Andrew Stone

PM sent to you Matteo with some info. -Andrew

She posted a few weeks ago that she was getting the lighter plates manufactured. She could have some inventory on these now. -Andrew

Brant, I assume the rev. 3 of the Antlers are the ones Jerry mentioned in this thread. How much do the Antlers weigh and do they come with a dovetail plate like the one shown in Jerry's thread? -Andrew

Believe I found a thread containing a shot of [ Larry's rickshaw ].

If you are using the sled to power the camera, I would suggest using a battery designed for your camera to put some weight on the back of it. I have a similar problem to yours as I often have a heavy lens on the front of an EX3 which I use on the Flyer. The battery hanger on the lower spar isn't a lot of help with DB but it is definitely doable. Try to put some weight on the back of your camera with accessories and a battery. Your camera weight is well within the Flyer's range. I am sure you have read this... You should take at least a 2 day course, if you haven't done so. It will help tremendously. -Andrew EDIT: to correct spelling

Answered my own question. Cases 4 Less sells Storm Cases as well. -Andrew

Is there a good online shop for Storm cases? And thanks to Eric for pointing out the Pelican online store a few weeks back. Great pricing.

You can use the supplied battery with the EX1 to power it instead of taking power off the sled. I would not go anything smaller than a Pilot. I would strongly suggest to the original poster that you live with your EX1 for a period of time before you buy a Steadicam. You may find that once you add accessories like a wide angle zoom through lens (which is a fairly common add-on with the EX cameras) that your weight much heavier than you originally thought. I run an EX3, a couple of pounds heavier than a EX1. With all the accessories I typically use, I am close to the end of the range of my Flyer. -Andrew

Mi Mark, I am interested in finding out about a G-Zoom unit fitted for a Flyer. Any information gleened would be appreciated. -Andrew

The crimp tool that Peter speaks of, can someone point me to one? -Andrew

Hi Mario, The bottom piece of the baseplate only connects to the tripod screw mount. The back wedge plate attaches to 4 points on the back wedge of the EX3. Most EX3 owners struggle with exactly your dilemma but most bite the bullet and get the baseplate. Another option since you are using a Manfrotto head is the manfrotto baseplate has the two rubber pads that do compress when you affix it to the bottom of your camera conforming to the uneven base of the EX3 but that won't solve your problem when you affix your dovetail plate from your Flyer rig. The problem with the Manfrotto baseplate though is the rubber pads. Your camera will have flex on tripod even if you really tighten down the Manfrotto baseplate. Some people go for a shoulder rig adaptor for the EX3 that places the weight of the camera firmly on the shoulder and gives you a piston grip to hold with your hand. I have to admit. I seldom to handheld work. Either tripod or Steadicam -Andrew

Don't forget about a Carnet assuming you are taking enough gear to warrant it. You taking your Steadicam? That might dictate which camera to use. -Andrew

Hi Mario, I know it takes time for a baseplate to ship to where you are but I would get one and not wait too long. If you own an EX3 you really can't get around it. Cardboard is fine as an interim measure but the baseplate is really the way to go. One other thing you should be concerned about is the stress of continually screwing down the Steadicam dovetail plate to the bottom of your EX3. You really have to tighten down the screw for the plate to stay in place. As you probably know, the EX3 is known to have the tripod mount ripped out of the bottom of the camera if it receives a fair amount of lateral torque which it will unless you put a baseplate on it. -Andrew

The "home" button on an Apple laptop is Function (fn) - left arrow. Similarly, Function - right arrow sends you to the"end" of the document or webpage. Command up & down puts you up or down a screen at a time. -Andrew

Robert, Really impressed with the efficiency of your case setup. Obviously a lot of thought went into this. I checked out the A&S Case Company website to see if I could spot your setup or something similar. Is your set a custom build, if not are these cases located on their website somewhere? -Andrew

Kevin's solution is obviously the best but if the client gets a bit wiggly about shimming with cardboard, there is a baseplate available that is a lot cheaper than the VFgadgets one and is as good. You can find it here. -Andrew

Hi Aaron, That question is a rather sprawling one to be answered in a single post and not knowing your knowledge base on the subject makes it difficult to answer. A few suggestions. One, your course is in July -- not that far off. Most of what you need to know will be dispensed in a meaningful way in the course. I assume it is a 5 day course. Second, pick up a copy of The Steadicam Operators Handbook and studiously read it between now and when you take the course. Third, poke around the forum archives for a few months and read posts and threads here as they develop. There is a lot of information here that will reveal itself as you become more acquainted with the art and craft of Steadicam. -Andrew

Norbert, I did not mean to infer that the protective glass was part of a sealed unit but only to check if that was the case. I was thinking that if it was part of a "blown" sealed casing that moisture could creep in and when the unit heated up the slow leak from a sealed unit would take quite a bit of time to evaporate the condensation... Hence, my suggestion. If you are in a tropic environment then the temp may not have much to do with the ambient humidity which is probably high. If this is the case then again the condensation effect would be there most times. You fire up the unit, the condensation occurs as the unit heats up, the unit continues to heat up and slowly the condensation burns off. If the unit is easy to take apart I would as it will give you a better sense of what has to be done to the unit to stop this from happening. -Andrew

Janice, I can't help but think this would be considered the equivalent to insider trading if you were involved in the production. However, it seems the financial services industry often doesn't appear to be that concerned about these kind of matters until things go sideways on monumental scale. -Andrew

Norbert, Sounds like pain old condensation. Since it is out of warranty, have you taken it apart to see if there is a lot of trapped moisture inside the unit? Once inside you would be able to see if the protective glass is in a (failed) sealed unit or picking up and condensing the trapped moisture inside the unit. The Transvideo people might offer some advice on clearing up the matter without charging you. Never know till you ask. -Andrew

Hi Mitch, Have you got the Steadicam Operator's Handbook yet? There's a bunch of stuff in it about vehicle mounts. It won't answer all of your questions but it will give you a foundation. Out the back of van's with a top hinged door an "India Mount" is a good solution. Need a standard 2" trailer hitch though. Use the search engine here too. There is a fair amount here on vehicle mounts. Your questions about how to replicate a shoot would probably be best taken into the "Steadi Newbies" area. This entire forum is populated by largely Steadicam Operators that work on high end productions. The general assumption here is to keep the noise level down for those people and keep semi-pro queries in the single forum for people "getting into" Steadicam and that is the Steadi Newbies forum. Please don't take that as an insult as I run a Sony EX3 like you. Just trying to save you some grief if you continue to post here. Trying to replicate car commercials and do it well generally takes both a lot of money and a talented production CREW. Check out this interview from Panavision's website. Gives you an inkling of just some of the considerations that go into a mere shot in a car commercial. If you are replicating a car commercial you are up against this. -Andrew

I am surprised the Etymotics are so inexpensive given how expensive their earphones are. Looks like both Chris's and Eric's recommendations are worth consideration. Price is similar on both units. Really useful thread! -Andrew

Flyer Socket Block Part #: 803-7801 Yes it is about a $100 USD Just got one myself for an India Mount. Comes WITHOUT any fasteners including the thumbscrews for holding & adjusting the pitch of a male portion of the socket block. -Andrew

Carlito's Way is often used as a teaching reference particularly for the masterful "escalator" sequence at the end of the movie. However, the use of Steadicam in the story telling of this movie from start to finish is wildly good. I would highly recommend this as one of your 3 movies to use for reference. -Andrew

Industrial Velcro. Pick up a box of it. Probably in the $10 to $15 range. Stuff I got comes in a strip roll. You can pick it up at most building supply/hardware places. Useful, useful stuff. I am leery though of using it for attaching levels as it would be difficult, I believe, to get the level to maintain a true and consistent plane to the surface to which it is attached. I saw it mentioned elsewhere here that some strong adhesive goop can be used but the product wasn't specified. The veteran ops hopefully will chime in.