Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 19, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 19, 2014 Hello all, I'm starting a job in a few days with an "AMIRA Premium" body. First time using the camera. I found that it's a new power cable so I'll just run it with an on-board battery this time. Our lenses are SuperSpeeds and we have a CamWave transmitter, so my guess is that it will be back heavy. Is there an AMIRA steadicam or cheese plate I need to ask for to balance this out properly? What else do I need to know going into this? Thanks in advance, Jerry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted November 20, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Just flew one today, lighter lenses, but no camwave or battery on the back, cause I had Terry make me cables yesterday. I'm sure he can get you cables tomorrow (I'd loan you mine but they are for cinelive) No special plates needed, throw your dovetail on the bottom. It'll end up fairly far forward. Throw the steel rods on if you can and i hope you have a mattebox! The camera is incredibly light. You have to leave the very light EVF on because that's where all the camera control is. You'll want the weight anyway, but suck it up to the body as much as possible as it sticks out a lot! There are one or two other threads that go over the camera a bit. My understanding is the bottom plate can go on the top, which lowers the camera and gives you top rods, but I didn't try it. It flew very nicely, it was just too light! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Alec Jarnagin SOC Posted November 20, 2014 Moderators Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Can someone snap a few photos and post them here of the bottom of the camera? I still haven't seen one in person and I'm a little unclear what stays on the camera versus what comes off to put on our plates. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted November 20, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Sorry I don't have any clean or with a steadicam dovetail on, but you get the idea. The bracket with the rosette, mini rod holes, and shoulder pad is normally on the bottom of the camera as pictured, and is what I put my dovetail on for yesterday's shoot. Obviously in this case it has a touch and go. The hole pattern is typical - 2x 3/8, with 2x 1/4 20 on either side of each 3/8 (If I remember correctly) This bracket can be removed and placed on the top of the camera. That would allow the camera to be lowered an inch and would provide top rods. I'm gonna try it next time. I assume the holes in the camera body are similar to this bracket, but cannot vouch for it. I know a couple people with Amiras, maybe I can have them send me some other photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members brett.mayfield Posted November 20, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Hey Jerry I have flown the Amira with a Cinematic Precision plate. You can see it in the pictures below. I cant tell exactly, but it looks like the shoulder pad and base plate setup of the camera i used was slightly different than Brian's. I very well could be mistaken. Let me know if you are interested in the CP plate, as it bridges the shoulder pad gap and fits right into a Pro DB without any other plates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted November 20, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 yes, that's a different bracket on the bottom, I didn't realize there was more than one. The one I had did not have the rear point of contact like an Alexa, and was shorter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tom Wills Posted November 20, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Looks like the difference is the WPA-1 for the Sony QR version (which has the back support point), and the BPA-3 for the lower profile one, without the rear point. That lower CG looks a lot nicer to me on the BPA-3. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 23, 2014 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate the input. We used the Arri QRP-1 plate as the place where I screw my pro plate into. It does add weight and bring the camera higher by about an inch but it was our only option. Overall I think the camera gets heavy quick with not the right plates and I actually had a longer post than any Alexa job to date. An on-board battery and camwave didn't help that obviously but we now switched to the Bolt and also removed the eyepiece to make the post shorter. (Removal of the EVF on this camera is another story by the way.) I'm debating still if I should get an Amira power cable or a a special plate for future jobs. Thanks again to all that posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Brian Freesh Posted November 23, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 23, 2014 Overall I think the camera gets heavy quick with not the right plates and I actually had a longer post than any Alexa job to date. Keeping in mind your camera CG was raised, as that will force you to extend your post. A little on top means a lot on bottom. I found it to be extremely light, next time try it with the BPA-3 I bet you'll be surprised at the results :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members brett.mayfield Posted November 24, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 As you can see in the photos, I also removed the EVF and it is a bit of a hassle. I removed because i was at the limit of my atlas arm. What we encountered is that plugging the EVF in and out would sometimes require a reboot of the camera in order for operations to function. jerry, did you experience the same thing? i still highly recommend the CP plate, as it kept me from from having to use any other plates i also am having an amira cable made because i like a shorter post and the atlas payload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jerry Franck Posted November 24, 2014 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted November 24, 2014 Hey Brett, yes I experienced that evf reboot thing too. Very time consuming, I hope they eliminate that with a firmware upgrade in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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