"Makes you feel like a man" does it? Did you get one of those really long lenses?


(Got a really long shotgun mike myself. ;)

The longest. . .

I'm sure a large subset of our industry will find more daring uses for those HD lipstick cameras.

???the pain
 

Dean, Rick, Josh

Right now they hover in the range of 18 to 26 lbs., depending on configuration.

No need to worry about those heavy weights I had to contend with in the future.

The death of film, tape, and the disc, will take a few more pounds off of the cam, as the motor drives become extinct.

By the way, Sony's DV mag, has an article on CCD vs CMOS,from a gent connected with JVC. It's of interest if you want to see what there thinking is as to the direction the cam will go. There is also a quite interesting article about memory sticks vs. the has beens.

<I've got several different shoulder mount setups I've tried, but nothing completely eliminates it>
If nothing works, did you try a monopod?

OOooh. . .can I chime in? Though my back and shoulders hurt, I suspect it'd be the same with any camera, not just the XL1s. The BEST rig I have found so far is: you take a broacast camera shoulder pad (I got lucky, there was one on Ebay for $15) and attach it to the screw hole where you normally attach the tripod plate. Most of the broadcast pads have three holes, one in the front, middle, and back. Aligning the front hole with the screw hole on the camera puts the camera where I feel it oughta be--it moves the camera backward so that less lens sticks out in front of you. Any more backward, and it'd be awkward to reach for the focus, zoom, etc. on the lens.

This is good for event videography or something where you access your lens a lot. For something filmlike, where your iris, zoom, etc. are set (perhaps), I got the Cavision rods system and handgrips that accompany it, and you can screw this into the same hole as the shoulder pad, just put the rods' mounting plate in between the pad and the camera. Now you have a very steady handheld rig (not a steadicam, people) that is also sort of comfortable, because of the pad. That is a lot of weight and stress on one screw, so be careful. I'd post pics, but I can't take a picture of myself with my camera using my camera.

When walking around with a 16 Lb. DSR-300, there are several stages one goes through.

1. Unpacking . . . This isn't so bad
2. I'm leaning
3. Damn, my shoulder and elbow hurt.
4. The back joins the chorus
5. I grow numb
6. I swap with the guy shooting my PD150
7. The back ups its complaints but the shoulder and elbow calm down.
8. Throat swallows 2 Aleve
9. Make mental note to chose another profession the next time.
10 Shoot is over, gotta pack it all up.
11. Hey, I made some money! Maybe this isn't so bad after all.


1. Unpacking . . . This isn't so bad
2. I'm leaning
3. Damn . . .

As a testimony to the bizarre ergonomics of the XL1, I would estimate that I can shoot longer with a 60 lb configuration of Steadicam on my body than with an XL1 on my shoulder. Someday I will extend the viewfinder forward 6 inches to help throw the weight further back on the shoulder, if I can ever get around to it. I can only hope that the XL2 offers some sensible redesign in weigh distribution.

<<<-- Originally posted by Josh Bass : I'd post pics, but I can't take a picture of myself with my camera using my camera. -->>>

Mirrors are great. :D

Maybe they'll just build it like a betacam, and all the extra mass will be storage space :)