One for Mikko... HVX + M2 + Flyer

Haakon said:
The monitor is one of those 7" Marshall guys... It's "HD" just as much as the HVX is...
Click to expand...

Oh man, thanks Haakon... I laughed so hard I snorted Diet Pepsi out my nose when I read that...

My vote for best "stealth" DVXuser quote of the year.

Regards,

Jim Arthurs
 
You can get mounts for different brands of battery. There's IDX, AB, PAG and NP1 avialable - if you allready use AB, then you get just the mount and use your exsiting batteries.


Haakon, what focus motor are you using with the BFD? Any thoughts on it?

- Mikko
 
mikkowilson said:
Haakon, what focus motor are you using with the BFD? Any thoughts on it?

- Mikko
Click to expand...
That I'm not sure of - we have a day off today, but I'll check it out when we resume filming tomorrow. My AC set up the package with the rental house and it just came listed on the invoice as "Bartech Follow Focus system," so I was under the impression that the entire thing was something that Bartech manufacturered. If there's a name or something on the motor, I'll write it down and get back to you.

So far it has been flawless - the one piece of equipment the entire shoot that has given us absolutely zero problems. I am really becoming tempted to purchase one myself - despite the pricetag, it's that good.
 
Haakon said:
That I'm not sure of - we have a day off today, but I'll check it out when we resume filming tomorrow. My AC set up the package with the rental house and it just came listed on the invoice as "Bartech Follow Focus system," so I was under the impression that the entire thing was something that Bartech manufacturered. If there's a name or something on the motor, I'll write it down and get back to you.

So far it has been flawless - the one piece of equipment the entire shoot that has given us absolutely zero problems. I am really becoming tempted to purchase one myself - despite the pricetag, it's that good.
Click to expand...

Who is your rental house? Sometimes you can tell just by that. Assuming we know the house and what they use.
 
Hey brother I'm with you on that soft edges problem. It really only killed me a few times when trying to frame a nice two shot to the edges. Stylistically I have been impressed with the look I got on my feature. I did find the camera without a monitor useless when it came to focus. I envy that follow focus! Let's compare notes when you wrap.
 
The Sarlacc said:
Who is your rental house? Sometimes you can tell just by that. Assuming we know the house and what they use.
Click to expand...
The FF system came from Clairmont Camera. We're renting a bunch of stuff from a handful of other places, but they were the only ones I could find that carried a reasonably priced wireless FF unit. I've seen a lot of posts saying things like "the Bartech unit is really good for the price," but I'm not sure what spending another $5,000 on a more expensive system would do - this thing is already super accurate and has never failed us.

holditnowfilms said:
Hey brother I'm with you on that soft edges problem. It really only killed me a few times when trying to frame a nice two shot to the edges. Stylistically I have been impressed with the look I got on my feature. I did find the camera without a monitor useless when it came to focus. I envy that follow focus! Let's compare notes when you wrap.
Click to expand...
I share your very same feelings about all of that stuff. The soft edges are a bit of an annoyance when trying to focus on things on the edges of the frame, but as I mentioned before, the look that the adapter gives overall is worth the tradeoff to me. A friend of mine is using the camera for another short without the adapter (he wanted to use the PL mount, but when we discovered that it couldn't be switched without a deal of adjustment, I didn't want to mess with it as we aren't done with this film) so he's just using the straight HVX. Although it's higher-res than the DVX, it still looks really "video" when compared directly to the footage shot with the M2. I can't wait for RED when we'll be able to get those kind of cinematic results natively without any kind of tinkering or compromises. It can't come soon enough!

Thanks for your quick notes about the M2 before we started production, by the way - that was very helpful. I'd love to compare our results when it's all finished!
 
Last edited:
exactly right . there are some trade offs but the look is so far superior to what you get without it that we put up with the negatives. I too can hardly wait for RED.. my wife doesn't know it yet but I'm got my name on #83. I can't wait !!!!
aloha
-A
 
mikkowilson said:
What motor are you using?
Click to expand...
I checked last night, and the motor is made by Hedén and manufactured in Sweden. Judging from the pictures on their website, I would guess it is this one.
 
Last edited:
are there any other affordable and decent follow focus options other than a $4,000 BFD? (considering I'm using the M2 with Nikon lens & Steadicam flyer)

I heard redrock micro is coming out with one?

anyone?
 
Last edited:
Redrock is now taking orders for their FF from the people who signed up on the prelease list. I'm still debating if I want to go that route. If you're intent on using the HVX + M2 for your projects, I'd say the Redrock unit looks VERY nice. They have some cool looking gear rings they've developed and the whole system is around 600 bucks - I can't imagine you'll find another decent FF for anywhere near that price.

The reason that I'm so stoked over the Bartech device is because it's wireless. That's a whole different ballgame. We were only planning to use it for the steadicam shots (and back when Redrock told us their own follow focus would be out in March, I intended to use that one for everything else). When we found out how accurate and easy to use it was, however, we just left the Bartech on for the whole shoot. No sense in switching yet another piece of eqiupment out if we didn't have to.

With Steadicam it's difficult to have someone pulling focus while you're moving around - making sure they don't influence any weight on the camera and throwing you off, and it's harder for them to gauge focus while they're watching where they're running around as well. So the wireless FF has been a dream. For stuff that is static or on a dolly, it's definitely overkill - but we have it, so we're just using it. In other words, the RR looks awesome at 1/10th the price, but I would still be hesitant to rely on it for Steadicam shots - especially since with the M2 adapter you have to shoot WFO most of the time and that leaves you very little room for error.
 
Bartech sounds interesting, but price-e-e-y:):)

So how much would the whole thing run, about 4k? That means a 2nd monitor too...

I ordered a marshall & there's one more coming with the steadicam flyer - i guess i can keep that one one to make sure it's in frame and let the focus person use the marshall. will that work? or the steadicam monitor cannot be rotated (180) for the M2 adapter?

If I go the Bartech route what exact kit will I need? Gear rings? etc?

I have HVX, M2, Nikon Lens (17-35, 35-70, 80-200 f2.8).

Thank you.
 
alexandroff said:
Bartech sounds interesting, but price-e-e-y:):)

So how much would the whole thing run, about 4k? That means a 2nd monitor too...
Click to expand...
It's definitely pricey. But from what I've heard, it's actually one of the more inexpensive wireless units, and for Steadicam work something like that is invaluable. If you're just looking for a traditional follow focus, check out Redrock's new entry in the market - it's very competitively priced.

As far as I'm concerned, any HD shooting with the HVX requires the use of a second monitor anyway... so the FF doesn't really have any impact on that.

alexandroff said:
I ordered a marshall & there's one more coming with the steadicam flyer - i guess i can keep that one one to make sure it's in frame and let the focus person use the marshall. will that work? or the steadicam monitor cannot be rotated (180) for the M2 adapter?
Click to expand...
The monitor that comes standard with the Flyer is SD (unless you bought the "24" version) and that's just as bad for judging HD focus as the standard HVX monitor is (and even worse, since you can't display the focus assist on it). I've been using the Marshall on the Steadicam for the whole shoot. The picture can't be rotated internally on that monitor, but it does have mounts on all four sides so it's very easy to screw on upside-down. I used the Marshall as my onboard monitor for all of the shots and it performed very, very well.

alexandroff said:
If I go the Bartech route what exact kit will I need? Gear rings? etc?
Click to expand...
If you're shooting with the M2, using a follow focus, and wanting to use Nikon lenses, you'll need rings. Redrock is selling rings individually now, and there are various other vendors that make them. We rented the rings for the shoot since they were dirt cheap to get ahold of. I don't know exactly what comes with the Bartech package since we rented it and didn't buy it, but there are only a couple pieces to the system so it's not that complicated. You just need the transmitter, the reciever, the motor, and the focus mechanism itself. It's extremely easy to calibrate and attach to your existing 15mm rod system.

alexandroff said:
I have HVX, M2, Nikon Lens (17-35, 35-70, 80-200 f2.8).
Click to expand...
My only recommendation is to be careful what and where you shoot - you will find that getting enough light with the HVX + M2 combo even in controlled situations can be a challenge. I've been shooting most scenes at a 1.4 on the Nikons, the HVX wide open, and even some scenes at 1/24 of a shutter just to get that extra stop of light. If you plan to do any nighttime shooting with the HVX/M2, f2.8 probably won't cut it unless you have a lot of external light.
 
We just wrapped our shoot tonight and I'm about to sleep for several days, but I wanted to share a quick snippet of footage with everyone to show the power of the HVX and M2 together. This scene was pulled straight from the FCP timeline so there's no color correction or adjustments at all - but I think you'll see the cinematic impact that is achievable thanks to the M2. This particular shot was a focus puller's nightmare, but despite a few slightly soft bits we're extremely pleased with the results. You'd never get anywhere near this kind of DOF with just the camera alone.

Oh, and please excuse the somewhat odd nature of the scene - it might be a little strange taken out of context of the film. :-P

http://www.haakondazs.com/clip.mov
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top