe and needed. Then we talked about price. He was very honest and explained about the great amount of money and time that went into developing the Canatrans and that he could not afford to sell it for less. To this I replied, ?But nobody in LA has one for me to check out or test. I, our camera department and our show, are going to be the guinea pigs, surely that is worth some discount.? Emery replied, ?Matt, if you don?t like it for any reason just send it back and we?ll refund all of your money.? I mailed him a check the next day and I?ve never looked back.

On that TV show the Canatrans continually outperformed a Modulus 3000 in an identical setup (i.e., two Arricam LTs, handheld, etc.). NTSC UHF video from a moving transmitter is not the perfect format or scenario, but the Canatrans is the best it gets. And I?ve found that dolly grips, sound mixers and directors appreciate the simplicity of a signal that can easily be picked up on set (i.e., not microwave or WiFi--yet). The Canatrans is bigger then a Modulus but some simple mounting brackets (thanks to Otto?s) and Velcro (how did they make films before Velcro?) have facilitated mounting on everything from an Arri 235 to the steadicam. My Canatrans has proven to be very reliable, user friendly, and it does not create any distortion or feedback on the steadicam or any of the cameras that I have used it with -- and the voltage display is a nice bonus for the steadicam monitor/video battery.

I had my Canatrans running pretty much non-stop, 12 hours/day for three days this past week and it performed like a champ! The first day I was all over a track field and the last two days I was in a large gym with 24-channels of radio mikes, motion lighting, tons of two-way radios and lots of reflective surfaces. The combination of my Canatrans and the Sony TU-1041U receiver handled the job with no problems. I set the Canatrans to 1/2 watt outdoors and to 1/8 watt indoors and I adjusted the display brightness to full for the sunny exteriors and to level 2 for the darker interiors. It?s great having all of this control! I also took advantage of the video gain to boost the signal a few dB, which made the D.I.T. very happy because it enabled him to closely match my transmitted image to that of the hard-wire with which he had performed the initial set-up. With this set-up, he was able to give fairly accurate feedback on our iris level throughout the shoot. Again my Canatrans proves itself to be very reliable, and all this with the old firmware. Emery, thanks for making such a great device, making it so well, and supporting it and it?s users.

Cheers,

Matt

I nominate Erwin. He is a wealth of information and support--a guy of solid integrity.

Ron, Geoff, et al,

Sorry for the delayed response... I head into my 12th consecutive day of work at 6am tomorrow, good for the bank, bad for sleep and my mental capacity--which has been reduced to that of a two years old boy.

I am interested and think those dates will work perfectly... I however have little to no gear, what I had I left back east before I landed on the left coast. I do have a good pair of boots and I might give up my crack habit to prepare my lungs for the journey.

-Matt

Erwin, you need to get moderator status. Then you could just move threads as need be. :)

Nicely done Niclas! Thanks for the detailed slide show.