LEAF APTUS 54S

[snickgrr]

From this angle it looks fragile but have only had one huge spill when a leg wasn't locked down and it went down a hill in San Francisco and though the computer screen was trashed, everything else survived.
JR
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Assistant error, right?  Why is it always the assistant?  

I started a fire in a new VW Beetle one time on a shoot, damn I wished I could've blamed the assistant but it was totally my fault.  I set a light in the interior and didn't turn off the modeling light.  After awhile and few flashes the car is filled with smoke and the seat is on fire.

So glad I had insurance.

[James R Russell]

Assistant error, right?  Why is it always the assistant? 

I started a fire in a new VW Beetle one time on a shoot, damn I wished I could've blamed the assistant but it was totally my fault.  I set a light in the interior and didn't turn off the modeling light.  After awhile and few flashes the car is filled with smoke and the seat is on fire.

So glad I had insurance.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200589\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Actually yes, but no.  The first was doing double duty, as the gaffer forgot his generators, (long story) but that's why we have backups so nothing was lost, not a lot of harm done, other than the PB screen looked like a tie dye.

A few years ago a child actor came on our set and kicked me in the shins and pointed his finger and me and said "Don't blame the kid.  Everybody in this business blames the kids when somethhing goes wrong, so remember I'm a professional, so DON'T BLAME THE KID.... got it?"

JR

[snickgrr]

LOL.

I was doing a full on production of a Halloween shot with a half of block of houses all decorated, fog machines agoin', etc etc and a bunch of kids in costumes.  The main kid right when the shooting starts wets his pants.  The social worker rushes over and shuts down the whole thing for the next forty five minutes.
I blame the kid on that one.

[perbernal]

Per,
with the speed I work I get about 1.5 hours from an Aptus battery and about 45min to 1 hour of usable power supply from a Mac. As with most of the things I need now days for photography I do not chase perfect solution from suppliers and instead make the items myself or at least the spects for it and have someone create it. Firewire 800 has a horrible connection to a MacBook and any cable movements will disconnect it. We designed a molded plexiglass bracket with attaches to Mac via commercial velcro providing solid connection. Never had problem with it again. Shooting tethered became a way of life for me. I am on a leash all the time and like a good dog I know my boundres and never pull the leash. With time it gets to you so hard that the other day when I was shooting my kids at home to CF card I was telling my wife to move the lights because I thought that I could not reach them myself.
My camera tent is home made and so is my stand. It is not only light protection by mainly a sand blocker which is a hell when working beaches.
I own the H system matter of fact my A75S is H mount, but it is sitting mostly on Rz/110mm.
I find Rz's 110mm perfect magical lens for digital application which outclasses both 100mm and 120mm fro HC.
Rz adapter for H mounted back maybe something that you will want to look into in the future.
I find the ratio of keepers from Rz about 4 times higher than from HC.
When shooting D3 I find myself clicking a 1000 images where 100 from Rz will do the job and hopelessly searching for a usable picture.
It could be just me but with Rz I never shoot more than 50 actuations an hour and always satisfy myself and my clients.
http://AndreNapier.com
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I´m curious to see your plexi glass design - maybe you should pitch Apple:) Personally I´m just using gaffer tape. I got my new 54S over the weekend and I´m very impressed by the files so far. The colors of the files are very clean and the pace of the back is quite good. LC11 seems stable even below 60% battery power. Got an extra long firewire cable today, 30 feet and made by Leaf, so hopefully I won´t feel too tied up. Looking forward to my shoot on Wednesday in Malibu, where I´m shooting a cover for FitnessRx Magazine.

I miss my old RZ and Mamiya Sekor lenses but when trading them in for the new H system there where no LEAF RZ adapters to my knowledge. Seems reasonable though that you get really good results as you are using the sweet spot of the lenses with this combo. But don´t you find the manual winding & bellow focusing + only using 40% of the ground glass a bit backwards? But then again that should depend on the subject matter.

Last but not least, I agree 100% with you when it comes to 35 mm dslr´s and shooting to many frames. I get too trigger happy and end up spending hours in post trying to find the best frame. With medium format I should be able to pace my self and take my shooting to the next level or back to where it once was.

Best, Per[attachment=6971:attachment]

[perbernal]

This is what we've used on location for the last few years.

Not perfect, but so far it's held up well.



From this angle it looks fragile but have only had one huge spill when a leg wasn't locked down and it went down a hill in San Francisco and though the computer screen was trashed, everything else survived.
JR
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200585\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi James,
Thanks for taking your time and posting pics of your location kit. I like your concept and want to go for something similar. My question is if you are able to shoot directly into your two hard drives when shooting tethered. Have not been able to figure that out yet and would appreciate if you could or someone else could give me a hint. According to the sales rep you have to shoot directly to the laptop drive first and then copy the files manually to an external drive. This seems a little bit risky though in case something happens to the computer.
Best, Per

[James R Russell]

Hi James,
Thanks for taking your time and posting pics of your location kit. I like your concept and want to go for something similar. My question is if you are able to shoot directly into your two hard drives when shooting tethered. Have not been able to figure that out yet and would appreciate if you could or someone else could give me a hint. According to the sales rep you have to shoot directly to the laptop drive first and then copy the files manually to an external drive. This seems a little bit risky though in case something happens to the computer.
Best, Per
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200611\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I've been told the same by the Phase dealer, though I shoot to the portable fW drives all the time and don't notice any slowdown.

Actually in studio we shoot to a Lacie Raid 5 drive without issue and shooting to the computer to the drive didn't seem to slow up anything that I noticed.

I like shootig to a drive because then I can just drag and drop between sessions to the second drive and not use up the computer.

I do tape every connection down.  The orange Lacies are fw 800 and the phase back is 400.

One thing I am careful of you must plug the back into the computer 400 port and the drive into the 800 port.

Once again we securly tape all of the connections down.


So far (knock on wood) no issues.

JR

[Studio12NYC]

James,

May I ask how you connect the laptop to the lucite piece?  Also how you connect the lucite to the tripod head?

I can imagine industrial Velcro to laptop.  But did you have someone countersink a thread to the lucite?

Do you know anyone in the City that would custom make a a lucite piece for a 17" that had turned up edges to cradle a laptop a bit more secure?

Thanks,

SO

[James R Russell]

James,

May I ask how you connect the laptop to the lucite piece?  Also how you connect the lucite to the tripod head?

I can imagine industrial Velcro to laptop.  But did you have someone countersink a thread to the lucite?

Do you know anyone in the City that would custom make a a lucite piece for a 17" that had turned up edges to cradle a laptop a bit more secure?

Thanks,

SO
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I bought it here

[a href=\"http://www.thelaptopstand.com/]http://www.thelaptopstand.com/[/url]

and dilled holes in the front lip to mount the mouse shelf.

We attach it with some plastic tape that I have on order that has our logos and the tape has yet to break or be loose.

In fact when it took the spill it was all intact, except the powerbook screen.

The tripod female connection to the tiltall is dead solid strong and has yet to move or get loose.

As I said it may look fragile but it's very effective and strong.

JR

[DesW]

Hi
Very Interesting solution to a niggling problem-- what to take, what to leave out ,weight,portability--excess baggage --let's not go there!

My two cents worth and works fine.

A: Cymbal case --LARGE but strong-- on sale $45

B: Used Quik Lok Keyboard stand $33-- both from same Music SH shop.

C: Pik foam 1x Lid piece 1x insert for base

D:   The lower shelf side plate and scaffold bolt SH  junk shop $10

E: 2x Gooseneck short pieces --to hold lid open $22.

Velcro /4x bolts for Goosenecks.

Packs to Stand and Case -which hold 17''/ HD drives/ keyboard/mouse/reader/leads/ power supply/
mousepad-- stored under the LTop use 2x rubber bike grips cut and placed over edge of case to rest wrist on.

Rock solid with rubber grips on the top and bottom of the stand--it can be raised to standing height or to low stool--  very versatile.

Ah well just a bit of Kiwi ingenuity gotta keep up with that Cousy Bro in WA--Eh!

Good Shooting

Des W
http://www.deswilliams.com/

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9173-2.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9176_3.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9178_1.jpg

[elitegroup]

Hi
Very Interesting solution to a niggling problem-- what to take, what to leave out ,weight,portability--excess baggage --let's not go there!

My two cents worth and works fine.

A: Cymbal case --LARGE but strong-- on sale $45

B: Used Quik Lok Keyboard stand $33-- both from same Music SH shop.

C: Pik foam 1x Lid piece 1x insert for base

D:   The lower shelf side plate and scaffold bolt SH  junk shop $10

E: 2x Gooseneck short pieces --to hold lid open $22.

Velcro /4x bolts for Goosenecks.

Packs to Stand and Case -which hold 17''/ HD drives/ keyboard/mouse/reader/leads/ power supply/
mousepad-- stored under the LTop use 2x rubber bike grips cut and placed over edge of case to rest wrist on.

Rock solid with rubber grips on the top and bottom of the stand--it can be raised to standing height or to low stool--  very versatile.

Ah well just a bit of Kiwi ingenuity gotta keep up with that Cousy Bro in WA--Eh!

Good Shooting

Des W
http://www.deswilliams.com/

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9173-2.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9176_3.jpg

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/team201/_B5I9178_1.jpg
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200688\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Bro, using a cymbal case with cut out pic foam and simple kiwi ingenuity is just blinkin awsome.

I love it