Sanjay Sami

Graham, If you want to make your career as a DP, then focus on being a DP. You are young, dont think about money as the criteria to get into something like steadicam. It is way better for you to hire a skilled steadicam operator. He / She will make you look better as a DP. By experimenting as Steadicam Op and DP, you (as an inexperienced op) will look bad as both a DP and operator. Make a name for yourself in the field you have chosen. Dont spread yourself too thin ... Just my humble opinion.

I have to say I have had great experiences dealing with Tiffen with both Peter and especially Robin Thwaites, who responds immediately with suggestions and solutions with even the smallest problems I may have. Whatever the problems of the past may have been with, Tiffen, I think that those problems are in the past.

Hi Ron, My Preston is the MDR2 with the HU3 handset. My first experience with Bartech ... and a really good one. Thomas you can appreciate how bad hirose is only when you use it ...

BTW I used it with my preston motor which was already rigged to the rods on my sled - worked fine.

I just bought the BFD handset with the digital receiver as a backup before leaving for Berlin on a movie. I never took it out of the box until a week ago, when we were filming at the famous Berlin Tower. It is an area of intense radio traffic and my Preston MDR2 was freaking out. We took out the Bartech, and it worked fine. The receiver is so light that we left it velcroed to the body of the Arricam LT, and it powered off the RS pin that was also camera start stop. The auto calibration works flawlessly, although the calibrate button is a little hard to reach. Great product.

Depends who the tree fell on ...especially if you were not around to witness it.

Another picture, mounted on the sled. And a profile shot of the plate.

I made my own Panavision plate with 3/8th threads tapped into it, so the plate stays on my sled, very low profile and light weight, and the camera can just be clicked in. So that once you balance, you can take the camera away, and just drop it right back into the exact same spot you balanced it in.

Holy crap Pedro ! I promise never ever to complain about the Platinum again !! The disks in my vertebrae feel claustrophobic looking at that picture. :blink:

125 GB Pounds including camera rental ... Hmmmm ... Larry IS in the UK right now, Maybe ....

Does anyone have a contact for Klemens Becker ? He used to be active on this forum about 5 years ago. I worked with him last on a movie in 2003 to 2004. He used to live in Munich but I think he moved to LA. If anyone has an email address or a phone number that they could send by PM I will be grateful. Thank you Sanjay Sami

I don't know about the camera you mention. You can get incredibly stable shots off road with a Flighthead on a vertical vibration isolator mounted on an ATV (Polaris 6x6) but I think it might be out of your budget. Maybe a post production solution would be better.

Hi Gary, What camera and what budget ? A hard rig on a vehicle for a POV will give you terrible vibration. A hard rig will only work shooting back at the vehicle its rigged onto. The reference clip on youtube is really smooth. My first choice would be a stabilised head (Flight head, Libra etc.) rigged onto Chapmans vertical vibration isolator. This might be a bit pricey. Or steadicam with Gyros, but if you are new to steadicam,with out experience you may not be able to get the look you want.

Looks awfully similar to modular 51 products.

Hi Rick, I have been using the G-70 for 2 years now and am very happy with it. Besides which, if you are in the UK, you will get phenomenal service from the Tiffen team there headed by Robin. Regards Sanjay Sami

I'm sorry but I misunderstood a few things. I thought THAT was your budget. I also thought you were already an operator. I think you may need to analyse whether this makes sense financially or not. As Louis says, the workshop is the first step. But I believe 30,000/- Euro will be the bare minimum you will need to invest to fly serious cameras and accessories. I have never flown a Red or any Digital camera yet (I work in an archaic market where no one trusts digital yet) but the Archer 2 I think will be at least what you need.

I hope not ! For your budget I would consider the Archer 2. But remember, remote focus, transmitters, receivers, directors monitors and lets not forget cables !! these can add up to more than the cost of your rig. Do a search on these pages and you will find a great review of the Archer2 by Chris Fawcett.

Hi Kareem, Is that Ruben ?

Thank you Rob, That looks fairly sleek compared to the older style docking bracket.

How do you input the video signal to the 605? does it need the docking bracket ?

Hi Nick, If you are one week from beginning principal photography on a movie, you should have a contract in hand. If they didn't get you contracted, in effect you have no obligation to them and they have none to you. However, most studio contracts are heavily weighted in favour of the producer and they don't always accept clauses that you may want to add. In the real world, whether you want to take action on the basis of a push in start dates is up to you (if you have such a clause in your contract). I think everyone experiences this at some point or the other. In my experience, I have always been good natured about it, you may lose a weeks pay or a few months (notionally) but you gain goodwill, which is more useful from a career standpoint. But not for paying your mortgage. It can be immensely hard to stay good natured about it . I once turned down a confirmed 4 month studio feature film based on the fact that I was offered another film with a Director and DP duo that had won 2 Academy awards, and I had done a movie with before. The film fell through because of a script rewrite and the writers strike. The other movie filmed on happily for 4 months .... So it goes.

Alfeo, If you would like to take a look at my Hybrid and my Dolly Grip , go to: www.dollygrippery.com ;)

Looking good with your U2 Sanjay! Just curious, it looks as if you can adjust the positioning to the arm by 1' up or down? What other Chapman products will this work with, any cranes? -Alfeo Hey Alfeo, It cannot be adjusted up and down in its current configuration. Its built to boom down till the platform is flush with the floor for easy step on and off. It should work with the Hustler, but I can't be certain. It definitely would not work with a PeeWee (tip hazard). The Chapman cranes are great for step on or off anyway, not sure you'd need this, although the built in safety cage is nice. The Hybrid also has a nice crane turret (not steadicam related) that can lift the operator on the nose on a crane style swivel turret along with the camera.

Another option ... not as high, but quite useful. I was testing it for a sequence inside a narrow corridor from a high angle looking down, tracking back with an actor and then down a flight of stairs (step off for the stairs :) ). Chapman makes this for the Hybrid Mark3.