Charles Papert

The main issue with a lot of SDI to HDMI convertors is their lack of 23.98psf support, which is what various production cameras put out. I think I've seen this one before or a version of it and it did not include that format--can you confirm or deny?

I picked up a Connex Mini from Camera Motion Research and thought I'd post a few thoughts. I use Teradek 2000's as primary transmitters, from cameras to my DP station. Where I needed an extra transmitter was to send a quad split of the cameras out to various viewing points, such as handheld director's monitor and a large TV used by the hair, makeup and wardrobe folk. In the past I had an original Paralinx Arrow on the handheld monitor, and regularly had interference issues with it. I thought I'd try out the Connex mini as a replacement. Camera Motion Research offers the Mini at a competitive price to the usual online resellers and also offers a unique accessory package. Rich Greb at CMR set me up with their full package, which includes standard rod antennas for the receiver rather than the strip ones that are normally supplied with the Mini. The package also includes battery cages for both components that provide additional mounting points and piggyback lithium packs, plus various cables including p-tap. I opted for the Connex Mini vs its larger brother because I preferred the smaller form factor for the receiver end, and a better price point. The difference between their spec'd range is 3300 ft for the Connex and 1600 for the Mini. These are intended for aerial units where such distinction is relevant--for my purposes, what I was looking for was robust performance up to, say, 100 ft, but given the amount of wireless floating around in a typical set it's much better to have more than you need! These are HDMI based units which of course require conversion if one is in an SDI workflow. For my application, I'm able to connect to the unused HDMI port from my Decimator MD-Quad for the transmitter and the handheld monitor and vanity TV both have HDMI inputs, so this is fine. The transmitter uses the micro HDMI connector and power is via the RC-type VST connector, both of which are quite delicate. This may be a dealbreaker for those looking to use the Mini directly on a camera because you really have to aggressively protect these ports and cables from being whacked or tugged. My transmitter is mounted behind the top monitor on my cart, safely out of the way so I don't have to worry about it. CMR tells me they are working on some solutions to this. I'm waiting for the receiver modules to be sold separately which should happen within the next month. In the meantime we were using the receiver on a 42" TV which was of course static, but the performance was functionally identical to hardwired. I tested it on the handheld monitor, walked it around the stages and found it to be better than expected--it passed through cinderblock walls without a single glitch at distances of several hundred feet, only losing signal once I stepped outside the stage at that distance--and re-linking was very fast. Extremely impressive. There is no visible delay in the image. The system operates on the 5ghz band and and dynamic frequency selection, but you cannot select channels manually. I think for those looking for an affordable onboard transmitter, this is a solid contender performance-wise but with functional caveats. Most cameras output SDI, and you could add an SDI to HDMI converter. Blackmagic has a very small one now, it takes 5v USB, but that's a bit of a klugy package to bundle all of this onto a camera. And as previously noted, you'll need to strain relief the heck out of the power and video cables on the transmitter to keep them from being yanked. For my purposes, this setup is working great, and I like knowing that I own a robust, tiny 1080p wireless system that I could pull out of its current configuration if a specialty application (where the Teradek 2000's were too large) presented itself.

There is no question that the connector is fragile, it's a weak point. I'm sure that if I were moving my transmitter around I'd tape or bongo tie the cable to the body of the transmitter to eliminate pulling on the connector, and/or protect the whole thing with a clamp of some sort.

Not sure exactly how cheap you need to go, but the $1300 Connex Mini from Amimon has very good range. It's an HDMI based system but later generation boards than the original Paralinx/Nyrius units and much better performing.

We had a session with the Tilta six weeks ago or so, put it through its paces with a number of AC's, ops etc. It has some nice ideas and features but the basic functionality wasn't ready for prime time. Eric F. sussed out that the motors were brushless (noisy and prone to chatter); the Tilta chaps said they were changing those out by NAB which apparently didn't happen. On the radio side, we saw interference with an adjacent Preston. And various other concerns. It seems a little odd that the two major rental houses consider it a done deal while it is still very much a work in progress. Time will tell.

For framing purposes, I like the Artemis app. My operators use their phones, but I like to use an iPad Mini, which is a great size to have the director over your shoulder. If you need to broadcast it to monitors, you can mirror your device onto Apple TV via wifi. I use the iPro lenses with it which covers the range of wide angle and telephoto we are likely to need to size up. I never liked the time wasted in pulling lenses off the camera for the finder and restoring them again after you are done. For fully mission-critical framing such lining up hoodmounts I'll still use a finder but day to day: Artemis.

Thanks Walter. I did some digging and found pictures of my old dual Sony charger where thankfully the product number was on the front: AC-SQ950. I'm seeing a few up for sale on eBay and think I may go that route. It was a bulletproof charger for me for years, sold that with my Camos monitor a few years back. I think the Watson uses adaptors for different batteries, which seems to give a little more possibility for AC's to muck up insertion and removal?

Reviving this thread. The Omnishots charger looks delightful but I will pass for $299, we don't need them charged THAT efficiently. Anyone have any specific recommendations for the Preston (M series) batteries? The Chinese ones fail pretty regularly, and I think Sony doesn't make them any more. There was that great dual smart charger they made but seems to be gone at this point.

Well, a Decimator can handle the SDI to HDMI conversion and are easy to find used out there these days...

Hi: My old Flyer arm has been sold a few times since and I have no idea who has it now. The parts that were made were a one-off from a machinist and I don't know if anyone made others from it. The old file hosting in post above is no longer operational so here are pics of the mod if it helps:

Rich, thoughts about the Connex Mini? Has it started shipping, have you evaluated yet? Wondering what other improvements may be in place other than size.

I only ever did a handful of half days that I can remember and they were under specific circumstances where they made sense, but one thing I know I was specific about in the deal was that the minute it went over the specified four or five hours, it would convert to a full day rate. I never got kickback on this because in every case they were convinced it wouldn't happen, and then when it inevitably did, they were left holding the bag, not me. Getting nickel and dimed through a day (like they are feeding change into a parking meter) is not the way to go.

One thing that made me curious about this presentation was that it seemed to have been shot in 24p with the shutter off (or maybe 270 degree). This created a certain amount of motion blur that seemed like an odd choice. Wondering if this was creative or helping beef up the stop. Rob, if you know anyone who might have the answer I'd be interested to hear what it was.

Your call. The real question is: does it still work??

Heya--copying over old tapes and discovered that my aged Hi8 deck isn't working properly (what a surprise). Wondering if anyone has a functional playback deck left over from that era. Preferably not camcorder, maybe a clamshell or onboard recorder, or a studio deck. If not for sale, maybe we can work out a lend/barter/I dunno what.

shrinkage is inevitable

My freshman year of college, I used to show up to visit Ted on set, pretend I was on the crew and basically just start working. This was a concert shoot with Paul Simon, an Cinemax special called "Hearts and Bones" in December 1983. Pulling cable on this was about the most exciting thing I could imagine...certainly more so than my ever-neglected NYU studies.

Great job, Ben. The single-take of the first fight was fantastic. So many beats to hit just right.

Slippery, mostly.

I'm seeing a lot of old Steadi friends getting days, double-ups and whole episodes to shoot of late, which is great...Doc Karman and Rich Davis come to mind. Who else has been getting a shot at it, or moving/moved up lately? Post away!

Happy to help Alec. UCP v 2.0.6 will install the firmware upgrade into the unit.

This week a number of Decimator products got firmware upgrades and image flip/flop was one of the features added (something I'd been pushing them to do for a long time). The unit I think best suited for Steadicam is the MD-HX, MSRP $295, due to the following features: SDI to HDMI cross conversion (either direction) Configurable as a 1x4 distribution amp 23.98psf conversion to other flavors of HD Image flip and flop (perfect for "poor man's low mode") All functions can be controlled by front panel screen interface (no dip switches/rotary knobs), or via the UCP software downloadable at the Decimator site for both Mac and PC. The name "Decimator" has become generic enough that there is some confusion. The company is Decimator Design (formerly Redbyte Design) and they still sell the classic Decimator 2 downconverter which will output analog composite video (CVBS). The MD-HX can downconvert to SD, but only output as SD-SDI.

What about that Letus Helix single axis that they were showing at NAB? Has anyone used that?

Afton Martin DB5, love that car... Me, I hit "view new content" when visiting this site and I rarely even notice what category something is placed in. I'd be curious if this wasn't the common practice. Start a poll?!