Daniel Stigler

If you are still in Europe i invite you to meet me at the CINEC at the GripDepot booth. Beer supply is taken care for....

Hi everyone! I will be at the tradeshow in Munich this weekend taking care of the cameras at the booth of my friends from GRIPDEPOT. All the equipment exhibited (camquad, camcars, cranes, remote heads,...) will be in shooting ready condition, so if you come over at the right moment and bring a roll of film (16mm or 35mm) we can jump on the quad, take a ride and shoot some pictures. Or just drop by and say Hello. It's booth #2-F8. Hope to see some of you in Munich. Regards, Daniel

I used to carry a Palm with David Eubank's software (http://www.davideubank.com/). Although the software is really powerful, the Palm is too vulnerable for field work. I'm back to my Depth Of Field charts that i downloaded from the ARRI website and printed out. I carry it in a folder in my bag. I like the paper chart best, because it lets me compare different settings right next to each other without extra calculations.

Most of what you wrote makes sense to me, but the only alternative (in the segment of moving picture capturing that i earn my living) is recording data to a RAID system and handling them which from my experience so far is more expensive and a lot more trouble than shooting rolls of film. Combined with lower mechanical quality and lower versatility of the digital cameras. But like i wrote, in the segment i work in. For sure there are a lot of kinds of shootings where using film would just be stupid.

Is this sarcasm or are you serious?

Mr. Guedes, as you seem to take certain parts of my posts and answer them out of context i'll answer this tomorrow after i asked a friend who's english is better than mine for some help in understanding what this is all about.

Name another reason. In narrative storytelling it's the aesthetics of the handling of focus. In documentary run&gun what do you do when the camera focuses on some tree behind the lion in africa but you are out to shoot a documentary about the lion?

Maybe i'm retarded but i can't remember one single video shooting that wasn't a MAJOR hassle for me. Also i did a lot of commercial jobs this year that went perfectly smooth using a 435 that would have killed a dozen of F900s, would have taken twice as long using video and wouldn't have been half as much fun. Not to speak of image quality...

People want 35mm sensors to get the same DOF characteristics 35mm film gives. If you're serious about this you don't want the DOF to just be shallow but you want it to be selective to be used as a tool. There's a lot to pulling focus to make it look good. In many shots there's just one way to do it and that's where an autofocus device could be used. In many other shots desicions have to be made that a machine can't make. I hold the strong believe that in narrative storytelling a good focuspuller will always surpass an autofocus device.

I experienced that kind of shooting. It gives you 99 crappy takes to choose from...

Thanks for the link Wendell! The site's interesting to read. In the very very early stages of cinema it was common that cameramen built their own cameras.

A test should never be random! You should also shoot remarks as well, as papers tend to get lost or notes get mixed up etc. After the registration test i shoot a board on which i wrote the camera's serial number, the date and the name of the project. For lens checks you should put the serial number of the lens, the stop it is set to as well as the focus distance on the test chart. When i check a zoom lens i set up the camera so the middle cross of the ground glass lines up with the middle cross of the test chart (if it has one...). I start with the longest focal lens and while the camera is running zoom completely out and back in.

This is a question, not an attack: how do you check your framing if you only see a magnified part of the image?

ARRI for example does now and then. But only after the new camera is introduced and they are introduced as soon as they are ready to shoot. And not right after the idea is sparked.

Where can i buy one of those "focus-pullers"? Will RED be manufacturing them? :P

Sorry Chris, there's no chance. But getting an SRI converted to PL is an operation that's done relativly easy. And it's a good chance to get her converted to Super16 as well.

It converts bayonet lenses for pl mount cameras.

But the questions about what a focuspuller does will decline rapidly... :P

You need to get an exposure meter to get a reading to what stop to set the lens. Meters and metering tecniques are discussed here. A search should give you a fair amount of results. The guys you saw measuring distances were the 1st ACs/Focuspullers. It's our job, within other things, to keep the chosen subject in focus by turning the lens barrel. Have a look at your lens. It should show distance marks. A usual filmspeed used outside during daytime would be 50ASA, during nighttime 500ASA. Indoors it depends heavily how you light. Get a lightmeter and take readings in everyday situations to get a feeling for that.

I can second what the other guys wrote: get the Lambda. I only use the F7 to mount cameras underslung. You should also check out the SCHULZ head. http://www.schulz-camerasupport.com/

I got into this a little late and i assume doing so might be too late, but if you care i could put together a list of features a camera crew NEEDS to seriously work with a machine.

Is there a way i can send you a personal message? The site says you disabled the PM.

Hey Jim, out of curiosity: who is providing the glass for the lenses? As the other thread is locked, where you stated that you were looking for constructive input from the forum, i'll post my thoughts here: have a close look at Arriflexes and Panavisions and the accessories available for them. Build the body of your camera in a way it can accept those. There have been some discussions about the handle system of the RED. To me it doesn't look practical. I really like the handles on the Arricam ST/LT. Mount the sensor and lens mount in a way that the set flange focal depth stays the same. I hate shooting with all those HD cameras that were designed for ENG but don't work for scenical shooting. I need to trust my machine. When i set the lens focus to 12ft i need to be sure the image 12ft away will be sharp. And an optical viewfinder system would be great...

I used a HAWK 150-450mm zoom twice and occasionally have an Optimo or a Cooke 25-250mm on board. But using them at the long end of their range is a rare situation...

Check out RUSSIAN ARK. It includes light plans and examples of the grading process.