Thomas Schnaidt

I don't think it matters much which arm, since that linkage looks pretty much the same from arm to arm, No? The socket block adapter is one part that isn't likely to be covered by the arm manufacturer for the sole reason that the original design of the arm doesnt include being mounted in the fashion of the Back mounted vest or the garfield/hard mount, which both use a reversal of the socket block and run the arm (essentially) straight out like a diving board off its eye bolts. There is actually a conversation right now on another thread about the rod end ratings for pressure. (Btw, I reprted that my eye bolt broke in my post above, and I it would be far more accurate to call it a "rod End") Cheers

I love my Klassen Vest, hands down it has made me a better operator. I bought my vest after trying out Randy Nolens. The day that he let me try his on, I had twenty minutes before lunch was over to to fool around with it. And because the camera wasnt built for steadi, I just through a 30lb. sand bag on the top of my rig to "feel" the vest under a bit of load. What I found was that the rig seemed to behave better, it probably de-emphasized some of my bad beginner's form, a factor I account for by the carbon fiber arm's mounting point (in the lowest Position)... it seems that the lowest spar position is hardly affected by shifts in posture. I also bought my vest with the 2inch drop down arm. Which I was nervous about at first, but then found that it was absolutely wonderful to be able to dig into the "no mans Land" where you aren't decisively in hi- mode or low mode. the day I started using my Klassen vest, my Assistant remarked on how much more relaxed I was...and he was right, I had been tensing up because I never felt I could breath adequately in my FM vest. Now, I was running, walking, doing stairs with little or no though to fatiguing, at all. Physically I could breath completely normally and mentally I no longer wondered how many takes I had in me, freeing me up to just do it and to think only about the shot. LIke so many guys out there, I do a lot of days all day long in the vest, literally every shot some days for 12 hours or more... and I almost always end those days feeling like I could keep going. The extra weight of the vest is a small trade off for the ability to breath deeply and fully, and for all the other benefits I feel the vest offers. Now, my caveats. The vest is known by many operators to cause numbness in the legs... For me in my Right leg, exclusively. I used to think it was a circulation thing, because it is true that your internal organs do get a bit of a girdling. But a recent visit to my Holistic Chiropractor (she doesnt do any cracking or any of the other standard chiro techniques) helped me learn that there is a vertebra just above the curve of my lower back that is being impacted by my vest. I haven't determined exactly what aspect of the vest is causing that particular vertebra to be affected, but when I visited her and told her about a little tenderness back there, she immediately pulled out this map of the nervous system and showed me how that vertebra is connected to the nervous activity in my right thigh/quad area. so, what I thought was a circulation problem wasn't. I have experimented with letting the vest ride at various different heighths on my pelvis, and with various different load distributions between shoulders and pelvis just to see if I could be better or different, but to very little result. When I first got the vest, Walter warned me and he was right, that the temptation to carry the rig around or to stand around with the rig on while not shooting should be avoided, and when he said that I laughed not belieiving it was possible that I wouldnt be dying to shed the rig ASAP, just as normal. And here I am four years later, he's absolutely right. I am looking forward to the Exo vest. I will likely buy one because of the feeling that I dont want to be caught in an impassible situation (too narrow doorway or whatever), though I have shot in the isle of a schoolbus before with no problem and have gone jamming through many doorways with no problems. I am also feeling that the vest is like a pair of shoes, you should change them every so often, its good for your feet. The other "problem" with the Klassen vest is the socket block mounting orientation. While I haven't really been able to vouch for performance differences when the Socket block is in the FM orientation as opposed the BM orientation, It is true that the BM orientation puts a different host of stresses on the linkage in the socket block adapter mechanism. I just last week had to have my eye bolts replaced (after only two years of service in the current block). While standing still waiting to start a shot, the top Eye-bolt in my Socket block adapter failed, pitching the rig forward off my gimbal and straight to the floor. It was terrifying really. What if I had been trailing down the stairs after an actor? Or reaching over a second story balcony looking down at people below? But those stressed eye-bolts likely failed in some part due to the fact that the SB adapter on the back mount vest mounts in a way it wasn't designed to. So, I think i would like to try the EXO vest for all those reasons, and likely will. Though I stand by my Klassen Vest, absolutely. Thanks for wading through my long narrative. Hope its useful.

Brent, I have a two channel bartech system, all the cables for Hand Held (Arri and Pana T/O) as well as for my Steadicam Ultra Series sled. It has been lightly used at best (almost not at all) two M-one motors... Analog all the way. If you are interested I will assemble an exact inventory for you this week. Give me a call at 917-208-5644. I am in LA. Best, Tom

I am very interested in this vest... I use a Klassen vest currently but have been thinking that I was going to get another front mount vest anyway to be covered if I really found myself in a jam. then this comes out and I am pretty excited to give a go. Im curious if the vest is any improvement when it comes to numbness in the legs. when I spend long long days in the vest, this becomes a bit of an issue and I am about to start a long job where that will be the case. Looking forward to it. Tom

Hey Tom, Where is she Located? I have a Magliner Senior Cart in New York with a top shelf and carpeted bed liner. but I have a feeling you aren't in NY. Tom

orlando, I gotta ask what lens that is you had on there. Before I opened up the photo and could only see the thumbnail, I thought that my ongoing joke of putting the 12-1 on a 5d on a sled had come true! Regardless, that lens looks beastly, I thought I'd seen em all!. Tom

Hey there - Yeah me too. On the HD jobs I really have only been using my ultra batts for monitor power, and just using onboard IDXs on the F35 and the Alexa to do all the heavy lifting for everything else. I have been getting my ultra batts recelled at the Batteries plus for a remarkable savings over the Steadicam recells, and have had reasonable luck with that, but then sometimes the batts arent being repacked with the same arrangement and therefore have a different CG or Weight altogether. the Steadicubes or power cube system is very appealing, especially since the new mount has the option for dropping down, giving you another balancing option and all. but price...whew. We use the hell out of the IDX batts and they seem to be pretty hardy. the model that seems to be the exact same model as the Power Cube is the Endura H9s I think. My next job may be a film job, so Im thinking I am not going to be able to limp by with my 24v batts and will make the plunge to be ready for it. What have you come up with? best, Tom Schnaidt I've being running my 28v Ultra batteries for 6 years now and they are getting me some grief lately. I can see that a lot of operators are opting for an upgrade to a 2-12v V-lock battery system. This option is considerably more expensive that just re-celling my old batteries so I would like to share some thoughts about the benefits of going to a 12v system thanks

Fred, That was pretty hilarious. kudos tom

Hey out there, Just curious how many of you are using the Angenieux 15-40 and/or 28-76? Just curious if anybody feels strongly about the lens weight shift while focusing? I once did a shot - day one on a job with the Panavision 19-90, where when the lens focused from a middle distance to a close or very close distance, the shift in the elements caused the rig to pitch and roll. It was a very obvious situation and we nevet used the lens on the rig again for that reason. I have done two shows now with these ANG zooms and have begun to wonder if a nagging inability to keep the rig in good balance might be due to this or if I am just finally loosing my marbles. Any thoughts, experiences? thanks for responding before I actually do lose my marbles. Tom

Bj- You have probably finished your job with the Alexa, just curious what your experience was with it. I have just picked up a Pilot using the Alexa and need to get all the info in advance I can. Thanks Tom Schnaidt,SOC 917-208-5644 www.steadytom.com

Here is what we have done. Our DIT, Ted Viola, had a spare IDX battery plate with the Genesis power connector that we mounted onto an extra low mode bracket and then mounted onto the rear port of the camera. Woodland Hills is supplying all the power cubes we could want, and that system powers up the camera and runs various accessories like my Downconverter (which I love and highly reccomend, the Decimator) and I think the Cinetape. Then I run my monitor and the follow focus off my batts. We dont transmit since I am tethered. I took the Deck off in favor of tethering and it works fine. The only thing I dont like about this physical config is that without the rear inertia provided my the Deck, the rig is a little squirrelly. but I am getting good at a light touch with the left hand. SSRs might provide the answer here, but production really didnt want to spring for the rental and the extra time it would take the DIT at the end of the day to download them. So there you have it. Its not a dream camera, but it also isnt nearly as bad as I had prepared myself for, though some of the series two lenses we are using are heavier than a 50 primo, seemingly much heavier. I think you can pick up the IDX battery plate for 80 or so dollars at B&H and Panavision bends over backward to make it all work - they will surely finish the cable off for you. Good luck when your number comes up. Tom

Steve, Are you at all familiar with UB1? I have had mine for years, and been pretty pleased with it. Though the UB2 really embarasses the UB1 by being a much more comprehensive HD unit. I forgot that when I started using the ub2 on Friday that part of my solution was underscan as well. The UB1 doesnt have this feature, does it? I am pretty familiar with its vast (much more than the ub2) menus, but thats not one I recall. The U2 sled is pretty remarkable. Congrats on that. best, tom

yes, I too have had this problem with my version one monitor. Funny, I was at tiffen today getting my monitor looked at for a problem that happened while I was trying to fix my clipping problem from the genesis. It must have been you they were talking about when they said that someone else had the same issue. Did you say that you have had the problem on all HD camera's? I am not sure how to fix it either. Other problem becomes that if you use your framline generator, you are actually masking that much more of the area off. But You really do need to use it Because if the frame is dark along the edges or at the top or bottom you arent really sure where your frame ends and where its just dark monitor. I am using the UltraBright 2 while mine is repaired and found that there was still a little bit of an issue when I took signal off the Panavision Box with some toggles set wrong (my DIT fixed it and I didnt really have the time to pay attention to what he did). Also it was fixed by coming out of the HDSDI port on the dumb side power panel. In the end, its all good coming out of that port, into my Decimator, into my sled video distro (on topstage) and going into the Composite channel of the UB2. I hope that it works that well when I get my monitor back. I will try to pay attention better Iain when I get back to work, and will try to report back once I have my monitor back and can compare. I would like to say that Frank and Michael Craigs over at Tiffen were stellar today in helping me get my prep done so I can start my job on Monday. Thanks and big kudos to their support. Best, Tom Schnaidt 9172085644

Looking for an Ultra 1 owner who still runs nicads and has run the Genesis on their sled. Looking to find out how youv'e tackled your power issues. I am interested in hearing anyones experiences here, but I will ( I think, be running with the SSRs). Appreciate anybody whose got some ideas here. Thanks Tom Schnaidt

Will the Decimator work with other cameras? It looks to lovely and simple to do more than one camera? Say a Genesis? Thanks, Tom Schnaidt