3A Arm - Velcro allen wrench?

[Peter Abraham]

-Grin- Well, yes. We do disagree sometimes but have a great time doing it !!! :)

 

It isn't just whether it's harder to turn one kind of arm's lifting bit than another. It's the field of view. I owned a Model I, II, IIIA, Master Series, Flyer and now G-50 arm. When needing a wrench to adjust, one simply has to remove the sled and arm to reach the lower socket heads. Even with good Zen, you look like a fumbling fool trying to get a wrench in down there. Regardless of L shaped wrench or T handled wrench, applying enough very even upwards force to keep a wrench shaft properly inserted into a socket head that is facing downwards is a bit of a trick.

 

Need to undock far from the stand? That's what tables, railings, benches and Grips are for !! Then if truly needed, you can pop off your arm and make a quick adjust to the 4 socket heads.

 

Rare situation, that.

 

Best to all,

 

Peter Abraham, S.O.C.

[Kyle Fasanella]

Great tips and advice. Thanks all.

[Erwin Landau]

I never leave the house without a 5/32 tugged into my vest. On my PRO Vest it fits nicely between the Chest spar and the chest pad... had it there for years, even though I need it less and less. But then I have always 4 of those buggers strategically placed around the set.

 

The nice thing is that, unlike the 3A, you don't have to unload the PRO Arm to adjust the arm tension. But still I also like to have one of my stands always as close as possible to me. There is no point playing the superman when you can dock it and get the weight of your feet. Also as mentioned before there are all kinds of make do docks around like a Grip or any person foolish enough to be close by and take the rig, table tops, railings, etc... anything will do as long as it gives you time to take the weight off...

 

You could always velcro the 3/16 to your AC's back or onto the Director's handheld monitor... he usually is uncomfortably close to you anyways...

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

I never leave the house without a 5/32 tugged into my vest. On my PRO Vest it fits nicely between the Chest spar and the chest pad... had it there for years,

 

Watch out Erwin Ken will tell you that it's only a fashion statement and of no use....

[Victor Lazaro]

I wouldn't be surprised to see some allen wrenches on some skinny anorexic models for fashion week in New York.

[Erwin Landau]

I never leave the house without a 5/32 tugged into my vest. On my PRO Vest it fits nicely between the Chest spar and the chest pad... had it there for years,

 

Watch out Erwin Ken will tell you that it's only a fashion statement and of no use....

 

 

I guess I am old fashioned then... I like Green-screens, Front mounted Vests, SD Transmitters, and having my freeking 5/32 tugged into my vest... I don't like my pants around my ankles and hate those puffy jackets that are soooo in right now. Also I can always use the wrench to defend my self against lil' rappers that try to pick a fight...

[Ken Nguyen]

Eric,

Let's talk about PRO arm.

How many time do you need to adjust your arm while you are away from the dock and the arm is under load?

 

Ken Nguyen.

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

Eric,

Let's talk about PRO arm.

How many time do you need to adjust your arm while you are away from the dock and the arm is under load?

 

Ken Nguyen.

 

Ok, let's talk about it.

 

Every single day. Working in scripted (HD) television these days, it is not uncommon to shoot multiple takes back to back "keep rolling, reset, action!". There is often no time to walk back to your docking station, that's why the 5/32 key lives in my PRO vest.

 

And yes the PRO arm adjust perfectly fine under load, I 2nd Erwin....

[Ken Nguyen]

Eric,

Let's talk about PRO arm.

How many time do you need to adjust your arm while you are away from the dock and the arm is under load?

 

Ken Nguyen.

 

Ok, let's talk about it.

 

Every single day. Working in scripted (HD) television these days, it is not uncommon to shoot multiple takes back to back "keep rolling, reset, action!". There is often no time to walk back to your docking station, that's why the 5/32 key lives in my PRO vest.

 

And yes the PRO arm adjust perfectly fine under load, I 2nd Erwin....

 

Why do you need to re-adjust your arm?

Lens change? You let the AC changes lens while holding the rig? or dock your rig on the table?

How far is docking station from the set? Where is your assistant? You don't have a portable docking stand?

 

And, yes, I do adjust PRO arm when it is under load. But, not away from the dock.

Once, it is adjusted. It's good to go w/o the need of re-adjust unless there is a big change in the set up (wide to heavy long lens).

[Jens Piotrowski SOC]

It's called float-point adjustment and that is my lasts comment on the subject.

[RonBaldwin]

As stated a few times before...the pro arm is very forgiving (filters are often added/changed/deleted just before rolling) I don't remember my 3a arm not being that forgiving. I no longer keep a tool with me -- unless my spotter counts -- so the vz gimbal/dbox provide enough adjustment for most changes. I rarely adjust the arm once I start a show unless there are major changes or alcohol involved.

[Alfeo Dixon SOC]

I feel sooooo left out not being able to torque on my tool with my arm under load... :blink:

[Eric Fletcher S.O.C.]

Eric,

Let's talk about PRO arm.

How many time do you need to adjust your arm while you are away from the dock and the arm is under load?

 

You still dodge the question of why its such an amazingly bad idea to carry the wrench. I agree with Jens and Erwin. But hey let me add another real world experice where having a 5/32" wrench is helpful aside from the odd times that the AC needs to adjust a dog bone. Its Tragic hour and we are shooting a walk n talk on a dock that is 8' wide and the run is 200'. Now on this show are are F23 and we run cabled back to SRW-1's at dit. Word comes across the radio as the DIT and my 2nd are running full tilt at me with a SWR-1 and a Anton Bauer hot swap that we have cable issues. We are running out of sun, in less than 15 seconds we slap the deck on the camera, the hot swap on my sled and put 30 turns into one spring can per arm. Crisis averted, got the shot. If I had to walk back to the dock we wouldn't have gotten the shot... All because I carry a 5/32" in my vest

 

So Ken tell us why it's such a bad idea to carry such a "Fashion Accessory"

[Janice Arthur]

Hi guys/ladies;

 

Eric and I agree, holy crap!

 

I do put the wrench there to make adjustments to the gimbal, etc but 5/32 doesn't fit my arm, which I don't really adjust during the day.

 

My post is to discuss a different why I put it there.

 

You put it there because if you put the wrench in your back pocket point down, you'll end up with a hole in your pocket at some point and if you put the wrench T handle down in the pocket and you fall you can puncture a kidney.

 

Thats why, way back a long time ago, the spar holding spot came about. The spar remains rigid even during a fall.

 

You can also warm your hand in the spar during cold days and hide half a power bar you didn't finish too.

 

The fashion bit, just a fun way to describe it.

 

Janice

[Thomas English]

Eric! I thought you had to play nice nowadays!