Handheld with FS7Q

T

taynos

Member
Any thoughts on throwing the 7Q in a backpack while shooting (or mounted in a way where the display was not being used to monitor) to not have to deal with the 8" screen while shooting handheld doc style? I just want my EVF and want as small a rig as possible. The 8" screen is beautiful but obviously not ideal for Verite.

Thinking- throwing the 7Q in a backpack tethered via SDI would keep it out of the way. I assume the FS700 triggers the 7Q to record on the camera body.

Could heat be an issue? Is there a maximum length of SDI cable to consider. Has anyone tried this? Any other thoughts to consider?

Thanks in advance.
 
taynos said:
Any thoughts on throwing the 7Q in a backpack while shooting (or mounted in a way where the display was not being used to monitor) to not have to deal with the 8" screen while shooting handheld doc style? I just want my EVF and want as small a rig as possible. The 8" screen is beautiful but obviously not ideal for Verite.

Thinking- throwing the 7Q in a backpack tethered via SDI would keep it out of the way. I assume the FS700 triggers the 7Q to record on the camera body.

Could heat be an issue? Is there a maximum length of SDI cable to consider. Has anyone tried this? Any other thoughts to consider?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
I think SDI cable can be extremely long before any issues (like over 100 feet). Not an expert, but I think that's what I read somewhere.

Heat would be the main concern, if it even is an issue. Maybe Mitch from CD will chime in. He probably knows most about how much heat it generates.
 
Ive been wondering this as well. Got a little hardcase i could drill some holes in for battery and sdi cables, and thus keeping the case closed with O7Q inside while recording run and gun.

I live in Norway where the temps barely go over 25c (human body is 37,5c). Any thoughts on heat Mitch?
 
I would be a bit cautious enclosing it in a small case with no ventilation. My unit easily gets up to just under 50C (IIRC) with normal 4K2HD shooting at ambient temps of probably around 22-23C. Might be risking it overheating particularly with HFR filming?

My other thought with locking it away - how would you know if there's a problem, overheat, ssd filled up, low power, O7Q misbehaving etc - sounds a bit risky to me unless you're ok with the internal AVCHD as a backup?
 
Yes AVCHD backup is ok. This is for low budget documentary R&G, where its not reall feasible to have a large monitor and a heavy Sony L battery protruding from behind the camera.

But i have not done this yet because of the obvious heat issues that worries me.
 
I think there's definitely a need for an Odyssey 7Q type recording functions without the large monitor. A bit like a souped up nano flash but for raw and 4K. The SSDs will dictate minimum size but I would have thought the unit could be made smaller than the current O7Q footprint. I'm sure CD would have already discussed that.

Wouldnt my it be good if in a future model, the screen was a separate piece from the recorder where the recorder slots in or attaches to the back of the screen. I guess the recorder would still need some kind of mini LCD display for status and control though. Would cost a lot more but would be very cool.
 
They are walking in a different direction - the announced product Athena is an upgraded desktop-version of an Odyssey7Q with a different target use and additional functions (playout for media walls, e.g.).

Before we put another item on the wish list, let's wait, until compressed recording has been solved for all formats. Maybe, if they cannot implement compressed 2160p50/60 in the current design, there will be an additional need to develop a more powerful sibling. Also, HDMI 2.0 input will be more common, soon.
 
Relax - I don't think for one minute that talking about wishing for new products will affect the current development of the O7Q features in the slightest :)
 
How come?
convergent-design-family.jpg

It's a small and busy company, look at the picture. We can spot Mitch, Amber and Dan. And it's probably their boss, who is holding the cake. I hope there was more food inside.

I guess developing a sibling product would need lots of attention and there might be max. four or five out of these 29 nice, smart looking ladies and gentlemen here, being in a R&D function. This team also needs to cover Manufacturing, Service, Supply, Shipping, Marketing, Sales, Billing, Accounting, Human Resources and walking the dog-type of stuff.
 
Last edited:
A backpack just sounds like a really bad idea on many fronts. For handheld, just keep it really light. The lighter the better for handheld IMO. I guess that all depends on your definition of handheld as well. For some people, handheld means living on a shoulder rig. For me, handheld means being on the should maybe 30% of the time and the rest of the time I'm just cradling the camera in various ways.

Here's my 7Q handheld rig. It only adds maybe 1 1/2 lbs to the camera

www.builtbyugene.com/blog/blog1_rigs.html
 
Pgale said:
I would be a bit cautious enclosing it in a small case with no ventilation. My unit easily gets up to just under 50C (IIRC) with normal 4K2HD shooting at ambient temps of probably around 22-23C. Might be risking it overheating particularly with HFR filming?

My other thought with locking it away - how would you know if there's a problem, overheat, ssd filled up, low power, O7Q misbehaving etc - sounds a bit risky to me unless you're ok with the internal AVCHD as a backup?
Click to expand...

Any idea how much heat is being produced by the screen itself? I assume the screen can be turned off (or dimmed down all the way off) which could reduce the heat output. Hopefully Mitch could chime in on the heat issue.
 
Chiming in ...

The Odyssey can run up to an internal temperature of 65C. While it has no venting or fans it does need to dissapate heat somehow. The magnesium case acts as a radiator and you would need to make sure that the heat could be allowed to wick away in some fashion. The OLED panel does not contribute much heat at all but you can choose to use the HIDE menu setting to make the screen go black. Won't make much of a difference in a box or bag.

I must say that I really don't like this idea too much. I've done lots of tethered shooting in my time and it sucks. I was always worrying about the cable & connectors getting pulled and failing. If the battery died on the recorder or something else went wrong I would have no way of knowing. There is a SCREEN LOCK function (F1 button) so that you don't have to worry about accidentally changing a setting on the Odyssey while it is in the bag, but that's cold comfort when you have no idea what the thing is doing or not in there.

I know a number of documentary cameramen who have come up with very efficient rigs for their FS700/Odyssey7Q rigs. The Sony bundle package is a great example of this. The Odyssey at the back of the camera is useful when on tripod and out of the way when on the shoulder (a viewfinder or other secondary monior would be needed for shoulder mount).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ZO3oNS_KA&list=UUVcSygfEPS5D43XIGss_MZg

I have also seen rigs where the operator decided he would never want to look at the Odyssey screen, but found it useful for the director or sound person. So the Odyssey was mounted flush to the right side (non-operator side) of the camera, facing out for others to see. It is usually seated towards the back, along the square part of the body instead of the cylindrical section. I've seen various bent pieces of metal used to physically mount the Odyssey in place using the myriad of mounting sockets on the camera.

The Odyssey7Q only weighs just over a pound and is only one inch thick, so even with a battery it is not a huge gain in weight or mass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top