Aapo Lettinen

never tried red one with those but a blackmagic will definitely work just by connecting with a cord. but it is better to have more voltage for it than 12v so a 14.4v v-lock battery or similar would be more practical than lead acid and also higher capacity compared to weight and size. you can purchase a simple bmcc power connector with cord from ebay and adapt that to work. I have made a tamiya adapter for our bmpc4k so it is also possible to use airsoft batteries with it or to attach a extension cord between battery and camera if needed

variable nd's are made by stacking two polarizers together so they always take some amount light even at "open" setting. a nd wheel similar to camera's internal nd wheels (couple of regular nd's + clear) or a graduated nd wheel would be the only option if you would like to minimize the light loss at "open" position, no polarizer based option would work

or did you mean 15mm light weight rods instead of studio rods? then you should have a custom adapter to be made. but even then not very difficult job

if the rod spacing is the same you can just have the nearest machine shop to make you some adapters similar to these ones but from 12 to 15mm: http://www.ebay.com/itm/15mm-19mm-Rod-Bridge-Adapter-Sleeve-fr-Support-Rail-System-DSLR-Rig-Follow-Focus-/171280609095?hash=item27e11eaf47:g:uJAAAOxy0zhTM6tf even tape would probably work for spacing as a temporary solution but as said the rod spacing needs to be the same than in 15mm system

never seen those in use with any camera. my Cameflex original battebox has them but never used them because I don't have 12mm base plate, have just adapted 15 and 19mm stuff to work

You can purchase a shotputpro license to the laptop so that you can do checksum verified transfers. The red cameras with fat file system divide the clips to 4gb files which are quite a pain to verify visually. I recommend just using the checksum verification and saving the checksum to a file along with the materials so that you can also, whenever needed, to re check that all the materials match the original files which were on the camera card

I personally like the ai-s 50/1.2 but it starts to perform correctly at F2 and if I understood correctly you would not like its aberrations wide open. That's actually why I suggested the Canon F1.0 primes because then you could stop down the lens to get rid of the aberrations which almost every lens creates wide open but could still shoot at F1.4 or so, so that you would benefit a lot from them compared to a zoom like the 18-35/1.8 Sigma shot wide open. If the goal is to capture a flat evenly illuminated and sharp frame then this is much better way than trying to find a lens which would perform well enough wide open but would still be affordable. because you would really need something like the Otus primes to get great performance wide open at very wide apertures

those nets last like forever so you can very well buy the original one if you find any. but if not, I think any Chinese Blonde counterfeit accessory would do for this as long as the mesh is right type for the job. I'm pretty sure that those Dynacore etc. cheaper lights have similar enough net that it can be used with the Ianebeam without any problems ^_^

you can add pictures from a image hosting site, for example Flickr images (if you have a Yahoo account)

I use 1/2 ctb, 1/2 cto and 250 and 251 all the time on shoots. at least the half and quarter diffusions are very essential because you can control light's spread with them efficiently

For example GH4 (only with UHD and 4K settings) and 5Dmk3 don't have perceptible moire in video mode when used with right settings. you may be happier with a real video camera though and the look may be nicer but they also cost more.

I think the main problem here is the Full Frame shooting rather than resolving power. for example those AI-S Nikkors work perfectly fine for 4k even with small sensor camera like the GH4. But full frame sensor size limits all the more affordable but rather good and lightweight crop-sensor lens options like the Sigma 18-35. I think one should sacrifice the "cine lens mechanics" for lighter lens weight and smaller size. definitely a still lens job, but which specific lenses, it kind of depends... I would not cheap on the Primes though if you want good resolving power wide open and especially and more importantly less aberrations and vignetting. especially chromatic aberration is usually quite bad with low to mid price and old lenses when shooting wide open. I suggest something like L-series 50mm F1.0 or similar higher end stills primes. you will need an adapter with aperture control of course

yeah Olex is great for Kinor servicing. The original motors can be quite unreliable when in bad condition and there may be something wrong with the circuit board. My 3m motor had broken insulation lacquer on the capacitors and a screwdriver scratch damaged circuit board which made it work with inconstant speed ( I was able to fix it by myself but took some time and lots of testing). You may want to upgrade to the Olex's chrystal sync motor if the motor part itself is fine and only the circuit board is faulty. You did double check the fuse and power connector polarity before testing? wrong polarity may fry the electronics which is why so many eBay motors for these cameras are in unusable condition, someone has just attached them to a car battery for "testing" without checking first which wire is + and which is - , the Russian stuff does not normally have polarity protection so it is a blown fuse or complete mess and destroyed electronics depending on which particular equipment is in question and how lucky you are <_<

zooming in and reframing is easy in any edit software. but if the darkening is very subtle you can maybe correct it in grading without any need to reframe. widescreen end format also helps because then you will mask the gate corners anyway with the 2.35 / 2.39 / 2.40 mask

You really can't make "soft" image with current lenses and the Zeiss or L-series look is quite far away from that: they have more like a neutral or colder look, higher contrast (at least the Zeiss) , ugly flares (L-series), sharp or very sharp all the time. Have you considered making the look with filters instead and choosing the lenses based on other aspects like ease of use, f-stop, size and weight? I shoot with Nikon AI-S lenses all the time with GH4, Sony FS7, Eclair Cameflex, BMPC4K, Bolex, etc. in UHD, DCI 4K, 4perf 35mm, N16mm and they are normally very good lenses unless you want to shoot wide open all the time. If shooting wide open most of the time you will really need MODERN ASPHERICAL PRIMES, nothing old will be good enough wide open. The Super Takumar look might be worth investigating though the AI-S Nikkors or similar small size lenses are great when on the road. I would maybe take different glass for low light (two or three very good primes) and "daytime" (scenes where you can stop down two stops to get away with a zoom lens without too much aberrations and vignetting) , so it would be two or three very fast primes for low light and one or two lightweight zooms for everything else

I still don't understand why the DP should be the one sponsoring a indie film with gear and insurances etc. just to be able to get to shoot something. Renting out your gear for profit is another thing but needing to have 50+ k worth of equipment just to get the luxury to shoot something for free is absolute madness and very insulting for the whole profession. It's like playing drums in a band but needing to also buy the guitars and PA and other instruments to everyone else just to have the priviledge to be there :angry: If one wants to support the production economically, then good rental house contacts (=discounts!!) would be much better investment than expensive gear which ages quickly and is mostly sitting on a shelf collecting dust when it is not working for peanuts in cheapass indie films :wacko:

I have only been in London once but shouldn't the Shard and the "Killer Walkie Talkie" + other skyscrapers be in the background in this shot if it would be accurate? Or are they Trade Marked and they only could afford the London Eye and Big Ben? :lol:

Better get the Alexa Mini then? RED is thought to be more of a indie and vfx camera anyway. I would avoid productions who are hiring based on gear though, it is a clear sign that they don't care about artistic values and the end result will likely be bad. If you charge accordingly though it's no problem :)

I haven't had much issues with epic/scarlet noise but never used the weapon, the dual fans can change the game of course. But if the camera is not overheating you can usually set the fans to low setting during record so that the noise is quite substantial. I don't live in the middle of desert however, it may be different for people who use them in very hot conditions. Taking a red camera out to the desert is a bad idea anyway, those things are not sealed and will collect the whole sahara worth of dust inside... But why the camera noise would be problem in a commercial shoot? They rarely have any sync audio anyway so who cares. With the same logic we would need to stop hmi lights because their buzzing disturbs the sound guy's thoughts :P

you will need the lenses anyway whether shooting film or digital and film camera bodies are very cheap nowadays (you can get a used Arricam set for less than 20k, 16mm cameras are couple of K:s ) . something like a Moviecam Compact and SR3 or Xtrprod and the rest goes to the lenses, support and digital gear. For lower budget use something like a Varicam LT could be great or used Sony F5 /55 (easily interchangeable mount so you can use almost any lens you want, and easier raw format than RED

the RED cameras are not much difficult to set up and the menus are not a big nightmare like some people think but the format is more post demanding and will need more filtering and tweaking before looking as nice as the Alexa image with minimum processing. so you will most likely save time and budget by choosing the Alexa and the director and producer will be very happy for the results and very easy and efficient workflow. every camera may need some tweaking at the beginning of the shoot and most cameras are kept halfway built most of the time during the production, you won't normally completely tear them apart after each day so it is not that important how long the first setup will take. if the Weapon was so difficult for the DP why he did not build it in the prep and transport without the lens, it works in most simple shoots and is super easy, takes 2 min to set up and start shooting? why wasting the time for things which can be done in prep and keep everyone waiting?

I would maybe choose the Alexa Mini for the easier workflow, the look and great handling properties. the MX Scarlet is a bit lacking in frame rates and formats (no anamorphic etc) but the Scarlet Dragon could be enough for the shoot if there is budget constraints which do not allow the Weapon or Epic. I second that the F3 is limiting in formats and it also has more "gritty" look compared to the other options. if you need to choose a lower end Sony, then the FS7 is much better choice I think. Personally I like F5 / 55 look and they are very handy cameras especially because of the interchangeable mount but the Alexa looks usually suits commercials better I think (more subtle contrast handling, colors, skin tones and better highlight handling)

that's why I advised focusing on more specialized gear which can't be easily found elsewhere (especially lenses which create special look) and a lower end camera body which can be used for miniunit work or as a b or c camera. trying to get a full A camera grade set with lenses etc. costs way too much I think when one can get almost similar effect with lower cost but more specialized equipment and sell oneself more as a talented DoP which has "some cool gear available if needed" instead of a person "who is cheaper to hire because he can rent out his 200k gear for peanuts" :mellow: for example a Red Raven with a gimbal, basic remote focus and good quality lightweight lenses would be good for this with one miniunit worthy tripod kit, slider, couple of lower end zooms (like modified stills zooms) if possible. should be something around 30k total I think. If one wants to compete in the A camera field the lens set alone will easily be well over 100k , like a Cabrio zoom with 4 or 5 Ultra Primes or a 5 set of Master Primes with one or two zooms etc. Nowadays I would maybe invest on anamorphics like V-lites or Cooke anamorphics. You will need the best Red or Arri model. the Alexa Mini could be great for most of the stuff, it is more practical for most productions than Red cameras. Something like a Compact Prime set or Xeens or similar low end stuff won't cut it in that game but for miniunit and B stuff they can be great if properly used. I think the 60-70k is hugely underestimated for A camera set unless you want to do indie and lower budget stuff which can't afford normal rental house prices. for cine use something like 250-300K would be more ideal. this is just for one camera body, tripods etc, follow focus (remote + normal) units, LENSES (the most expensive part), monitoring, mattebox, filters etc. No lights or much of grip equipment. some old used dolly maybe. of course one possibility is to take the "art house" route: invest on great 35mm and 16mm film cameras and historic lenses and shoot real film at the era when everyone else has switched to digital. do some great imagery and you will certainly be noticed. assuring the producers and directors that film is the right way to go can be nightmare but they will probably appreciate your talent more in the end :lol:

If you want to buy gear, buy the stuff which is very difficult to rent in your area (no one else has it or very rare gear) so that you can help the production to archieve special look when needed. For example a special rare lens set for art projects. If you need own camera try something more affordable and handy which can be used as a b or c camera, like red raven or similar lower cost body which is also handy for miniunit stuff

I think the real issue may be that you dont have the right contacts to get to the feature game. I think you should focus on making more commercials and maybe higher budget short films to get more contacts which might get you feature work. Very high end reel material and try to work with persons who also do lots of feature work. I would avoid low budget indie genre, especially low budget indie features. Gear is also quite irrelevant if you want to do high end stuff,you may just end up wasting your own money so that the producer can save on rental costs...