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Zephyr and Red Scarlet issues


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Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to this forum but I am not new to the Steadicam. I owned and operated a Flyer for the past 4 years- I have recently upgraded to a Zephyr because I also purchased the new Red Scarlet camera. Here's my issue and please if anyone has seen or heard of this phenomenon please advise.

I was doing some test shots on my new Zephyr with the scarlet camera and I noticed a strange 'jutter' or pulsing- almost a vibration at different points along the flight. It was more pronounced while flying alongside a brick wall or rounding a bend. If there were a vertical post or something it would pulse. The jutter is not the kind you get when you pan a 24 fps camera too fast- this is more like electrical interference.

My question is has anyone else seen or experienced this while shooting from their rig and in particular while using a Zephyr with a Red scarlet camera? I have a ticket working on this with the Red Technical Team. they have looked at R3D files I uploaded to them and they definitely SEE the issue. They have asked that I try flying it on a different Steadicam to see if it is there as well. However I live in Houston and I have not been able to find anyone here with a Steadicam Zephyr and there are only about 2 other people I did find but one had a glidecam and the other a Pilot.

If you live in Houston or know someone please have them contact me. My cell: 832-563-4895 email; jimcoulter77077@yahoo.com

 

I would really appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank you!

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Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to this forum but I am not new to the Steadicam. I owned and operated a Flyer for the past 4 years- I have recently upgraded to a Zephyr because I also purchased the new Red Scarlet camera. Here's my issue and please if anyone has seen or heard of this phenomenon please advise.

I was doing some test shots on my new Zephyr with the scarlet camera and I noticed a strange 'jutter' or pulsing- almost a vibration at different points along the flight. It was more pronounced while flying alongside a brick wall or rounding a bend. If there were a vertical post or something it would pulse. The jutter is not the kind you get when you pan a 24 fps camera too fast- this is more like electrical interference.

My question is has anyone else seen or experienced this while shooting from their rig and in particular while using a Zephyr with a Red scarlet camera? I have a ticket working on this with the Red Technical Team. they have looked at R3D files I uploaded to them and they definitely SEE the issue. They have asked that I try flying it on a different Steadicam to see if it is there as well. However I live in Houston and I have not been able to find anyone here with a Steadicam Zephyr and there are only about 2 other people I did find but one had a glidecam and the other a Pilot.

If you live in Houston or know someone please have them contact me. My cell: 832-563-4895 email; jimcoulter77077@yahoo.com

 

I would really appreciate any feedback I can get. Thank you!

 

What is the shutter set at?

 

JA

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I am uploading a quicktime now. The shutter was 180 degree 23.98 fps 4K HD

I was using the Red Volt battery in the camera to power the camera. The onboard

HD monitor was being powered by a V-mount IDX battery.

 

I checked the Zephyr's components- sled, post gimbal and all was tight- nothing loose.

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Afraid I don't have pics of how it was built. But if you're familiar with the Red Scarlet- It was just the brain, side handle, 18mm Red Pro Prime. It was mounted on the Red quick release plate- no rods or follow focus were used.

 

Power was coming from the Red side handle.

 

If you can look at the embedded video sample at full res and full frame it's easier to see the 'jutter' but your internet has to be fast enough to play it without stop/starting. The most noticeable area is right as i approach the house- look at the orange brick walls for reference and you'll see the shaking.

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It looks electronic to me, which might suggest it has nothing to do with the sled. Have you tested the scarlet in other shooting scenarios? static on sticks, panning on sticks, handheld, etc... Does the scarlet have any sort of image stabilizer? If so, make sure it's off.

 

That said, wasn't there someone a few months ago with a similar issue with a Zephyr? He posted a video walking down an apartment building hallway. Can't remember if his was intermittent or consistent like this, or what the solution was to that. Perhaps a search in the archives is in order?

 

More experimenting is necessary. Start eliminating variables. Good luck!

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It looks electronic to me, which might suggest it has nothing to do with the sled. Have you tested the scarlet in other shooting scenarios? static on sticks, panning on sticks, handheld, etc... Does the scarlet have any sort of image stabilizer? If so, make sure it's off

 

 

Nope that looks like post/stage shake

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It looks electronic to me, which might suggest it has nothing to do with the sled. Have you tested the scarlet in other shooting scenarios? static on sticks, panning on sticks, handheld, etc... Does the scarlet have any sort of image stabilizer? If so, make sure it's off

 

 

Nope that looks like post/stage shake

 

To you.

 

I never said it wasn't. I said what it looked like to me. :P

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All great insights. However checking the sled and post was one of the first things I checked. Everything is tight as would be expected from a brand new unit. I did do tests from a tripod and everything looked normal. I also did a handheld walking shot of the same scene and no vibration was apparent.

Tomorrow morning I will be flying a friend's Epic on the Zephyr to see if I can duplicate the issue. I'll let you all know.

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That looks like a multitude of things to me. I see a bit of rolling shutter, a smidge of shitty youtube codec and what does seem to be a tiny amount of vibration. Rolling shutter will nearly always be worse on a steadicam simply due to the nature of that type of shot. You didn't knock it against anything during that shot? Cell phone in the pocket or something? Another possibility is the lens. Did you use a still lens or a cinema lens? I've had lots of stuttering issues with still lenses, I try and avoid them if possible.

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