Brevis 35mm adapter on stabilizer at DVinfo.net

Dennis Wood · September 3rd, 2006, 11:28 PM

I've been itching to try out a stablizer rig so I picked this up and strapped on the Brevis35 with a 50mm lens and matte box. I did some tuning of the handle and yoke attachments to remove some play/binding after this shoot with the result that the unit feels much better now. Here's a 10MB clip.

I need a lot more practice :-)

Frank Hool · September 4th, 2006, 03:35 AM

definately it needs remote focusing.

Dennis Wood · September 4th, 2006, 10:41 AM

That, or using say a 28mm set at f 4.0 or so for less critical focus. A 50mm f1.4 is probably way too shallow for this type of work. When I get a bit more practice I'll experiment a bit.

Leigh Wanstead · September 4th, 2006, 01:30 PM

Hi Dennis,

What is the weight of your Brevis35 with a 50mm lens and matte box and camera?

TIA

Regards
Leigh

Dennis Wood · September 5th, 2006, 11:05 PM

Leigh, the rails, cam, 50mm lens, adapter and matte box are under 6 pounds.

Steve Madsen · September 6th, 2006, 02:37 AM

Nice casting Dennis...the kid looks a natural. Nice energy and little inhibition in front of the camera.

I love your composition at 1:18...

I didn't really get the sense of the "floating camera" in that clip...are you thinking it's a case of practice makes perfect, or is not possible with this type of stabilizer? (am I confusing this contraption with a steadicam-type device?)

Think I'll have to get me one of those Brevis'...I'm really liking the look.

Dennis Wood · September 6th, 2006, 02:03 PM

Steve, thanks for your kind words. After doing that footage I spent about 1 hour going over the stablilizer to tweak a few items:

1. The support handle was a bit loose at the main bearing attachment points, and its rotating pivot was bindng a bit. I took everything apart, inspected, retensioned and loctited the bolts. I also added some light lithium grease on the bushings.

2. The base attachment point had a little play which I cleaned up by drilling and tapping two holes to pin it solid.

3. I spent some time to learn proper balancing of the unit.

The hardware concerns aside, that was literally my first time out with the rig. To shoot with an adapter (without a wireless FF unit and assistant) you need to set manual focus based on a predicted cam to subject range, and then attempt to maintain that focus distance from your subject. Running backwards, trying to frame, and trying to maintain a given distance, while concentrating on keeping the rig smooth is something I'll need to practice:-)

I also mounted up the adapter to my mountain bike and got some very cool, albeit brief footage. I'm getting two more Bogen superclamps to allow triangulating the mount as my current setup has a bit too much bounce using one. Turns out the rails setup comes in pretty handy as my grip heads will clamp right onto them. This means I don't really need a ball head mount for the rails.

Yasser Kassana · September 12th, 2006, 09:53 AM

That's some good stuff! I can just imagine it, brevis+xlh1+decent steadicam(indiecam.com??)=work of art.

Rafael Lopes · January 29th, 2007, 03:29 AM

It looks really good, Dennis. Was that stabilizer built by you too?

Dennis Wood · February 1st, 2007, 10:02 PM

Raf, nope, and I can't really recommend it either.

Terry Thompson · February 2nd, 2007, 12:24 AM

Dennis,

I thought it was kind of cool. It's great if you know your focus range and can keep the subject in that range.

The best thing about the whole clip is you will keep that for the future and watch it many more times.

Terry
Indicam

Chris Barcellos · February 2nd, 2007, 05:39 PM

Hey Dennis, great job to get all that on 10 mgb. I'm sure we lost some in the translation....

Just waiting to see that Pentax Kmount come around....

Diego Galvez · March 22nd, 2007, 11:43 AM

Hi Dennis, nice shot!

I agree with Frank, you would have needed a remote focus, but i know perfectly the problems that you get when adding a stabilizer to a 35mm adapter like your Brevis.

By the way, we finished our wireless remote, you were developing another too, right? How is it goin'?

Diego
http://www.foveas.com
diego [at] foveas [dot] com

Dennis Wood · March 24th, 2007, 03:27 AM

Diego, our wired version is in line behind the standard manual follow focus unit we have in production. I'll be very interested in trying out your wireless setup...from what I've seen so far, it looks good!

Michael Maier · April 4th, 2007, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Wood

Raf, nope, and I can't really recommend it either.

Are you talking about that stabilizer Dennis? Have you tried it?

September 3rd, 2006, 11:28 PM	#1
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Brevis 35mm adapter on stabilizer I've been itching to try out a stablizer rig so I picked this up and strapped on the Brevis35 with a 50mm lens and matte box. I did some tuning of the handle and yoke attachments to remove some play/binding after this shoot with the result that the unit feels much better now. Here's a 10MB clip. I need a lot more practice :-)

February 2nd, 2007, 12:24 AM	#11
Terry Thompson Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Auburn, CA Posts: 578	Dennis, I thought it was kind of cool. It's great if you know your focus range and can keep the subject in that range. The best thing about the whole clip is you will keep that for the future and watch it many more times. Terry Indicam __________________ He's only mostly sDEADy. sort of from "The Princess Bride" www.indicam.com

February 2nd, 2007, 05:39 PM	#12
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Hey Dennis, great job to get all that on 10 mgb. I'm sure we lost some in the translation.... Just waiting to see that Pentax Kmount come around.... __________________ Chris J. Barcellos Last edited by Chris Barcellos; February 3rd, 2007 at 01:01 AM.

September 4th, 2006, 03:35 AM	#2
Frank Hool Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Barca Spain Posts: 384	definately it needs remote focusing.

September 4th, 2006, 10:41 AM	#3
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	That, or using say a 28mm set at f 4.0 or so for less critical focus. A 50mm f1.4 is probably way too shallow for this type of work. When I get a bit more practice I'll experiment a bit.

September 4th, 2006, 01:30 PM	#4
Leigh Wanstead Trustee Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: NZ Posts: 1,276	Hi Dennis, What is the weight of your Brevis35 with a 50mm lens and matte box and camera? TIA Regards Leigh

September 5th, 2006, 11:05 PM	#5
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Leigh, the rails, cam, 50mm lens, adapter and matte box are under 6 pounds.

September 6th, 2006, 02:37 AM	#6
Steve Madsen Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 111	Nice casting Dennis...the kid looks a natural. Nice energy and little inhibition in front of the camera. I love your composition at 1:18... I didn't really get the sense of the "floating camera" in that clip...are you thinking it's a case of practice makes perfect, or is not possible with this type of stabilizer? (am I confusing this contraption with a steadicam-type device?) Think I'll have to get me one of those Brevis'...I'm really liking the look.

September 6th, 2006, 02:03 PM	#7
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Steve, thanks for your kind words. After doing that footage I spent about 1 hour going over the stablilizer to tweak a few items: 1. The support handle was a bit loose at the main bearing attachment points, and its rotating pivot was bindng a bit. I took everything apart, inspected, retensioned and loctited the bolts. I also added some light lithium grease on the bushings. 2. The base attachment point had a little play which I cleaned up by drilling and tapping two holes to pin it solid. 3. I spent some time to learn proper balancing of the unit. The hardware concerns aside, that was literally my first time out with the rig. To shoot with an adapter (without a wireless FF unit and assistant) you need to set manual focus based on a predicted cam to subject range, and then attempt to maintain that focus distance from your subject. Running backwards, trying to frame, and trying to maintain a given distance, while concentrating on keeping the rig smooth is something I'll need to practice:-) I also mounted up the adapter to my mountain bike and got some very cool, albeit brief footage. I'm getting two more Bogen superclamps to allow triangulating the mount as my current setup has a bit too much bounce using one. Turns out the rails setup comes in pretty handy as my grip heads will clamp right onto them. This means I don't really need a ball head mount for the rails.

September 12th, 2006, 09:53 AM	#8
Yasser Kassana Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: UK Posts: 223	That's some good stuff! I can just imagine it, brevis+xlh1+decent steadicam(indiecam.com??)=work of art.

January 29th, 2007, 03:29 AM	#9
Rafael Lopes Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rio de Janeiro Posts: 1,239	It looks really good, Dennis. Was that stabilizer built by you too?

February 1st, 2007, 10:02 PM	#10
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Raf, nope, and I can't really recommend it either.

March 22nd, 2007, 11:43 AM	#13
Diego Galvez New Boot Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 11	Hi Dennis, nice shot! I agree with Frank, you would have needed a remote focus, but i know perfectly the problems that you get when adding a stabilizer to a 35mm adapter like your Brevis. By the way, we finished our wireless remote, you were developing another too, right? How is it goin'? Diego http://www.foveas.com diego [at] foveas [dot] com

March 24th, 2007, 03:27 AM	#14
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Diego, our wired version is in line behind the standard manual follow focus unit we have in production. I'll be very interested in trying out your wireless setup...from what I've seen so far, it looks good!