Red One Hand Held Rig

Hi there,

I will be shooting a film in January on the Red One that is going to be 99.9999 percent hand held. I am of strong physique and I do not intent to change that. I am looking for advise for a well balanced shoulder/held hand rig for the Red One available for rent in Ukland. The subject has been discussed here a short while ago and sillililly didn't take any notes...!

Many thanks
Nic Schroeder
DP
London, UK
Dusseldorf, Germany

Hi Nic

>
I have just finished shooting a film with the RED ONE , instead of using a rig for hand held I used easy rig it is very nice balanced , It was a great solution you should try it and practice a bit , I believe you are going to like it . I'm sending you a link www.easyrig.com

>
Giora Bejach
www.bejach.com

>
Nic you can search on the website interface but anyway......

I just shot 2 * 90 minute TV films, Wallander, with totally hand-held RED’s.
I was lucky enough to get an early model Element Technica shoulder mount and I would now refuse to do a shoot without it!!
It’s totally adjustable for tilt, rotation, balance etc, for once a shoulder mount that fits YOUR shoulder and not one that you have to put up with.

We did have an Easy Rig but they really compromise where you can put the camera so it was ruled out immediately.

I’m not fit, I used to do a huge amount of hand held but that was a long time ago, I hadn’t operated HH for years when this job came up!!

Actually, I hadn’t operated much for years.

The ERT rig wasn’t available for the first few weeks and I suffered various aches and pains, these vanished completely when I got a properly balanced camera.

ET has some stills of me with the camera on my shoulder and my hands well away from it, the camera was just sitting there without any assistance at all.
This is the way to good hand held shooting.

Geoff Boyle FBKS
Cinematographer
EU Based
Skype geoff.boyle
mobile: +44 (0)7831 562877
www.cinematography.net

Ah the Easy-Rig- or as we have come to call it on my current job "The Fishing Suit"...
Not the answer to every problem but worth checking out.
But beware the grip on it does not lock satisfactorily on to the Red One. Lost the camera one day in the first week. It just dropped in to my lap. Need to keep an eye on that. Had a very nervous grip for about a month after that...

B-camera operator is swearing by the old blue modular bars.

Ruairi ? O'Brien,
DP
Ireland
www.ruairiobrien.com

>> ET has some stills of me with the camera on my shoulder and my hands well away from it, the >>camera was just sitting there without any assistance at all.

Any chance they could post some? It would be nice to see what this rig is like. Why aren't they promoting it at their site?

David Perrault, CSC

>>"But beware the grip on it does not lock satisfactorily on to the Red One. Lost the camera one day >>in the first week."

One solution to this that we used successfully on a recent job was to dismantle the top handle on the Red and slide the rubber grip off entirely. This allowed the Easy Rig to grip quite nicely. I wasn't the one to do the dismantling so not sure how involved it was but it didn't take too long.

Norman Bonney
DP San Francisco

ruairi o'brien wrote:

>> But beware the grip on it does not lock satisfactorily on to the Red One. Lost the camera one day in >>the first week...

When shooting with the easyrig use a "frog". If anyone needs an illustration let me know I can email a picture.

Cheers

Emmanuel, from sunny Beirut, Lebanon
1st Asst Cameraperson - 1st Asst Kameramann - 1er Asst Op?rateur
16-35-HD
bvk-SSFV European based
Mobil +491608036889
Cinematography Mailing List Moderator - CML

Ruairi O’Brien wrote:

>> But beware the grip on it does not lock satisfactorily on to the Red One. Lost the camera one day in >>the first week...

Hi all,

I shot a recent feature entirely hand held with the RED ("Toe to Toe", in competition @ Sundance 2009), and relied very heavily on the Easy Rig. In my case, this was to be able to under-sling the camera at eye- level to my teenage leads (I'm rather tall). The Easy rig allowed me to HH the cam at chest height all day long with very good support. I also benefited from some extra-long 19mm rods, which, extended out 6 inches from the back of camera, allowed me to "hook" my upper arm around the back of the cam (we had to jury-rig a button shield for the rear console) for very solid, "full-body" control. I have pictures of this uniquely effective arrangement if anyone needs to "shoot from the nip"

But yes, as Ruairi mentioned, beware the Easy Rig hook can slide off of the end of the RED top Handle, especially at extreme up/down tilts. We used the RED top handle "extension" piece that bridges to the rear top plate, closing the gap and preventing a fall. Extreme The EVF is essential, in my opinion, for effective HH control. I found that I would unintentionally "Dutch" shots when framing via the LCD, as it is difficult to keep the LCD nicely square to camera.

No affiliation with Easy Rig, other than wishing I had bought one before renting its purchase price many times over.

Hope this helps,

Alan Jacobsen
DP - NYC

Jeff wrote:

>>ET has some stills of me with the camera on my shoulder and my hands well away from it, the >>camera was just sitting there without any assistance at all.
>>This is the way to good hand held shooting.

Jeff, do you have any photos you could post? They aren't up on the site and the rig isn't either last I checked.

I also have a question for you and any others with this experience... As I consider buying the Panasonic 3700, I wonder if I can build a RED to meet my needs ergonomically. I do lots of corporate work, non profit work, reality, etc. I am always running and gunning, shooting ENG style on my projects and there is always a lot of handheld work. I am trying to figure out if I can make the RED work like a "standard shoulder mount rig" camera. IE, the 3700 or any other camera with that shape and function. I would like to use 35mm lenses that this camera has to offer plus all the other choices out there. I don't want to add a 35mm adapter to a camera. It starts to get long and cumbersome to work with. I have seen the RED with a B4 mount. Works fine but then I am back to the "video" look and DOF. Any thoughts, experience, photos to share would be great. I feel like it could work. I love tapeless shooting. Could I get the control of a standard camera? Financially it would probably be the same cost, maybe a bit lower, than the 3700 with a great lens. Also, most of my shooting is 2 man crew. Sometimes one man in a pinch with the producer dumping footage.

Thanks!

Mark Gambol
MG Pictures, Ltd.

Check the Rodney Charters review about the RED on http://www.reel-show.tv/

best,

Jean-Marc FERRIERE, DP/Cinematographer, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
www.ferrieredp.com

class="style17" >> I am trying to figure out if I can make the RED work like a "standard shoulder mount rig" camera. >>IE, the 3700 or any other camera with that shape and function.

I have used the RedOne like an ENG camera many times. It can be done. The biggest issue for me vs a camera like the 3700 is not the body, it’s the ergonomics of a modern B4 video lens vs Cine glass.

With a proper hand grip on the lens, the shoulder shooting position with a well balanced ENG rig is pretty nice for an experienced operator with the ability to rack focus (on the barrel), zoom and walk the iris all at the same time. This is possible because the right hand can handle the rig while the left hand does the rest. Try that with an Optimo .

My suggestion is this. Get the Red, outfit it with: ET shoulder mount, the Red 18-85mm zoom (good value for the dollar at around $10K) and FIZ motors from View Factor integrated into the front handles.
The real answer is for Fujinon, Canon, Zeiss or Angie to build a PL mount lens with the operational conveniences of a modern B4 video lens for the RedOne. PLEASE...

Blair S. Paulsen
4K Ninja
San Diego, CA

>>The real answer is for Fujinon, Canon, Zeiss or Angie to build a PL mount lens with the operational >>conveniences of a modern B4 video lens for the RedOne.

I'm sure it's been asked and answered on RedUser, but will the Red One survive the onslaught of new modulars? I assumed looking at the proposed catalog that the One would be discontinued since it's market position is pretty well covered (and I have to admit, I find the roadmap much more attractive than the current offering). And that here on out third parties would be much more interested in supporting them. But in the context of a lens, I'd suppose that what would work for One would probably work for the other.

Tim Sassoon
SFD
Santa Monica, CA

>> The real answer is for Fujinon, Canon, Zeiss or Angie to build a PL mount lens with the >>operational conveniences of a modern B4 video lens for the RedOne.

Since Red has been out for quite a while now, and that hasn't happened, the conclusion has to be drawn that such a venture would not be profitable.

In fact, most lenses from those manufacturers cost more than the Red, and although some of those manufacturers do not how to cut costs to accommodate cheaper cameras (witness the lenses for the 1/2" chip Sony’s, which were quite inexpensive), the resulting lenses are also not very good.

Bob Kertesz
BlueScreen LLC
Hollywood, California

>>although some of those manufacturers do not how to cut costs

That should have been "do KNOW how to cut costs" of course...

Bob Kertesz
BlueScreen LLC
Hollywood, California

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