Sanjay Sami

Guy Holt - beautifully constructed, elegant solution. What is the total load the new one will accept ?

Kupo is from Taiwan as far as I know. Generally better quality than mainland China.

I believe they have since had a big overhaul and are now a lot better than they were.

JD, I have had just one experience with Norms gear. While shooting Moonrise Kingdom, we struggled to find local equipment in Rhode Island because there were 2 other big films shooting in New England at the same time - and one was an Adam Sandler movie, and we were a small Wes Anderson movie being shot on 16mm, so we didn't get a lot of attention from the local rental houses. So a small local Grip rental house bought all new gear from Norms for us. I mean everything ! It felt so good on day 1 to have all this shiny new gear on set. By the 3rd week most of the gear was rusty. Stands were jamming, frames were not coming apart or being assembled very easy.

The gear was being handled very well. The owner was on set supervising how his kit was being treated :-)

I have heard that Norms has become a lot better since then, and I am sure thats true, but what I saw was incredible.

Kupo is cheaper than Avenger, but not close in terms of quality. Pretty to look at, but the Kupo gear I own (not a lot) has not held up well.

I have American and Avenger. My vote is for Avenger 1st American 2nd. Although if I lived in the US it would be American 1st, Avenger second.

I bought one of those while doing a movie in Berlin some years ago and have a trailer that I have attached to it.

The first AC is always in the front seat. The little sideways seat is an awful place to put the AC. Speak to the Key Grip and DP before hand.

As long as you have everything safetied both methods should be fine. The menace arm allows you more offset if you need it, and a boom on a rolling stand would allow you to work inside and roll the arm out. Remember to safety barndoors and scrims as well.

This kind of rig needs a lot more work and reinforcement. As you get lighter and lighter, it becomes easier to lock down, with a lot less stress on the car and the rig.

The weight of your DSLR should not be an issue for the hood of your car. Adding straps and grabbing the camera from the top should work well. Get rid of the battery grip if you can.

This is a link to a rigging page on my website. It hasn't been updated in about 7 years, but there are some photos of rigs with bigger cameras.

http://www.thegripworks.com/rigging.html

Take out the battery grip. It adds a joint which could add vibration and the weight is of no benefit.

The straps in Ians picture are the way to go and the magic arm holding the top of the camera is a great move.

Dave - I can't wait to see their Fisher 10 rip off . Didn't know they were planning one. It has disaster written all over it.

I have had to use their dollies on many occasions and always regretted it. All of Daves experiences and more. Better to go with a Panther or Magnum dolly in my opinion.

Ive owned the Matthews one and the Panther Twister and the Quad Dolly from GFM. I would rank them:

1. Quad from GFM

2. Twister from Panther

3. Matthews Round D

The GFM dolly is in a different league from the Matthews. Its a little more expensive but way better.

http://www.g-f-m.net/camera/dollies/quad-dolly/filmdolly.html

I was looking at the wrong product. They have Mitchell mounts for the Atlas 200.

The Cinevate sliders look good, but don't look like they can be mounted on a dolly.

Also, there does not appear to be a Mitchell mount or 150mm bowl option. Its only 100mm bowl.

Thanks Sanjay, I went and checked out one of the Avenger overhead models yesterday, but it turns out the grip head is permanently fixed to the top riser, so the stands can't be packed down neatly enough to fit anyway.

 

Do you ever use extension risers on top of combo stands to get things higher up? Are they stable enough to be safe?

I dont (or very rarely) use extension risers. They are used frequently though. I prefer to get a bigger stand. They torque the stand a lot more than the stand was designed to bear , especially in windy conditions or any kind of offset load.

The Ronford-Baker sliders are really good. Very rugged and require minimum maintenance . They are available in different sizes and will take anything from Canon 5D to IMAX cameras. Highly recommended.

http://www.ronfordbaker.co.uk/products/sliders/

Dont squeeze the legs down to their widest, that will give you a wider spacing . The Avengers are very well made. I wouldn't worry at all.

Although the rated load on those stands is 4.5 kg, I am fairly confident they will take a lot more than that. I think they will work fine for the purpose you intend. A 1.2 or 2K should be no issue.

I found the Canada Goose Expedition jacket incredibly warm and I used these shoes from Baffin.

http://www.baffin.com/product-p/40001305.htm

If your reel is to pitch for work as a DP, I would say do NOT put Gaffer work on it.

Make a separate reel if necessary. For Gaffer work ( I am a Key Grip, and I think its pretty similar) I would suggest a concise resume along with the names and phone numbers of DP's you've worked with.

Providing the phone numbers or email addresses up front displays confidence in your reputation, and shows that your resume is legit.

Ono, thats a very interesting looking rig. Can you elaborate on what it does ?

Try laying speedrail to span the trusses and ratchet strap them to the truss. Lay two rails parallel to to each other and clamp short pieces as spacers to prevent twisting. You could then use staff fixtures to rig your lights or frames.

If you go with glass, get the best guys you can find, to fit it. Even if they are expensive, the alternative will be more expensive.