BMCC and Steadicam

Does anyone use a BMCC with Steadicam? If so how do you power it? Do you just have the vlock battery attached to the rig with the camera or has anyone found a 3 pin LEMO Connector power cable that works?

Peter

I just used the internal battery and then charged it up while I was resting or between shots. It was too heavy with an external battery. Then again I wasn't using a vest as I was travelling remotely.

Ok that could work. I've got the vest so ideally it would be great to get power through the SC.

That really depends on what kind of Steadicam you have. You can get any custom cable made. Try Terry West <techrat531@verizon.net>

He can make any cable you need. He's based in the states, there are others in other parts of the world too.

Anyways, that being said, although I have never used this camera on Steadicam before, whenever I use a camera this light, such as the epic, etc. I need much more weight to give it some inertia and a greater mass over all which helps with operating. So I would fly it with an AntonBauer or VLock built with the camera and the other accessories - which gets it to a much more acceptable weight.

I second the notion you need to add mass to fly these lightweight cameras on a Steadicam. The Pocket Cinema Camera flies well on the Merlin V2, but you need to get yourself a riser if you are trying to balance DSLR lenses on the Metabones Speed Booster. Otherwise, before you achieve balance, you bump the lens into the Merlin.

For the Cinema Camera or 4K, you should consider the Steadicam Pilot or Zephyr. As noted in another post, you may have to apply more weight to the sled. One thing I have done is to use a couple cable ties to simply fasten an additional battery (when using lightweight batteries) to the sled. There are "sweet ratios" as to the payload on a Steadicam arm. These new lightweight cameras pose just a little hassle.

Very intriguing, for both the Pilot and Zephyr, the Steadicam Tango can fly the Pocket Cinema Camera with a prime like the Kowa 6mm f/1.8 and provide total freedom of movement and jib operation from ground level to about 8-9 feet, with full pan and tilt on the camera using an all mechanical design.

I fly bmcc on pilot with vlock battery. Powering just smallHD. Powering the camera also would not be a big
issue as that custom cable can easily be made, there's a power socket on the front of the stage.
Btw I made custom cable to send video down to smallhd, it works.

It's a Steadicam Flyer LE. The weight of the camera should be fine. I have the whole rig for it and when everything is attached is weighs approx 10kg (22 pounds). So removing shoulder braced, handles, monitor etc will bring the weight down a bit. The limit for the Flyer is supposed to be 19 pounds so ideally I'd want to run it less than that.

Hi Guys, I fly a steadicam pilot but can't seem to be able to use the reference monitor at the base of the steadicam to work with the BMCC. I did not do any changes to the monitor and I thing its standard def. What's the solution? Did anyone have the same experience?

You need an HD SDI compatible sled/monitor.

Because you don't have that, you therefore need a downconverter like a Decimator2 which will downconvert the HD SDI signal into CVBS Video.

You might also be able to just use an HD SDI compatible monitor, I'm not sure if the pilot will allow an HD SDI signal down it's wiring. Worth a shot. Will probably work.

I have the same issue with monitoring. I assume one of these will do the job?
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/prod ... /techspecs

Original Pilot's monitor does it support SDI. You'd need a different one or convert the signal somehow.

Original Pilot's monitor does it support SDI. You'd need a different one or convert the signal somehow.

Well said Sasha. In order to use a new monitor I have to redo the entire wiring all over. I guess the proper converter will do the job, but I don't know if anyone has tried anything that has worked.

I have the same issue with monitoring. I assume one of these will do the job?
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/prod ... /techspecs

Have you tried it yet? I'm just afraid of being the guinea pig. I really want this to work. Rather than get a small hd monitor for $2k I might as well add extra and get a better steadicam rig that can hold a red as well.

I fly bmcc on pilot with vlock battery. Powering just smallHD. Powering the camera also would not be a big
issue as that custom cable can easily be made, there's a power socket on the front of the stage.
Btw I made custom cable to send video down to smallhd, it works.

Hey Sasha, can you send me picture of that configuration, I also use a vlock battery but not Small Hd monitor. I just need to see how you wire it.

I have the same issue with monitoring. I assume one of these will do the job?
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/au/prod ... /techspecs

Have you tried it yet? I'm just afraid of being the guinea pig. I really want this to work. Rather than get a small hd monitor for $2k I might as well add extra and get a better steadicam rig that can hold a red as well.

Just get a decimator2.

Whether the decimator2 or the BM conv, they both need to be powered. How would you power it?

d-tap from his battery... aux port on his steadicam... or a 9v battery taped to it?

Whether the decimator2 or the BM conv, they both need to be powered. How would you power it?

I have one of those Switronix power-base kit which attaches to the BMCC and provides power. I can then also use power from the Steadicam or use P-Tap to power the converter. So that's the least of my worries.

I used It with a Steadicam steadicam(jajaja) It was for a RED so I just put my battery system with the bars there.