F55: Z90 piggy-backed on F55 for rocket launch

Doug Jensen

Doug Jensen

Carbonite Member
I've been wanting to try shooting a SpaceX rocket launch with two cameras mounted on the same tripod so that both cameras can follow the rocket as it ascends. So I mounted my new PXW-Z90 to the handle of my PMW-F55 and I must say that it worked even better than I expected.

The F55 is at the beginning and the Z90 begins at 1:15

The F55 was shooting 4K RAW @ 120 fps using a Canon 200-400 f/4 lens with built-in 1.4x extender. The Z90 was shooting HD @ 120 fps using the 12x optical zoom of the camera and custom Picture Profile that i created. Because I was shooting slow-motion the camera's digital extender and Clear Image Zoom could not be used. The tripod is my OConnor 1030D and 35L legs. The rocket lifted off about 10 miles away from my shooting location, and NASA's massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is about five miles away.

Next, I'm going to try this setup with wildlife so I can have tight and wide shots simultaneously. I think the Z90's auto-focus and auto-exposure functions are so good that I can just align the two cameras and it will do a pretty good job.

The set up reminds me of when NASA used to transport the space shuttle orbiter on the back of a 747.

 
Doug - seems you have possibly created a new category of camera. The piggy back! Great post. Now just add the helmet cam - so you can also post BTS of operating 2 cams simultaneously. :cheesy:
 
Lol I've clamped Gopros to my rig for shits and giggles, but that's turning it up to 11 Doug. Don't show this to any producers or we will forever be having to shoot with a piggy back camera.
 
Liam Hall said:
Lol I've clamped Gopros to my rig for s*%ts and giggles, but that's turning it up to 11 Doug. Don't show this to any producers or we will forever be having to shoot with a piggy back camera.
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Funny you should say that because I've thought about using the Z90 on top of the F55 for handheld documentary style shooting. The Z90's AF and AE are good enough that I think I could just lock it on a white shot and let it fend for itself. Sure, a lot of the footage would suck, but if I got a few usable shots out of it with a wide version and tight version of the same scene, it might be kinda handy in post. It'd be cool if I could figure out a way to trigger record on both cameras with one button. I have no idea if i'd get anything usable out of it but one of these days i'm going to give it a test drive.
 
Doug Jensen said:
Funny you should say that because I've thought about using the Z90 on top of the F55 for handheld documentary style shooting. The Z90's AF and AE are good enough that I think I could just lock it on a white shot and let it fend for itself. Sure, a lot of the footage would suck, but if I got a few usable shots out of it with a wide version and tight version of the same scene, it might be kinda handy in post. It'd be cool if I could figure out a way to trigger record on both cameras with one button. I have no idea if i'd get anything usable out of it but one of these days i'm going to give it a test drive.
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In lieu of auto triggering the Z90, I have been using two 256GB cards and the big battery for when I go piggy backing. Spent 7 hours at the drift track Sunday and had the Z90 mounted up on the FS7, atop the OConnor 1030D. I kept the Z90 in HD 120P mode and just let it run while starting and stopping the FS7, which was shooting UHD 60p mostly. Those SD cards are good for about 4.5 hours each. No sense going bigger than that since the camera is limited to 6 hours continuous record in XAVC (crippled!). Relay mode is not available in S&Q.

I stopped the camera when there was a lull in the action, but for about 30 minutes at a time, I'd let it run.

Doug, I haven't used it yet but my Z90 will do Clear Image Zoom/Extended Zoom in S&Q mode. When I'm shooting for slow mo on the Z90, I try to keep it a tight shot, boresighted to the center of the FS7 image, due to the much lower bit rate so when I pan and crop in post I don't take a huge quality hit.

Question: how did you mount the Z90? It looks like it's flat against the handle of the F55.

By the way, you're footage has really been an inspiration to me as I struggle to improve both the shooting and editing areas. It's obvious you really know what you're doing.

Mark
 
Mark, thank you for the nice comments and I'm humbled that my footage has inspired you. That is very nice of you to say.
I really like your idea of just letting the Z90 run continuously. Not only would it be easier, it would also lessen the chance that I might miss an important moment. So my next step will be to buy a couple of high-capacity SD cards (what cards do you recommend?) and also get a 5-pin XLR to 3-pin XLR pigtail cable so I can take the on-board audio from my F55 and feed it directly to the Z90. One of the advantages of having the ENG dock on my F55 is that it gives me a stereo line-out connector at the rear. So In addition to he Z90 providing an additional 4K video angle, it will also give me a continuously running audio recording of everything the F55 hears regardless of whether it is also recording or not. Kinda like the back up that audio guys are running on their mixers these days.

To mount the Z90 to the handle of the F55 I use a 1/4"-20 Male to 1/4"-20 Male Threaded Tripod Screw Adapter. Cheap and easy.
http://a.co/54J5753


Arms won't work because they aren't solid enough and horizons are always tilted no matter how careful I am. Even a little bit of wobble will ruin the Z90 shot and probably the F55 too if its a tight shot. It's like having some walking around on a floor near the camera or cars going over a bridge while you're trying to shoot, there is more unwanted movement that you'd think. So the threaded screw makes a very solid connection. I'm working on creating a little set of shims to wedge underneath the rear of the camera to make slight adjustments to the tilt of the Z90.

BTW, Clear Image Zoom and Digital Extender only work with S&Q Motion at 60 fps or less. Unfortunately, I'm usually recording at 120 fps if I'm shooting slow-mo so I'm stuck with just the 12x optical zoom.
 
Doug,

I'm using SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC U3 Class 10 95MB/s max. read speed 256GB cards. P/N: SDSDXP-256G-A46. I went to B&H for a link and found that these are still listed, but no longer available. Appears they have been replaced with same specs as above, plus a designation of V30 (meaning compatible with video 30 equipment). I would recommend getting those. P/N: SDSDXXG-256G-ANCIN.
I got those cards when I bought the Zoom F8 and found them to be severe overkill, so now they stay stuffed in the Z90.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...dsdxxg_256g_ancin_extreme_pro_sdhc_256gb.html
 
Do you get arrested with that thing around airports? From a distance it looks like some sort of weapon with the small camera being a sniper sight. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I've gotten questioned around airports and other locations, but there is nothing they can do about it except to check me out. And then I go back to work, whether they like it or not.
 
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