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Panavision Genesis


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Michael.

 

Thanks for weighing in with the facts (no pun intended)

 

Maybe the moderators could open a pinned topic to include this post and others that appear like it, to effectively become a store of tech info regarding camera weights, cable wiring notes etc. like the old off-level site had. might save on repeating threads and clear up some of the noise. By pinned i mean Only moderators could add to the topic.

Any thoughts??

 

Cheers,

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Hey Guys, Dont know if this helps or not but I was checking out Panavision Australias website the other day and found this photo of Simon Hardings Ultra and Genesis setup on Superman which was shot in Sydney. As well as some other interesting things on the Genesis.

 

http://www.panavision.com.au/News/SupermanGallery03.htm

Theres a few other good pics of the cameras setup in the gallery on sticks etc as well.

 

And theres an article here as well talking to the Director and Tom Sigel the DP which is interesting as well.

http://www.panavision.com.au/News/Genesis_on_Superman.htm

 

And again theres another article where Prodigy Films used the Genesis cameras for a Multicam shoot of the Black Eyed Peas last concert here. A bit of a different use for them. It doesnt tell you much about the setups but is something a bit different.

http://www.panavision.com.au/News/Genesis_on_BEP.htm

 

JP

Melbourne Australia

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It draws about 14 amps at 14.8 volts... recorder and camera. Camera alone, 6.5 amps, and you want to keep it running all the time.

 

I'll have more about my experience with it in the all up configuration for 2.5 weeks in NYC... next week. Prepping for NAB at the Tiffen factory.

 

BTW, I did not weigh it, but it did not top the arm, so I think about 60-62 lbs with the sled, motors, no downconverter. The power std. power cable is huge (must carry 24volts for the PV accessories as well) and stiff... a big part the pain of operating. They can make a somewhat lighter cable - just 14 volts.

 

Sorry, got to run.

 

Jerry

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Curious about rumor that an arm was trashed.... and if so, why.

 

I flew the Genesis all up for 2.5 weeks with a stock Ultra, zero problems with sled, arm, vest... lots of vest time, even a bunch of hard mount stuff bouncing on NYC streets.

 

yes it was heavy, but not at the max of the arm, so we've all flown heavier beasts.

 

Jerry

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Back from NAB, and now I can talk freely about the Genesis and specifically powering it.

 

I'm told the camera only draws 6.5 amps at 14.4 volts, and the camera and recorder together when running draws 14 amps.

 

I used this combo for 2.5 weeks in NYC, many many hours a day, many long takes, all shots were masters.

 

Not as heavy as rumored. Form factor almost the same as a Millenium XL and 400ft mag (no weight shift at least!). I got in a little better shape, lost some weight. All up, it's not a great camera for Steadicam (because of the weight), and without the recorder, you have the cable issues. But the images are amazing, and it's not as heavy as some cameras we've been unfortunately been forced to use.

 

Most of the time I used their heavy power cable to run the beast, plus HDSDI out to the village, audio in, and composite back (so I wouldn't carry a downconverter). An assistant carried the PV 12 and 24 volt heavy battery in a backpack. Not much fun.

 

I did have with me the first two (and only two) of the new Tiffen/ IDX batteries in the USA... all hush hush, for testing for Tiffen and IDX, so I could not discuss this before.

 

I put the two batteries in parallel and ran the set up and the entire tape: 14 amps @ 14.8 volts continuously for 52 (?? or slightly more) minutes... with plently of extra power to spare. Still had a voltqage reading of 13.9 amps. Batteries remained cool to the touch. That's like starting up the 435 at high speed for the whole hour.

 

Another test: I was unable to run tape, but tried to simulate by running the camera alone with only one battery (6.5 amps) ... after 1.5 hours I stopped looking at the volt meter on the Genesis. If the amp draw of the camera is correct, then this exceeds the rating of the battery (as it does in the first test as well...).

 

Another one battery test. With the battery really low at 12.9 volts, an assistant decided to check something on the Genesis and ran the full 14 amps (now more because of the low voltage) on one battery... no problem. We only ran it for 20 seconds or so, but no problems. Amazing. (I'm going to convert my old Ultra to these as soon as I can; plans are to make the "conversion kit" a standard accessory).

 

For some shots, when it was just too crazy for the assistant to go with me, I wore a backpack, threw in the two batts and used a very flexible 12 guage speaker wire cable (Panavision NYC made it for me) with their 8 pin lemo on one end and an XLR 4 pin on the onther end, with pins one and two, and pins 3 and 4 wired together to take the amperage load. I reserved this combo (much to the assistant's dismay) for specific shots, becasue I only had two of these batteries.

 

FYI, the Ultra 2 uses two of these batteries in parallel for nominally 29.6 volts, and a 100 watt downconverter for 14.4 volts. To run the Genesis, a third battery (1.6 pounds or so) is added to the sled base, paralleled to the downconverter, and the whole Genesis 12 and 24 volts is powered directly off the sled, with run times longer than you'd ever want to carry the thing; probably a whole tape. Also, with the new HDSDI capable monitor, you get a great, bright image with no downconverter delay. We ran the monitor at full brightness and the Moviecam SL tap each day at NAB (1.3 or so amps all the time) for about ten hours continuously, only changing the battery set once each day. Pretty cool. (About 192 watt hours for two batts).

 

The whole battery and watt hour numbers seem confusing to me, and maybe to you too. 14.8 volts at 6AH is 88.8 watt hours; the stated 110 watt hour rating would equal 7.4 amps for an hour (which seems to agree with my tests, if my PV #'s are right) OR, more likely, 5 amps or so at one hour 12 minutes, or I'm not sure.

Regardless, the fact that the batteris put out a lot of power and can handle huge amp loads is a godsend. They self cut off at 24 amps!!, then reset when all is well with the circuit.

 

Hopefully, camera manufacturers will cut the amperage requirements of these cameras, and we'll just have to worry less about run times.

 

Specs on the battery are, I believe, on the Tiffen web site. (click above if you wish)

 

Jerry

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I'm in the middle of prepping for an extended run with the creature in question, and will post notes as things progress.

 

One question at the moment for those who have flown successfully with the recorder remoted: Panavision has built dual 6' SDI jumpers out of a medium-weight Canare cable and I'm looking for something nicer. They tell me that they have already tested Mogami and not been happy with the results, and will look at Belden next. Obviously this is a sensitive issue because any problems with the dailies, and the cables will be the first object of scrutiny (I'm already hearing about RF interference that can cause problems between camera and recorder). Who has used what sort of lightweight cable successfully with this setup? Again, this is not the same thing as sending an SDI monitor feed--this is what's going down on tape.

 

Otherwise, I'm having a small plate built that will help shift the mounting point of the camera forward about 4 inches to accomodate the lack of recorder, and I've been told that the camera can invert its image via a menu item which is leading me towards the down-and-dirty method of low mode (invert rig and shoot with camera upside down). Unlike the classic version of this where everyone has to turn their monitors upside down, they will never know the difference and this will make low mode conversion an under-60 second affair.

 

more from the front lines later.

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I just received the last word on the scheduled Steadicam Guild Genesis Demo/Meeting:

 

Absolutely NOT !

 

 

The only way you will be able to see and test one is, if you are with a show that is/will be using the Genesis. They don't want to create a bad rap for this Camera and want to get as much as possible feedback to make the Camera better before long... or realize what piece of dodo they are using. How would it been to start with a well thought out camera to begin with?

 

 

 

Another Rumor control:

 

The relationship between Sony and Panavision is apparently in good standing and Sony is still maintaining the Chips and Hardware as well as building new ones...

I was told that the demand for the camera is that great that Panavision is turning up production to produce 27!!! more Genesis Cameras ASAP, to be up and running with 50 units. Yes 50! (darn so close, they were down to 23 bodies....

 

 

What can I say... be prepared for the future, eat your cereal and get your butt to the Gym.

 

 

Erwin "speechless" Landau

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Bring on the lighter, better Arri D20 (or whatever it's called).

 

Luckily so far all the DP's who've used it and like it

are well aware of the weight and issues it presents

for Steadicam. Not that that will change how much

Steadicam they'll want on a show shooting on a

Genesis!

 

Maybe the Arri will be a lifesaver. It's also suppose to

use A LOT less power hungery so an additional battery (or flying

a tank AB Hytron 120/140/160 isn't necessary)!!

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Bring on the lighter, better Arri G20 (or whatever it's called)...

 

Michael,

Since they won't give us a demo for the Genisis perhaps Arri would give us a demo on this camera?

 

Erwin, thanks for trying to get Panavision to give the Guild a demo. Too bad they have to be negative nannys about it. (is it ok to call them nannies moderators? haha)

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