F35: Yachacha light weight F35 build thread

thank you,

yes I actually started learning about composites with the Long EZ Airplane, I never understood how someone could build an airplane out of styrofoam that would be strong enough to fly.

The DIY drone/RC market is booming with carbon fiber parts. I have found a few good options for fasteners and screws that will work with the CF Sheets by sampling their parts. I ordered a bunch of cheap drone kit parts on eBay mostly randomly selected because of the shapes they included and they gave me a lot of ideas about how to connect the CF sheets without cracking them. It's a big plastic washer and flat bolt and it's very important not to over tighten. My plan is to have a lot of fastening points on the plates. Also the top handle plate will connect through the CF plate and into the F35 metal skeleton so lifting the handle shouldn't put any risk of damaging the plate it is on top of.

There are quite a few companies that specialize in cutting cf sheets via CNC tools. Drone markets are driving this service down in price so I can afford to make and drill the plates professionally.
 
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You obviously have this well covered...the other beauty of carbon fiber is the very low expansion/contraction rates with fluctuating temperatures, and considering they make masts for racing sailboats that are unstayed, the strength to weight ratio is really remarkable.
 
yachacha said:
...the scene in the aviator when Howard Hughes can't decide on the steering wheel...I have spent so much on stupid camera top handles for my F35 and none are quite right and the whole point of this project is to make the F35 right.

I even tried F55 handle but the Sony EVF Mount built into handle is only good if you use Sony EVF, and mounting evf from the top handle at this distance is terrible on the neck. Call me crazy I never liked the original F35 handle at all, came from a different ENG age. I always thought the L handle was a cool defining part of the camera if not a bit oversized once you lost the SRW1.

I will probably get the wood one. I hope it isn't plastic wood. It isn't cheap at $200 but I can use the cheese plate to mount to top of the camera. There is something cool looking about the Smallrig one pictured also but I feel that is too C300 FS700. This is a silly thing to spend my time on but I also feel like the top handle becomes a very defining part of the camera in appearance and function.
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Have you looked at Berkey System? I run his top cheese plate and nato quick release versa handle w/VF mount on my F55. I run the nato rail long-ways(nose to tail) so that I can slide the handle forward and backwards and even flip it to keep the camera balanced when holding it by the handle, depending on lenses and accessories on it.

http://www.berkeysystem.com
 
Yachacha, I've been following the progress of you build for a while now. Great stuff! I noticed the making of Star Wars and Kubrick books in your pic and came to realize those same two books are on my own shelf directly next to each other. Kind of freaked me out a bit when I saw it:Drogar-Shock(DBG): haha. Also notice I'm right around the corner from you here in Burbank. Look forward to seeing the final build!
 
Hey Yachacha, where did you find that Smallrig top handle? Can't seem to find it online. I was looking for that exact style for my F35 because I have the Otto Nemenz cheese plate and want to free up some more holes since the stock handle covers so many. Wooden camera sells a very similar top handle but it's like 300 bucks :/
 
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I messed around taking parts out of the F35 body today. Yachacha said to be careful when taking it apart, but i wanted to show you guys how i tore a ribbon cable.... the RGB cable from the sensor module.

There is a ribbon cable attached to the “AD” card. I am surprised because i was very carful and didn’t apply pressure.


1. The initial lifting of one side of the tab might have torn it

2. When it was free, i might have absent mindedly done something

3. Bending it back to remove the card

4. As the card is coming out, the ribbon cord naturally nudges back onto the card, and starts to snag on the circuits on the board. This might have been enough pressure to rip the cable.

Overall, i am unsure what it was because i was very gentle and no sudden movements or any pressure or force beyond what was absolutely 7225DB7C-9313-425E-974E-0C05891D8E0F.jpg
Yachacha, do you know where to get this part, maybe?
 
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I replicated the action, by taking the card out again, and i believe it was because i held the cable out of the way of the card by the head. There is still a possibility that it was forced when i popped the card out, as it takes some effort to pull the card, and the ribbon cable naturally hangs in the path of the card when it is coming out.
 
Sony Professional is very helpful. You should be able to get it shipped to you directly. I have ordered from them before. They will send you exploded diagrams so you can pinpoint the part.
 
rbirnbaum said:
Sony Professional is very helpful. You should be able to get it shipped to you directly. I have ordered from them before. They will send you exploded diagrams so you can pinpoint the part.
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Thank you. I will reach out to them.
 
This literally is the easiest to brake cable in the entire F35, I feel it was set as a trap for anyone who didn't have permission to be in there. I laughed a little when I saw your photo. Sorry to laugh but I have the exact same broken cable. I just don't feel like digging it out to show a picture. It broke because you have to lift both sides out at the same time most likely, it's terribly easy to do. The thing is I have about 30 tools at this point in my F35 toolkit, the right tool makes hard task simple and safe. Plastic tools are needed instead of screw drivers or even you fingers to get some cables apart. Trust me the F35 ranks up with with most complex things I have ever taken apart, my confidence came from having a spare.

What you needed was the apple "spludger tool". I was the pirate Mac genius for my friends and family for years and can say I have probably taken apart 50 apple computers from their entire range since I was in high school. Not that is is completely related but my point is I have familiarity with those tiny cables and how fragile they are. This definitely came in handy as you need ridiculous small tools and pry tools to get apple laptop apart so I had a good stock to begin with. Sony F35 generation of PCB uses similar cables to my 15-inch powerbook haha.

So the bad news? I paid $550 for the cable I will try to dig the part number up in my emails for you.

F23 does not have the same cable otherwise one of the $1500 F23's floating around is a really good idea if you want to experiment. I tried F23 cable when I tore this one. It looked very similar but slightly different.

Basically Sony still has a stock of F35 parts. This one they did not have, they needed to special make it, it took a few weeks. The new one I thought was even tighter than the original so use extreme caution. The F35 parts are down on their professional parts website but I think it is best to call. What you want is the name printed on the little board CN3002, with that they will know what you want.

How to order Sony Pro Parts? Go on website, make account, pretend a little you are business.

Then call sony and request part CN3002 from F35, they won't call it a cable, they will call it printed C board or something like that. Wait 10 mins for them to load the 2003 parts database and realize there is a camera with just the model F35, no HDW, PDW, "I've worked here 10 years and I know all camcorders have a prefix...well would you look at that."

I really don't want to be a bad influence or get a bad name as F35 killer. Please everyone be careful anytime you open F35. I understand James you had fan issue and were curious to see if there was obvious answer, I do the same thing. The truth is that the most dangerous time for a F35 is when the camera is opened up. If left sealed the F35 is incredibly well protected design and they will be ticking 20 years from now.
 
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Oof! Had to be a $550 mistake! Haha.

Thank you for that information though, definitely will help speed things along.

I can see the insides are very stable once in place, but very fragile when taken apart. There is another ribbon cable (or similar “printed c board”) in the sensor module that is exposed and extremely fragile. Mine looks bent, possibly from careless cable management, but also i may have absent mindly done it. It looks like a PC inside, but has much more delicate parts all over and you never know until its too late. I’d add to Yachacha’s recommendation, not to open it up without the utmost care, and preferably with an expert.
 
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Which one are you referring to?

Search eBay nato top handle will give a lot of the handles out there. Also lookup FS7 handle.
 
yachacha said:
Which one are you referring to?
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The bottme corner of the sensor module has the largest opening, and the is a ribbon cable or other c board that is at the corner that can rub up with the multicolored wire grouping that runs along it.
yachacha said:
Search eBay nato top handle will give a lot of the handles out there. Also lookup FS7 handle.
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I am considering modifying the top for a lower profile. I may remove or relocation the top interface dock to the side for shooting car interior scenes. Tbd on that though. The top mount is also useful. Will weigh the options.

As you said Yachacha, the design is actually already about as space effecient as it can get, and the only way to reduce the size it to get rid of parts and combine the IF box into the build. I am wondering if the SR-R1 Ssd can be integrated elegently? I wouldn’t mind talking to you about that at some further date.
 
Run&Gun said:
It's always amazed me when we've had to crack open older Sony cameras and just how they looked inside. Like they were designed by the military. The F900 inside looked like it was designed by the army or NASA. These "older" cameras, like our ENG cameras were designed to function under extreme conditions.

Sony also put a "back focus/flange depth" adjustment in the F55/F5. To my knowledge, no other camera since has had it. I know the Venice doesn't.
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i've done my share of opening F900s and i completely agree with you. The organization of the boards in the 900 is crazy!
 
Mike Krumlauf said:
i've done my share of opening F900s and i completely agree with you. The organization of the boards in the 900 is crazy!
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I am looking at the guts of my f35, as i attempt to figure out the fan issue one last time. As bulky as the body seems, it is actually quite tightly packed with boards and fans. Main space save i can think of is incorpating the IF box into the main body. After that, an extreme custom rebuild is the only thing that could trim some inches off the package.
 
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