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Everything posted by Charles Papert
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Will PM you Shad, but letting people know that I am renting ZeeGees.
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Good question! In theory, because this is essentially an "unSteadicam", you could get away with some of the lesser 3rd party arms because you won't be looking for the highest performance in terms of smoothness and isolation...in other words, unlike Steadicam, part of the way there is good enough. That said, I can't specifically endorse a particular brand of those. Amongst the better arms, I think the NB would be a great solution.
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Introducing the ZeeGee! A new way to deliver the handheld look leveraging your existing Steadicam arm and vest for shooting flexibility and comfort. The ZeeGee perches on your armpost and offers free movement in pan, tilt and roll with easy control. Dialable drag in tilt for the operator, locks in all axes for the AC when they need to work on the camera, and the DP will love that you can frame up off the dock for lighting purposes. It can jump onto a baby pin down on the deck or up on a combo stand, all with full control over the operating. I came up with this concept over a decade ago while wrestling with the early 35mm sensor digital cameras and the ensuing long takes that came with them and built a couple of prototypes—longtime members of this group may recall seeing clips of a babyfaced Neal Bryant running around with one years ago. Neal had tremendous success with that prototype on various sets, so I've joined with Cinema Devices and finally able to bring this market! The price of the ZeeGee unit is $5500 with various accessories available. We will be running a limited promotion for the first run of units, pricing to be announced shortly. https://thezeegee.com
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What HME’s do people recommend?
Charles Papert replied to Christopher Moone's topic in Brackets/Widgets
Yep, I have that one too, but as I mentioned I don't like using a surveillance headset so I have that one cut apart to take advantage of their circuit in there that mutes the comtek when there is walkie transmission. Have been trying to work with that company to make a headset-agnostic version but they aren't interested. -
What HME’s do people recommend?
Charles Papert replied to Christopher Moone's topic in Brackets/Widgets
I spoke to a Bolero rep this week. There are some really cool features to their system, including the Bluetooth connectivity David Thomas mentions above, plus a nice looking display to switch between multiple channels (I've long envisioned an infrastructure where A and B cam have their own channels, the 2nds and loader have another one etc, so operators don't have to wade through the chatter). But it's really expensive and I'm not going there. Last year I took a hard look at the Unity system which leverages phones (I would have supplied Ipod Touches) as the interface, it has many great features also (multiple channels, ability to feed in program which could be Comtek etc). Affordable and kinda slick. But sadly, the latency was too great. At least half a second and sometimes more, which is disconcerting if you can hear the other person and/or need to call out anything that has critical timing. The search continues... Steve, I've been trying to have an interface box made for years that can combine the comtek and walkie audio with some other specific features. There are various companies making them integrated with a surveillance headset, but I wanted to be able to use my own as I prefer a lightweight over the head with boom. Have tried a few times unsuccessfully (and have concluded that if getting custom camera parts made is as hard as custom audio parts, we'd all be screwed). Can you send your contact for the person you suggested? -
What HME’s do people recommend?
Charles Papert replied to Christopher Moone's topic in Brackets/Widgets
David Thomas, have you worked with the Bolero? Would love to hear some specifics on performance, functionality, quirks etc. -
But surely with a much later Derose battery mod?!
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Terry, what was the story with that rehouse in the last post? I get the battery mod but the sled and monitor rehouse...was that a Model 1 originally?
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From this day 25 years ago, here are the tributes to Ted from the original Steadicam board on AOL. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16nqO_ukpSfbu-EN4v2ONu2JWnPhvrJwS/view?usp=sharing
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Needed in LA: Converter for flipping image
Charles Papert replied to Michael Wilson's topic in General Discussion
got here too late! If anyone else reading this needs, I have Decimator MD-HX's that will do the job. -
Connex mini: short review
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Video Assist and Video Accessories
Mini package is $1300, the Fusion receiver $1000. Check with Media Blackout on the rest of it. -
Connex mini: short review
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Video Assist and Video Accessories
A little update: Had three Mini sets in action on the last show. A and B camera each got a Mini transmitter (in the housing shown above) and were set up in a 1:2 configuration with a Connex Fusion receiver (the original full-size Connex receiver, with current firmware update able to communicate with the Mini transmitter) on a panel antennae array, plus the Mini receiver in housing for the AC's. Overall the performance was comparable to a Teradek system, which is to say there were sporadic and seemingly random breakups at different times which were often fixable by power cycling the system in question. Range was decent. Best scenario came when one of our characters was on a hoverboard traveling half a city block. With the antennae array pointing down the street, the system held a line-of-sight signal for a solid 450 feet (the entire block) with no issues. At other times we did see breakup even at short distances. Having two units in close proximity seems to be a little problematic. I have the antennaes the prescribed 4-5 feet apart on a mast but they still seem to fight with each other a little. Good news is that like the latest Teradeks, if signal is lost is will quickly restore, much faster than the previous generation. Overall, performance is roughly on a par with the current generation of Amimon-based transmitter systems but at a much lower price point. For me it is absolutely necessary to have SDI in and out so I went to Media Blackout to have them design the housings seen in previous posts. This certainly upped the cost but still, substantially less than commercially sold versions with SDI. -
if anyone is selling a used 2-riser American Steadicam stand with their casters (not the pneumatic larger ones), please let me know.
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Teradek Bolt Pro 2000 and 600
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale
Item is sold. -
Teradek Bolt Pro 2000 and 600
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale
5890 for the 2000 -
If you can, get yourself an S2H to test on cameras that output 23.98psf before you buy. The Connect requires that you push a button to initiate the conversion between psf and p (aka, 2:2 pulldown) and I was told that it must be re-enabled if the unit is powered down (didn't get a chance to test this for myself though). It would be easy to forget since the Ninja Star doesn't have a monitor. I would recommend either the Decimator MD-HX or the AJA Hi-5 Plus SDI to HDMI convertors (HX is around 300 and the AJA is a bit more, but smaller), which will do that conversion automatically without having to activate.
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Teradek Bolt Pro 2000 and 600
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale
$6000 takes it -
Cheap SDI to HDMI converter
Charles Papert replied to Zoran Vincic's topic in Video Assist and Video Accessories
I had high hopes for the $99 Decimator MD-LX introduced at NAB since it listed 23.98psf but once again--thwarted. It doesn't convert that signal. However I have opened a request with them to see if it can be remedied via firmware update. -
Teradek Bolt Pro 2000 and 600
Charles Papert replied to Charles Papert's topic in Steadicam Marketplace - For Sale
Now $6290 -
Cheap SDI to HDMI converter
Charles Papert replied to Zoran Vincic's topic in Video Assist and Video Accessories
One note I'll add about the Feelworld convertors, as I tested those last winter as well as did Rich Greb from Camera Motion Research. They do list 23.98psf in their spec, however their converted output is not 23.98p or 24p, it's some oddball frame rate that some monitors may not be able to display (48i....?!) Otherwise they seem like a good unit for the price.