Jump to content

sines

Basic Member
  • Posts

    53
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by sines

  1. On 9/6/2020 at 3:00 PM, dio zafi said:

    Want to buy a 24v battery for Moviecam SL?

     

    or is there a work around?

     

    The connection is 3 pronged xlr

    Hi Dio and Satsuki, here's my solution to the 24V battery for a Moviecam [cross posting from another thread]

    If you're trying to get 24V batteries for a Moviecam SL to beyond 40 FPS without breaking the bank, I can confirm this combo "Box store" works:

    5 or 6.3 amp fuse

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GFA74Y/
    Kobalt 24V battery Holder
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095W2SLF6/
    Seatight Inline Fuse holder

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N9PI32/
    Kobalt dual 24V 4amp batteries + charger
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-KOB-24V-2-4-0AH-BATT-110W-CHRGR/1003139096

    The above totals less than $175 all in.

    Wouldn't hurt to put a 24V regulator in there but I have shot 4 rolls in the last 2 weeks with no failures or voltage errors yet.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/351313027708

     

    IMG_4064.jpeg

    IMG_4063.jpg

  2. Side note, if you're trying to get 24V batteries for a Moviecam SL to get up to 40FPS without breaking the bank, I can confirm this combo "Box store" works:

    5 or 6.3 amp fuse
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GFA74Y/
    Kobalt 24V battery Holder
    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B095W2SLF6/
    Seatight Inline Fuse holder

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N9PI32/
    Kobalt dual 24V 4amp batteries + charger
    https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-KOB-24V-2-4-0AH-BATT-110W-CHRGR/1003139096

    The above totals less than $175 all in.

    Wouldn't hurt to put a 24V regulator in there but I have shot 4 rolls in the last 2 weeks with no failures or voltage errors yet.
    https://www.ebay.com/itm/351313027708

    IMG_4063.jpg

    IMG_4064.jpeg

    • Thanks 1
    • Upvote 1
  3. Thanks for the responses @Daniel D. Teoli Jr.@Tyler Purcell. Just subscribed to your channel with 5+ accounts ?

    I posted the same question to BMD's forum here, and so far, you're the only one who's chimed in with a link to footage actually scanned on the Cintel II, aside from the samples posted on their site. 

    I spoke to a tech at the Burbank BMD office yesterday, and while not clueless, he couldn't give me much information about it. He said that I should just try to find a lab or another user that's purchased it and ask about their experiences. He couldn't give me a list of productions using the Cintel, aside from saying that people like ESPN, NFL, and the Library of Congress have the Cintel, but listed no studios, etc. with it

    I ask for real-world examples, because I found a Cintel II for around $24K, and I've got at a minimum of 4-6 features to shoot, ideally all on 35mm — 3 + 4 perf, no audio. I am not scanning archival footage, not dealing with warped, old film or trying to extract audio — but having a keykode scanner would be great. I relegate my digital cameras for tests or commercial work, but I'm use the Moviecam and Arri IIC + Arritechno cameras for features and special projects.

    When I do the math on scans of vs. buying a scanner, the later makes more sense, but I don't want to also waste time nor money on something inferior. The Cintel is within my budget; the ScanStation, even at the Archivist level, it's tipping the scale [unless Steve from Galileo Digital comes back with an offer I can't refuse].

    The Kinograph, while cheaper, seems way too fiddly at this stage for it to be a viable option. I mean — most of my stuff isn't even written yet, but I still think I'd be tweaking out on building the Kinograph by the time my 6th film is shot. The Retroscan Universal Mark-II seems to be limited by resolution, and also is geared towards the home movie / archival transfer cottage industry. Not quite what I'm after.

    @Tyler Purcell— would love to talk to you offline about your experiences with it if you prefer. 

    • Like 1
  4. As I reach out for scanning quotes, scour the internet for deals on old scan stations, read and weep about Kinograph, and calculate the bust/"break even" threshold of owning vs. renting a scanner,  I am interested in knowing what productions have been scanned with the Blackmagic Cintel Scanner. 

    There have been many posts on Cinematography.com that suggests the quality is far inferior to the LaserGraphics ScanStation, Arriscan III, etc. 
    https://cinematography.com/index.php?/topic/63228-blackmagic-cintel-film-scanner/page/4/
    https://cinematography.com/index.php?/topic/81428-new-scanner-from-moviestuff/&tab=comments#comment-517078
    "Until BMD loses the Sprockets and the bad 4K sensor with fixed pattern noise I would not call the BMD Cintel really a "professional" scanner. Also it is very much less than 2K for 16mm."

    This is from the owner of Cinelab in MA.
    "Ohh and the Blackmagic Cintel is professional in every way BUT the imager. It's 90% there... a very simple imager update will solve all the problems, now that they have a sprocketless version. “

    The site says that for 35mm, the resolution is limited to UHD (3840x2160). Given that BMD create 12K cameras, I would hope that the sensor is upgradeable.

    I am shooting film on my feature and I fear that purchasing the Cintel 2 for scanning will be a $30K boat anchor, if the quality is garbage like the above people say.

    For what it’s worth, I own a Moviecam SL MKI, Arri IIC, Arritechno 35-90, Arri Alexa XT, a PL mount modified Pocket Cinema Camera 6K, Davinci Micro Panel, plus had an URSA, URSA 4.6K EF, and a few of the original Micro and Pocket Cameras. I have been pretty loyal to BMD, despite being stuck with some dead end cameras [hello, OG Ursa!] I edit absolutely everything in Davinci Resolve.

    Thank you,


    Todd

  5. 12 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

    The only way to do it is if there were no ground glass and the video camera started and stopped like the film camera did. Then when you got the film back, there would be an automatic scene select based on the scan. It's all possible, but nobody developed a camera that can do this OR scanner software that could read the automatic start stop. They got close years ago, but it was grossly expensive and nobody used it outside of a few people doing Multicam work in Europe. 

    I thought the rotating mirror, aside from say a system like a Photosonics (which use a rotary prism shutter and beam splitter) passed every other frame: 1st frame film, 2nd frame viewfinder, and so on. Thereby you would never see the exact frame that was exposed on the film, as the shutter would only open for the viewfinder when it wasn't exposing the film. Of course, at 24+ frame a second, the naked eye wouldn't see this, but you've never get an exact frame match when trying to do a match frame in the edit. It would always be delayed by 1 frame. Perhaps a deep neural-network based "automatic subject detection" would be "good enough" to match the footage back.

    Looks like we're stuck using slates — would be swell to try automatic slate detection like ENDSLATE.AI.

  6. 4 minutes ago, Satsuki Murashige said:


    I don’t think the ground glass image would be ‘good enough’ for a 4K backup, though YMMV. For a quick preview edit, sure. Though it wouldn’t be nearly frame accurate enough to do an online/offline workflow, so you’d just be redoing all of your editing work manually after you get your scans back.

    I’ve had a potential client ask for an Indiecam Tap + clean ground glass, so I guess that’s a thing now. I sent them to Keslow and Panavision, as that’s well out of my league.

    Also, if you want to shoot with both cameras simultaneously, I think you would want two systems (one per camera) and keep them built on the cameras, as they more or less need to be calibrated for each camera.

    It’s a very simple thing to remove and replace the Video Assist on the SL, with its locating pins. But I think it would take way too much time on set to swap a universal tap like a CEI between different camera bodies and have it focused and framed correctly. But that’s just my take, maybe I’m wrong about that.

    I am sure you're very much right. My thought was running the IIC or modified Arritechno on a gimbal/steadicam/drone[!!!] with a lower-rent wireless tap, and spend the larger sum of money on the Moviecam tap, where 75+% of the shots would be from anyway.

    When you're in the edit, you could at least rough out what you think you got, and then slip the shot by a frame or so when your scans are back. It would be physically impossible to get the same exact frame that the film saw, and vice versa. But I think it would beat waiting for film processing and scans, especially since I'm looking into some less-than-conventional options for that. It's very much a digital/analogue hybrid workflow, but as a bonus, you could also get reference sound in there as well. 

    .....as I sit here trying to think of other purposes for my yet unused Odyssey 7Q+. 

  7. 5 minutes ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

    I certainly wouldn’t spend more than what I have already on upgrading the tap. It was a bit of a stretch for me, as it was. I bit the bullet because I was already 75% there on my own and already owned all of the components. I can’t imagine who the target market is for the €16,000 Indiecam Tap! 

    Yeah, that pricing is insane. I think they know that most people now can get Moviecams of any flavor well under $10K. There was one in Turkey for $1690 a few months ago, but I bought an Inspire 2 and X5S instead. 
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  8. After writing a lengthy response, I'm backing up a little bit and wondering if a "Universal" tap would make more sense — my film cameras are @Lyle Norton Vincent's Moviecam SL, an Arri IIC, and an Arritechno, either of which I want to gut and rebuild like this
    https://www.fdtimes.com/2018/07/02/ultra-light-arris/

    A 2K+4K flicker free, "clean" ground glass image that you could record to an Odyssey 7Q+ would be pretty nice as a backup, and also something to generate digital dailies from. Of course, outfitting your camera with a clean ground glass is another story. 

     

  9. 22 hours ago, Satsuki Murashige said:

    I had an HD-SDI Video Assist upgrade finished for me by Greg Defoe of Defoetech last month:

    web_IMG_7570.jpg.90ee4c732d31fa2c8d08f766eda1f240.jpg

    web_DAY_INT_LensT2.1_Tapf4.thumb.jpg.ee3b71ab82f237431389c9f7d70985d3.jpg

    This an upgrade of my design with parts that I've managed to scrounge up. It is not flicker-free, but it works well with Teradek Bolt XT transmitters and HD-SDI monitors, which is all I wanted. It required 10+ hours of engineering and machining on his part, in addition to many hours of my tinkering over several years.

    I know that Greg is working on his own HD-SDI Video Assist with a different design for another Moviecam SL owner, and I'm sure that one will be even nicer when it's ready. Greg used to work at CEI, btw.

    If you're interested in a HD-SDI tap for your Moviecam SL, I can let him know.

    Yes please! Andrew is local, but it sounds like Greg has already figured all of this out — and probably doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel.

    I’ll PM you my email. Thanks so much Satsuki!

  10. If you're ok with retro/ugly, and not needing to impress, look for an O'Connor 50D.. or better yet, 100D if you're really loading it up.
    I used it with a Moviecam SL MKI, Arri FF-2, MMB-1, Zeiss Standard Speeds, 1000' mag and still can take a few more pounds. The Arri will be up there in weight, but less than all of the above, with batteries factored in as well.

    See below:

     

  11. Noted — thanks for all of your insight. I usually work with much lower voltage electronics, and didn't think about some of this before I did it. Thankfully, there were no accidents.

    Getting larger boxes with a grounding post, fuse receptacles, and Lutron 2000W dimmers specifically designed for dimming lights instead of slowing down motors with a PWM circuit. Guessing that circuit wasn't helping me use the full range of the rotary pot either.

  12. If you have an Alexa with a dead or damage sensor, or otherwise heavily damaged Alexa: of any flavor; Classic, Plus, XT, SXT, etc, I am looking to salvage my Alexa Plus from being completely obsolete.
    Specifically, I need a working A Log Print card and unfortunately, Arri won't come down in price for a factory replacement.

    It is much cheaper for me to buy a fully working Alexa Classic and mine it for parts. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

    Let me know what you might have.

    Thanks so much.


    Todd

  13. I thought I could save a few bucks [more like a few hundred or more] by building a DIY dimmer.

    More like, putting together the following from Amazon to make it "legit".

    My enclosure
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TGYW46/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_DDNEFX8Z7KMGPT2VSN8T?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
    My dimmer
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZNVQ3HY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_MVG8FDS4HHVZTX51A655?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
    My cable gland connector
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078RJXPVP/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_SAB65ZHJEGPQ0PC7R2A1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
    My plug connectors
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00L7704O2/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_YF9NYR484T64KGPA9YNM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SF1JAY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_D4X839GFKF2MZA69W7CZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

    I am one of the few people [suckers, perhaps] that bought a discounted Relamp 2K Daylight studio replacement bulb. Rather, it was the square version, which made fitting it into the Arri 2K tungsten fixture a gigantic pain in the ass. Nevertheless, the first time I wired it up, got magic smoke due to a solder bridge, by removing and resoldering the B500K pot lay flat instead of perpendicular to the board. Next, I burnt out the B500K pot when I rewired it again, back in the enclosure. Third time *was* a charm, and got it to work outside of the enclosure. However, only the last 1/3rd of the turn dims the light. When I closed the lid, I imagine it shorted out, because I blew off one of the bads and the bottom of the PCB was full of soot.

    What I want is a 120V version of this, but don't see it available on their site:
    https://cinelight.com/tungsten-light-accessories/light-dimmer-2000-watts

    Has someone built something long these lines, or have a suggested schematic / link of something similar? Eventually I hope the rest of my fleet will be LED, but for now, I'm focused on this 2K tungsten fixture.

    Thanks,



    Todd

    Dimmer01.jpg

    Dimmer02.jpg

  14. On 10/13/2020 at 11:06 AM, Satsuki Murashige said:

    I have a bunch of frames grabs, some of which I’ve posted before. I can share some more when I get home tonite. Still in process of building my website, they will all be avail there soon. 

    Hi Satsuki, Thanks for sharing these! This stuff looks great, knowing what it is, especially the first few frames grab in the wilderness. Any examples of a straight on "Abrams / headlight" flare?

    I'm currently in PL mount land — with a Moviecam SL and Blackmagic 6K with PL mount, but the Contax primes are C/Y or EF, and I don't know if it's work the trouble to send them to a place like GL Optic for their PL conversion. I'd need to track down the Isco 36 [like this?] https://www.ebay.com/i/114436636404 and adapt / mount.. like everyone said I'm not sure it's worthwhile. I went down this worm hole a while back and decided I didn't want to deal with it, until I saw your shots above.

    Thanks to Adam Van Voorhis, I'll have a full set of T2 Standard Speed primes soon. But I still like anamorphics and wondering if starting with my ƒ1.4 35/50/85 Zeiss "taking" prime lens set is better off being sold, or used as part of a Frankenmorphic IscoZeiss monster.

×
×
  • Create New...