Rasmus Frostell

You could use a Teradek Serv, it's not ideal at all for operating. But a decent reference that you have in your pocket. 

3 minutes ago, Rhys Warren said:

Thanks for those links!

Yeah I am using a convertor! The Atomos converter seems to work fine with all monitor brands and sends a perfect signal. But my AJA converter sends signals to all monitors except a SmallHD.

Ok, if you connect the sdi from the SR3-output to the smallhd directly. Does that work? Then a workaround is Camera- SDI converter - smallhd In - Small HD out - teradek.

Might work? ?

Hi,

I haven't used the smallhd as an onboard monitor on the SR3. But are you using an analog - SDI converter? That could be the issue. I usually use an atomos Samurai as onboard monitor that records internally for playback. And have had no issues. 

I usually use the wicam converter - https://www.wicam.pro/eng/a2s.html

See the link for a similiar setup i had a while ago. https://imgur.com/a/XxLwnBG

EDIT: Just saw that you're using a converter. Not sure then. Perhaps the SDI sends 480p or 720p and the smallhd is displaying 1080p?

Just now, Igor Trajkovski said:

Is that a film camera?

It is! Arriflex SR3 Advanced. 

Not todays office but a week ago in the north of sweden. Heli Shoot woo!

https://imgur.com/a/9igJ0hx

Hi, i have a travel job coming up where we're shooting on 16mm. Since i've never done a travel job with film before i'm wondering how it works with the security and x-ray scanners. Can i ask security to hand-inspect the rolls in the dark bag or will they understand that it's film and have some kind of procedure for it? It's a 2 day shoot and we have 8 rolls of film.

I personally like the new tvlogic monitors. They're pretty accurate and if one monitor is a bit off you can change picture settings in it. However for skintones i'd trust the exposure and check the falsecolor if you're using high end cameras.

You propably have already tested this. But try getting a marker and fill in the dirty parts with new "paint". Then wipe. Usually works!

Hi,

I've seen a lot of AC's using their own FPV antennas on different types of wireless video links. It got me interested so i started researching the topic. But i couldn't find any answer in what scenarios it's beneficial with omnidirectional antennas instead of the standard (for example) teradek ones you get with the kit?

Does the range improve? Or is the range the same but with less signal drop / weird effects?

Teradek claims you can use any third party 5.8ghz antennas for some of their products but doesn't wanna give any recommendations. Also of course i don't want to fry any transmitters so is there anything you should think of before testing?

The main reason i'd like to use it is to have "stubby" antennas on the transmitter to make my camera builds as compact as possible. 

Thanks!

On 8/27/2019 at 6:14 PM, Loren Hamilton said:

Rasmus,

I just recently got to work with the CPRO recently and I'd give it a pretty high rating. Being the company that produces the CForce motors and probably some other items for ARRI, I expected the build quality and reliability to be top notch--and it was. It felt like a solid hand unit (actually a little smaller than the WCU-4) and was nice and ergonomic. The focus knob is always a big thing for me, and I seem to judge the feel quite heavily haha. I really liked the way this one felt; definitely similar to the WCU-4 in feeling, but slightly smaller/less girthier in size. The only gripes I had were the menus. There are two ways to access the menus: through the touch screen and through the scrolling wheel. I didn't even bother with the touch screen really, but the scrolling wheel easily got bumped and would go into other menu-y screens. I set one of the three user buttons to be a menu lock and this solved this issue. Other than this, I felt it was a pretty decent item. Much more affordable than a WCU-4, and probably built just as well. 

Thanks Loren! That's what i expected. Ive been in contact with Cmotion and they're gonna have a demo version at a retailer so i can try it out hopefully later this year.

Hi everyone, i'm looking in to buying my own focus handset. Obviously i've been looking at the WCU-4 since it's the standard where i work and i'm really used to it. But then someone recommended the C-motion C Pro handset. (roughly the same price as a smaller used wcu-4 kit) Which i have never heard of until now. I looked it up and it looks really promising. But have any of you guys had any hands on experience with it? Would love to hear your thoughts on it. I'm also afraid that the second i get the wcu-4 arri releases a new system.

Thanks!

Rasmus

On 7/5/2019 at 5:58 PM, Timothy Spencer said:

Hi Stephen,

In regards to the Cinetape there is now a much better tool on the market called the CineRT manufactured by Focus Bug Technologies. The CineRt is a set of tools built into one unit that can do amazing things.

I highly recommend the Cine RT & personally prefer it over the udm and cinetape. Their team at Focusbug is great and super helpful as well.

:D

Thanks for the advice guys!

You'd be fine with a clamp on, just secure it to the body. Arri LMB15/25/Pro have a hole on the bottom to allow a safety chain or rope to prevent the matte box from falling away from the body in case it does fall off.

Great, thanks i'll go for a clamp on then.

Hi all, i'm wondering what the safest mattebox to put on a black arm / russian arm is for a car commercial where i assume the DOP will use polarizers and different filters while shooting. (And i want a clear filter in front of the lens for possible chips flying from the car we're filming.) Obviously i feel like a clamp on mattebox feels a bit risky. But wouldn't a mattebox with rods cause small vibrations near the lens while going at faster speeds?

What's your experience with this? What works, and what doesn't?

Best,

Rasmus

Is the only option to edit everything as a 25fps project? I know its only a minute difference Ive just got the director asking me about this.

I'm not sure. We stayed with 25fps in the edit. Obviously your synced clips are going to slide out of sync once they play for a bit. If you have an artist that's lip syncing to the song and have many different angles of it you can make it work. I'm not sure if you can "convert" it to a different framrate though.

I did this once by mistake. 25p project rate and 24fps. Luckily there wasnt much sync so it worked out with some magic while cutting it.

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!

Thank you Matti! Exactly the types of tricks i was looking for! Do you find the preston or WCU-4 better in the cold? Have you tried just increasing the motor torque for older lenses in cold conditions? And regarding the zeiss / HS or SS. A trick i usually do for the mattebox is that i take off the outer part of the mattebox, only using the backplate and filter array holders. Then the wireless follow focus usually manage the weight.

Best,

Rasmus

Thanks Robin, damn sound technicians! ;)

Also regarding keeping batterys warm. One thing i was thinking about trying instead of the heated scarves is using these glove heaters in my runbag/floorbag between the batteries. Might do the trick as well!

Here's a link. https://www.amazon.com/Grabber-Hand-Warmers-Odorless-Activated/dp/B007ID2ILQ?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_3

James, i wish that was the case! Next year maybe :). Thanks!

Hi, i got a Canomatic R 58mm 1.2 and are planning on getting the remaining lenses from the series. I got a sweet deal to rehouse them with a contact i have. But im wondering. Why is there almost no information at all about these lenses?

Ive done some basic tests with the 58 that i own on a point and shoot with an adapter and i like the look of it. Ofcourse there are some imperfections but thats trendy anyway haha! Im doing a test at a rental on an alexa mini with an ef mount next week to see how it is before deciding.

But im just a bit nervous since it seems like no-one has rehoused these lenses before.

If you know anything or have links to any info about the Canomatic R lenses please let me know!

Best,

Rasmus

Hi, sorry if this has been posted before.

I'm wondering, what is a good way to start learning to service lenses and eventually learn the re-housing process? It's not much of it at all online. I've taken apart some cheap lenses i bought just for practice & cleaned them. But i'd like to learn more. Switching mounts, making the f/t-stops click free, putting on better focus rings and so on. Any ideas on where to start?

Best,

Rasmus

Hi,

Winter is slowly but surely coming. What are your fellow AC's best tricks for shooting in the winter? Any must know tips and tricks? Good gloves for pulling focus etc.

Also! I read somewhere that you can use Cilica Gel bags near the lens in humid conditions. Does this work when moving between warm interior and cold exteriors in below 0 circumstances as well?

I've been AC'ing for a while but always strive to get better!

Thanks!

/Rasmus