SRW1 on F35 - first impressions

[rbirnbaum]

So I got hold of 3 units and they all come with all the boards. I have 2 F35 and that way I will keep another one for parts.

First impression is that this is an amazingly built unit. Just sits right into the F35. Whole thing feels like a ‘real’ camera. Great not to have bunch of sdi wires flying around. And yes, the record light is on and I get tally in my evf... on the shoulder it’s rock solid. You really feel one with the camera. Even holding it in cradle ‘like a baby’ it’s really stable. I like the fact that I can get 444 10 bit out of it.

Problems are, that docked at the back, where I prefer it, the camera has to be powered from the top. Since I don’t need an if box in this config, I’ll convert one, remove it and use the mount so that it’s dockable at the top. I would prefer it if it was elsewhere. Definetely a battery belt is the way to go in this config.

Something else that is weird is that the mic inputs are on the bottom of the srw1 which makes it a bit weird if docked at the back. One great thing about the srw1 is that you can control audio levels... it has a lot of options, so you can get great audio if you are going solo, or with lavs if you are super low budget.

Will post more findings as I play more... my initial plan was to rip the internals and fit the necessaries for trigger record from any recorder/monitor in an if box. Basically making the camera think there is an srw1 attached but I may reconsider and use it just like that.

And yes, this tech is battery Hungryyyyy....

 

[dhessel]

Yes it is power hungry, 110 watts on total. I agree completely the F35 with the SRW while heavy feels much better especially when shouldering.

Ditch the IF box and power through the lemo cable, I had a xlr to lemon cable that I used with a v mount battery clip.

 

[rbirnbaum]

Thanks for the suggestion David. I already power through the lemo cable on both cameras... just thinking a battery belt is the way to go. Camera is heavy enough with the srw1, so adding more may not help. A belt will keep the CG lower and give more stability. Any solutions for a belt in the forum? DIY projects? Any suggestion welcome.

 

[dhessel]

That was my thinking as well, I looked around a bit for belts but they were either expensive or heavy. I ended getting a v mount battery belt clip that I can just clip to my belt where ever I want. The one I have is made by blue shape. I still have it and am not using anymore since I switched to the 9000pl. If you go that route and are interested in it let me know.

 

[dhessel]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1061820-REG/blueshape_bls_mvbelts_mvbelts_belt_clip_v_mount_plate.html?ap=y&gclid=Cj0KCQjwguDeBRDCARIsAGxuU8aQ2oDdqNglnIThTgW4ujzhcD6MytWjRJuSVy8zRxfHNodFMJozv5caAiRBEALw_wcB&smp=y

 

[Mike Krumlauf]

Share some pics of your rig with the SRW for us gearheads

 

[dhessel]

Share some pics of your rig with the SRW for us gearheads

I never took any picks when I had my F35 and SRW-1. I have sold the F35 but kept the SRW-1 to use as a capture deck and moved to the 9000PL. Since I decided I was going to primarily use tape the 9000PL seemed like a better choice. It uses far less power than the F35 with SRW-1 (60 watts instead of 110), has 3g output rather than dual link 1.5g and appears to have less noise which is supported by the new 800 iso gamma modes available in the 9000PL. It is also much better designed for shoulder work, more ENG style but does lack 12bit output.

 

[rbirnbaum]

MSuch a great setup. I am so tempted to ditch it all.. and go for this setup... makes a lot more sense in so many respects. And honestly if I have RGB (444) I don’t see a difference with 12bit in log.

The other great advantage is that some of those cameras are in Mint condition and the ergo is more towards Alexa than the more boxy F35...

BTW... how are you transferring your tapes to your workstation? Of course using the SRPC... but are you using a specific card to capture 444 HQ at 880mbits?

Any insight would be much appreciated. Oh, by the way. I have some tapes in the mail, but how many times do you use them over?

 

[rbirnbaum]

I never took any picks when I had my F35 and SRW-1. I have sold the F35 but kept the SRW-1 to use as a capture deck and moved to the 9000PL. Since I decided I was going to primarily use tape the 9000PL seemed like a better choice. It uses far less power than the F35 with SRW-1 (60 watts instead of 110), has 3g output rather than dual link 1.5g and appears to have less noise which is supported by the new 800 iso gamma modes available in the 9000PL. It is also much better designed for shoulder work, more ENG style but does lack 12bit output.

View attachment 133223

3G out... I am sure it will also send a record signal to an external recorder to get quick proxies or dnxhd rgb files... the dual had-Sdi output out of the IF box in the F35 is a real pain IMO... that’s why I am enjoying this srw1 setup so much.

 

[Mike Krumlauf]

What lens is that on your 9000? Looks like Panavision a little

 

[dhessel]

MSuch a great setup. I am so tempted to ditch it all.. and go for this setup... makes a lot more sense in so many respects. And honestly if I have RGB (444) I don’t see a difference with 12bit in log.

The other great advantage is that some of those cameras are in Mint condition and the ergo is more towards Alexa than the more boxy F35...

BTW... how are you transferring your tapes to your workstation? Of course using the SRPC... but are you using a specific card to capture 444 HQ at 880mbits?

Any insight would be much appreciated. Oh, by the way. I have some tapes in the mail, but how many times do you use them over?

I have been using a Kona 3 capture card but up to this point I have only shot in standard quality 440mbs so I am not sure if HQ will work with this card or not. The card is old and discontinued, it also causes BSOD on my windows 10 machine upon startup on occasion so I am keeping an eye out for something else.

Another thing to consider is the 9000pl is also smaller and lighter than the F35 plus SRW-1. I have not tried the 3g out with an external recorder but the 9000 can send record trigger over sdi, enable tally lights and quiet fans without having a tape in the deck. Whether or not an external recorder would detect the signal is another story.

I have been using the same tape for testing and so far no problems, I have no idea how many times it can be used. I got a great deal and managed to pick up 13 33 minute tapes for $50. They were used but wiped and certified.

 

[dhessel]

The lens is a Lomo Foton-A Anamorphic lens.

 

[rbirnbaum]

Confirming that I am getting:

No IF box attached:

- SDI Record Trigger out from the camera HD-SDI outs for monitoring or backup recording. So start and stop from the camera triggers Ext. Recorder.
- Playback from tape also coming out from camera to Monitor/recorder on HD SDI and of course the viewfinder.

Honestly, for someone in a pinch, with just the F35 body and no recorder so far, a couple hundred bucks and 1 hdcam sr tape gets you a LONG way.

For the first time I am not trying to keep the front heavy camera shoulder on my body. It just works with the recorder on the back. I know I repeat myself, but yeah, you know...