Burning Man + HVX shoot on the Playa

Haskell

Haskell

Member
Hey folks,

I am gearing up for a shoot on this years Burning man festival...AKA "Green Man" as the theme this year. This will be my 3rd year I am trucking out to Burning Man so I am well aware of the dessert conditions...SAND SAND SAND and 50mph winds and more SAND on a bad day...Imagine a huge wall of sand (they call it a "White Out") that can wash over you at any moment like a typhoon and they usually blow over pretty quick. If am I am lucky the weather will be good but I want my rig to be safe!

My rig..... HVX + M2 and FF with Chrosziel Matte Box (20 inches long maybe?)

WHAT will I do to protect this RIG? (ie...rain cover, waterproofing?) Please link something that can cover a combo rig like this???

HAS anyone shot at Burning Man or in a dessert for that matter and can offer advice?

In case you curious about this week long arts festival in the dessert then check out

http://www.burningman.com

I will be there documenting for a museum based out of Denver that is putting on a big performance, if your going to be on the Playa this year then let me know and we shall meet up!

Cheers.
 
I've shot in the desert before.... you should try and get a rainslicker/storm cover.... they work great for sand and fine dust blowing up yer ass.

of course, I've ghetto rigged some sh*t outta gaff tape and hefty trash bags that worked pretty good too....

to each his own

but if your gonna have an extensive setup with an M2, nikons, matteboxes, gears and sh*t.... I'd get a rainslicksuit

cheers
 
just seal up all the cracks in the camera with gaff. the m2 should do fine. i'd worry bout the mattebox follow focus.
 
TimurCivan said:
just seal up all the cracks in the camera with gaff. the m2 should do fine. i'd worry bout the mattebox follow focus.
Click to expand...
I shot a feature in the Baja Mexican desert with the HVX and Brevis adapter, mattebox, etc. in Nov/Dec last year. Just gaffing up the switches and holes is not going to be sufficient protection. There are two things that sort of surprised me on the HVX that I discovered on that shoot.

Firstly, the most vulnerable and hard to protect (without a full camera cover/bag) is the focus/zoom rings. The finest particles of grit (pretty dense in the air in any desert with a wind) -WILL- penetrate into to inner workings of those gears. The only way to remedy the solution, once grit penetrates according to the Panasonic factory repair places I've spoken to is to replace the entire front lens assembly. So whatever you do, do not shoot without full coverage of the lens. This makes for a pretty awkward system if you are shooting with a short crew, but you will likely regret not doing it. Your camera warrantee will of course not cover this type of damage.

Secondly, when the desert wind picks up static electricity goes off the chart (something about the dust particles rubbing across one another perhaps?). I'm not exactly sure of the physics, but it does happen. The next day after a dust storm, with static charge in the air (fabric was sparking in the right conditions), my AC fired up the camera, reached to adjusted the viewfinder and zapped it. The viewfinder was out of service for the rest of the shoot (3 weeks) which was a drag. The entire viewfinder assembly ended up getting replaced after we wrapped.

Good luck!
 
Great stories and advice everyone, I really appreciate it. I was not even thinking about Gaff tape and I will for sure wrap it around the focus gear and that should serve as a duel purpose to keep the lens focused on the ground glass of the M2. Then maybe a big rain cover, maybe some trash bags...haha yeah this will look crazy but what ever it takes.

Any particular product that is design for covering the combo HVX & M2...or maybe some custom cover?

Thanks again all

Best
 
Thanks Hoof...I really like the portabrace solution for the HVX only but that would not do any justice for my M2 + FF and Matte box etc. Maybe I could use the portabrace cover and something else for the front end.
 
hey haskell, i shot a piece at burning man using a PD-150 a few years back and with basic garbaga bags and gaff it held up great. we also had a filter over the lens, but the dust in black rock is so fine i don't think it threatens to scratch the way sand does (i don't think there's any real sand at burning man - it's not pulverized rock but dust from decomposed organisms...).
anyway, good luck. let me know if you need help this year. i'll be there.

David
 
Hey David...
Yeah your right, I stand corrected...its not sand but more like ancient fish crap huh. Although the black rock dust is rather soft, you know as good as I do that it gets in EVERYTHING...and from what I heard its really bad for electronics. I will garbage bag and gaff it for sure...and rain cover the HVX.

Come out find us... We will be located in the earth dance dome. The installation will be comprised of light effects, interactive displays, projections and music by Australian Aboriginals, and also by Alex Theory who has a p.h.D in Neurological Digital Sound.

Pretty wild stuff, I will also register my name at center camp with location etc.
 
Hello all, just making some new updates for I have not posted here in a while (REDuser syndrome). Burning Man is coming around the corner and I am prepping a 3 HVX cam shoot in Black rock dessert Nevada, home of black rock city and Burning Man.

Any more suggestions of an easy soltuion for protecting the HVX's from the sand storm and elements? I know we can use a Rain covers and trash bags but if you can suggest some other product then I would appreciate it.

What about sound, anyone recorded audio in the dessert? What did you use to maintain quality sound?

Thanks for help here folks and if your going to be at Burning Man 07 this year then please PM if your interested in meeting up!

Cheers
 
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I have a friend here in Seattle that used to live next to a guy that did a pretty well known Documentary on the Burning Man. I'll see if I can get his contact info and pass it along to you.

D.L.
 
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