FlyerLE Dovetail Focus Rods

[Matthew Fleischmann]

Hello All,

 

I am looking to expand my rig and trying to find a set of rods that will be suitable to adding follow focus systems bar tech, preston to my dovetail plate or one of the weight plates that Janice Arthur sells. I was told by her to look at PRO site for these. Here is what I found http://progpi.com/product/accessories/22/ wondering if these are compatible and also wondering if there were any other good places to look for rods I can't seem to find them on the Tiffen Accessories section of their site. I also found cinewidgets but am unsure of which rods are the correct ones.

 

Thanks.

[Andrew Stone]

Matthew,

 

You may wish to check a couple of the items off this page from the TIFFEN/Steadicam website. I am unclear if the rods block threaded holes will line up with the holes provided for rods on the front of the Flyer/Zephyr dovetail plate. May wish to call TIFFEN directly. Post up if you find anything out.

[Mark Schlicher]

These should work on the weight plate...does she sell them with pre-drilled holes? I have to look at mine and see...

 

As for the Flyer plate, won't work. I don't think the mounting holes line up, but more importantly, the dovetail is too narrow, so there's no way to get 60mm centering without mounting a bracket to the dovetail.

 

Tiffen sells one, but I don't know if it mounts on top or underneath the dovetail. Underneath would definitely be better.

 

 

Another alternative for Flyer, if you're flying light enough cameras, is to buy a 15mm rods baseplate like the Zacuto Universal plate.

[Andrew Stone]

That is the one I was thinking would work on the dovetail plate, Mark. I never got around to making the phone call to TIFFEN to find out. My present solution is to use top mounted rods or a Zacuto baseplate. Obviously a machinist could fashion some rods to attach to the dovetail without much effort.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Andrew Stone

[Matthew Fleischmann]

Mark and Andrew,

 

Janice does fashion holes on the front of the weight plate for rods however I worry about being locked into to just using the plates for accessories if I am flying a heavier camera and with all the accessories I want to be able to have the most weight range. The link to Tiffen look good and I plan on calling Tiffen or maybe Peter tomorrow regarding those. As for your and Andrew's suggestion of the Zacuto Universal baseplates which is this one (I think): http://store.zacuto.com/Mini-Baseplate.html I imagine that The Camera mounts to the baseplate which supplies rods, if necessary that would mount to my weight plate, then weight plate to Flyer dovetail. If the camera is heavy enough and the weight plate is not necessary it becomes simpler and just universal baseplate to camera, then to dovetail. My concern with the weight plate setup is that it looks like the bottom is 3 1/8x16 and I do not have any recessed screw holes that size so it would not be possible to mount the flyer plate to the bottom of that because it would not be flush. So i guess my ideal situation is rods that I can attach to my weight plate as well as to my flyer plate that way I have more versatility in different operation situations. I don't want to have to fly less because I am exceeding my weight limitations by using the weighted plate just to be able to use the universal plate and have rods.

 

Just found this link: http://progpi.com/product/accessories/22/ as well think these might work but not sure feedback on all of this would be greatly appreciated.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Matthew Fleischmann

[Mark Schlicher]

Andrew,

 

I missed your post that went up just before mine, looks like we're on the same page.

 

I've spoken with Peter and Micheal Craigs about the Tiffen bracket and it's supposed to work. But again, I never was clear in my mind whether they mount on top of the Flyer dovetail.

 

Matthew,

 

Alas, like many things Steadicam, there is no one-size-fits-all solution if you are wanting to fly a variety of cameras. The PRO rods are not expensive, can solve at least part of your problem, and are good to have in the kit for when you're flying with the weight plate.

 

The Zacuto (or Chroiszeil or Redrock or Cavision or ????) rods baseplate will probably serve for most cameras that can reasonably be slapped on a Flyer without a weight plate.

 

If you use a lightweight broadcast camera on your Flyer (like a Panny 500), you can have Tom Gleason at Cinewidgets machine your Sony plate to accept the PRO rods.

[Andrew Stone]

Janice makes a two pound weight plate and the Zacuto along with most other universal style baseplate solutions are near the two pound range so swapping out Janice's 2 pound plate may not be such a bad idea unless you need a mattebox that is not a clip on.

 

BTW I started using one of these French Flags in place of mattebox when I am not using filters. May sound like a thread derail but once you put a standard mattebox off the front you may have to work around it. These flags are super light so if you knock it on a door frame you can pull it back into relative position without trashing the rig balance. Took off the clamp and added the brace that goes to a 3/8" 16 bolt. You can remove knuckles from the snake to make it as short as you want.

 

If you find you don't like it on the rig it will still make a great flag in a standard application.

 

I agree with you Mark about mounting a rod block from below. Up top would make it impractical in most situations. Dog bones WILL be necessary no matter what, unless you stick with a standard rails based baseplate under the camera.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Andrew Stone

[Matthew Fleischmann]

Thanks That french flag looks cool as well. I ended up picking up the Zacuto system at Abel Cine today in NYC. I think I still need some 31/8 x16 to 1/4 x20 bushings because the top plate is only 1/4 x20. If I need to fly a camera that does not have 1/4x20 most do now. I have not had a chance to try it with a full camera setup just yet but did mount everything together using my standard plate and the zacuto and also my standard plate, weighted plate, and then zacuto. My previous comments I was worried about that not working because the screws would not be flush in order to get the standard plate below it but it works out because there are 1/4 x 20 screw holes on the bottom of the zacuto.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Matthew Fleischmann

[Andrew Stone]

Zacuto sells bits and pieces for the baseplate allowing you to use 3/8" 16 fasteners or to add another 1/4" 20 connector. Here are a bunch of them from B & H. You need an odd sized hex wrench to complete the task. Can't recall the size at the moment.

Edited September 15, 2011 by Andrew Stone