DVX100B remote is jumpy

Ruby Gold · March 8, 2007

I have a series of interviews to conduct by myself using my DVX100B. I need the talent to look to the side of the camera in order for the shot to be framed/look right, so I planned to sit a foot or so to the side of the camera (alternating sides with various interviewees) so they have someone to look at/engage with as I ask the interview questions. With my old camera, I've been able to do this (with a little clamshell hooked up as a monitor) and use the remote to do nice slow zooms for close-ups and pull back out again.

When I tried this out with my new DVX100B, I found the remote zoom to be very uneven--speeding up, slowing down, stopping--basically delivering unacceptable performance for a production. Does anyone know if the wired remote does zoom any smoother?

thanks!

Mitch Gross · March 8, 2007

I've never tried to zoom with the remote. Certainly a wired zoom control such as a ZOE will be far better. Nice & smooth.

Ruby Gold · March 8, 2007

I've never tried to zoom with the remote. Certainly a wired zoom control such as a ZOE will be far better. Nice & smooth.

Thanks for the response, and forgive my ignorance--but what is a ZOE?

Also--what wd you do the situation described? Say the interviewee is saying something particularly poignant and you want to come in for a nice smooth, slow close-up?

thanks-

Daniel Sheehy · March 8, 2007

...forgive my ignorance--but what is a ZOE?

http://www.bebob.de/international/zoe-dvxl_eng.html

Also--what wd you do the situation described? Say the interviewee is saying something particularly poignant and you want to come in for a nice smooth, slow close-up?

You really did nothing wrong. The jumpy zoom could be due to a couple of things.

Worst case, the gears or electronics in the camera are a little off & need looking at.

Was the servo switch on the camera cleanly engaged? I've found that it sometimes doesn't engage properly initially, needs a little help.

Could also be a dicky remote - battery still good? Was the signal path to the camera clear?

If you were trying to be discrete about the zoom, the remote may have not been pointing cleanly at the camera.

I'd just set the camera up again & see if you can sort out the issue.

If its a dicky remote, that should be easy to prove.

If its the gears/motor in the camera, the zoom should be jumpy when you use the zoom buttons on the grip or handle.

Ruby Gold · March 8, 2007

http://www.bebob.de/international/zoe-dvxl_eng.html
You really did nothing wrong. The jumpy zoom could be due to a couple of things.

Worst case, the gears or electronics in the camera are a little off & need looking at.

Was the servo switch on the camera cleanly engaged? I've found that it sometimes doesn't engage properly initially, needs a little help.

Could also be a dicky remote - battery still good? Was the signal path to the camera clear?

If you were trying to be discrete about the zoom, the remote may have not been pointing cleanly at the camera.

I'd just set the camera up again & see if you can sort out the issue.

If its a dicky remote, that should be easy to prove.

If its the gears/motor in the camera, the zoom should be jumpy when you use the zoom buttons on the grip or handle.

Thanks Daniel. Yeah, I checked the battery straight away--it's fine, and the path was okay too. Using the rocker on the camera--it's not jumpy at all, so, thankfully, it's not the gears/motor. I have a shoot coming up and felt like I needed to work this out so I bought a Varizoom VZ-Rock-DVX Zoom Control with Touch Sensitive Rocker Switch from B and H, in hopes that that will work smoothly. Any thoughts/experience with it?

I'll check the servo switch to make sure it was cleanly engaged--thanks for the suggestion--and, if that was the problem, will shoot myself for having spent $240 unnecessarily!! Thanks again.