How do you attach a field monitor to an indicam arm (or other steadicam types)?
 

Hello,

How is everyone attaching a field monitor (sony dvd player, smallhd dp1, etc.) to their indicam arm. I am getting the indicam arm and vest next week and I am already thinking about getting a field monitor to go with it.

But not sure the best way to attach it to the arm or camcorder?

via flash bracket?

via velcro?

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Simon

Attaching a field monitor to an indicam arm (or other steadicam post/sled)
 

Simon,

I assume that you want to attach the monitor to the post/sled rather than the arm. If you have a monitor with a quarter inch screw mount, here’s an inexpensive and lightweight option which gives some flexibility in attachment.

PD-05020 Video Ultra Clamp by TecNec available at Markertek.com for $30

Does this help or did I misunderstand what you’re trying to do?

Simon,
You want to attach the monitor to the bottom of the sled where the front weights are. You might need to drill a hole to mount the monitor if the weights are needed and need to be forward. Terry posted some pics here on DVi where he shows how he mounted a monitor and battery setup on the base of the Indicam sled so you might want to search that out for some tips.

Yes, you are both right and I did not explain myself very well.

I will search for the info from Terry on attaching a monitor to the sled.

Thanks!

Simon

The Sony DVD player is going to be too heavy for a sled monitor because of the fact that the monitor screen, dvd drive and batteries are all in the same unit, it puts all of the weight on the front of the sled and would then take a massive amount of counterweight on the rear of the sled to balance out. All of this weight is going to exceed the design weight of the 207 arm. I would look at the SmallHD monitors on front and battery on back.
Just an opinion though, while I do own 3 Sony DVD players, I use the flip out viewfinder for flying.

Jim

smallhd:
 

Yes, I looked at the smallhd dp1 monitor. WOW! Very cool.

Not in the budget right now but hopefully soon.

I think I will stick with the built-in lcd for now and practice with the arm first.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Simon

Good evening,

when I had my small hd on my xlh1 I just mounted on the back and balanced.

I now have a sony fx 1000 for the indie cam and was thinking of mounting it on the hot shoe.

any suggestions on mounting it with the smaller camera would be welcome.

I have never been to sure about having it on the sled and having to look down to shoot.

The notion of having the monitor down low is well proven after 35 years of Steadicam design (some of the earliest Steadicams had camera-mounted monitors). The concept is that you are able to use your peripheral vision to see where your feet need to go, obstacles in your way etc while still being able to feel the position of the subject in the frame. It is also much more comfortable to look down than to look up--having the monitor above your eyeline can create neck strain. It may seem somehow counter-intuitive, but the monitor mounted to the lower spar is the best way to go.

I'll add one more reason to what Charles said.

A very common position for Steadicam work is called "Don Juan". This is where you are walking forward, but the lens is pointing back over your left shoulder. If you want to see people's faces, then you have to get out in front of them. If you want to see where you're going at the same time, Don Juan works very well. You could walk backwards, but this usually requires another person to spot you. If your subject is running, and you want to shoot in front of them, Don Juan is the only way I know to do it.

If you mount the monitor on the lower spar, then you can still see it easily in Don Juan. In fact, with the monitor low, you can switch positions just about any way and always see it perfectly.

Good point Dave, although I wouldn't describe Don Juan as being "very common"--we teach it in the workshops, it's in the Handbook, but in real life we try to avoid it as much as possible, in fact I know many operators who claim to never do it. How they manage running backwards in front of an actor I'm not sure. Certainly they are able to back up and down stairs, something I myself have never been able to do. As i recall this amazing shot was done backing down the stairs, very impressive!

I attached a 7" monitor to my Glidecam 4000HD with one of those universal clamps. Probably the same as the ultra clamp another poster mentioned.

Since we leave the camera on autofocus (gasp) on the steadicam we basicly needed the monitor for framing shots as opposed to focus. We also didn't have the budget for a high def monitor after spending money on a Manhatten monitor for our Kessler crane.

I bought one of those LCD4 7" monitors from ebay with the Sony battery mount for around $200. We clamp the monitor to the front bottom of the sled in lieu of most or all of the weights. The wire between the battery case and the monitor was long enough to mount the battery opposite the monitor at the other end of the sled. I mounted the battery with velcro.

Thanks to all who have offered their suggestions. Great information.

The monitors we tested are from Nebtek (Video Assist Equipment - Service, Sales and Rentals from Nebtek) and work great in all lighting conditions. They also offer a battery adapter (Sony, Panasonic, Canon) which brings those batteries up to the voltage needed for their monitors.

Tery
Indicam

Note: Our new website (Indicam) is back online. Dang we wish we knew more about all the intricacies of website management, Linux language, and routers and their configuration.

Charles, thanks for the information.

That shot you linked is absolutely amazing!!!!

thanks for sharing.

Boy do I have a long way to go!


dale

Inspiring
 

Thank you for the link - inspiring :D

...a good monitor to use would be the Haier HLT7
it is 7" LCD and has the RCA inputs so it is more rugged and sturdy than the av minijack
i put it on the front mounting hole in my glidecam sled or in the groove where the weight is attached so i can slide it fwd and bkwd to acommodate mass change on the upper stage...after some fiddlin with it, it works!