Stephen Price

I'm not familiar with the 7D, but if it has a LANC input, this would be very effective. http://www.ledametrix.com/lspro/

I don't believe the Swiss Rig system has been mentioned http://www.swissrig.com/

I spoke to my UK Sony contact yesterday. They confirmed that the sync of the camera generated internally begins during its startup. This is true for all sony cameras. When Gen Lock is connected, it automatically switches to being slaved off the master source and will switch back to its internal clock when disconnected.

Thats a good question, i have always assumed that it would be from when the system powers up. Maybe that's not the case. Anyone?

Hello, Thanks for your replies. Both cameras were using the new lock it box from Abient ACL 203. Designed specifically for a more accurate Tri Level sync. And all the cable were brand new and exactly the same length. One important factor i did not mention before was, we where using both cameras with the SRW-1 deck split from the camera body. The lock it boxes were fitted to the deck and connected with Timecode and Genlock was connected to the ref in on the deck. On reflection, the camera could no way benefit from the Genlock as in the mode we were shooting the two units are separate entities. Has any one experience with this? When separated in this way, should you still Genlock from the camera body? Many Thanks

Unfortunatly, turning the shutter off is not an option as the correct motion for the action is critical. Ant other thoughts?

Hello All, I'm currently on a UK drama using two F35's. We had just done a shot where both cameras were shooting a scene while a sigle bright flash is triggered. We were finding only one camera would catch it at a time. The DoP was keen to get both cameras to capture the flash, retried it several times but to no avail. Both cameras each had a lock it box, and were gen locked. We could not slow down the length of the flash, it was a fixed speed. I tried slightly adjusting the shutter angle on one of the cameras to see if that would catch it but it did not. Every time one camera would catch it and the other would not. Is there any tricks to this? Presumably the F35 is no different to many other digital cameras in this sense. I guess it is to do with the syncing of both cameras. Any suggestions? Many Thanks Steve Price Camera Technician UK

I would be interested to know how you have compared these two cameras. I'm am trying to understand a tapeless workflow for the HS-2. It seems, at the moment there is no easy answer, and nothing without including fiber channel. So chances are you have seen the HS-2 footage on HDCAM SR, a compressed format. When compared to the Phantom HD, in England .cine RAW files are widely accepted now. Conversion of uncompressed 14-bit Phantom HD files are very common and are now the preferred choice as it works out cheaper than the rental of HDCAM SR recorders. I'm trying to get my head around the hard numbers of the HS-2 and at the moment they don't add up. It looks as if 1 hours of HS-2 footage takes 1.5TB of storage. Can this be true? Not very practical for location work in my opinion. It looks as if everyone currently using the HS-2 is playing out to tape on set. I would be very interested to hear from anyone with experience of the HS-2 workflows. Steve Price

No worries, thanks to Steve Nordhauser at Silicon Imaging i now have it.

Hello, I need a wire diagram for the loom which connects the mini head to the main SI-2K camera body. It has a 12 pin lemo connection and supplies power and ethernet control. I'm trying to modify an underwater housing to allow a mini to go underwater. If anyone has this diagram, it would greatly appreciated. Many Thanks

Thank you for your advise. My main worry is exposing the subject correctly, when I am using hard, strong back lights, and flaring the lens. Is there any techniques to use when setting the exposure for the subject, whilst letting the background blow out? I guess I'm worried about relying on a light meter to give me a correct reading for my subjects, as I am not familiar with exposing for film. Many Thanks Steve Price

Hello, In a couple of weeks time, i will be shooting my first ever music promo on film. I will be using Arri SR3 s16mm. It is all interor, mostly daytime, small amout of night time. The location is a large modern house. The framing style is held held, many closeups on two charecters, drifting focus. I want the look to be low contrast, and to include lens flares as if there is strong sunlight back lighting the subjects. I plan to use uncoated T1.3 superspeeds, if i can get them and the stock I plan to use is Fuji Eterna 250D. I have included several reference images to show examples of how i want the promo to look. Can any help suggest techniques to help me achieve this look? Anything to look out for when flaring lenses on film, eg exposure? Would filters such as Lo Cons help? Any particular lights that would work well? Any advise would be really welcomed, as i said before i have not shot on film before and i am slightly anxious about achieving the look and exposure. Many Thanks Stephen Price London

The images look great, thats a really inventive way to achieve an anamorphic look. I have many questions, but currently I am most concerned with finding a practical way to get a bnc feed out of the SI-2K camera body. I can't quite tell how you have got a composite feed for the steady cam rig? I have a way but it involves VGA cables, more power and an external VGA conversion box. I'm looking for other suggestions. Any advice would be welcome Steve Price Digital Camera Technician London

Hello, in August, I will be in Tanzania in Africa as a camera tech for a commercial with the SI-2K. Any advise will be wecolme, particually about working in extreme conditions, and keeping this camera cool. Thanks. Steve price camera technician London

hello, thanks for reply, I belive the camera was set up fully optimised for best performance on set, it seems the troubles have arisen with the choosen treatment of the rushes. As I said before I did not see the end result, but judging from the response from other professionals whom are familar with the SI-2K, this test did it no justice. It would never work if all formats were treated equally during post production, each of these formats demand individual workflows, best performed by a specialist who understands the capabilities. I really apprieciate the effort of the BSC and the useful resource these tests will hold for time to come. But it clearly seems that more questions have been asked than have been answered. Steve Price

I'm very dissapointed to hear that the digital cameras came into some problems. I was the technician for the SI-2K on this test, the SI-2K's ASA was rated at 250 for daylight and 160 under tungsten conditions. I was not asked to advise in anyway what the correct workflow should be for the rushes, I believe, similarly with the RED and the Viper inadequate post production was carried out. Unfortunatly I was unable to attend, but from peoples resonse, those which have used these cameras professionally, could see problems in their workflow, and the true capabilities of these cameras were lost. Steve Price

Hello All, I'm looking for any experiences with shooting with the SI-2K in helicopters or any perceived problems. I've got a lot experience as a tech for this camera but as yet I've never used it in helicopters. I have a job in Africa which involves five days of aerial shooting with the SI-2K in helicopters, I have two complete camera kits, one as a spare. Does anyone have any experiences or have occured any problems, my primary concern is problems recording to the harddrives. Can anyone comment? Thanks Stephen Price Digital Camera Technician London

So what has happened to this camera? Its gone compleatly silent, haven't lots of people put deposits down, will they ever see the camera?

in my experience with using this camera system, and the images it produces, Cine Form products are not the best software to use for SI-2K raw data. The de-bayering leaves much noise and a softness to the images. I have not seen an image completed to it's fullest capabilities when treated with Cine Form. I have even seen productions download the free Neo player software and use to de bayer then convert. The images produced are nowhere near where they could be. Cine Form software also can not support 12-bit uncompressed. In my experienced the best images produced from a SI-2K are from well exposed, well black balaned rushes, which have had a technical grade undertaken in Iridas software then rendered from here. There are specialist rendering facilities about which specialise in this.

It's a great idea, and I hope it can be a useful resource for people to use all over the world. It will great if they publish the results online. I participated in the test as the camera tecnician for the Sony 900R, SI-2K, Canon 5D MKII, Sony EX3 and Sony F35. I was dissapointed that the Phantom HD did not make the tests. I am slighty dissapointed aswell with the schedualling for the screening in London, it's not so accessable for those of us who have work, being screened during the day. I hope I can catch it somewhere. Stephen Price Digital Camera Technician London

Has anyone out there got hold of it yet? Any idea what the images it produce are like?

I know for certain 5K, 10K and 20K Tungsten and Vista Beams have no flicker issues.

Sorry, I have a couple more questions. I promise I have searched extensively, but so far have not found the answers. I appreciate the F35 is very similar to the Genesis but I am not too familiar with that camera. Does the F35 have a Rolling or Global Shutter? What colour temperature is the camera, is it 3200k like most CCD cameras? Thank you for your time. Steve Price

Thanks guys!

Thanks for your reply If you divide 24.89 into 18.66 you get 1.33 hence 4x3. The F35 has a 16x9 sized sensor. I'm looking for the exact size in millimeters. Anyone? Thanks Steve