Riddle me this RedRock...

M

MannHands

Active member
It was my plan to shoot a video this past weekend with a RedRock Micro 35 (I guess the first version from RedRock) and some Canon primes (28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 58mm, etc.) Most of the lenses were fast (1.4, 1.2)

HOWEVER: Our scene was lit with a couple Arri 650's and a 750 softlite and we were losing about 4 stops of light! This was in a small room with white walls and ceiling.

Using the HVX, our auto iris was OFF, it was all the way open, the RedRock was spinning and we had back focus. Each lens we tried was open all the way, but we didn't notice a difference in our monitors as we opened and closed each lens. It was just BLACK.

We couldn't achieve back focus on the ground glass unless the achromat was spaced a couple centimeters away from the rubber spacer, allowing some light to enter. However even when they were snug and tight, we still had NO LIGHT. I swapped the battery for the RedRock, I swapped lenses, I blasted more and more light: Nothing.

It was my understanding from the RedRock manual that it lost only about a stop to a stop and a half. What were we or the equipment doing wrong? We ended up shooting without the adapter and it looked ok, but nothing like I wanted it to.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, because until now, I was planning on buying one.
 
I hate to say it but: The M2 require you to spend at the very least a few days with it PRIOR to your shoot so you can work out these types of things. Setting back focus, lowering the motor and getting everything tweaked so it's right takes time.

What did you have the zoom set to and what was the focus number?

Sorry to hear about your shoot.
 
MannHands

carlone is right - it's not something you just slap on and go. We have a full complement of video tutorials on setup and troubleshooting. It could have been any number of things, but the best thing to do is visit our user support forums (assuming you are an owner), where there is already lots of discussion.

The longer answer depends on your camera type, zoom/focus settings, 35mm lens type, etc.

Keep in mind the adapter itself loses about 1 stop of light. You also need to consider your 35mm lens and the aperture of your camera as well.

Happy to help out - sorry to hear about your shoot as well. Most folks, given the right setup, are very happy and have spectacular results

Cheers

Brian
 
Ya, if you added more and more light and it didnt get brighter , even slightly then theres an issue.
 
PS - were you using EOS lenses? if so, those have electronic apertures that cannot be changed unless connected with a canon eos body - it's a shortcoming of the 35mm lens.
 
Hey guys. Yeah, they were film lenses with manual focus and apertures. I really REALLY wish I could have had more time with the adapter before using it, but the shoot just happened too fast. I have read about every thread on here about the adapters and I did play around with it the day before the shoot. I just have no clue what would have been wrong.

Would it be the motor or speed of the rotating ground glass?

One item is: I was actually zoomed in pretty far. Like I could zoom out and the ground glass would appear very small in my viewfinder.

I am determined to figure out what went wrong, because the images I've seen look stunning. I just wish I could have taken some of my own.

Peace.
 
bvalente said:
MannHands
The longer answer depends on your camera type, zoom/focus settings, 35mm lens type, etc.
Click to expand...

you supply the details - we supply the insight :) Seriously, though, it's best if you troubleshoot it over in the redrock forums. We have a huge community with many topics regarding setup, troubleshooting, etc.

Cheers

Brian
 
As a redrock owner I concur with the above remarks. It is a tricky beast to set up at first.
We spent quite a bit of time at first - days. Now it only takes minutes.

How far zoomed in were you. it is a good idea to set your zoom & focus readouts to Number and ideally you should be in the vicinity of Z75 and Focus 15 ( At least for Nikons) Anywhere too far out from there and I would worry.
 
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