Handholding the DVX with a PS Technik Mini-35 adapter?

[David Cavallo]

My guess is that the weight of prime lenses and the small size of the DVX make this an obvious "no," but has anyone ever attempted handholding a DVX-100 with a P+S Technik Mini 35 adapter?

 

Thanks,

David

[Jason Reimer]

My guess is that the weight of prime lenses and the small size of the DVX make this an obvious "no," but has anyone ever attempted handholding a DVX-100 with a P+S Technik Mini 35 adapter?

 

Thanks,

David

When you say handholding, that can be taken a few different ways. Do you mean physically in your hands, or on some sort of shoulder mount? I've never tried this, but I would think that if it's going to be in your hands and have any chance of working, stick with wide angles. If it's on some sort of shoulder mount, you may be able to use a longer lense and get away with it. In either case, the key will be making the best use of your body as a stabilizer and going out of your way to make smooth movements. If it's shakey-cam that you're after, then it seems like the things the Mini 35 adapter would do for your images would be wasted.

 

Let me know how it goes, though. I'd love to have one of those to use with my DVX :)

[Michael LaVoie]

I ended up handholding a shot with an HVX and the mini-35 adaptor when the police told us at the South street Seaport NYC that we needed a permit or we had to lose the tripod. Needless to say, it was a frigin nightmare. I could barely hold the thing and the monitor on the topmount was the only way I could view it so I had to have someone throw duvatine over me which meant I couldn't see anything but the image. I couldn't shoulder it though. I had to cradle it. They make a breakout viewfinder with a shoulder mount. I didn't rent that cause I wasn't anticipating that situation

[David Cavallo]

When you say handholding, that can be taken a few different ways. Do you mean physically in your hands, or on some sort of shoulder mount? I've never tried this, but I would think that if it's going to be in your hands and have any chance of working, stick with wide angles. If it's on some sort of shoulder mount, you may be able to use a longer lense and get away with it. In either case, the key will be making the best use of your body as a stabilizer and going out of your way to make smooth movements. If it's shakey-cam that you're after, then it seems like the things the Mini 35 adapter would do for your images would be wasted.

 

Let me know how it goes, though. I'd love to have one of those to use with my DVX :)

 

Thanks for the reply, Jason. With the DVX (or HVX) I guess I was thinking of actual hand-holding--I didn't even consider renting a shoulder mount (PS Technik makes one, I see from their website). Cradling hasn't been a problem in the past with a standard DVX/HVX--I've done a fair amount of handheld stuff with both cameras, with reasonably good results, sticking mostly with short focal lengths where I wasn't completely stable or balanced against a wall. But since it's not entirely comfortable to hold either the DVX or HVX in your hands for a long time--it can get real awkward after a few hours!--I'm guessing that the camera's balance with the PS Mini 35 adapter would be simply atrocious. As you point out, there's no real reason to do "shakey-cam" footage with 35mm format primes--the director wants the shallow depth of field--so I guess the only way to go is with the shoulder mount package.

 

I'll have to look into it, and if I do shoot with it, I'll report back.

 

Thanks again,

David

[shameline]

I did shoot with the DVX100 and the 35 p+s adapter weeks ago. And oh man I did some phone calls to find out what was the best solution :ph34r: .....

 

The reason why it is so hard to find an answer is because most of people don't use it as a handheld camera. and because of the weight of the camera+adapter+lens+matte box+filter... everything is HEAVY and UNBALANCED , and, let's say it, because it has not been made for handheld shootings (or at least not by itself) :angry:

 

Of course you can handhold everything by the handle of the adapter and other unreligious methods, but you'll probably get something shakier than a documentary camera if you start walking with it... :blink:

 

Anyway, I got a "maybe" with a model of glidecam that could support all that weight...

 

But I ended up with a shoulder pad that is mountable under the adapter and a "hip cam" (a belt on which you hook a spring that will mount itself on a rig under the camera) - IT IS NOT LIKE A STEADICAM, it stabilizes the camera better than without, and allows you to have the camera on the shoulder more than the 10 seconds you're smashing your shoulder without it. It felt like an old technology though... :huh: