Blast from past--customized Mini35 setup!

CharlesPapert

Director of Photography
On an old drive I came across a piece I put together in 2008 to sell my highly customized Mini35 setup. I had forgotten how elaborate this was!

The Mini35, while a beautifully made piece of gear, was a little difficult to work with in a few key ways. It was tough for handheld work because of where the flip-out screens on typical 1/3" cameras were positioned, and onboard lightweight monitors were still a bit exotic then (and not nearly as good). I re-worked my old Canon outboard viewfinder for the XL series with a breakout box that converted the custom power cable to standard power and video inputs, and also tackled the ergonomics with an Anton Bauer plate at the back. I also designed a power and video distribution box with gold mount plates front and back that looks quite similar to the offerings you see from Wooden Camera, Shape etc.--however this was mid 2000's, long before those companies and products were commercially available!

Kind of fun to see what we were battling back then. I think I came up with some pretty cool one-off solutions!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MjRytn2uQ-8Pw2Xxx6nMmnJvH3paCAsw
 
WOAH! That thing looks nuts! I had a PRO35 for my varicam and hated it. the light loss and back focus issues i had, ugh, never again.
 
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