Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted May 12, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Awhile ago I had mentioned to the Tiffen Steadicam Team that I felt like the monitor rods were a bit long. Not usually a problem, but at times, they can constrict your setup, especially with my newer setup style with my monitor close to the post and as low as I can go to the bottom of the sled. The batteries could not be changed especially the inside battery, the rods stuckout for about 6" to 8" and could get caught on cables. Time had passed and I had not revisited that thought until my last feature... here I am on a one'r and takes one, two and three are all bust. Twice I conked my rig on the kitchen table about a minute in and now making those adjustments take three had a loud crash from my head greating the kitchen light which wasn't there on the first two takes??? Oh yeah, I moved the table but not the over head practical... take four all good... actors take. Take five everybody's in the groove and I'm settling into the lock-off... did I mention this is a real trailer home out of a genuine trailer park? SO, actors are great and I'm feeling good... make that great and no focus buzzes... "CALL CUT BABY AND LETS MOVE ON TO THE NEXT 7 PAGES!!!" is all I'm thinking at this point, just until my rig takes an unexpected nose dip toward the bottom right corner... WTF?!?!?! Yep... boom guys cable took me out (refer to last 5 words of top paragraph)! Let the TST (Tiffen Steadicam Team) know if your interested in these... Check out the 6" rods ...and the 3" rods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Rob Vuona SOC Posted May 12, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Same reason why I modified mine on the new rig Don't like them sticking out unnecessarily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Alfeo Dixon SOC Posted May 13, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Same reason why I modified mine on the new rig Don't like them sticking out unnecessarily Rob is modestly speaking of his Phantom V2(Vuona/Video... even the same amount of letters ) Love the mods and that case is to dream for! Of course the 3" stubbies wont work in your case with your return monitor clamp (which I liked)... but I just use the Picture-in-Picture feature of my UltraBright2 and usually keep my monitor close to the rig since its so big. But just like arm post, I think its more of a preference on the standard setup and then a quick swap when needed. My preference is the 3"er, but for all practical purposes, it think the 6" is a safer call for "in the soup" adjustments Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted May 13, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 did tiffen use a standard size that could be cut to taste and/or purchased anywhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted May 13, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Ron, if you're talking diameter, the answer is no. It's a very odd specific size, down to the 1000th of an inch. Fracol knows what it is, bless him. I've forgotten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted May 13, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 I don't know what Greg uses on his brackets but for the love of Zues's butthole why the fack can't they use some size that works with dog bones/exsisting bracketry!? Oh yeah...because nobody ever mods their rigs or needs to mount things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members James Baldanza SOC Posted May 13, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 Ron, if you're talking diameter, the answer is no. It's a very odd specific size, down to the 1000th of an inch. Fracol knows what it is, bless him. I've forgotten. I had no problem replacing the rods on my Ultra1 with .625 OD from mcmaster.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Osvaldo Silvera SOC Posted May 14, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 That McMaster-Carr catalog is the bees knees of parts catalog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted May 14, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 My concern is compatibility, as is Ron's I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Holway Posted May 14, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 Just a clarification: The nominal diameter of the rods is .620 BTW, - Panavision's rod size. That was the standard Tiffen followed, in case an operator wanted to swap out his/her rods with those for some reason. (longer or shorter rods). I think the original (prototype's) rods even came from them. The reason rods are "undersized" by .005 is that to ensure a good fit, you need to centerless grind the rod from the stock size of .625, which may be +/- .002 and not 100% straight... so you grind to a standard you know you can manufacture. Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted May 14, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 Just a clarification: The nominal diameter of the rods is .620 BTW, - Panavision's rod size. That was the standard Tiffen followed, in case an operator wanted to swap out his/her rods with those for some reason. (longer or shorter rods). I think the original (prototype's) rods even came from them. The reason rods are "undersized" by .005 is that to ensure a good fit, you need to centerless grind the rod from the stock size of .625, which may be +/- .002 and not 100% straight... so you grind to a standard you know you can manufacture. Jerry that would be cool if 5/8" arm posts could be used since they are readily available everywhere in a plethora of lengths -- but I get the picture they would be a tad too tight? rb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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