Camera Checklist For 16 & 35mm

Greetings everyone,

Does anyone have (or knows where to download) a camera equipment check list for 16mm and 35mm?

Regards
Emmanuel from Munich

Greetings everyone,

What a nice Sunday it is when I read on cml-anon how unprofessional, unexperienced I am, by asking if someone would have a camera equipment check list or knows where to download one.

So here is some clarification on why I would like a camera check list :

- I have several versions which I want to unify, if possible under one for 16mm and one for 35mm.

- There is so much new gear on the market that certain parts might not be on my existing camera checklist, and I know some parts are missing.

So I want to update it.

That is all.

Have a nice Sunday.

Regards
Emmanuel from Munich

>What a nice Sunday it is when I read on cml-anon how unprofessional, >unexperienced I am, by asking if someone would have a camera >equipment check list

Too bad some people have nothing better to do.

It was a good inquiry and I was looking forward to hear input from others. I would like a program that is adaptable to all the different formats we are shooting these days. I used to love the On-Set Office program by Deca Source but I don't believe they are making it anymore.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jim Sofranko
NY/DP

I don't have a copy handy, so I don't know if he has check lists, but I don't think Doug Hart left anything out of his book, "The Camera Assistant".

Likewise, doesn't David Samuelson's "Hands On Manual" have a section of check lists.

What about "The Professional Cameraman's Handbook" by Verne and Sylvia Carlson.

Also check out Ron Dexter's website.

Brian Heller
IA 600 DP

Greetings again,

Brian Heller wrote:

>Doug Hart "The Camera Assistant" - "David Samuelson's "Hands On >Manual"

-Doug Hart has a very good checkout checklist but the one I have is dated 1994, so is my copy of Hands on Manual by David Samuelson. Quite a lot has changed since then.

> "The Professional Cameraman's Handbook"

- the on the job procedures section has indeed a checklist consisting of merely three or four lines

> Also check out Ron Dexter's website.

- Negative

Actually I am more inclined towards one similar to John Fauer where he lists the manufacturer and model of all the gear (see Arriflex 35 book) so does David Elkins.

Rental houses even if only a few miles a part have often very different brands and types.

Therefore I find a checklist which has the various brands and models the more practical, as one can right away see the alternative item or solution if a particular brand is not available.

Maybe once finished completing mine I should make it available via CML website. It will be in English, German and French.

Regards
Emmanuel from Munich

Emmanuel from Munich writes :

>Maybe once finished completing mine I should make it available via >CML website. It will be in English, German and French.

That would be a wonderful contribution.

Brian Heller
IA 600 DP

I've used the computer program "On Set Office" for years now. It is a database template that has pull-down lists of all your gear that you put in each category. There's separate pages for camera, lighting, and grip. Over the years I've tailored the list to the camera equipment that is available to me or that I might only use rarely. It's a great "mind-jogger" to help me remember the details and, once printed out, is great to send around to the rental house, production co., and camera department so everyone has a clear, concise list of the package.

Unfortunately, the guys that wrote the template lost interest in it almost immediately and, I believe, have sold the company to Mole Richardson. You might contact Mole to see if the software is still available. Someone cleverer than I could build their own template in, say, Filemaker to do the same thing.

Rod Williams
Motion Picture First Camera Assistant
Petaluma, California
U.S.A.

"On Set Office" was developed and sold by DecaSource in LA and was developed by Al DeMayo and Claudio Miranda. They sold the lighting part of their business to Mole Richardson and I don't know what happened to the software. Too bad. Everyone I know who used it was very happy with it. Anybody know what finally happened or who owns the rights to the software?

Rod Williams
Motion Picture First Camera Assistant
Petaluma, California
U.S.A.

I knew I had seen one somewhere. There is an excellent camera checklist at the back of the equipment section of the NYPG -- The New York Production Guide. In the current edition that is page 585.

Brian Heller
IA 600 DP

I have also been using On-Set Office for some time now. It really does help in not forgetting any of the "little things" that can fall thru the cracks while trying to do a list from memory. One drawback from On-Set Office is that I cannot save a specific list to a file and e-mail the list. I must print it and fax it. This is a bit frustrating since these days so many production offices are using e-mail for communication during prep. You can save the whole data base--but then you will have to send them the whole data base! I have not been able to figure out another way to send the list only.

Anyway--still a very helpful tool, but I'm definitely looking for an improvement!

Mike Ambrose
Gaffer
L.A. Based

>They sold the lighting part of their business to Mole Richardson and I >don't know what happened to the software. Too bad. Everyone I know >who used it was very happy with it.

Here is the link to Mole Richardson's Studio Depot which still sells the On-Set Office. It is 169.00 and there is a free demo you can download if you want to try it out. I believe you still cannot save an individual show list and e-mail it--but I would like to hear if anyone knows if I can!

http://www.studiodepot.com/store/index.cgi?cmd=view_

category&parent=1356&id=1358

Mike Ambrose
Gaffer
L.A. Based

Hey Michael,

I own Adobe Acrobat which allows me to "print" to PDF. That creates a PDF file of whatever I would otherwise be printing. Also, for all those lucky Mac users, OSX allows "print to PDF" in the print window. In the WinTel world there must be free or cheap software that allows you to print a page to PDF. Then just email that PDF doc. That's what I do and it works great.

Thanks for the info about the software living at Mole Studio Depot. It's worth checking out for anyone interested.

Rod Williams
Motion Picture First Camera Assistant
Petaluma, California
U.S.A.

Greetings,

Thanks for the input, I second Rod's comment not a bad checklist at all. However making one to function on Excell, maybe not as sophisticated as the Filemaker version of on site office, but custom made along the AICP budget kind of system and will be easy to convert to other formats, including PDF, also for the use on Palm (I hope).

Will keep anyone interested informed, should be ready in two weeks, travelling a bit and waiting for Cinec to update some information.

Regards
Emmanuel from Munich

Hi,

>In the WinTel world there must be free or cheap software that allows >you to print a page to PDF.

Open Office, Ghostscript.

Phil Rhodes
Video camera/edit
London

>In the WinTel world there must be free or cheap software that allows >you to print a page to PDF

There's also PDF995 for the Wintel platform. It's basically a "printer" that you choose in the print dialogue window and it creates/saves a .pdf of your document.

It' at: http://www.pdf995.com/download.html

Randy Miller, DP in LA

No affiliation, etc. I don't even use or own a Windows machine.

>In the WinTel world there must be free or cheap software that allows >you to print a page to PDF.

>Open Office, Ghostscript.

I was using On-Set Office today as a matter of fact, and tried to save the print to file as a PDF and it did not work. So I as well am still looking for a solution!

Mike Ambrose
Gaffer
L.A. Based

One drawback from On-Set Office is that I cannot save a specific list to a file and e-mail the list. I must print it and fax it.

You could print it to an acrobat file if you have acrobat writing software,
just choose it as you would any other printer!

Nick Paton
Director of Photography
Brisbane, Australia
www.npdop.com

Had a quick look at the OSoffice software, it is made in Filemaker and seems nice but a bit chaotic.

If there is a need for Software like this, we are willing to make it but we will need some good input from users to make it worth the time and money we put into it.

Bastiaan Houtkooper (N.S.C.)
Zebra Film
DP based in Amsterdam/The Netherlands and author of

Filmcalculator/Camera Report software

>I was using On-Set Office today as a matter of fact, and tried to save the >print to file as a PDF and it did not work. So I as well am still looking for >a solution!

Coming in a little late on this but what I have done is install a standard Windows printer called "Generic/Text Only" on FILE: . This can coexist with your current printer. When you print selecting this printer, Windows will ask you for a file name and location and saves your list as a plain text file that you can cut and paste into an email.

These links explain how to set this up.

http://www.frogmorecs.com/arts/using_the_generic_driver.html
http://goinside.com/98/8/w98tg1.html

Bruce Douglas / DP
Sao Paulo, Brazil