Pascal Jolink

Job is a TV -Master- operator doing exciting stuff every day of the week!

AF Marcotec does one on one workshops - if you don't mind flying to Germany. They can teach you how to operate a full rig within a day! The basics are relatively easy, the rest is just doing it, over and over again. Even 5 days can't teach you how to deal with every aspect of operating a Stabilizer... europe@glidecam.de

No one has ever heard of socket block drive, so that by itself is not an answer. Fabian might be a novice operator...

- Robin I understand. I'm a fairly tall guy and I have yet to come across a situation that required me to go even lower or higher than the amazing boom range the Geo arm already provides. I can barely reach the bottom of the arm's travel as it is... - Jerry Thank you for your reply. I know about the possible danger of a long arm post. Never had to use one either... I fly a 4 stage sled so I can just extend the upper part when necessary. Your comment on the pressure on the chest is true, I've experienced it numerous times with another vest I have that has the waist band at the back of the vertical spar. I sort of worked around it by removing the padding at the top of the spar, with the chest plate resting on top of the shoulder pads. This way the spar isn't actually touching my sternum, but I do feel my shoulders after a while... I just had an epiphany! The reason the pad is there is to relief the tension on the shoulders... My conception on vest ergonomics just turned 180 degrees... You say that the U2 does a better job at spreading the load more evenly. Does this also mean that the vest is less prone to shifting under load than with the 'old' Ultra vest? Thanks again for all your replies! Pascal

Hi guys, It's just that I'm used to a lower position, and I can't relax my arm while not resting it on the rig's arm. Look at the Glidecam ad on the right; the two arms are obstructing each other... Robin, your comment makes sense, but i'd rather use a longer arm post than having the arm's mounting point too high. It comes down to comfort I guess... I've talked to Job and I believe he has found a way to make the vest fit me without 'damaging' the vest. I appreciate the feedback though! Pascal

Hi everyone, With the Ultra 2 vest - as it is - the socket block is sitting too high for me, because the waist band and metal plates are on the front of the center spar, preventing the socket block to go any lower. I heard from a fellow operator, who heard it from someone else, that it is possible to move the waist assembly to the back of the center spar. I checked it out, but I would need longer screws, or so I assume. Can anyone confirm this? Imperial size screws are hard to come by in my country, and I'd like not having to tap metric threads in a brand new vest. Does Tiffen sell longer screws? Any other options I've overlooked? Thanks

What I'm trying to say is that because of that lip on the male socket block, the part that's in focus in the second picture, the threads of the thumbscrews don't sit right. It used to be a flat surface, and probably a bit shorter as well, judging by the gap in between the male and female block. Can't make it any clearer than this I'm afraid... And it definitely seems as if the side of the female block is slightly concave Perhaps the female block is an after market part from Movcam... who knows :P

Charles- I doubt it was any different; that would have meant a new part and new "threads" for the operator. I do not remember any of that - especially the threads changing, so I suspect it was all the same. But we need a response from someone with an EFP in their hands for this. It looks like the mating of the two parts is okay as well. Jerry What I mean is the lip on the male end where the threads sit, which is part of the arm. At some point in time they've added that lip. I probably got that from the Steadyrig site A picture to illustrate (borrowed from the Steadyrig site) Also: That male block was manufactured 2 decades after the female block, by a different manufacturer

If I remember correctly the original EFP male socket block didn't have that concave thingy where the thumbscrew threads sit, it was just a flat surface.

I'm well aware that there are operators, like Daniel and Scott, that love their Baer-Bel, but unfortunately this is the impression we got after spending that afternoon at Markus' shop. We weren't told that you could simply rotate the stage, or J-box to get the connectors in a more convenient place. The gimbal did bind the upper titanium post to the lower section when 'over' tightening it (when is it overtightened? I don't want it to slip) And it was impossible to get the gimbal aligned properly. Markus as well as the two of us spend an hour trying to get it balanced. You can image that by that time we weren't that thrilled about the gimbal anymore. The same goes for the stage and post and base. When the sled's hanging from the stud and you want to adjust any of the batteries, and there's no friction to keep it in place after you've loosened the clamp, it wouldn't take much to throw off balance. The rig we tried was, of course, brand new. So all that tweaking is something that Markus does when you're not around. I agree that you would never reach the lower range of the arm in normal circumstances, but I had to try :) After a while you can get used to just about anything. Perhaps if I were to take the rig home for a demo period it would grow on me. Suffice to say that we weren't blown away by the design and functionality.

I'm not sure what Markus has changed on his system in the last two years, but: Job Scholtze and I spend an afternoon at markus' workshop to check out the Baer-Bel system. My thoughts on the system: Vest: I need to point out that I'm used to the Glidecam Gold vest. The first impression on the B-B vest is that it fits me better than the GC vest. Putting the B-B vest on is a bit cumbersome, because the shoulder straps are riveted to the chest plate, so you have to put it over your head (newby style). The mid straps and the waist strap have the commonly used buckles. There is enough padding on the vest for a comfortable fit, I have to say: better than the Gold vest. Adjustments on the other hand have to be made with an Allen wrench. I also prefer the ratchet buckles on the GC vest for fine tuning. Pro?s: Better fit (although that?s very personal) Thicker padding Stiffer design Con?s: Not tools-free Riveted shoulder straps Arm: I expected a lot of this arm, because it has the springs inside the bone; GPI-like. It didn?t feel anything like a pro unfortunately, more like a 3A / Gold. It feels like there?s quite some friction in this arm because it?s pretty stiff, and really not better than the Gold arm ? I?ve tried them side by side. The X elbow is a very nice feature: no banging elbows!! And there?s no lock-up when you boom down. Well, there is, but it's so far down you can?t reach it: I had to push down on the camera to get there? But because of that, the lower part of the arm tends to jump up when you boom up again: mechanically the spring crosses the pivot of the bone when you boom fully down. The arm weighs about the same as the Gold arm, which is pretty heavy to start with, which is strange because the arm seems to be lighter with all those holes cut out Pro?s: Rod-end free socket block Little torque in lower section Slim design Con?s: Heavy Noisy Stiff Too much lower boom range (jumps back) Sled: We set out that day to check out the B-B sled. First impression: Solid looking, modular sled. The Stage: The stage has a drop-in camera plate design. The clamp that locks the plate had to be pried loose with a screw driver, and an Allen bolt loosened before the plate went in. Then lock the clamp again and tighten the bolt. It was a brand new stage so it could be that it has to be worn in slightly. The trimming is done on the side with two knobs. The threads are pretty large, so half a turn would adjust the stage quite a bit in any direction. The fine trimming also felt rough and as if it was slipping. The connectors on the J-box are on the side and I don?t like that: it makes the whole upper part wider than it already is, and I like a small footprint, same as below. Because it uses 4 pin XLR for power, the connector stick out too much. A lot of options for power / video outs, including a multi terminal for video/power/tally. The post: A nice 2? post. It?s a two stage titanium post. Very solid. The lower section is a ½ centimetre thick tube with a line machined into it preventing the upper and lower post to rotate on eachother. It might be the thick lower post that makes the sled so heavy, and I?m not sure if that?s titanium as well. If you again look at the GC post, it?s two thin aluminium tubes that weigh a lot less, and don?t flex much either. To adjust the length of the post you first have to loosen the gimbal clamp and then the post clamp? I sometimes adjust the drop time on the fly, and that would be really cumbersome with the B-B sled. Markus told us that this happens when you over tighten the gimbal clamp. But I don?t think we over tightened anything. What we experienced was some flexing in the post. That brings us to the gimbal. Although it looked like it can do the job, we had a lot of trouble balancing the sled with this gimbal: Not all axis were aligned properly, so when you balance the sled one way and rotate the sled would hang to one side. It took a lot of tinkering to get it 90% right. The way it?s designed doesn?t seem that logical to me: to post-calibrate the yoke alignment. I assume you can machine a yoke within tolerances so you can calibrate with a shim at the most. I really can?t see myself working with this gimbal. A small bump to the gimbal can screw up the alignment ? during transport, assistants etc - and that?s just crazy. The basic gimbal handle is a bit short, but he can machine one tailored to your hands. The base: This was the part that I was most enthusiastic about. The modular design, much like the Jerry Hill base, allowed the batteries to be placed anywhere on the base by means of dove tailed AB Gold mounts. You can mount no less than six batteries at the same time, although you ?only? have 4 power ins. If you need another plate for accessories you can add one in seconds. The locks on the plates are plastic clamps and are prone to wear and tear. Adjusting the battery plates has to be done with precision: when you un-luck the clamp it can easily slide too far, and that messed up our balance twice? All connectors are in-line with the base, creating a small footprint, not unlike to upper J-box. Also lots of power and video outs, including a multi connector like the on top. The monitor bracket that was on the sled had a fixed length, although he showed us a rod type bracket as well. And I?d prefer the rod-type bracket, and that one looked well build. Pro's: Modular design Con's: Awkward placement of connectors Loosening gimbal and then post clamp for adjusting post Not tools-free Gimbal design That pretty much sums up the things I experienced with the B-B rig. With my experience flying the GC Gold, and then looking at the B-B, my conclusion is that these rigs are not far apart.

Got one!

I'm looking for an old Hedén motor with gears (Fuji/Canon) and cable / bracketry to work with my BFD. Anything under a 1000 U$S. Thanks, Pascal Jolink