Need production advice for Berlin, Germany

[Dylan Couper]

Hey guys & gals. I need some advice for a friend of mine who is putting together a very low budget event production in Germany.

Here's what he needs to know:

1) What's an average rate for paying a low budget camera operator for a day? he has the cameras (two XHA1's) and just needs people to run them (filming a stage off tripods for 2 days).

2) Names of any good small rental houses for lighting gear.

3) Will there be any trouble running his north American cameras off German power with a typical travel adapter?

4) Where is a good place to contact camera operators or any other help, like a German version of Craigslist.org?


Thanks on his behalf!

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Dylan Couper

...
3) Will there be any trouble running his north American cameras off German power with a typical travel adapter?
...!

Don't know about your other questions but the cameras run off of DC. Most chargers/ac adapter these days are multivoltage and most auto-select when they're plugged in. A quick look at the label on the charger will tell you for sure. Most likely it will read "120~240 volts." They would run just as well off of German 240v 50 Hz as the do with North American 120v, 60Hz and all you would need would be the plug adapters for the different wall socket configuration, $5 at Radio Shack. If they do say 120v only, then a simple travel transformer adapter would take care of it.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Steve House

If they do say 120v only, then a simple travel transformer adapter would take care of it.

Just make sure to plug in something NON mission critical first in case there is an issue with either the power or the adaptor. Blowing up a charger or camera DC power supply pretty much ends your shooting day/week.

We shot a Sony Z1U throughout Germany 3 years ago and had ZERO issues with power. The industrialized nations probably don't have many issues but in the Third World, I'd be especially careful.