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Overwhelming variety of Accessories, inputs and outputs. Where can I begin to learn?


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Hello All,

I was wondering what resources I can use to learn about the massive amount of camera accessories and inputs and outputs for cameras and their accessories. I keep finding pictures of these huge camera rigs, where I cannot determine what some of the accessories may be. I want to learn as much as I can.

Currently, I have been reading the Camera Assistant's Manual by David Elkins and working my way through Evan Luzi's blog, The Black And Blue. I also understand that much of this I will learn as I get more experience on sets, I have actually been able to learn a good (but small in perspective) amount of information about Red Epic cameras while 2nd ACing on an indie feature.

 

As somebody determined to become an excellent 1st AC, any advice on where else I may look would be greatly appreciated and put to use.

Best Regards,

Joseph Robinson

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You could call local rental houses and ask if you might be allowed to spend some time in their prep area watching camera kits get assembled and checked. It's in the rental house's interest that new assistants get to know and respect the gear, so as long as they're not too busy and you're not too demanding it shouldn't be a problem.

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Also, it helps if you focus on learning one camera system at a time. There are usually a lot of similarities between cameras made by the same manufacturer. So for example if you read the Arri Alexa manual, then other Arri cameras will make a lot more sense. Ditto with Panavision, Sony, Canon and Red.

 

Arri is a good place to start, they have been around for so long that their accessories have become industry standard.

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Dom,

I have applied for internship positions at a few rental houses (including the nearest Panavision and ARRI ones) for the upcoming Fall semester, but I had no idea that asking to observe a camera prep would be possible. Thank you.

Satsuki,

 

Also glad to hear I was on the right track for beginning to read through manuals, I've been currently reading through the Red Epic and Canon C300 manuals. I was actually inspired to make this thread by a catalogue for camera accessories that ARRI made, though it's three years old. I'll definitely continue to read through the manuals, thank you for the response.

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I wonder if there's a market for web videos of camera preps, sounds like a lot of people would watch them for education purposes. You'd have to edit out the all parts where the ACs on the prep floor talk poop about their cameras and the jobs they're on though. And the 50% of their prep time actually spent on their iphones responding to production emails and DP's texts. On second thought, maybe it's not such a good idea...

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