zephyr

[shad wyckoff]

I had a couple of questions about the steadicam zephyr. I was looking at the price on B&h and they have several options, the the cheapest is in the $8,400.00 range and the most expensive is the $12,800.00 range. The question I had was it seems that the main difference in these are the monitor and the vest. Does anyone have an opinion on the differences. Also I own a red 1 mx camera as well as the smaller epic. Will the zephyr hold these cameras. I assume that for the red one i would just have to have the camera, lens and matte box and for media the ssd cards. If it will hold this it should hold the epic fairly easily. Also I do a lot of 5d work unfortunately but how do you monitor out of a 5 or 7d? And for these camera do you have to have a weight cage?

[Wolfgang Troescher]

Hi Shad,

 

try to answer your questions:

 

Price difference: I assume the cheaper version is SD, the more expensive version is the HD-Version of Zephyr (HD-Monitor)

Vest: There are 2 Versions: normal vest and a slim vest for people who weigh less then me ;)

5D/7D: you have to use the break-out cable which is delivered with your camera (USB to Cinch cable). But use the original cable, others won´t work.

You have to add more weight with 5D/7D. I´m using weight plates from Glidecam (see pic). Cage would work also.

I didn´t ever use a RED on my Zephyr, but I suppose it weight will between the range of the Zephyr, at least if you don´t use a lot of additional equipment.

[Matthew Fleischmann]

Wolfgang's points are correct. If you are looking for cages email steadijan@hotmail.com Janice Arthur makes great cages. Be careful of your weight ranges as well once you put up a Preston or a Bartech and maybe a transmitter. This stuff adds up quick!

[Gregory Dillard]

Funny that you make mention of this as I just asked Janice and spoke with Harry at TIFFEN, about this. From my understanding the difference is the HD Monitor and the assembly of the cables that are configured for the HD Version. I to am getting the same version, but would love to have the HD version, but it's a $3500 price difference.

[Mark Schlicher]

The search function is your friend. There are a couple of very good threads that address these very questions.

 

As to the Red MX, yes you do want a lightweight configuration. The top camera weight limit of the Zephyr (around 24 pounds) is pretty unforgiving. There's no substitute for doing some old fashioned research (online and at a camera rental house) about the weight of all the individual components you may fly (including mattebox, rods, wireless ff receiver/motor/bracketry.) And don't forget the cumulative weight of cables.)

 

One of my more valuable investments was a cheap digital postal scale from ebay, with 70 pound weight limit.

 

Also seriously consider the auxiliary battery mount. $675 or so, but worth it for hotswap and longer runtimes with power hungry Red cameras, and better weight distribution.