Mark Schlicher

Alan, with due respect, I don't understand your advice, unless someone has no interest at all in making two phone calls, buying one rubber washer, and unscrewing one hex grub screw to save about $1500 and get the exact same result. The Steadicam HD monitor for Zephyr is the Marshall LCD70XHB rebranded, with a slightly different mounting bracket (an irrelevant difference in my experience.) Buy the SD Zephyr. Call favorite vendor and buy a Marshall LCD70XHB. Call Terry West and buy a breakout cable (the SD Zephyr does not come with the 4pin xlr/bnc breakout. It comes with a cable specific to the SD monitor. Tiffen wants double what Terry charges for the HD power/SDI breakout cable). Go to Home Depot and buy a rubber washer. Back the grub screw partially out of the Zephyr's monitor bracket so it doesn't stick up. Install the rubber washer between monitor bracket and bottom of monitor to eliminate unwanted rotation. Plug it in. Enjoy the savings. PS: Now you also have an SD backup monitor.

Yeah, my Marshall shows 90% and 80% respectively. But no noticeable side effects for picture. I use the hirose as well, also because I have the Tiffen tally kit which uses a special version of the hirose cable.

Well-done, indeed!

Second what Alan and VIctor say. I can confirm that the SD Zephyr has an HD video run (BNC top and bottom) plus an SD run (BNC top, multi-pin HIrose for power/video/tally below.) You can either run the HD monitor off of a spare power outlet below (custom cable) and a standard BNC to the HD-SDI connectors, or you can "borrow" the SD video run for HD-SDI by having a custom Hirose power/video breakout cable made (this works just fine, in several peoples' experience).

Yes the Zephyr will limit you eventually and you may need to upgrade to a big rig. But the Zephyr is an excellent student/starter rig in my opinion...affordable and capable for a wide range of light-to-mid-weight cameras, and is likely to have good resale value.If you can't afford $20k+ for an Archer, then Zephyr will provide a good training rig to get you practicing right away. Keep in mind that you will have some extra expenses for c-stand, batteries and charger, and possibly for lowmode kit, HD monitor upgrade, and auxiliary battery hanger.

Otto, You may also consider browsing DVInfo.net and posting your questions there. Lots of DSLR shooters who work in events and local commercials who could share their experiences with you. In addition to Alan's recommendation, I would also add "it depends...". All Pilot versions are similar in capability. The major differences are 1) battery system--you're already asking questions in another thread and getting some answers 2) HD or SD--the HD Pilot sacrifices an adjustable post length in favor of an HDMI video feed. Given your desired market and your inexperience, an SD Pilot would probably be fine for now. Eventually HD may be more important because, with a small rig on small shoots, you will probably be reviewing shots on the rig and will want a HD image to show the director. HD is not so important while operating because you will be mostly concerning yourself with framing.

Dave has mastered the art of the Pilot with AA's. If you go that way, follow his lead. If you went with a more robust battery solution, some thoughts to consider... The lightest genuine AB batteries are 1.8lb (Dionic 90). You can buy 65wh generic V-lock batteries that weigh under 1.2lb. You could probably find similar generics in AB mount. Helps with any bottom-heavy issues, and offers a lot of capacity, especially if powering only the monitor. Here's a link: http://www.globalmed...n-Battery-65WH.

JB, I don't know of any unit for V-lock that functions like the AB unit, but someone else may. You could have your battery plate swapped out for an AB gold mount so you could use the Tandem, or build a custom solution into your existing plate (not hard I suppose if you know what you are doing). Steve, Victor, Alan, I find the second battery hanger for Zephyr indispensable...depending on the camera package. Great for fine-tuning balance and keeping the post short with heavier cameras. Sometimes I mount it without a battery to add just a small amount of desired weight.

The more expensive "lowmode kit" consists of two parts: the f-bracket itself (what you see in the link to the 300-7901,) plus a clamp designed to hold on to the top handle of cameras so equipped, to suspend them right-side-up in low mode. It screws to your camera dovetail. The photo of the "lowmode kit" shows the f-bracket sandwiched between the top and bottom halves of the clamp for storage. The 300-7901 f-bracket is the part you must have. With digital video it's so easy to flip an image in post that it's common to leave the camera mounted normally, so that it's upside down when inverted for lowmode. The other problem with the clamp is that the padded handles of video cameras tend to introduce a whole lot of flex and vibration. You will probably seldom use the bracket.

What batteries do you have? The Anton Bauer Tandem will allows exactly the kind of hot-swap you are looking for. Sandwich the unit between your plate and battery. When docked, plug in to shore power to keep the rig alive and charge your battery at the same time, or to hot-swap to new battery.

Practically speaking you can probably eke another pound or two out of a Zephyr above the 23lb advertised. Older Flyer LE's had a lighter camera payload, I believe, more like 15lb...so be aware of that if you decide to buy a used Flyer LE. The current Tiffen model that is closest in payload and features to the Flyer series is the Scout. Don't remember the exact payload limit though. I agree re: Epic/Scarlett. If that's the camera you expect to fly, the Zephyr will offer the most payload capacity for adding accessories or dealing with a variety of configurations that would add weight. The Pilot won't cut it; certainly is not future-proof.

Yep, that would be the ticket. It's not terribly heavy as I recall...but I don't see a big downside of powering down the gear for lunch either. A perfect time to change battery for a fresh one. What rig do you have?

Tiffen's second battery hanger is useful for adding extra weight down below when flying heavier cameras. It definitely is a useful option for adding extra capacity if opting to power the Epic off the sled. There are some limitations which have been discussed to death in other threads. A custom power cable would need to be built. I will be very curious to see Terry's j-box.

Experimentation may be the only way to answer your many of your questions, as "how fatigued is too fatigued", "how bulky is too bulky for travel", "how steady is steady enough", are very subjective and individual, and driven by your physicality, the details of your project and your own aesthetic standards. I've shot a few doc's myself, so I understand the shifting tradeoffs between practical and artistic considerations. I wish I could offer firsthand feedback on the arm brace. I've heard it helps a lot. Would it be enough to be acceptable for your use? Dunno. From looking at the Glidecam grip handle, it always struck me that the grip is at the wrong angle, with no lip for your thumb and forefinger to rest and lift against, causing you to have to put a death-grip on the handle to hold it up (lots of handheld rigs suffer the same shortcoming.) Seems that even after improving the arm fatigue issue with a brace, you still have a hand fatigue issue to contend with. I worked with a guy who used a Glidecam vest and arm system. It was bulky, heavy, and difficult to keep adjusted properly. If space is a premium and cost is not the major issue, the Tiffen Steadicam Pilot is very compact, light, high-performance, and can be completely broken down for storage/transport. Widely considered the best lightweight full vest-arm-sled rig by far. Not knowing the weight of an F5, I don't know if it's within the Pilot's load range, but if it is, that would be my first choice for a doc. I've never seen a cyborg-type arm assist rig. May exist but I've not seen them. Good luck with your project!

Bill, If you've worked with Steadicam ops on shoots before, you probably already realize that the instrument doesn't "play itself." You'll need to budget a lot of time to practice ahead of time, to get results that will be acceptable to your own eye as a DP. The vest and arm won't automatically improve visual results when you are in the early learning stages. Maybe later on with more experience. And yes, unless the shots are short and very occasional, you will likely tire quickly without a vest and arm.

So, let me make sure I understand....a "too-hot" external battery causes the Bolt to auto-switch to the internal battery, which then runs down to the point of transmitter unreliability and severely compromised transmission distance, before switching automatically back to an external battery? Wow. That's a deal-breaker in a production environment for sure. Is it possible to disassemble the unit and bypass and remove the internal batttery? Bolt solves the biggest shortcoming of Paralinx (HDMI only, requiring external converters), but (if I understand this correctly) introduces a huge shortcoming of its own. That's a real shame.

I shopped around and Dolle is very competitive I found. And their service is excellent. They understand Steadicam and production worlds, unlike many agencies. Other considerations: the minimum insured amount is $20,000, I believe. You can list any camera equipment with them, not just your Steadicam. I have all of my major gear insured (added up to much more than $20k), so I have coverage whether its a Steadi gig or not...no matter which lights, which stands, which cameras are loaded in my SUV on a given day. For someone with a small rig and DSLR with a couple of lights and a few lenses, you could conceivably insure everything you have and still be under the minimum. And then there's liability. Consider being an event/indie film/corporate shooter with a Pilot/Scout/Zephyr. Sometimes you are working for a company that has their own liability coverages and can issue a cert., sometimes not. Or you have direct clients (bride and groom, real estate company)...a situation where your are the production company, so you NEED your own coverage for those gigs. One liability claim could ruin you. ENG news freelancers are generally expected to carry their own liability coverage by the crewing agencies. Locations and municipalities also often require liability insurance for permission/permits. In these situations, where your insurance is the primary insurance, liability and equipment coverage are, in my opinion, especially important. Also, people just starting out may think it's unimportant, but I believe it's really critical then, when you may find yourself doing those "favor-for-friends" gigs or saying "yes" to clients that are a bit shakier than would be ideal. Pony up $1000 a year for the peace of mind that one job gone wrong doesn't derail a promising career. Janice, I like your idea of trimming the coverage for small cables and accessories, particularly if they don't go out on every gig. In my case, less than 1/2 of my stuff goes on on any given job, so the only time I am at risk for a total loss would be a fire at my home.

This is a great bracket! The broadcast adapter will be a very robust, lightweight mount for any rig.

It's a newer model and that's probably the main reason it's not widely adopted as an alternative to the 70XHB. No worse than the XHB, and all of the advantages that you mention. But shares with the XHB the big disadvantage Eric notes (though it's not impossible to use outdoors, particularly on a cloudy day, but it's a world of pain in the sunshine, which rules it out for high-end operators). The only prosumer/mid-grade monitor that offers something approaching daylight visibility is the Marshall 6.5" transflective (which has its own shortcomings compared to high-end monitors like Cinetronic.)

Given your original specs...loosely paraphrased: to fly a stripped Scarlet for hobbiest/personal shoots, my personal opinion is that your best bang for the buck may be a used Flyer LE, depending on the deal you can get. A new Scout would be a next choice. Pilot is fine, too, but there is very little "headroom" to add weight, and the vest is flimsy. I've never seen a used Scout for sale, but it would probably be a little better choice than a Flyer, if you could get it for a similar price. The vest and arm are essentially the same, but the Scout sled is new and improved. A Zephyr is a bigger investment but will take longer to outgrow, as it can take on a fully-outfitted Epic, as well as C300, C500, F3, etc. and most broadcast cameras. I'm starting to see used Zephyrs for sale from time to time.

It is unlikely that anyone who regularly visits this forum has any experience with this stabilizer. The Flycam systems are built and priced for amateurs and no-budget filmmakers. You might have better luck on such forums as dvxuser.com, cinema5d.com, and dvinfo.net. Good luck!

Make sure you go through the troubleshooting suggested higher in the thread. The dovetail retainer screw shouldn't be a problem (barring a machining error), as it pushes the dovetail firmly against the opposite side of the topstage. Any connection point between the dovetail and camera is a suspect. Camera to dovetail. Camera to quick release plate to dovetail, etc. The five screws that hold the topstage to the centerpost. Batteries can be a little loose in their mount, and because they are heavy, can introduce vibration. Accessories that can wobble (monitors on noga arms). Possibly even the gimbal but I don't imagine it's likely. Some early Zephyrs did have issues where the gimbal centering screws would work loose, causing centering issues. Could they also cause vibration? I don't know. Try a 180 degree test to make sure your gimbal is centered (do a forum search). Do this check regularly and if it goes out of alignment, you should have TIffen align it. They will also apply threadlocker. Good luck!

Yes, good adjustment advice. But if you don' t have the improved gimbal clamp, it's just a matter of time before you have a serious clamp failure...the failure rate was very high so they redesigned the clamp. Call Tiffen ASAP as Peter advises. You should get this as a warranty replacement.

Will, I agree with your points on Arrow vs. Bolt. What I was trying to get across, perhaps not being clear, is that I read a claim that the Bolt doesn't go straight from the SDI connectors "natively" into the TX, but uses a cross-converter from SDI to HDMI built into the chassis...and ouput into a consumer-type HDMI TX. Reversed process at the other end. I should emphasize that I don't know how accurate that claim is...or even how relevent. If it works, I don't really care what levers the Wizard is pulling behind the curtain. Additional latency would be a concern, but no worse than using external converter boxes.

For me, the problem happened at power-on of the receiver/motor combo (I have a Heden motor). I presume the receiver has a spike in current demand at power-on. I also have heard that Epics are very sensitive to voltage dips. The Epic is about a 65-70W camera, add Marshall monitor at 12W. Jim's doc's describes the BFD receiver at "up to 36W". So it makes sense that, considering the Zephyr's wire gage, extra demand at power-up might create a momentary voltage sag that offends the Epic's delicate sensibilities. I've never personally had a shutdown from the current demand of the focus motor just while trying to turn a stiff lens. But it was pretty repeatable at power-up of the BFD. Whenever possible, I now run the camera off a separate power source from the BFD. As for the topstage, all of the structural components are metal. The plastic housing is partly cosmetic, but also is molded to hold the lemo and BNC connectors in position.