Laser Range Finder?

[Michael Palm]

 

 

Now this looks handy...

[Matt Kelly]

http://www.boschtools.com/tools/tools-detail.htm?H=193849&G=80549&I=80547

 

Just wanted to throw this one out there. I just got one at a home depot the other week for about $160. It's laser, not sonic, and does continuous measuring....so no delay for bouncing. Other than a viewfinder it seems to hold up fine to friends hilti's and leica's, and it's reallly super tiny :) i like it lots for it's cheapiness.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

Great find, Matt! I will definitely be looking forward to picking one of these up as soon as I can.

 

-Precision Laser Measuring Technology.

-Laser beam does both pointing and measuring. Accurate to within 1/16".

-165-foot range.

-Pocket-Sized, only 4″ Tall! World's Smallest Laser Rangefinder!

 

heres a full review.

 

http://www.toologics.com/Reviews/Bosch_Too...0071024420.html

Edited November 10, 2007 by Andrew Brinkhaus

[Alex Worster]

That looks like an interesting one. Has anybody used one of the "new" Bosch's in the field? I really like the idea of a 150 dollar laser range finder but have been told by numerous AC's to stay away from anything that wasn't Leica or Hilti. Unfortunately those guys cost more than double this one and since it's new maybe it has been improved to where it can be trusted in the field.

[Andrew Brinkhaus]

Agreed Alex, I would love to hear back from Matt about how this device is performing so far for him. Reliability and accuracy are the two biggest factors to me.

[adam ward]

Ive been a 1st AC in LA for over 12 years; as we all have been in those circumstances that need a little extra help, I developed the Sniper while working on the TV show Angel. It utilizes infrared laser much like the Hilti and Leica and Cmotion...wel Hilti and Leica are Class 2 red laser, Cmotion utilizes infrared as well. The Sniper has been in the field for almost 5 years now and going strong. Unfortunately they are not for sale but if you are ever in LA, please don't hesitate to email me at wardsniper@gmail.com and I would be happy to show it to you. Here is a list of the shows that it is currently working on,

24, Ghostwhisperer, Prison Break, CSI Miami, True Blood (HBO), Viva Laughlin...oops no more, and various commercials through the Camera House. There are 5 privately owned so I can't account for their work...but I get alot of calls from those. there is an old website up that tells a bit about it's genesis. Hope this answers the question of is there any help with the Laser Range Finder.

 

best regards,

adam ward

www.wardsniper.com

wardsniper@gamil.com

[Matt Kelly]

well, you can always just buy it and return if it's not your thang. 15 days i think... That was my initial plan actually, but decided to just keep it instead. Played with the sniper at Panavision once, but didn't end up getting it. It was AMAZING though. SOO much better than Panaradar :P.

 

My REAL curiosity tho.....is whether or not a laser focus assist exists that can time itself to the camera's shutter pulse, so it turns the laser off every frame AND can feedback to a FI+Z or something that can encode crap to a focus motor. Is there anything remotely like that out there?

Edited November 16, 2007 by Matt Kelly

[Alex Worster]

I heard they used something like this on Without Limits (1998) shot by Conrad Hall. I seem to remember hearing that for some of the shots of the runners running at the camera with a ultra long lens they used a system that attached onto the camera, was calibrated to the lens, then used a sight with it's own video assist to make sure this range finder was on the right target. This range finder fed info somehow to a motor on the lens and pulled focus automatically with regards to the readings it was getting. It just needed it's own operator to make sure it was targeting properly. Sorry, but I don't really know the engineering behind it. I haven't been back to the AC article to see if it has anything about that in it but it might be worth a a look. I don't think the camera assistant that told me the story was messing with me but who knows.

Edited November 16, 2007 by Alex Worster

[Matt Kelly]

Ooooh... actually i think that rings a bell. Was that a triangulation deal that used with a person tracking the subject from the side with a radar? Pythagorean's theorum is one cool thing, but i'm talking about some laser action from lens direction (i can't be the first person who's thought of the pulse idea).

Edited November 16, 2007 by Matt Kelly

[Matt Kelly]

UPDATE on the Bosch disto... GREAT for stagework! However, outside in broad daylight it gets a little quirky.. like longer durations to read on bright surfaces and occasional errors. The sight on it also sucks completely, so it's hard to see outside where you're aiming it exactly without some scotchlite target. I don't recommend it over the leica for anything serious in full daylight, but inside works just fine.