Hot Rod Cameras/Illya Friedman Rules!

M

Mike Medlock

Member
Hi, everyone - I got a GH1 last possible moment to do a shoot for a friend Thursday night. Mad scramble to get gear in time. I needed to do some handheld shots (have a Merlin but not the look I wanted). I saw Abel Cine carries a "CSH" version of Illya's camera support system (without the PL adapter). Since I don't need the PL right now I thought that would be perfect. Called Abel Cine - not in stock. So as a Hail Mary Pass, I emailed Illya to see if he had the parts in stock. He did and we arranged a last minute PayPal transfer followed by a pickup at Birns & Sawyer (where Illya was about to embark on an interesting project) two hours before my shoot. He also loaned me a couple of his prototype support rods since he didn't have any in stock (which reminds me I need to buy the rods or get them back to him).

Used the rig four hours later - learning on the fly for sure. The rig design is just about perfect. Everything is designed for good balance plus it allows easy access to the battery, SD card slot, video in and out. Really really sweet! Oh and it looks cool too!

Unfortunately no behind the scenes pics - no time no crew etc. But I can take some shots of the rig and also hopefully I will have resulting footage to show at some point. I may reshoot some of the handheld stuff tonight if the talent is available - mostly 'cause it was so much fun I want to do it again!

Illya, thanks for a great product AND your help. You rock.
 
So glad you like it! Thanks for the endorsement and all the kind words! It was funny meeting for the first time in a parking lot and handing over a Hot Rod kit. Happy to help.
 
Ha! It was also funny hearing this story from Illya at Birns and Sawyer the other day. Nothing like back-alley camera dealing.... right next to the buy-one-get-one abortion clinic.

Illya, it was great meeting you and you can be sure that Kevin and I will be hitting you up regarding your GH1 rig. That footage looked nuts!
 
It was good to meet you too. And thanks for the complements! Anytime you want to tryout a Hot Rod system just let me know.
 
Mike

I just want to apologize for not getting you the unit when you needed it. Our LA sales staff probably did not realize that we could sell all the different HotRod setups, not just the Deluxe kit. I've spoken to our team and made sure that everyone knows that we can sell all of Illya's HotRod products. I am very glad to hear that Illya was able to help you out though, and I hope that Abel can better serve you in the future.

Andy
 
Hey, Andy - no worries. I just figured that since this was a new item and not mass-produced, you didn't have a lot of variants in stock. Everything worked out in the end and I got to meet Illya for the comic back-alley transaction. I've done business with you guys in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Thanks for taking the time to post!
 
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