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Dummy-check the AC to make sure the ground glass is spinning before each take. Sometimes he or she will turn it off in order to preserve battery life. But then he or she won't remember to turn it back on with all that goes down on set. It'll make you look good by not wasting the take and it'll help the AC save face. Good luck!!

 

David

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hmmm... does it have a R/S port? But I guess I could just tap it into my aux batt and let 'er go all day... I assume the unit has it's own voltage regulation and 14.4 won't hurt. What connector is the power in by the way? :rolleyes:

 

The Mini does have a remote start port which can be connected to the LANC on the various cameras, it's a 2-pin Lemo. I asked about it once at ZGC, the US distributors, and they said no-one had ever ordered the cable...!

 

The unit does not in fact have voltage regulation onboard; it's designed to run off 7.2v camcorder batteries (so yeah, 14.4v will in fact hurt it quite a bit!). Thus I had to use a voltage regulator with my Anton Bauer mod. P+S Technik is now selling their own version of the breakout box concept.

 

If you have interest in renting my setup (which will accept a 4-pin XLR 12v source from your rig, aka Arri 12v power cable, and thus power both the Mini35 and the camera (or you can add a rear-mounted Anton Bauer battery instead which will improve the flying dynamics and power both all day long), let me know. This setup also includes a video DA which allows for having the camera supply video to the Steadicam and a hardwire to the director/DP's monitor simultaneously, rather than have said video loop through the rig which can occasionally pervert the level of the signal (my PRO rig does this, for instance). There are pictures and more information about all this at:

 

http://www.hdvinfo.net/articles/jvcprohd/h...mini35test1.php

 

Scroll down to about 2/3 way into the article.

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Thanks again! Wow, that's a whole lot of info that I am glad I read. I am probably just going to use whatever battery system they have on the adaptor and slap it on my rig, as I am fairly certain that they have already have one from a local house. Thanks for the offer though Charles, that would be great had I brought it up at our last Prod. meeting. Next time I suppose.

 

This should be fun! I am very curious about this little device.

~C

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If you want to read about the Mini being used in a high-end, high-profile situation, there's an earlier article I wrote for that same site--the Mini has progressed since then (as have the cameras) but it may have some interesting nuggets still.

 

http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article84.php

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I would really love to watch the spot Charles, is there anywhere I am still able to download it?

 

Being that Seinfeld and Superman are probably my most favorite real and fictitious characters, respectively (duh), I do have the first "webisode" archived on my computer. There was a second, entitled "Hindsight", that I apparently did not download when it was originally posted. I was quite surprised to learn after all this time that the operator that was behind the camera of this production is the same operator that shares so many of those experiences with us on these forums. Thanks, Charles. Enjoy, Thomas.

 

Watch "A Uniform Used to Mean Something"

 

Best,

Afton

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Afton:

 

I can send you "Hindsight" plus the behind-the-scenes video that also used to be up on the site, if you like.

 

Thanks, Charles.

 

I sent you a PM with information regarding where to send the files.

 

On a related note, I have a shoot coming up that will be using the Micro35 lens adapter made by RedRock Micro (http://www.redrockmicro.com/micro35.html). It's basically a MUCH cheaper version of the Mini35. In fact it's so much cheaper, it does not have an additional mirror or prism to re-flip the image, resulting in an upside-down image being sent to the camera. For sticks or even a dolly, this might be ok, but it's not ok for Steadicam.

 

My initial solution is to just mount the camera on the sled upside-down. This wouldn't be all that hard for this specific setup since they're using the DVX100. I have to use a weight cage anyway, so in theory I can just mount the whole thing upside-down.

 

I guess I'm asking if anyone might know of a better solution. I have the Master Elite Sled and Greenscreen monitor which has no flipping ability. Unforunately, the way it mounts doesn't allow me to just turn it upside down with out having its view be completely obstructed. I don't have any sort of intermediate image manipulation device either. For future applications, does such a device exist?

 

Best,

Afton

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