Matti Poutanen

Arri 4x5 mattebox can be tilted up and down if it is rod mounted with the Swing-Away Tilt Module. You’ll need to use a neoprene or cloth donut to make the seal with the mattebox and the lens, clamp on adapter won’t work as the box needs to move independently from the lens.

I have no experience of Preston besides just a quick try in the rental houses so I can´t say! But I have never had any preotection for the WCU-4 hand unit in any temperature and it has always worked well. I tend to use the motors with full torque with all cine lenses (I take it down only if working with cameras / lenses with more plastic in them, like Sony FS7 or A7S, Blackmagic etc) as I feel the motor responds a bit quicker then. Zeiss High Speeds (especially the 18 and 21) get so stiff that the barrell is difficult to turn even if you take the lens to your hand and turn it! It´s a good idea to take the outer part off, but problematic if you need to get rid of unwanted flares.

I was 1st AC on a tv drama which was set in Finnish Lapland in wintertime and we shot there for three months, mostly exteriors. I did some homework about the subject back then, here are some tips which I found helpful. -The main think is to keep your batteries warm: if they get too cold they drop charge and will not recharge before warming up. We did this by having the batteries (when not in camera) in Styrofoam boxes used by the catering companies and opening the lids only when necessary. One big box (like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Insulated-Styrofoam-Polystyrene-Gastrobox-Transport/dp/B01DAI5MQ0 )for all the chargers and one smaller (these https://www.etola.net/Tuote/keittio/kylmalaukut/epp-termo-1-4gn-15-l) for full batteries. One small box was also for Anton Bauer Cine VCLX block battery, just cut a hole for the power cable. The chargers keep the big case warm and no additional heating is required. -If a battery gets too cold and won't charge it's good to have a way to warm it up. We had a car fridge similar to this https://www.amazon.com/Fridge-Refrigerator-Cooler-Dual-use-Household/dp/B06W9JFSJT and used the heating function to warm things up. Don´t have it on all the time, put the cold battery in and then turn it on: the temperature will rise steadily, you shouldn't warm up the battery too quickly or too high temperature. -For cameras we had Porta Brace POL -series cold weather covers (https://www.portabrace.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=POL) The heat generated by the camera (and especially the Teradek Bolt video transmitter, it runs hot) kept things warm and no additional heating was needed. If you don't have access to these you can use a rain cover, it will keep at least some of the warmth near the camera. -Know your lenses! For example Zeiss High/Super Speeds have lubrication oils which make the lens barrels very stiff and in some cases impossible for the lens motor to turn. If you use vintage lenses check from your rental house if they can change the lubrication to a sort which doesn't freeze up, or do some testing if your lenses get sluggish. The High/Super Speeds are constructed in a way that the front element moves, and a clip on mattebox adds weight which the lens motor has to turn. To make sure it might be better to use rod mounted matteboxes with this kind of lenses.Modern lenses rarely have these problems. We had Leica Summicrons and didn't experience any problems because of the cold. -Remove heat sinks from your equipment if possible, for example TV Logic monitors. One way to keep your monitors warm (and not have the picture lagging) in the extreme cold is to get some cheap foam camping mat (like https://www.amazon.com/ALPS-Mountaineering-Foam-Camping-Mat/dp/B006H1Z18M )hot glue gun and gaffer's tape. Cut the foam to have a box without a lid, and then you push it to the back of the monitor. Make it snug enough and you won't need anything to hold it, it will stay. The warmth generated by the monitor will keep the unit warm. You can do these boxes for other things as well, I did them for Movi Pro batteries when they are installed to the Movi. -The silica gel packs you mentioned are handy at the end of the day, when the lenses are cold as ice: You remove the front and back caps from the lenses, throw a couple of the silica gel packs to the lens case and leave the lid open just slightly for the night. You don't want the temperature change too quickly and have condensation build up to the lenses.mIf you are in a situation where you have to move from very cold outdoors to indoors to shoot, try to get the lenses, filters (remember to open the caps and filter pouches) and camera inside as soon as you can, aftet that start taking in rest of the gear. You wan't the lenses to warm up as soon as possible. Usually in these situations you have no choice but to warm up lenses quickly, which is why you should have a travel hair dryer in you AC kit. -Ultrasonic distance meters: For example the Cinetape starts to give false readings when used in very cold (from -15c to -30c) for a time. Things get stiff inside the sensor unit and the reading starts to travel, at first just from a centimeter, to for example 15 centimeters. Cinematography Electronics say that the Cinetape compensates the temperature, but I suspect there is a limit to this and they didn't take in to account that their product would be used in something like -25c... Arri UDM-1 takes the cold better, I suspect because of the more robust construction of the sensor unit. Cine RT Focusbug seems to compensate for the cold and works well in freezing conditions, well done Canadians! A solution which I have used with the Cinetape and UDM-1 is to have a disposable hand warmer Bongo tied to the sensor unit, demonstrated here in making of photo from Steven Sodenbergh's The Knick. It will work for some hours, longer if you construct an insulation box from foam which i talked earlier. Hope you find something helpful here and good luck!

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Yes it can be a system separated from the camera, you need the following: WCU-4 UMC-4 + a lens motor UDM-1 This cable to connect the UDM to UMC: http://www.arri.com/camera/pro_camera_accessories_electronic_control_system/products/distance_measure/#!view=product&pnumber=K2.65144.0

I had this exact same issue last year and it was the reason you are suspecting: mechanical wear of the antenna connector and the cable attached to it. The rental house said that this is a problem with Alexa Mini´s delivered before spring/summer 2017 and Arri has changed the design in newer Mini´s and there shouldn´t be problems. The solution was a spare part from Arri and the rental house was able to open up the camera and change the connector, worked like a charm after that. Not something assistant should be doing on a set, so unfortunately I would send the body to the rental company and get a replacement.