I've heard mention from a few user and wondered myself what are the possibilities of removing the f35 from it's current body and replacing it into a smaller shell. Without a doubt this would cost a lot and it becomes far more of a passion project than a realistic value to the camera. I like to approach a project wether it is realistically something I can do with the resources available to me, money is an important resource to consider also.
The F35 is like a computer, I have seen lots of people build their own computer cases out of every type of material and shape. The biggest concern I would have is shock displacement when building a custom case for the F35. The skeleton of the F35 is like a cage around the circuit boards. A new shell would require the same type of skeleton and some sort of rubber shock system to connect to parts holding the internal boards.
A 2nd concern is the actual shape of the F35 right now might be as thin as it is ever going to be. From what I can see, the boards that stick out the side go almost to the edge of the camera. You can see the current F35 shell is not that thick or heavy. If these boards can not be moved then the camera is never going to get any thinner.
From my point of view, a complete new case is too much time and work, and not something I am going to pursue. However I see these mods as possible, beneficial, and easy compared to trying to rehouse the entire camera. I have another project lined up so I will probably try to do all the mods at the same time to save down time once I know I have a few weeks.
Haircut
THe F35 isn't that tall of a camera when stripped down, what makes it look so dorky is the top dock, almost an inch above everything else and the fact that the sony handle is so high up. I already took out the top dock, now I am going to remove the rim of the top dock all the way down to the point where the spirit level is. Once this rim is removed, the camera will have a flat top right in line with the rest of the top of the camera.
I would like to find a top handle similar to the alexa that is a longer handle with a mounting point in front and in back, I also will mount the handle to points in the F35 body instead of the top plate. There are two screw holes left over from the F35 l handle right in the front of the body. I also want handles that can accommodate 15mm rods as I find it necessary to get a focus motor on there but would love to avoid the weight of the 19mm bottom plate.
For the material of the top plate I was considering some sort of light weight carbon fiber but I might just make a cheese plate with lots of mounting points. The plate can be made in the shape that fills int the hole left from the dock very close. The great thing is if I remove the rim from the dock, the top surface of the camera will be flat across and look more uniform. I would not cut the front plate, just the top rim would stick up about 1/2 cm.
Cooling
The F35 has 1 center fan cooling the CCD and 3 fans on the back of the case blowing air across the circuit boards. These fans are very standard 12v cooling fans. I have found several high end computer cooling fans which require the same power but can run silent and move just as much air. The center fan especially has lots of space and I might change that fan completely with a different type of fan. Also if I design a new top plate I can add more venting holes to add air to the main ccd. I purchased a large roll of hepa dust foam that I have been cutting and using to insulate the F35 further from dust, this can be used between the venting holes to ensure no big bits of dust make it into the camera.
Low Profile IF box
I've been working on this for a bit, basically I've been waiting to pick a recorder to finish the project. The circuit board required from the interface is actually very small and could fit inside a new box about 1 inch thick. The idea is to keep the CA Joint that attaches to the back dock. Bolt the Ca Joint to a 1 inch thick plate. Inside this plate has been milled out for the circuit board and the A and B SDI outputs, I will probably even keep the plugs from the Sony IF box. On the back side I will attach an anton bauer plate, I might try to add a d -tap to the plate also, using the side 12v port is a hassle. The 7Q is cheaper and has more uses than the SD pix so I'm slowly leaning that way. I wish the 12 bit 444 signal could be taken by the 7Q to make it the clear winner. The pix is also a bummer about the multiplexer because it's another part to power and place.
I'm not deserting my hyperdeck either, it's a fine choice and fits nicely with my F35. I'd rather have the low profile IF box as part of my kit along side the hyper deck. I'm not crazy about mounting the 7q either but after seeing it in person, it is not as bulky or large as you might think.
Side Body Rosette
This idea goes to Keith Lango who started me on the idea and I remembered my old trusty Eclair ACL with a rosette built into the side of the camera body. The spot is the CineAlta logo, there are two holes in the bottom that would be easy to use as two mounting points. Over the logo I would put a small plate with rosette. F35 body no bottom plates at all and a side grip coming right off the body would be a really nice shoulder rig. It's just about deciding to ruin that logo or not.
Probably will never get to:
I thought about making new custom sides out of carbon fiber, but they are pretty damn light right now. Also the weight of the side is the LED and controls. You could remove the side control completely and just use an assistants panel. Or... On the F65 forum I saw users were using small wifi routers connected to their ethernet because the wifi adapters are buggy. Find a router small enough that it could be hidden inside the F35 or new IF box. Using this router, the F35 could be controlled from a web browser on an iPad and the control over the F35 could be removed from the body and replaced with a carbon fiber plate. The router idea is pretty cool regardless of whether you remove the side panel, I might look into that by itself. Imagine having the camera on a jib arm and being able to set all your settings from an iPad.
The F35 is like a computer, I have seen lots of people build their own computer cases out of every type of material and shape. The biggest concern I would have is shock displacement when building a custom case for the F35. The skeleton of the F35 is like a cage around the circuit boards. A new shell would require the same type of skeleton and some sort of rubber shock system to connect to parts holding the internal boards.
A 2nd concern is the actual shape of the F35 right now might be as thin as it is ever going to be. From what I can see, the boards that stick out the side go almost to the edge of the camera. You can see the current F35 shell is not that thick or heavy. If these boards can not be moved then the camera is never going to get any thinner.
From my point of view, a complete new case is too much time and work, and not something I am going to pursue. However I see these mods as possible, beneficial, and easy compared to trying to rehouse the entire camera. I have another project lined up so I will probably try to do all the mods at the same time to save down time once I know I have a few weeks.
Haircut
THe F35 isn't that tall of a camera when stripped down, what makes it look so dorky is the top dock, almost an inch above everything else and the fact that the sony handle is so high up. I already took out the top dock, now I am going to remove the rim of the top dock all the way down to the point where the spirit level is. Once this rim is removed, the camera will have a flat top right in line with the rest of the top of the camera.
I would like to find a top handle similar to the alexa that is a longer handle with a mounting point in front and in back, I also will mount the handle to points in the F35 body instead of the top plate. There are two screw holes left over from the F35 l handle right in the front of the body. I also want handles that can accommodate 15mm rods as I find it necessary to get a focus motor on there but would love to avoid the weight of the 19mm bottom plate.
For the material of the top plate I was considering some sort of light weight carbon fiber but I might just make a cheese plate with lots of mounting points. The plate can be made in the shape that fills int the hole left from the dock very close. The great thing is if I remove the rim from the dock, the top surface of the camera will be flat across and look more uniform. I would not cut the front plate, just the top rim would stick up about 1/2 cm.
Cooling
The F35 has 1 center fan cooling the CCD and 3 fans on the back of the case blowing air across the circuit boards. These fans are very standard 12v cooling fans. I have found several high end computer cooling fans which require the same power but can run silent and move just as much air. The center fan especially has lots of space and I might change that fan completely with a different type of fan. Also if I design a new top plate I can add more venting holes to add air to the main ccd. I purchased a large roll of hepa dust foam that I have been cutting and using to insulate the F35 further from dust, this can be used between the venting holes to ensure no big bits of dust make it into the camera.
Low Profile IF box
I've been working on this for a bit, basically I've been waiting to pick a recorder to finish the project. The circuit board required from the interface is actually very small and could fit inside a new box about 1 inch thick. The idea is to keep the CA Joint that attaches to the back dock. Bolt the Ca Joint to a 1 inch thick plate. Inside this plate has been milled out for the circuit board and the A and B SDI outputs, I will probably even keep the plugs from the Sony IF box. On the back side I will attach an anton bauer plate, I might try to add a d -tap to the plate also, using the side 12v port is a hassle. The 7Q is cheaper and has more uses than the SD pix so I'm slowly leaning that way. I wish the 12 bit 444 signal could be taken by the 7Q to make it the clear winner. The pix is also a bummer about the multiplexer because it's another part to power and place.
I'm not deserting my hyperdeck either, it's a fine choice and fits nicely with my F35. I'd rather have the low profile IF box as part of my kit along side the hyper deck. I'm not crazy about mounting the 7q either but after seeing it in person, it is not as bulky or large as you might think.
Side Body Rosette
This idea goes to Keith Lango who started me on the idea and I remembered my old trusty Eclair ACL with a rosette built into the side of the camera body. The spot is the CineAlta logo, there are two holes in the bottom that would be easy to use as two mounting points. Over the logo I would put a small plate with rosette. F35 body no bottom plates at all and a side grip coming right off the body would be a really nice shoulder rig. It's just about deciding to ruin that logo or not.
Probably will never get to:
I thought about making new custom sides out of carbon fiber, but they are pretty damn light right now. Also the weight of the side is the LED and controls. You could remove the side control completely and just use an assistants panel. Or... On the F65 forum I saw users were using small wifi routers connected to their ethernet because the wifi adapters are buggy. Find a router small enough that it could be hidden inside the F35 or new IF box. Using this router, the F35 could be controlled from a web browser on an iPad and the control over the F35 could be removed from the body and replaced with a carbon fiber plate. The router idea is pretty cool regardless of whether you remove the side panel, I might look into that by itself. Imagine having the camera on a jib arm and being able to set all your settings from an iPad.
