John Hatcher

Hi guys,

I have an Ultra 2 and where the monitor mounts on the bracket on the center post, once the little pin snaps into place, I tighten the kipp handle and the whole bracket seems to still wiggle around a bit. Is there a simple fix for this or is a new kipp handle in order? I emailed Derek on Feb 25th about this and haven't received a reply yet. I'd really like to figure out how to get this solved.

Thanks in advance!

John

Hi,

has anyone got an easy way to mount a Marshall 651 on an Ultra2 yoke?

Hi,

I might have the opportunity to buy a used big rig that's in another state so it must be shipped. Does anyone have a good template for a sales contract to protect us both and make sure legally that shipment will be initiated when payment is received?

Thanks in advance! :)

Cool, as always, thanks Ozzy! :)

Has anyone bought one in the past, then grew out of it and moved on to a more feature rich rig? Curious how hard it was to sell a used one or if it wasn't difficult at all.

When you get this vibration, is your post extended all the way out both vertically and horizontally?

Hello,

 

Im new to the Pilot but I have been using the glidecam for about 4 years now so I have a little knowledge of how this works. I am find that everything is a lot smoother but I seem to be getting a little bit of vibration when my feet hit the ground. I'm not a big guy so my weight shouldn't be this issue. I flying the 7D with a little bit of extra weight. I am thinking it might be the arm since this is very knew to me or I need to add more weight the camera ? Any suggestions would be great.

Jerry Hill makes arm covers too like Ozzy was talking about that have Velcro down the bottom for easy installation on the lower arm http://www.steadimoves.com/parts.html. I'd still spray them with 3M water proof spray every so often for good measure. Walmart carries the spray so you can't go wrong.

Interesting! Well I'm going to do some testing of my rig the next couple of days. I'm also going to have a camera shooting my operating so we can get to the issue of what's causing the vibration... Will keep posted on what I find out.

Hi John,

 

No issue seems more daunting or difficult to resolve than the issue you're describing. The situation I was in was about as bad as it can get. I had just bought a brand new Red Scarlet camera and a brand new 'just out of the case' Steadicam Zephyr and now after spending all that money- I have this incredibly bewildering problem of 'jutter'. It was not just in my head either- The techs at Red saw the R3D files with the issue and acknowledged it as well. I knew it wasn't the typical 24 fps stutter you see when making fast camera movements as I also did tests at 59.94 fps. In fact I exhausted ALL possibilities because I did controlled tests in the same location flying the same path but with different Red cameras and with and without power from the sled. The third party V-mount backplate did cause some of the issue but not all of it. It just seemed worse with the backplate on. The ONLY test I had not done was with a DIFFERENT Zephyr. Steadicam was willing to lend me a new Zephyr to do the test but they would not pay for the shipping- which would have been about $300 round trip from NY to Houston. I asked Red to help out since I had spent so much time and effort trouble-shooting for them- they turned me down. Ultimately I ended up calling B & H Photo where I had purchased the Zephyr and asked for an exchange. I was really very happy with B & H and how they handled the return and re-shipment of a completely new Zephyr. They did not argue or hassle me at all. They were very helpful and easy to deal with- I have bought a LOT of gear from them and now they have won my business for good! As soon as I received the new Zephyr- I popped it on and balance my Scarlet for its maiden voyage and the last final test to see if the problem was with the Red Scarlet OR the other Zephyr. Drum roll... The answer was clearly evident- it was the other Zephyr! I was overjoyed! NO STUDDER! Not anywhere in my flight! This made sense to me since I had flown 3 different Red cameras including an Epic in the tests and they all had the issue in the same locations. I knew there was no way they could be making major motion pictures on the Red cameras and NOBODY had ever had this issue- especially all the different rigs and contraptions they were putting those Red cameras on- including Steadicam! This made everything so much easier for me! I got rid of the problem Zephyr, I didn't have to pay the $300 in shipping and now I felt better about having spent so much money on the Scarlet and Zephyr. I am ready to move on and make some money off my new setup! As for the old Zephyr- I sent Steadicam the serial number to see if maybe they wanted to do some tests on it to find the issue. It wasn't- as far as I can tell a bolt loose or a plate etc. I think it was electrical but no way to know for sure. What amazes me is that of ALL the people out there buying new Zephyrs- I got the lemon! But the great thing is- I knew I had a lemon and I didn't stop till I got it resolved in my favor! The moral of the story for me is- always thoroughly check out your purchase and if you do have a problem- send it back before it's too late! And buy from a reliable source- like B & H Photo! John- I wish you luck in finding a solution. I wish I could offer you some kind of clarity in finding the answer. The only thing I can say is some issues may never be solved- a strange combination of man made / engineering error as was my case.

Hi Jim,

I've watched this thread for awhile to see if you guys found a solution. I have had a similar thing happen to me with my Zephyr. My typical practice setup is a weight cage from Janice and an old Canon GL1 (weight cage just to bring the minimum weight up). All screws tight on stage. Now what will typically happen is if zoomed all the way with the optical image stabilize off, you can see a little vibration when you make a footstep. This seems to get more noticeable as the center post is extended for counter balance/to get a little more lens height. I can actually see the rig vibrating in that case. I took Janice's rods off the cage and put 1/2 inch spacers between the two plates and the vibration got a little better as the cg was brought lower. The weight plates extend over the stage fore and aft and it seems that this elongated weight causes a sort of equal/opposite torquing in relationship to the battery/monitor and thus the vibration when walking or fast panning at long post lengths. I recently flew an F3 with accessories and a long post config and started getting vibration again so it looks like keeping the rig short and adding more Merlin weights on the bottom might be the solution.

Would love to hear your thoughts. :)

Will do! Thank you!

Has anyone tiptoed into the waters of having a custom built tilt stage made for the Zephyr yet? I had a shoot the other day with extreme low angles and I was wishing I had one.

I might jump on designing one if no one else has yet.

Hi Morgan,

I'm not sure how expensive these are, but check these transmitters out. They've worked really well for reality stuff I've worked on. It's called an MDT-B made by Cobham. http://www.cobham.com/about-cobham/aerospace-and-security/about-us/tactical-communications-and-surveillance/nashua/dtc-communications.aspx

I'd speak to them to get the details, but range is really good.

Hello from Sweden! :)

 

I´m also a Zephyr owner and operator, using a HD rig.

I´m shooting with a large variety of cameras like Sony PDW-355 XDCAM, Sony F3, Panasonic AG-AC160 and HVX170 depending on client.

 

This is my first Steadicam, bought it to start my career as an operator after 10 years in the video/tv-business.

I really like the Zephyr, easy to handle, easy to finetune with the noobs next to the sled, it´s a quality product.

It fits my clients needs and my startup budget.

 

I´m on the market for a HD-SDI wireless transmitter/receiver, minimum of 50 meter. Any suggestions?!

 

Here is a video from a simple practise-run a did, when this was shoot a only had 5-6 hours with the rig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3r9gWAgv-E

 

Kind regards,

Morgan

Thanks Eric!

Thanks Eric!

Hi guys,

Getting ready to order an F bracket. The Flyer and the Zephyr F bracket are one in the same aren't they?

Thanks!

Hatch

Hmmm I think like you say Mike, some sort of neoprene washer or tape would do for now. Drilling is a possibility, I could take that plate off and fashion a hole without worrying about damaging the monitor...

I'm still puzzled why Tiffen stopped putting yokes on everything. Even the JR had a monitor yoke for crying out loud.

Maybe I missed it before, but did anyone figure out a mount workaround for keeping the 651STX from rotating around on the Zephyr monitor mount? I took the Allen set screw out just to the side of the mount to get the STX on, but just wondering if anyone found something to keep the monitor from spinning on the mount? I know Tom makes a yoke for it, but trying to save a couple bucks at first before I jump into that. :)

Thanks!

Amazing! I'd love to see some more photos of that up close! :)

Copy that. Yes mine don't quite swivel freely, but it is weird to unsnap/adjust/swivel/resnap. It does take a little practice. :) Thanks!

Hi Mark and guys! Just got my Zephyr yesterday! A great improvement over the Pilot for sure. I'm wondering though if anyone else has an issue with the gimbal clamp and post clamp swiveling around? I don't remember clamps on other bigger rigs doing that.

Hatch

Great! I'll do a in depth comp on the 651STX and that other one. I've been talking to Tom about a yoke already. I found a good price too at Custom Supply in Alabama, but I'll check with your guys in Atlanta too!

Thank you again Mark!

That's the one I bought. Not as bright as the 651STX but still pretty bright at 800nits. Lots of good features. I bought one with an Anton Bauer mount on the back, just to have an extra battery option, on or off the sled.

 

Check with forum member Tom Wills if you go with a 651STX. He built a monitor yoke for it, but for some reason the thread is inaccessable now.

 

Incidentally I got a great price and excellent service from Kenny Crysler, manager of the video department at Showcase Atlanta. They ship nationwide.

Ok, I found this one, wondering if it is the one everyone is jumping on to? http://www.lcdracks.com/monitors/model/V-LCD70XHB-3GSDI.php

j

Someone here discovered their new 651STX have a mechanism that detects the physical orientation of the monitor thereby flipping the image. People who bought one recently may want to flip their monitor around to see if it works.

Thanks guys. I'll look into it. Also I'm investigating a way to mount a yoke so the monitor will swivel like it should without disrupting balance.

Hi,

Trying to figure out which HD monitor is the best upgrade for the Zephyr? I've been reading that most everyone is going with some incarnation of Marshall. I was checking out this one http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/767506-REG/Marshall_Electronics_V_LCD70XHB_HDMIPT_PM_7_Field_Camera_Top.html which seems to be a good deal.

Can the IDX Battery version of the Zephyr power these ok and voltage wise? Looks like you just need a 4pin conversion power cable too.

Thanks in advance,

John