Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 3, 2009 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 A few updates, went to prep last friday. It's a beast! Absolutely not a steadicam camera!! I got a call this weekend from production that they scrapped the steadicam shots. So I won't be flying it after all. Probably a good thing... While at prep I encountered some technical issues here and there. I had Erwin come down because of a powering issue, here's what we've found out: can't use dionics to power it. They output too much right off the charger (16v) and it makes the fuse inside the camera jump. It would shut down every time we'd run it. The BL4's tolerance is around 14.5v. Since I only have dionic 90's I would need a cable with a voltage regulator because Otto didn't have any other solution. We tried with Erwin's hytrons and it worked fine! So, just to keep in mind... Also, for low mode the normal sushi plate doesn't work because of clearance issues (depending on your video tap config.). You have to use Otto's modified sushi plate. (see attached picture below) Bottom line, too heavy and not steadicam ready. After already 4 batteries, I had to add weights to the bottom to keep the post at a reasonable length. Luckily I had the Fracolizer weight and landing pad system. (see attached picture below) Well, that was basically my BL4s experience. Hopefully never again... Thanks again to Erwin Landau for coming out and helping me with the troubleshooting! We have a great community! Jerry "f--- the BL" Franck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 3, 2009 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Otto's modified sushi plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 3, 2009 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 the bottom of the sled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted November 3, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 went to prep last friday. It's a beast! Absolutely not a steadicam camera!! To be honest it can be used on steadicam and it has been used on steadicam. I hate to see what you think of using a F35/23 or Genocide in one piece mode.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Charles Papert Posted November 4, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 True that, Eric. Yup, it's a heavy mother and there are far better 35mm options out there, even for low budget work (a BL4 should be basically a free rental at this point!). Expecting to have a "reasonable" amount of post showing is not going to happen, unless you want to start loading up more weight. I think I used to extend my 3A post a good 6 or 7 inches with that camera back in the bad old days , and my 3A arm was overloaded by probably 2 lbs. Good friggin' times. Not. Interesting to hear about the power issues, that's something we never had to worry about in the CP battery days (undervoltage and amperage was the concern then). But just so this doesn't turn into the Monty Python "Four Yorkshiremen" ; yes, the BL4 isn't a Steadicam camera because even when it was state of the art, the other BL's were lighter and the added weight of the BL presented no advantages for Steadicam. The Genesis/F35 with onboard SRW1 isn't a Steadicam camera because it is also overweight and a huge power hog to boot, and you can do 95% of the shots with a fiber or backpack system (and there are other options such as the SSR's). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted November 4, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 yeah, the optics on that camera blow! Gotta swap it for the 3 optics and it's doable. Didn't Larry do Goodfellas with a BL-3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Gus Trivino Posted November 5, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Just my contribution. here my Brother Peter with superpost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Gus Trivino Posted November 5, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 And another one... Best to all, Gus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted November 6, 2009 Moderators Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 Spent the last two days with an SR3. Haven't seen S16 in almost two years. Canon 6.6 to 66 and onboard battery. I forgot how good life could be. No cables; very light, yet just enough mass (and length) to fly nice. Damn, I miss the old days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 6, 2009 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 Gus, nice pictures. that superpost looks nuts. How often do you find yourself using it actually? _________ Alec, yeah those SR3's do balance nicely. It's as nice as a 435 or similar. Perfect weight and length as you said... I've always preferred film cameras, hd just has too many gadgets left and right, too many cables...and all that just to make a somewhat descent image. Oh well...I still believe that we're only at the beginning of the revolution... Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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