Brandon Thompson Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi, I got a call to fly film for the first time and the camera is a BL 2. I am planning on using a mk-v lite sled with 3a arm(gold springs). Will this sled and arm hold up a BL 2? If so anyone know what cables I need for video and to power the camera? I am meeting with the camera owner this week, but was looking for a heads up from you guys. Thanks, Brandon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erwin Landau Posted March 31, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi Brandon, I will not bore you with the stuff that was said a hundred times... like the weight shift with coaxial mags, the weight, shouldn't be flown, etc. The fact is that the BL-2 camera is as old as I am. Build with 40 plus year old technology (The BL 1 was developed in 1966)... so many parts you'll need will be, if you don't already own them, hard to find. The Camera weight is 21lbs, the 400' coaxial mag is 7lbs. plus the rest, you should be fine with the Gold springs, not familiar with the Lite rig... you will find out at the prep... I guess... Coax mags (use only the 400') the film will travel from the dummy side of the camera to the smart side. So on long takes you will have to muscle to keep the horizon... The optics are not removable, depending on the modification you might not have a dedicated video assist on that Camera. Some later models had a top attachment thread that could accommodate an elbow with a prism to connect a Phillips video relay (The Phillips Tubes were huge), which eliminated the use of a low mode bracket. So most of the time you will encounter video taps that are connected directly to the viewfinder (which btw was very dark). So more weight shift to the smart side of the camera. And the image will be the size of a postage stamp unless you have a zooming function on your monitor. Low mode, you will need a sushi table or sushi server (Bob DeRose used to make very nice ones) that connects onto the carrying handle, which usually will destroy the plastic cover of the handle AND still slip after a while... thats why most people say Low mode with the BL = not possible... (BTW: hard to find these days, and once you used it the first time, it will stay on the bottom of your kit forever unused... like mine and many many others...) Depending on the year the lens mount will be a 41mm bayonet mount or BNC mount, later Cameras will have the regular PL mount. If you get the early lenses which are very small it will be a challange to get a follow focus motor between the reflex mirror and the clip on matte box. Also these lenses breath quite a bit... Because of the problem with fitting lens support people came up with a square to round iris rod that would attach to the optic (again made by Bob DeRose). The same hole that used to told the square rod for the expandable mattbox (made out of black cardboard?) on the BL 1. As all black Arri Cameras it's a 12 volt camera (vs. the gray ones that are 24 Volt) and uses a standard 4 pin XLR the same you would use for a Broadcast Video Camera. Mounting: The camera has only one attachment thread on the bottom of the body and a grew. If you were ever wondering why you got a location pin with your Camera plate... that's why... which turns very quickly useless as you have to offset the added weight of the videotape by mounting it even more offset the body to one side... which again makes the location pin ehm... useless. So you are mounting a quite heavy camera on one single screw... BTW: again depending on the age of the camera you will need shallow mounting screws. As this camera is very compact it will feel like balancing a Bowling ball on a stick. And what I always say to people that ask me about the BL: You will not be able to do your best work with that camera, period! Hope that helped, Sincerely, Erwin PS: Here a pix with my old PRO and brand new PRO arm in 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erwin Landau Posted March 31, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Bob DeRose with a model one and what looks like a BL-3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members John Buzz Moyer Posted March 31, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Brings back memory's...Mullet, Glove, bright blue shorts, 32pitch delrin gear strip with hose clamp, modified 2 sled.... I did love the camera though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Louis Puli SOC Posted March 31, 2008 Moderators Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Hi all I dont know why I looked so happy flying this Mk 3 Panatape,Modulas,1 x Preston motor Panavision Video split No low mode with this pig . Good luck Louis Puli B) From down under Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Thompson Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Erwin and all, Thanks for all the information. I am still waiting to meet with the camera owner. So I will let you guys know how it all goes down. Thanks, Brandon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Thompson Posted April 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Camera prep went fine. Just want to make sure that my power cable is wired correctly: 4pin xlr- pin 1 is ground pin 2,3 nothing, and pin 4 is 12volt? If anyone can confirm that would be great. Thanks, Brandon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Ed Moore Posted April 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 Camera prep went fine. Just want to make sure that my power cable is wired correctly: 4pin xlr- pin 1 is ground pin 2,3 nothing, and pin 4 is 12volt? If anyone can confirm that would be great. Thanks, Brandon It seems to be that the vast majority of the time, but sometimes +12 is on pin 2. Don't think I've ever come across any other combinations. Canford audio have a guide here: www.canford.co.uk/Techzone/XLR4-pinWiring.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RobVanGelder Posted April 11, 2008 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 11, 2008 here is another configuration for the Moviecam compact, taken from the Panavision Australia website. same 4-pin Cannon, different wiring. Interesting is that in my opinion there is a typo or just really wrongly connected in this diagram: it looks like the 1 and 2 are making a short here! In my memory, the 2 was connected to +24 volts, not to ground!!!! This is from a scan from the official Moviecam Compact manual...... <_< who knows this for sure? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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