FS7: long /heavy lens support?

jpham said:
I need to win a lotto :) for those head
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That why we rent them. I have an O'Connor 1030HDS head- 100mm bowl. Great for ENG size rigs and smaller.

I know this forum is geared towards owner/ops, but don't discount renting- the right tool for the right job goes a long way towards professional results.

edit: Yup- have a Mitchell mount for the 1030 too. O'Connor makes versatile gear- I often use the 1030 with CF sticks for simple, light weight setups.
 
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klk said:
That why we rent them. I have an O'Connor 1030HDS head- 100mm bowl. Great for ENG size rigs and smaller.
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Just for general info, and it may well be something you already know, the same O'Connor 150mm bowl and even flat base fit the 1030 series too. It gives a slightly more solid foundation, but is particularly useful if you have a 2060 or 2575 as your main head as you only need to have one set of legs instead of one lot in 150mm bowl and the other in 100mm. It's a very versatile system.

Steve
 
This was my 1030 showing the 150mm bowl. I got rid of it in the end as I was always tempted to use it in preference to the much heavier but much more solid 2060 - I would wimp out and go for the lighter option even though I knew I shouldn't - had to sell the 1030 to force myself to do the right thing!

Steve
 

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Berkey Systems may be able to put something together for you.

I have a Cooke T3 18-100 for my F3 which clocks in at about 14 lbs. Brian over at Berkey Systems was able to make me an extended baseplate that I rigged with his support struts and 15mm rods. The nice thing about this setup is that it allowed me to use all of my 15mm accessories like the follow focus without a problem. You can adjust the height depending on the diameter of the lens and slide the support strut around as needed. The 15mm rods will not flex as they are supported by the extra long baseplate that is quite thick and solid aluminum. I suggest using thick walled rods like those from Wooden Camera or Duclos Lenses.

I need to send it back for anodizing, but it works like a charm.

F3_Cooke18_100T3.jpg

F3_Cooke18_100T3_03.jpg

F3_Cooke18_100T3_02.jpg
 
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nice !! - where can one get that metal plate and supports stands that hold those 15mm rods?
 
I went through their website yesterday, and couldn't find those parts
can you remove the F3 and shoot just the rig - I think the cheese plate that screw
to the tripod head, the 15mm rod holders to the silver cheese plate, and those 15mm rod stand
are unique - probably the camera plate
 
Custom long plates work- but that what they are-custom. Which is perfectly fine if you're into that. It's also reinventing the wheel- which is also fine if you enjoy doing that (seriously, it's fun at times to problem solve).

Studio 19mm rods/ baseplates/ dovetails are designed by folks like Arri to solve this problem. The good thing is the gear can transfer to virtually any other camera system- it doesn't remain custom. Pay for it once and you're done. With all the knockoff gear coming from overseas it's cheaper than a custom solution, unless you happen to own mills and lathes or have access to a machine shop.

Designing and making your own stuff is a great hobby. But if you're paying someone to do it- just saying there are off the shelf solutions to a long lens support. Including mounting 6.6"x6.6" matte boxes at the end of it all.
 
jpham said:
Looking for long/heavy lens support for FS7 - any suggestion?
Putting a Nikon 800mm on FS7, and it is very front heavy .
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I shoot sports so I use long lenses often. In the past I used 15mm rod systems but after my second loose lens mount (one fs100 and one FS700) decided it was time for a better solution and bought the Ward long lens bar from RRS http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Kennan-Ward-Super-Tele-Package

Its been a couple years and the thing is still rock solid, like the camera, lens, and bar are all one piece of CNCd aluminum
RLB_1346 copy 2.jpg
 
jpham said:
I went through their website yesterday, and couldn't find those parts
can you remove the F3 and shoot just the rig - I think the cheese plate that screw
to the tripod head, the 15mm rod holders to the silver cheese plate, and those 15mm rod stand
are unique - probably the camera plate
Click to expand...

I'm on the road but can post a shot later.

It's a modification of the Berkey Systems F3 baseplate

http://store.berkeysystem.com/sony-pmw-f3-panasonic-ag-af100-baseplate-assembly/

- The bottom plate was replaced with the extended silver one in the picture. Brian from Berkey Systems custom made that piece for me from a sketch and I think it ran about $100. It's thicker than the unit used on their standard F3 baseplate, but in hindsight I would make it even heavier. If you want one for yourself you can probably email him one of the pictures and he can make you one. And yes, he can anodize it. I was in a hurry for a shoot and never got around to sending it back for finishing.

- The silver spacers are also a custom length and were pretty cheap. I think they are 2 or 2.5 inches. You can also purchase 1 inch risers from Berkey and screw them together, but I wanted solid one piece units.

- At the front is a Quad Rail Block attached to a pair of vertical risers.

- The 15mm rods are thick walled heavy duty that I purchased a long time ago. Wooden Camera and Duclos make heavy duty rods.

http://store.berkeysystem.com/quad-rail-block/
http://store.berkeysystem.com/vertical-riser-pair/

The lens support is from Ikan, but obviously you can use another brand. I chose this type because it could be mounted onto the 15mm rods from the top without the need to thread loops through the rods.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co...&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051677682,&is=REG&A=details

It's been a year since I put this together but I think the total cost for the parts was under $300. (I already owned the F3 baseplate)

I looked into a 19mm setup, but it was a far more expensive solution and I would have lost the use of my follow focus without using another adapter on the 19mm rods.

Yes, it's a custom one off job, but for under $300 is works perfectly for my needs. It's compact and has proven to be quite flexible. I have reconfigured it for use with a Peter Lisand shoulder mount I had left over from my Arri Iic days and it finally turned my F3 into a rig that can be throw on your shoulder without too much drama. I also have a few other components I purchased from Berkey that I use to customize the rig for special needs. Simply having that many mounting points on the baseplate lets you do all sorts of crazy stuff. It's like an Erector Set for cinema cameras.
 
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RayB said:
I shoot sports so I use long lenses often. In the past I used 15mm rod systems but after my second loose lens mount (one fs100 and one FS700) decided it was time for a better solution and bought the Ward long lens bar from RRS http://www.reallyrightstuff.com/Kennan-Ward-Super-Tele-Package

Its been a couple years and the thing is still rock solid, like the camera, lens, and bar are all one piece of CNCd aluminum
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That's pretty cool
 
The Ward lens support looks nice and simple - how long is the bar, I need to measure if it will fit my current setup
it's a little bit more, since I add a DC10 (2x teleconverter) to this setup.
 
jpham said:
The Ward lens support looks nice and simple - how long is the bar, I need to measure if it will fit my current setup
it's a little bit more, since I add a DC10 (2x teleconverter) to this setup.
Click to expand...

The main rail comes in 10", 18", and 28" you can pick and chose the pieces. just an FYI Kessler QR and Zacuto ARCA plates fit RRS clamps
 
Thanks - The Ward lens support, can it be mounted on 75mm or 100mm bowl tripod ? or 100mm or bigger bowl tripod ?
 
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