Mounting Cinetronic to Tiffen sled

[Brian Freesh]

This was recently discussed in brief in the Cinetronic monitor arm thread, but it's a bit off topic for that thread so I figured I'd start a new one. One stop thread for all the options to mount a Cinetronic (or TB-6 or Pro monitor) to a Tiffen sled

 

1. One simple and solid way to mount a Cinetronic monitor to a Tiffen sled was demonstrated by James Baldanza here: http://www.steadicam...t=15#entry81796

 

2. And now that Cinetronic has their own monitor arm that can fit to a Tiffen sled, that's probably the simplest way to go at this point.

 

3. I bought my Cinetronic months ago, before that arm was available or even known about, and I wanted to retain the ability to rotate the yolk itself and lock it into a different position. And now with the new yolk on the Cinetronic 2 there will be more positions available so the advantage of retaining that ability is greater. And anyone who upgrades will have to modify their new yolk, just as they did the old.

 

I had a simple idea of how to do it, but found a way to ghetto rig my monitor and got lazy. Thanks to the discussion in the other thread I renewed my interest and I've now had it done. Pictures attached.

 

Tiffen has their own monitor bracket they use on the yolks for the monitors that go with their rigs. I just bought that and had an aluminum block machined to fit in it and put a hole for the mounting spud. Simple and works like a charm. I didn't take the kip handles into account and cannot spin the monitor past them, but the only positions I can't get it in without unplugging the cables and spinning the opposite direction are positions I wouldn't be able to see the screen anyway. I'll probably just replace the kips with allen bolts, eliminating the issue.

 

The block is also bigger than it needs to be, I could easily shave off 30% or more of it's weight, and probably will soon, right before I get it anodized. Speaking of, the Tiffen bracket has a bigger footprint than necessary, and there's no reason an entire custom piece that is smaller couldn't be made. I just saw this as the simplest solution and went with it. And the Tiffen bracket isn't in the way of anything, so I don't mind that it is so big.

 

Everything is much more secure than my ghetto rig, and a pound lighter. It's ready for the Cinetronic 2 with no more modification (theoretically), no need to do anything to the Cinetronic 2 yolk. And it maintains the ability to put the yolk at whatever angle is preferred. And while the total cost is around 60% of the Cinetronic monitor arm, if I'd just made it months ago when I intended, that wouldn't have been a factor.

 

Oh yeah, my rig is an Ultra 1, but the lower electronics were completely redone. So if it looks strange, that's cause it is. :)