Travis Shannon

I watched it last night and I wouldn’t call the focus dead on every time by a long shot, I’m a focus puller by trade but even my friends that aren’t in film were complaining about how shallow and often out things were. Lots of questionable splits and on the fly corrections as well, something tells me Zack isn’t an easy guy to pull for.

There’s a 4 perf moviecam superamerica on eBay for 3500 right now- bncr mount but still pretty hard to beat for that price.

I think Charles Pickel over at Serious Gear can do it but I haven’t personally spoken to him about it so not 100 percent on that.

In my experience Tvlogic will be the most accurate of the around 1k brands, echoing what others have said here in that Atomos and smallhd are super solid picks for high bright but tend to sacrifice color and tonal accuracy for a high nit count, if you’re looking for the absolute full stop for an on camera calibrated monitor Flanders makes a 9inch that’s pretty heavy but also dead on and can be sent to FSI for lifetime calibrations, this is also the most expensive option. Personally I’d be looking at tvlogic VFM-058 or 55s for 5 inch or tvlogic LVM-074 for a 7 inch, also smallhd has somewhat recently added a setting called studio mode which isn’t really any more accurate but tends to tone down the more egregious settings.

Hi! So as a first AC myself it’s a little worrisome that some of that gear is out of the umbrella of expertise for your AC, there really isn’t anything here I would consider “specialized gear” so without wanting to throw anybody’s name on the line I might start reaching out to other AC’s that would also be willing to jump on the prep or at least has solid answers for your gear based inquiries. Also as an AC it’s so important for me to hammer home the importance of a good camera prep, this is where you find out if all of your gear can talk, write, shoot, heck even turn on- there’s a reason most preps are done over the course of a day or at the least a half day, I get that Adorama isn’t renting the camera body but I’d still consider asking if you can prep there (a lot of places will do this and just charge you a prep fee). Given your concerns with the package going out it seems doubly worrisome that it really isn’t getting prepped either, now let’s get to the important stuff which are your questions: I'm worried about the camera potentially shutting down while hot swapping as it will drop to 90W momentarily As long as the mini has ~11.2 volts going into the body with that aks setup you’re good, the drop off can be substantial when you pull one brick off but it usually leaves you in the low 12s assuming you’re not waiting until the last minute to change batts, as long as you don’t walk around in the middle of a hotswap and get a coffee you’ll probably be fine, and sharkfins are for hot swapping so battery changes should be expeditious anyway. The last thing I’ll say is that 90w batteries aren’t small but aren’t huge either and can drain pretty fast on a fully rigged camera so maybe ask your agent for some 150s I am planning on running my small hd monitors from their own goldmount batteries (they come w/ gold mount plates), but wasn't sure if I'd also be able to power my teradeks simultaneously using the dtap I’m assuming these are handheld as I didn’t see a size so yes, your batteries (I’d use the hyperslims on monitor obviously) will totally be able to power the teradek rx, that’s what the d taps are there for- obviously as you increase the draw battery power goes down but you won’t overdraw and short or anything. As for your questions about motor/lens setup this is where the beauty of the prep comes in, you’re right in wondering if the bus cable on the wcu is long enough as my biggest gripe with the wcu system is lack of cable length/angle options and you should definitely check it out before you leave. Also your gear list has no mention of support that I saw so I assume you have that squared away but always good to check. Good luck with your shoot, and if you’re in LA and need a first AC for anything feel free to reach out.

Does exposure count? Producers have been trying that one for years.

Les Bosher is your best bet.

Transylvania Film and Tv Corp in Burbank have specialized in tripod repair for some years now and are kind of the gold standard in the LA market at least.

This was the hardest I’ve laughed all week.

The orange sync light staying on definitely leads me to believe the motor needs some degree of work, I can also vouch for Bernie as he fully CLA’ed my ACL 1. Jaeger connectors are a pain but get in contact with Jean Louis Seguin on this forum, he just made two new jaeger to xlr cables for my ACL not more than three months ago or so. Good luck, it’s a fun little camera.

150mm ball heads are no joke, Sachtler has a couple that are rated to handle payloads in the 120 lb+ range, that being said that sirui is not something I’d wager can handle anywhere near that. Also just a note on VCT plates, they experience a good amount of wear and tear from the constant click in/out and do tend to get loose on you after awhile, not something that can’t be maintained but they definitely have their downsides.

Do you have any footage from the SR3 or any 16mm shot on these Thanks in advance.

Yes, the calling vs asking thing is critical, I remember a particularly maddening feature shoot that was non union but somehow SAG so they would call Grace for talent literally every day even though there was no benefit to any BTL crew member, they thought it was a mutiny when we all docked them for six extra hours per week but they stopped the funny timekeeping as well, sometimes you’ve just gotta say no- glad I’m not the only one.

Hi Kenny, it looks like you’re in Los Angeles, first of all meal penalties only apply to union contracts, if you’re in the nonunion world you’re just an employee meaning yes you are correct- legally you must be broken by hour 6- the caveat here is that if you are not then you get a “penalty” but it’s not calculated like union penalties, it does not accrue and the total penalty is equal to one additional hour of your rate, no matter how long over that 6 hour mark you eat. Fun fact, calling grace is also exclusive to union shows and there are no California labor laws I am aware of that allow for an extra twelve minutes of work to be performed past that 6 hour mark. Does grace get called all the time on nonunion gigs? Absolutely, and you probably won’t make friends pointing that out to the first AD but it is a good example of seeing how things can get skewed from union to non union- unfortunately these things happens to the PAs even more than it should, my best advice is to continue what you’re doing here which is taking note when something seems wrong and following up on it later. Note: I’ve been a nonunion 1st AC in Los Angeles for about eight years and through my own personal findings and legal discussions I’ve found all this info to be accurate and have never experienced pushback, that being said I’m not in labor law and anybody that knows better or can source these easily please feel free to chime in.

Great note, it struck me as odd that Arri would gimp the scroll wheel like that- although admittedly as I’m a first and not an op most of my time with the vf is spent at prep and doing quick adjustments on set. I love the ergonomics of the mini but the camera assistant in me does miss how perfect the dumbside layout of the classic/xt was.

There’s one on eBay right now that looks to be regular 16 with a 15-150, pretty reasonable starting bid too. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Eclair-ACL-II-16mm-Crystal-Sync-Camera-Kit-Angenieux-10-150mm-Lens/174604087954?hash=item28a736f292:g:~5QAAOSw2QpgCEGr

Hi Alpha, The mini LF is a super solid camera that is basically a combination of the sensor of the LF (although not exactly) and the design philosophy of the Alexa mini which is a camera that’s been a pretty solid contender for about five years now. Arri is also a brand leader known for color reproduction which again, is super solid in the mini LF. As an AC, personally the only gripe I have with the mini LF is that the EVF scroll wheel has moved to the center making it impossible to scroll through selections while it’s flipped inwards, aside from this one quirk I think the mini LF is a superior camera to the mini. As far as downsides the obvious of any large format camera is that media and readers are going to be pricey as well as making sure you have drive space for it, also as the mini and mini LF are essentially just squares with ports and sensors you do have to buy a fair amount of AKS to rig it to start but the same can be said of many camera systems. I suppose a better question is do you need everything that the mini LF offers/what are the requirements of your footage? Also if large format is the ask wondering if you have looked at the Sony Venice? Also a very capable camera and the dual ISO is a great feature. I’d say as long as you have the startup capital though the mini LF is hard to go wrong with. Good luck!

Great to know, thanks for the heads up!

For reference, is this viewfinder orientable while still keeping the image erect? I have a couple old angeniuex Paris vfs and have wondered how this one is different but can’t find a ton of information online, appreciate any input!

Hi Brendan, that is a bit pricey but for the sake of curiosity could you tell me who that supplier is? Thanks so much

Currently trying to track down any kind of a battery (non functioning is fine) w/cable for eclair ACL 1 or 1.5 (original 4-pin jaeger connector) or even just a 4 pin jaeger connector to fashion a new cable, already have two batteries with XLR out, just need the jaeger end (original cable was fried) neither Bernie at Super16inc nor Andrew at AZ spectrum seem to have any stock so checking here, much appreciated!

Hey guys, been mucking around in the amateur 16mm camera market for awhile now and want to finally jump in to something a little more professional but still small enough to one man band when I need- looking for any Eclair ACL packages for sale (Ergo viewfinder and handle preferred but given scarcity I’m just curious to see what there is at all) thanks much!