achromat
 

i would prefer it with the achromat included...what would you do? find the appropriate achromat based on the users camera? i've got a dvx100a...

thanks! now hurry up, will ya?!!

:)

gary

Gary,
An achromat to work with all cams has now been sourced.

Pics of the unit with support with be up next week. Following outside test footage.

Thanks for your interest and patience.

Wayne.

Ok, with all said and done, when will the adapters be ready for commercial sale or can you please give us an update and more test footage.
You know more products are coming out everyday, so we need updates in order to make sure that your product is still up to the latest kits for adapters.

.... more test footage please

Thanks Eniola,
I have not posted for a while as i've been working hard reworking the adapters design around the new improved aluminium box.

I will however have photos of the unit, with 15mm rod support up on either thursday or friday.

I also will get some outside shots and also that res card test.

Thanks for your interest,

Wayne.

Pictures of the SG35 unit
 

Hello,
I have taken two pics of the SG35 unit:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wayne.kinney/SG35_01.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wayne.kinney/SG35_02.jpg

Has speed control at the top and power socket on the side to connect to either battery pack (8 AA's) or a 12v main supply.

I have not quite finished the support rods, so a pic of this will follow this weekend, along with the promised footage.

Any comments welcome,
Thanks,
Wayne.

Very nice pictures, Wayne, I love it.

Quyen

Wow the finishing looks good.. ooh but 8AA batt sounds a little heavy...eagerly waiting for some outdoor samples..Keep up the good work!

Wayne that looks very nice. When can I get my hands on one? I live up the road from you in Lewes and have a DVX waiting to hook up to it.

Thanks for your replies guys.

There is a more expensive power option should the user wish to use it. This is the use of 3 cell Lithium Polymer packs. These give 11.1v, can be bought in very high capacities meaning long life, and are very light. They do require a special charger though.

I chose the 8AA batteries in my design for the best mix of price/accessibility. The user is by no means stuck with this power option.

Stephen, its rare to find people from the UK around here, especially just up the road. I would love to meet up with you once the unit is ready to test it out.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Right,I hope to see the specs once its ready. Thanks!

Stephen Pipe,
Is it possible for you to give me a ring or for me to ring you? I would really like to meet up with you, us being so close.

If you could email me your number that would be great.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Awesome Wayne,
Two question though, since you are in England and I am sure most of your customers will be from the U.S, how can those of us in the U.S get an adapter that is compatable with the American power supply. I know Europe uses 240volts but I am not sure.
As for me, I will not wanna use any battery cuz I need the rotor running at all times and at the same speed during the shoot.

Also, the pictures you posted, is that how the commercial product will look like?

Footage please, thanks.

Hi Eniola,
Regarding the power supply, the input is 12v DC, so all you need is an AC to DC adapter should you want to run from mains.

The last 2 pictures i post of the unit give a good idea of what the final unit will look like, the placement of some things will be slightly different, and also it will have a small on/off switch on the side also.

Sorry I have not posted any footage, but I ordered a new drill press, so was waiting for this to arrive before continuing. The Drill arrived yesterday, so good news is I will have footage uploaded over this weekend. I live in a beautiful seaside town here, so lots of things to shoot.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Hey Wayne,

The device looks great and I do believe the glass is really going to help against any colour abberation that is seen through the plastic GG. After looking at the picture of the unit, I suppose there is not way of getting around it looking like the Micro35, project boxes etc. Are you concerned about Micro35 saying yours look too much like theirs? I know you have alot of different features, like variable speed, glass GG, different motor etc - ? Great job Wayne.

Mandy,
Good point and its something i have thought about, but to be honest, take any black box and put an SLR lens on it and it looks like the micro35.

The internals of the SG35 will be different from the micro35, i have deisgned and built the spinning glass mechanism myself, and choose optics that i feel are best from my own experiementation.

I do not beleive there are any problems.

Im off to shoot the outside footage over side weekend, im very excited. Will post up the video on Sunday.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Well first, the M2 folks can't really say anything, because their unit itself is a rip-off from the P+S Mini35, and looks basically the same as their early series. Second, if there's anybody in the homebuilt business who can say anything at all, is Agus(sp). He started the whole homebuilt wave.

Very true,
I talk to Agus over msn on a daily basic. I offered to send him a unit for no charge, but he just wanted the glass and mechanism, so im sending him that to say thank you.

Wayne.

Very nice Wayne, a good heart will get you more places than anything else. Yes, I think we owe a great deal of thanks to Agus, but also to P+S for the idea!
And of course, the guru himself, Bob Hart...

I wish I could say I agree but I've seen the schmoozers and suckups get a lot further in the world than the good-hearted, LOL

Still, us friendly ones gotta help each other out. God knows the conniving bast*rds won't! :)

Nice job; Keep it up, Wayne

Ideal world Bill, ideal world! Isn't the sky rose-coloured in yours?

Hehe

Not rose coloured but I do look for the silver lining!

Hello guys,
I have arranged with a Mr Anthony Bert to meet and shoot some footage with his FX-1 this Sunday. This will be the first SG35 unit sold, and if all is well, I'll post up the footage and shots of the FX-1 on the unit and will be ready to start taking orders.

The SG35 now comes with achromatic lens and 15mm support rods for an introductory price of £160.

Ill post the footage Sunday night.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Cool. Did you set a webiste up already?
Any chances of testing it with the JVC HD100?
How about some pictures of the whole rig, with rods etc?
Do you have an email address? I would like to shoot you an email.

Michael,
I believe its against the forum rules to post email addresses, but click on my user name and send me an email via the link.

The website is being worked on now. Are there any HD100 users out there in my area? If there are please give me a shout.

I am meeting with Anthony Bert this Sunday, we are connecting the SG35 up with his Sony FX-1 HD cam. Ill post footage and pics up on Sunday night.

Regards,
Wayne.

Wayne,
I know that you are extremely busy just like everyone on this site but is the test ready yet and when will you start accepting payment?

Eniola,
The SG35 is being hooked up to the Sony FX-1 tomorrow, im very excited. All tests will be carried out on the FX-1. Ill post footage tomorrow night, and if I am saticfied with everything, I will be ready to accept orders.

The SG35 with 15mm rods will have an introductory price of £160 for the first 5 units. Thereafter the unit will be £199.

I'll upload a pic of the final rig tonight.

Regards,
Wayne.

OK,
the FX-1 shoot has been prospond due to bad weather rendering outdoor shooting a no go. The FX-1 chap is 2 and a half hours drive away, so its best to make that journey on a more 'usable' day.

Regards,
Wayne.

Photos
 

Wayne,

Can you post the photo of the final product with the Rods, mounting plate, etc.?

Thanks,

Luis

PS

Most likely, tomorrow I will PayPal you the paiment for the order!

Pics of unit up
 

Hello,
Here are 2 pictures of the SG35 unit complete with 15mm rod support and baseplate as promised.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wayne.kinney/sg35.htm

I am meeting this sunday with the chap with the Sony HDR-FX1 to test drive the SG35. I will post footage sunday night.

Once i am satisfied with the results, Sg35 will be officially released.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Looks nice Wayne.

Quyen

This does look awesome. But I had a couple quick questions, if you don't mind.

1. How noiseless is it? Will it interfere with recording dialogue, or do I need to ensure that the internal mic is not used?

2. Will there be scrims available to raise the camera up or down to fit the lens?

3. How long would you estimate that it would take from order to production to delivery?

Looking forward to the FX1 unit, since that's my new camera.

Hi Robert, thanks for your interest.

1: It depends on your shooting conditions. With the SLR aperture wide open and the camcorders shutter speed at 1/50th or 1/60th, then the glass can be set to spin at its slowest setting, and the camcorders built in mic becomes an option. Its when the aperture is closed and/or the shutter speed raised that you will need to set the glass spinning slighty faster. The cams mic may hear this. This is due to tiny vibrations transmitted through the body, so an external mic would not pick this up as its not in physical contact.

2: The adapter itself raises up and down to fit different cameras. Not sure if thats what you mean?

3: Time from payment recieved to posting is 2 - 3 weeks.

I hope that helps,
Wayne.

Wayne, any chances of you testing it with the JVC HD100? Nobody has ever uploaded any footage shot with the HD100, besides the Mini35 test. I would like to see footage from one of the other affordable alternatives like the SG35, Letus35, M2 etc. But so far nobody has shown any. M2 announced they would, but they only uploaded frame grabs. I wonder why. Maybe their adapter sucked with the HD resolution.
The first adapter who shows good performance with the HD100 will be the one I will put my money on.

Michael,
I am currently working with a client to design a relay lens to work with the HD100. This would completely replace the stock lens, similar to what people have tried with the Canon XL series.

Thanks,
Wayne.

Thanks for the answers. Just a few more bits of clarification, if you don't mind.
I'm referring to the part between the actual camera and the tripod in the website picture you posted. It looks like you are using an additional support to raise the camera to fit the adapter. The M2 requires a scrim to raise a GS400 camera for instance. I was just wondering if yours did as well.

Also, I was wondering. It says the purchase comes with rods. Does that include the black support portions, shown under the camera and under the adapter in the website picture? And how much does all this weigh? Thanks.

Robert,

No, my baseplate is not adjustable, instead the adapter adjusts in height.

The price indeed includes the 15mm rods support.

Regards,
Wayne.

Battery location?
 

Looks very promising! One quick question:

Where do the 8AA batteries go? Do they fit into the unit as pictured, or is there a seperate battery pack as well?

Thanks!

Hi,
It is actually a seperate pack. I have not actually decided where to best mount the pack, but the closer to the centre of gravity is best. Im thinking of mounting it to the top of the tripod leg with some hook and loop. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Wayne.

I think the best place would be anyplace that the user decides, but if not that, on the tripod is great or on the camera, for mobility sake.

I think we need flexibility: attached to the camera will be preferable for the handheld shooting. However, the cord should be long enough to place it on the tripod when its use is required.

Luis