brooksrobinson

Jess's comment got me thinking about my previous post and I wanted to clear up what I meant because I think there is room for it to be misinterpreted. With a hand-held directors monitor set-up (which is how I'd use a smaller 2000 RX), I would personally use a gold mount system to power the monitor and RX, but would want the battery to attach to either the monitor or the monitor cage - not the RX. I would want the 2000 RX to be as small and light as possible without a gold mount and without any type of bracket - just the RX. Also, as Victor said, a thinner Anton Bauer battery would be great for this type of application, but not a deal-breaker. Thanks again for looking into it for us Mike and Andrew. Brooks Robinson

Mike and Andrew, Thanks for getting back to us, and welcome to the forum Andrew. To answer your question, lighter is always better for me, especially if what we are talking about is being held by hand and not being supported by a stand. However, my issue with something other than a gold mount battery is the length of time before you need to swap out the battery. This is especially true on a director's monitor. When the director is holding it, he/she is most likely looking at things besides how much juice is left on the battery behind the monitor, only to throw a fit when he/she doesn't have an image on the monitor because it ran out of power. Despite the weight, I'd be more inclined to stick with a gold mount system on a hand-held directors monitor. It makes sense to me for two reasons: we are powering both the RX and monitor and the extra power is necessary, and I already have gold mount batteries and chargers (most on this forum I suspect have either gold mount or V-lock batteries for their sleds). The less I need to carry various batteries and chargers the better. I'm sure there are many different opinions on the matter and that people will chime in, but thank you so far for looking into it. It would also be a good thing for VTR operators to have in their kit, so I can see there being a more mainstream need than just us steadicam operators. Brooks Robinson

Thank you so much guys! Looks like there is a lot of good stuff out there to choose from. I think I'll stick with a SmallHD since I already own two and I mostly understand how they work - I'm leaning towards an OLED. Does anyone know how big of a difference there is between the picture of the AC7 OLED and the DP7? I'm guessing the DP7 is much nicer since the price is double, but I'm not sure if it is worth the extra expense for a hand-held monitor . Does anyone use the hand-held handles SmallHD sells on their site? I'm not sure if they are sturdy enough or if the Ikan and Wooden Camera cages are better alternatives. If they are, I like the look of the Wooden Camera cage as it seems sturdier being able to attach to both the top and bottom of the monitor. One question: if it is set up with the Anton Bauer plate on the back, how would one go about powering both a SmallHD monitor, and a Bolt 2000 RX? Also, is there enough room to mount a Bolt 2000 RX to this? The 2000 RX is quite large (Teradek are you listening?) with the 5 antennas and I'd want to make sure there was enough clearance. I'm assuming it would be better to have the Anton Bauer plate on the cage, but perhaps having it on the SmallHD monitor would be better for weight distribution. If so, is there enough room with the cage to have a battery mount and battery directly mounted to the monitor? Thanks again for the help and I look forward to hearing any possible responses to my next round of questions. It will be exciting putting this package together. Brooks

I am interested in putting together a hand-held directors monitor that would work with my current Bolt 2000 (version 2). I'm not sure what monitor, brackets, and battery would be best as I try and find a balance between weight, ergonomics, ease of use, and view-ability. I currently have two SmallHD DP7 HB's for my steadicam sleds and I would think that size and weight would be appropriate for this. Since I'll be buying a separate dedicated monitor for this, I wonder if sticking with the HB is the best option, or if going with the OLED is better. I realize the HB is better for outdoor viewing, but I believe the OLED has a better picture with truer colors, which might be better for a director so he isn't questioning the DP about lighting. If there is a better option out there, I'd love to hear about it. Secondly (and I suppose this depends on what monitor I get), I need thoughts on what kind of hand-held bracket I need to hold the monitor, Bolt 2000 RX, and battery securely, while providing an ergonomic and comfortable means for the director to hold the set up. I'm not sure what is available, works well, and is rugged enough for day to day use with directors who tend not to care how hard they are on gear. Lastly, I'm not sure what battery type to go with. Obviously doing Anton Bauers (I'm not a V-mount guy) would provide the most run time and be less of a pain with switching out batteries, but they would also be heavy to hold for a shot of any duration. Is there a better option out there? Something light weight but that would allow a decent run time? Is there anything else I'm not thinking about or that I should consider? Thanks in advance for any assistance. Brooks Robinson

I believe the last two chargers have sold and thanks to everyone for looking. Brooks

Mike, Has there been any progress on a smaller/lighter RX for the Bolt 2000? Just wondering where things currently stand. I'm thinking about putting an extra RX together with a monitor for a hand-held directors monitor and something smaller/lighter and perhaps less expensive would be great. Thanks. Brooks Robinson

All of my Dionic HC's have sold. I still have two Anton Bauer (4 - position simultaneous) TWQ chargers available for $750 each. Thanks for looking. Brooks

I have already sold 11 of my batteries and two of my chargers, but I have four Anton Bauer Dionic HC's and two Anton Bauer TWQ 4 position chargers for sale. The Dionic HC's are a little over a year old with only one feature (very little steadicam use) and one TV show (quite a bit of steadicam use) under their belts. I'd like $150 per battery and $750 per charger. The reason for the sale is that I purchased 25 Global Media Pro 230 batteries and 6 chargers for a movie that I didn't end up doing, and I plan to switch over to those (as well as sell some of the extra batteries and chargers once I figure out how many I'll realistically need). Thanks in advance for looking. Sincerely, Brooks Robinson brooksontheroad@pacbell.net

The link I provided didn't take you to the spot I was hoping. Click on the link and go to "level vials" in the lower right hand corner of the page. There are a few options that might be right. Good luck Brooks

McMaster Carr is a great resource for this sort of thing: http://www.mcmaster.com/#spirit-levels/=whvoff Hope that is what you are looking for. Brooks

I just finished a four month run on a show using F55's out of Panavision WH. It was a hospital set with long hallways, and we had several lengthy shots per day. My 2nd AC always met me at the finish line with the stand (American 2 riser steadicam stand with American (non-inflated) wheels) so I could dock the rig on the stand as soon as we cut. He would then transport the rig on the stand back to one. We did this every day multiple times a day and never had an issue in the four months I was there. Granted, the floors of the set were flat and smooth, but there was never an issue. I'm not sure your back focus issue is coming from the rolling stand. Good luck getting to the bottom of it.. Brooks Robinson

My AC's TV Logic had the same 1 frame latency as the SmallHD. Curious to hear if others have similar experiences. Brooks Robinson

We are using Sony F55's on my current show. The camera itself has a 2 frame delay through the eyepiece, and a 3 frame delay through my SmallHD...so at least with my monitor, there is only a 1 frame delay in the actual monitor. Brooks Robinson

Congratulations to Chivo for winning his second-in-a-row Oscar for Birdman, and mostly to Chris Haarhoff who took Chivo’s camera on his back (literally) and brought the jaw-dropping shots to life in an astonishingly magnificent way. I sat back in my chair trying to imagine what went into achieving what I was watching and felt my lower back tighten – all before the first hidden cut. A marvelous job to all – especially Chris and Gregor Tavenner, both of who’s technical and aesthetic prowess is awe inspiring. Great job to all who were involved. Brooks Robinson

I'm also interested in a smaller 2000 receiver for hand-held monitor use. The range (as mentioned before) wouldn't need to be as robust as the standard 2000 RX. Brooks Robinson

Chris, You are correct. I don’t have any insight into your dealings with Afton. As I mentioned, I only know him through his posts through the years on the forum. I do however have a sneaking suspicion that his “bitterness” has something to do with his treatment at the hands of your company. No I don’t know both sides of the story, but I do have my own version of it having dealt with you and Mike for 6 months. In truth, I feel the same way as Afton (otherwise I wouldn’t have spent half of one of my days off writing lengthy rants), but haven’t been publicly vocal until now. What I can tell you is that I’ve wanted to make the same proclamations as Afton and Jens many times, but felt it wasn’t my place. The supportive emails, texts, and PM’s I’ve received today regarding this thread tells me there are others out there with the same view who are standing on the sidelines. But none of that really matters. At the crux of it, you put out a product that could have endeared you to the community as a whole. Great concept, poor execution. Maybe it is your fault, and maybe not, but you have dealt with it poorly. People want to be treated like adults. If there is a problem, tell them…be honest and straightforward…they’ll understand. But to be told one thing, and then find out something else is going on will only bring about animosity, which you are now experiencing. As a community we are supportive, especially of one another. You note one potentially negative situation, and yes that does tend to get people fired up, but the other 95% of the time people here are civilized and take the high road. That is especially true after two people spoke up (myself being one) regarding one of the operators and frequent posters on this forum who was in the daily habit of bullying others – you may know him, he was your biggest early supporter. Since then, it has been a much friendlier place to discuss things such as equipment and things that affect the day to day operation of being a steadicam operator. Even the person in question has taken to posting quality posts that help the greater community. We take the time to help one another, and often speak up when a vendor isn’t doing the right thing or showing the kind of support we have come to expect – so as to protect the next guy from making the same mistake we made. There are only three companies that have generated this kind of backlash (already mentioned a few posts above) – the old MK-V with Howard, Loon, whose owner has seemingly been ducking calls and not fixing/returning parts that are sent to him, and Cinetronic/Film-Stuff with you and Mike. People here support gear that works and alert one another to gear that doesn’t or whose company isn’t supportive after the initial sale. Guess what? That is all that is happening here. Nobody has a personal vendetta against you or your company. We gave you our support when we gave you our money. Support us or don’t…but be warned that if not, we will seek out the services of other companies for our hard earned money and not be shy about reflecting on our negative experiences with you. It’s a pretty easy process to figure it out or so I thought. In closing, I am obviously not making sense to you as you continue to make excuses (some valid, but with a flawed way of dealing with them) and continue to blame others for the mishaps at your company. That’s okay. I’m only one guy, and my opinion doesn’t really matter except to me. Keep doing things as you have, or don’t, and make a change. Either way, I suggest you take a look at the things a well-run company does (and also the things they don’t do). The way you deal with your clients both here and via email doesn’t endear you to more of their business going forward…but that is just my opinion, which I’ve told you doesn’t much matter except to me. Good luck going forward. Brooks Robinson

Chris, Thank you for the reply. I’m not sure what issue you are referring to with my two SmallHD’s. I did have a strange thing happen where the HD signal wasn’t always recognized, but a quick call to the SmallHD customer service by my loader took care of that and I’ve used the monitors every day since for the past three months without issue. We are mostly a stage-based show, so I can’t comment on how viewable they are in the sun, but I do know that the SmallHD monitors cost ½ of what I paid for my old Cinetronic 2’s and do work with the PSF signal put out by the Sony F55’s on my current show and the F65’s I’ll be flying on my next. You questioned my statement about how the things we operators buy are expected to “just work”. In your post, you referred to Arri Alexa’s and Red cameras and how many updates have come out with each of them. I don’t understand the analogy and how it applies to this discussion. The difference there is that with cameras, the production company is renting them from Panavision or Otto’s. Few of us own camera bodies. When a camera body does goes down (as all things do), it gets sent back to the rental house and a replacement camera body is sent back to the set in its place. That doesn’t happen when you are the vendor for something and production is paying you for it. It is up to you to have either a back-up or to own something that doesn’t ever go down (no such electronic device exists in my experience). That is why I will again tell you how important it is to have gear that works, and a company that backs what they sell without issue. That is why I no longer own your monitors. I have no knowledge of the ratio of happy to unhappy customers at Cinetronic/Film-Stuff, nor does it really matter. I was one of the unhappy ones, however, I am not quick to speak out (unlike some) and usually put thought into things before I take the time to address them. Please read any of my other posts on this forum for validation if you need it – I’m not in the business of trashing people or companies because it suits me, or because I happen to disagree with them or their policies. However, your method of addressing and dealing with people who write negative reviews of your products isn’t how I’d go about building support for my efforts or my business. It draws a line in the sand, and makes people speak out who normally wouldn’t. People wouldn’t take the time or energy to be vocal on a public forum if they weren’t passionate about the subject. I would have kept my feelings to myself (at least publicly) except that you wrote a lengthy rant coming down on Afton (who I do not know except through his posts over the years on the forum). It was out of line, as he has done nothing wrong. I would hope that our moderators would be allowed to speak out if they have an opinion on something even if the opinion is negative. If he started bad-mouthing other operators for having opinions other than his, then perhaps some form of policing would be called for (as has occurred in the past with another moderator who no longer moderates), but sharing his views about a certain product should in no way be cause for discipline. I assume you’ll find others on this forum that agree with me on that. You asked me about my comments regarding your upcoming new product releases and again, I wish you the best of luck with them. I don’t want you or your company to fail…I want your business to succeed as having options with gear is what helps to push the boundaries of equipment. I do wonder however (and I mentioned this in an email to you way back when) who you think will be buying these new products from you when the people who would be most interested in purchasing them are being alienated by your customer service? Again, this is a very small market, and we all know and talk to one another. If I had a problem with something you sold to me, and it wasn’t dealt with to my satisfaction, why on earth would I go about giving you more money for something else? If I continued to read on a forum about ongoing issues with things at your company and unhappy customers, why would I buy a new untested product from you? There are other options for the products you are releasing, most of them from companies with little to no drama…so why wouldn’t I go with any one of those options knowing what my experience was like with Cinetronic/Film-Stuff? In regards to your comment about everyone thinking it is easy to build new monitors, I think you are making the wrong assumption or at the very least, asking the wrong question. I’m not the least bit technical. I don’t understand how monitors work or why they do or do not accept a PSF signal. None of that concerns me. All I really care about is being able to see my monitor in any condition so that I can do my job, and that when it goes down (as all equipment does at one point or another), the company that built it will get it fixed and shipped back to me on location quickly. That’s truly all I care about. I don’t really care about the cost (well, truthfully, I’d rather pay a little than a lot), but at the end of the day, it comes down to what works, and what doesn’t. I paid $15,000 a piece for two Pro 1 monitors back in the day when they first came out and felt pretty good about it…why…because they worked without fuss every day I used them. I still have one of them in one of the 30+ cases that I drag around to location (and have since 1996 when I bought it) because I know if everything else fails, it will work. Yes, we all know PSF is a pisser. My Teradek Bolt 2000 version 1 had an issue with PSF that I discovered after owning it for 6 months. I thankfully found out about it before the job started by putting a post on this very forum (thanks to all of you wonderful non-“poisonous” fellow operators who responded and pointed out that it might be an issue with my current Sony F55 job). I ended up swapping it out (along with some money) for a new version of the 2000 that worked with PSF. Was I happy about paying the extra cost? No, but Teradek did offer a viable solution in a timely manner. They didn’t just tell me that it would cost them too much to fix it and I was stuck with a system that didn’t work with every camera on the market. Again, cost isn’t always the overriding factor. I had a problem and Teradek found a solution …yes it cost me some money, but I have a unit that works wonderfully, is generating weekly income (it has more than paid for itself in two shows time), and I will happily buy from Teradek again. You asked me where the money will come from to have your engineer fix the PSF problem. As a fellow small business owner, I understand how difficult cash flow can be, especially in hard times and when the phone isn’t ringing (I always answer mine for this very reason). That is why I take great pains to be humble, nice, and professional to everyone I encounter on set, from the lowest intern to Oscar winning directors and DP’s…because I learned at a very young age that to alienate anyone can be deadly to a career. People move up and down the ladder so quickly in this industry that to give a lowly PA shit one day, means that I might not get hired on the next huge job because that “kid” is now the executive producer and remembers how I treated him on a long-forgotten job. I’m also generally a nice guy that doesn’t like giving those “below me” shit. You also brought up Greg Bubb and his TB-7. To be fair, I have a vested interest in this, as I own two XCS sleds and consider Greg to be a friend. He has always done right be me equipment-wise, and when something has gone down on a job (as we all know is inevitable), he has either told me how to fix it on the phone, or Fed Ex’d a replacement to me. I would put Greg up near the top of the class as far as customer service and not just because I use his stuff and have a solid working relationship with him. There is also a big difference between XCS and Cinetronic/Film-Stuff as I see it, at least when it comes to monitors. Greg didn’t take money for pre-orders and there aren’t people waiting eagerly by their mailbox each day…people that are out a lot of money and crossing their fingers that their monitors will eventually arrive. Would I rather have purchased two of Greg’s monitors instead of what I consider to be a stop-gap (my SmallHD’s)? Yes. Were they ready when I needed to buy two because I couldn’t continue to use my Cinetronics because of a severe lack of confidence in the equipment and company? No. Did Greg ask anyone for money up front for a yet unreleased/untested TB-7 and then promise them they’d be ready in two weeks or a month? No. When they are available and I decide to buy two of them (or not depending on a variety of factors), will I lose $6000 selling my SmallHD’s as I did when I sold my Cinetronic 2 monitors? No, because both of my SmallHD monitors together cost less to purchase than I lost when I sold my two Cinetronics monitors. That fall in value can be chalked up (I believe) to all of the negative reviews on this forum and how you as the owner of the company has dealt with the adversity. There is a big difference, at least from my perspective. Getting back to your point about happy customers…you’ll be interested to note that I’ve heard from 5 operators from this forum via email or PM since my post – all either in support of my post or in disbelief over what you’ve written. People aren’t always willing to put posts up of a forum, as it will be visible to all until the end of time (or until Tim gets tired of hosting the site). I have remained quiet about this and would have continued to do so except for your post about Afton, and how this site, and us operators specifically, were as a group awful enough to drive away some of the best people and vendors in the game (I’m still having a hard time coming to grips with that one Chris). I hope someone takes you up on your offer to come sit in the office... at least then someone will take the time to pick up the phone when it rings. I would however put the promised daily lunch money into a fund to fix the known issues with your current products instead of merely complaining about your pesky customers/ex-customers and their demanding needs…that seems to be a better use for the money and kills two birds with one stone. Good luck with your business going forward. I wish you personally nothing but success, but I fear that the way you treat the people who entrust you with their hard earned money will cause your eventual downfall long before your products do. I hope I am proven wrong. Brooks Robinson PS And talking shit about others who comment (such as Peter) doesn't endear you or your business to others who may be on the fence about purchasing products from you...is it me, or is this just common sense?

Chris, You are way off base. While your monitor may have the best daylight viewability of the current LCD’s, I sold both of my Cinetronic 2’s at a huge $3000 loss each after only 6 months of ownership because they never performed as promised/assumed. The menu was non-intuitive and impossible to navigate, there were no directions, the touch screen buttons either failed to react to the touch or navigated far too quickly when touched, and it didn’t work with a PSF signal – mine also had other catastrophic issues that were eventually addressed, but the experience left me with such a bad taste that I couldn’t stomach having them in my kit due to a serious lack of confidence in the equipment and the company behind them. If these were the only issues with Cinetronic/Film-Stuff, then perhaps that would still be okay for some, but the abhorrent customer service, lack of communication, personal attacks on a public forum, undelivered orders (I didn’t personally experience this – though my monitors were delivered on time at the expense of someone else getting theirs on time), and the ability to come across as looking down on owners (and past owners) of your product really sum up the Cinetronic experience for me. For me, purchasing (and 6 months later selling) two Cintronic 2 monitors was the single worst equipment purchasing decision I’ve made in my 22 year steadicam career. It isn’t that people are unappreciative of you for working to develop a product Chris – they just expect that it will work as advertised, will be delivered on time as promised, will be fixed without fuss in the case of an issue, and that it works when turned on (and keeps working throughout the course of a work-day). This wasn’t my experience, and by the pages and pages written by others about Cinetronic on this very forum, I’d say it hasn’t been other peoples experience either. I also couldn’t understand why you started trying to develop and push 5 new products instead of trying to fix the current roster of products; specifically your flagship monitor and its known issues. You wrote at length about other companies being “pushed away” by the “poisonous” steadicam community. Really? Did Bob and George really leave the business because of the attitude of operators? Did GPI Pro really leave Valencia, CA for Oregon so they didn’t have to interact with wannabes? I don’t honestly believe any of these are valid examples or in the least bit true. I would also disagree with your assessment of us (steadicam operators) and say that with only one or two exceptions that I can think of (none of which you mentioned in your post) the steadicam community, and in particular, the steadicam forum is filled with people who are kind, courteous, willing to help others, and passionate about what they do and the equipment they work with. If you experienced backlash of some sort (and I’m more than aware that you have), I might suggest it possibly had more to do with your product, service record, and your attitude towards us rather than the person pointing the finger at you. When you make a quality product and stand behind that product year after year (Pro, XCS, Preston, Bartech) you don’t get the wave of disappointed customers that you at Cinetronic/Film-Stuff seem to have. When is the last time anyone wrote anything disparaging on this forum about Pro, XCS, Preston, or Jim Bartell? I can’t think of any. People will go out of their way to praise a product when it works, and conversely, when people can’t get you on the phone to discuss an issue, or don’t get a response to an email regarding a problem, don’t receive their paid for product on time as agreed, or are told that they will have to live with an ongoing issue, they come on the forum and post their concerns. They do this for two reasons: they hope that you will see it and personally respond to fix their issue or complaint (especially if they can’t reach you by other means), and they also want to warn others about what is going on. Steadicam operators have done this same thing since the beginnings of the device (way before the internet). Back then it was at gatherings and on the phone, but now (for better or worse – depending on your product and customer service track-record) it is online. This makes it easier for us as potential buyers (especially those in other countries) to hear about a product and how it performs in the field, and sometimes more importantly, how the company supports the customer after the sale. We make our living with our equipment – not just on rentals, but it is what we use along with our bodies to frame the images seen by millions in theaters around the world. If it doesn’t perform, or we can’t get anyone to help us fix it when things go wrong in the field, then it is of no value to us. In some cases (as in if it goes down and you don’t have a back-up) equipment can get you fired or not asked back. These are huge issues for us, as we are only as good as the equipment we buy and bring with us to the job. If it doesn’t work, then we don’t work – it’s as simple as that. It isn’t enough to have own/run a company that simply builds products – that company also has to support its customers if it hopes to be profitable and pass the test of time. I wish you and your company nothing but success going forward, but I think you need to take an honest look in the mirror and start looking at what you make, what you say to others (especially on an online forum), and how you deal with the inevitable issues that will arise as a business owner. That will, and so far, has, defined you and your company, though perhaps not as you may have hoped. There are good companies in our industry and bad ones and there is a discernable difference between them. All of us can easily recognize when we’ve had a good purchasing experience, and can just as easily tell if we haven’t. You need to realize that you are building equipment geared towards a very small community, and we all know each other and discuss our equipment buying decisions – both the good ones, and the poor ones. This can either be a good thing for you and your company or not – you are the only one that can decide that outcome. Brooks Robinson

Not sure if the follow focus division is the same as the rest of Arriflex, but it took me a month and a half to get a replacement knob for my Arrihead pan wheel because Arri was on holiday for the entire month of August. Again, I’m not sure if this experience is typical, but it would certainly give me pause, or at the very least cause me to ask more questions before I made a large purchase. Also, living in Los Angeles, it simply makes more sense for me to own something that is developed, manufactured, and repaired locally - Preston. I’ve never seen one of the Arri units on set, which is perhaps another reason to own a Preston (in North America anyway)…AC’s know them backwards and forwards, and there is no time spent on set explaining how something works on a day-call. Brooks

David, I'm not sure what firmware I have but I believe it is the most recent one. My loader talked to SmallHD and the issue of the monitor not always recognizing the signal is (I believe) a known issue that now has a work-around or patch. I think if you call them they can sort you out. I'll talk to my loader on Monday and find out what steps he took, but I believe they gave him a list of what needed to happen and he simply followed the steps. He said it wasn't a big deal, and that both of my monitors were done quickly. I didn't have any issues after the update, but yesterday was a light steadicam day, and I don't know if the issue is fixed for good or not. Brooks

My loader talked to SmallHD today about the issue of the HD signal not being found upon powering up. There is a firmware patch that supposedly solves the issue. It took about 5 minutes per monitor. Haven't done any steadicam yet, but I'll report back if the issue is ongoing afterthe update. Also, we tested the delay out of the camera (F55) and found a 3 frame delay with both the DP7 high bright and a TV Logic. Further testng revealed a 2 frame delay out of the camera, so the monitor delay was only 1 frame (unless that 1 frame delay came from somewhere else in the line). Brooks

Has anyone had any issues with their SmallHD high bright not getting a signal? I’ve been using my 2 new SmallHD monitors with my XCS Ultimate 1 and a Sony F55 for the past week and this is the first time my new monitors have been used. Today on set, we powered the rig up and while the monitor powered up, the SDI signal didn’t show up. We turned the monitor on and off with no results. Eventually the signal came back and I did the shot. After we moved on (and not having a clear indication of what caused the issue) I swapped out my problem monitor with its twin SmallHD backup monitor. We powered it up and went to do the next shot without issue. We spent time on our conventional camera before moving back to the steadicam. We powered the rig up and the monitor turned on, but like before, the new replacement didn’t get a signal. We ran the same dianostics again, but it wouldn’t get a signal until we unplugged the hirose power cable from the monitor and plugged it back in. Then the monitor worked and we went on with the day. My question is, has anyone else experienced this, or are my two monitors an anomaly? I value any and all responses. Brooks

Thanks to all who took the time to write both here and privately. The job is not a done deal (in general or for me specifically) and is a long way off. My questions are a result of my DP friend’s questions to me regarding the feasibility of using the F65. If the project happens, the F65 is the camera he would likely choose, and wanted to see if steadicam would work with it. I gave him my gut instinct about the F65/steadicam combo (which wasn’t favorable), so hearing from others was very valuable. Please feel free to add something if it comes to mind, and thanks again to all who took the time to contribute. Brooks Robinson

I have never done (or wanted to do) a 3D show. I was called today from a DP I work with who might have a 3D show coming up that is considering using F65’s. Other than the obvious issues with wear and tear on my body, has anyone done this and is it possible? Would a PRO arm hold that much weight? Has anyone used an XCS sled to do 3D? Were there any additional modifications that needed to be done to the sled? Is low-mode possible? Is there anything else I need to consider or have failed to mention? Thanks in advance for any possible advice. Brooks

Thanks to everyone who responded to this topic both on the forum and off. I had my prep at Panavision yesterday and all of the information discussed in this thread was very helpful leading up to it. I traded in my Bolt 2000 (version 1) for the newer version 2 which is able to transmit a PSF signal (the Sony puts out only PSF I believe). I did not know there was an issue with the original 2000 until I read about it here. I did not do a test with the new 2000 to compare distance/signal strength to my old unit, but it did work as it should in the prep room, and it was nice that the RX now shows when it is receiving a signal. I was happy to see that my SmallHD DP7 Pro High Bright worked fine with the PSF signal and did not have any issues. I have not seen it outside so I am not sure about the viewability in the sun, but I was happy to be able to navigate the menus to set up my custom framelines and crosshair and get a signal to the monitor without issue. I am not sure about the weight of the monitor (or lack thereof), but it seemed to balance once I figured what to do with the dovetail plates (mentioned below). I purchased on/off cables for the F55 from Preston, which sadly did not work. In talking with the prep techs at Panavision, this is not the first time this has happened with Preston F55 cables despite several conversations with Preston. The cable tech was able to take my new cables and modify them to work with the camera, and I was glad to have discovered the issue in Los Angeles before shipping the gear out of town. The Panavision plates on the top and bottom of the camera are great and solid. We are using the new Panavision 15-40mm (not the Angenieux) and 27-75mm, which are quite heavy compared to their Angenieux counterparts. Because the camera (which is very light) was now very front heavy due to the zoom lenses, it would not balance front to back with the Panavision bottom dovetail plate. I had to remove it (about 8 screws) and put my XCS plate on in a more forward position. The Panavision plate is used to anchor several other brackets, and I questioned whether I should swap it with mine, but losing the Panavision dovetail did not seem to affect the rigidity of things too much and I felt okay switching to mine. I could have simply screwed my XCS plate onto the bottom Panavision dovetail, but that would have raised the camera more than I would have liked in standard mode. I was thinking of running an onboard battery on the camera in addition to the ARRI 12v 4-pin XLR power cable (for added weight), but the lenses were heavy enough that it seemed to balance without additional weight needed for ballast. Maybe I will re-think that when I get to the set and get some shots under my belt with it, but it seemed okay yesterday. Speaking of power, if you are running the Panavision F55 through your sled, you need to run your 4-pin XLR into the rear 4-pin connector. The front one will power the camera, but none of the accessories, and I was initially worried when I did not get a video signal to my monitor, Bolt TX, or power to the Cinetape. Plugging into the rear 4-pin XLR solved the issue and powered the camera. I was very cautious about plugging things into the body after having seen the post Louis made regarding plugging in cables with the body powered up. I asked our tech about it, and he said the body was fairly robust, and I did not have anything to worry about. I am not sure if Panavision had modified things so that issues with off the shelf F55s are not issues with theirs, but I am planning on playing it safe and taking Louis's advice. Thanks again to everyone for contributing to the discussion. I would not have been prepared at all had I not read all of the informative posts on the forum. Brooks