BBC Long Way Down & Claudio's V1
 

Hi All,

Just spent a month sat next to Claudio von Planta on an expedition. He's the guy who filmed Long Way Round, Race to Dakar and Long Way Down (amongst other things).

He has an interesting V1 rig. His approach to his camera is that it is a tool that has to be modified to suit his needs, hence some interesting mods to it.

I have hi-res production photos if you'd like to see them?

Thought you might be interested!

Cheers

Jonathan

In what way it is modified?

Here's a couple of pics

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachmen...1&d=1202222143

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/attachmen...1&d=1202222143

Thanks for the pictures - but cant tel whats been "modified" - do you know what mods he made?
|Sherif

May be the battery had been "modified" to used on the light and cam.

can't say i see any 'mods' other than brackets, and something hanging on the back of a normal battery.

however, his attitude is spot on. the camera is a tool. if you need to modify it there are endless ready-made brackets, shoulder mounts, adaptions available for most popular cameras.

if you have to modify the electronics, then you've obviously bought the wrong camera for the job in the first place.

curiosity - i don't see any filter on the lens. surely a nd / uv might help protect the lens from sand / dust / etc/.?

leslie

Principally there is a new bracket manufactured for the top handle. This has a new cold shoe on it at the rear and mic bracket to move it back out of the way. Then there is the plastic cover for the audio control (which actually broke off during the expedition).

Also, there the Hawkwoods battery adapters for the SWIT light and the velcro attached head torch.

He uses a UV filter on the wide angle adapter also. Never using the eyepiece means he can gaffer tape that up as well.

Then the camera is generally covered in bits and pieces of velcro to attach things like the tethered lens cap and extra mic packs and so on.

What kind of mic is under that deadcat?

It's a Rode NTG2

V1U Headlamp
 

Noticed he had a headlamp LED on the front of the camera. Was that sufficient enough for the V1U? Was the footage at all grainy?

Generally, he used the headlamp torch for real guerilla stuff. As a backup in small spaces like a car. Yes, the footage was a bit grainy in low light. Nowhere near as bad as an A1 though. With the SWIT light on, the footage was fine. Nice and clean.