HPX170's bottom screw plate not lined up with the lens

  • Thread starter Thread starter DC
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DC

DC

Cinematographiliac
A strange thing I noticed about the HPX170 . . .

I was doing camera prep last night and assembling my 35mm adapter rig for a gig coming up. Now, I had done this once before when I first got my cam, but it was very quickly and just to test it for a few minutes. But last night I seemed to be struggling with it more than ever. :huh:

Finally, I realized the problem. The bottom screw plate (the one actually built into the camera's body) is off-center of the lens. It might be lined up with the center of the camera's body, but it is definitely not lined up with the center of the camera's lens. And it doesn't line up by a significant amount of space.

When I try to assemble my Cinevate Brevis rig with the newest Cinevate rails system, the camera ends up being off-center, crooked. The rails system allows for y-axis movement but really no x-axis movement. So there is no way I can line up the camera properly. This makes it all a bit awkward to assemble and use in this kind of configuration.

I don't ever remember experiencing this problem with my old HVX200. It seems to me the best solution is if Panasonic offered an alternate base plate that is mountable at center lens. I would gladly pay for this! My only other thought is some kind of intermediary base plate with x-axis movement that can go between the camera and the rails. But this would of course alter the height of the cam and potentially make it a little hairier to align my Cinevate mattebox.

Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas for solutions?
 
there are so many other little "oversights" with the 170 - it wouldnt surprise me... but ive had mine on my brevis/zacuto rig and havent noticed anything...
 
Wow, really? I have the Brevis/Proteus and that is exactly what is not lining up.
 
Hmmm... I don't have a proteus baseplate but I'll go ahead and ask... how much horizontal left-right movement can you do? Maybe it's time for a little upgrade!
 
I have virtually no horizontal (x-axis) movement on the Proteus baseplate. It looks like the arms connected to baseplate can be adjusted slightly, but it's so slight that it really doesn't help at all. When I mount the cam to the Proteus plate, I have to jam the cam really hard a few degrees clockwise, or else it won't fit through the front mount that holds the adapter to the rails. This all stems from the camera's bottom screw plate not lining up center of the lens. If I had an additional plate for x-axis movement, I could solve it that way. But I don't. Grrrrrr.
 
Let me clarify something . . .

There is x-axis movement going in the direction the lense is pointing or in the opposite direction. But that is of no help with this problem. I need x-axis movement that is 90 degrees of that (which there is virtually none of).
 
Maybe a Zacuto universal plate could do the trick. I don't own a proteus rails system or a 170 so I can't be of much help to you there. But the UBP from Zacuto has up/down, fore/aft, and left/right adjustment.
 
I'll look at it again soon, and see if there is something I'm overlooking.
 
Ok, I checked it again and I'm not crazy after all! In fact, there were several witnesses to this problem. Many who attended the Los Angeles P2HD User Group meeting on Saturday saw how the HPX170's bottom screw plate is way off-set from the lens. They also saw that it couldn't be mounted on my Cinevate Proteus rails system without jamming it hard to one angle.

I know people (like Jay Rodriguez) claim there is no problem with their rigs, but I'm definitely experiencing a bumpy ride with mine. I'd love to meet up with someone in LA who is not having a problem with this so we could compare and contrast.
 
As luck would have it (I think)!

"On top of the links is the camera mounting plate. This plate has layer of cork glued to it to provide some cushion between it and the base of your camera. Interestingly the camera plate has three slots machined into it, this is to allow cameras with an offset tripod mount to be mounted and remain in a central alignment with the rails and brevis unit. The cork only has the middle slot cut out though so you would have to cut this yourself if you needed to use the other slots."

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1497059
 
Extreme optimism has just been met with extreme disappointment.

I checked my Proteus camera plate and peeled back the cork to find that there is only one slot accessible. It looks like there could be two more slots but they are sealed off by solid metal (requiring a machinist). Ugh.

I hope Dennis from Cinevate will chime in soon. :)
 
Joseph Stunzi said:
How new is your proteus rails system?
Click to expand...

Hmmm, good question. I'm trying to remember when I got it. I want to say it is less than a year old. I know I've had it for some months. Maybe they changed the baseplate design? They did something like that with their mattebox (the one I bought doesn't have side flags whereas the one they sell now does).

Joseph Stunzi said:
Send him an email sales@cinevate.com
Click to expand...

I've sent him two PM's on here and usually Dennis is very good about responding. He has probably just been busy. But I'll send him an email directly, thanks.
 
DC, I sent an email to Dennis at his cinevate address more than a week ago and have got no response either.

He seems more diligent about reponding in his threads.
 
You seem to think that going to a machinist is a terrible thing. You should be able to find someone local that can machine a slot the other direction for $30.00 or so. Its a very small job and there are usually some local people that will do small jobs for the bigger companies so if you call and ask you should be able to hook up with some machinist that doesn't require a lot of work to do a job. My step dad use to do this all the time for people. It just takes a little discovery to find the right person.

Good Luck.
 
The Proteus base plate does have about 8mm side to side adjustment to get things perfect....it's done by loosening the links and moving the entire plate assembly left or right as needed. If you need more adjustment...here's more:

We have since modified the Proteus base plate so it has three, instead of one slot for the camera mount fastener machined all the way through, and widened slightly. The previous part had relief slots there to cut weight, but not machined all the way through so we could maximize stiffness. The extra two "new" slots are normally covered up but if you need to use them, just use a razor to cut the cork over the appropriate slot. If your Proteus base plate is one of the previous designs, give us a call and we'll provide the updated part on a cost recovery basis for the part and shipping. Otherwise, yes, a machinist with a mill and about 2 minutes could run the old base plate for you.

Cheers,
Dennis.
 
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