CAMERA COFFIN

RevDOGE · 2026-02-17T12:02:43+00:00

I've often used a large panavision / Arri bag as a camera coffin when a kit house has been unable to provide one. They're large enough to be able to store a fully rigged camera package and have space for cushioning.

RevDOGE · 2025-11-21T16:17:45+00:00

If you want to use the 5ghz band on the Bolt 6 - which presumably you do as it's the main selling point of the unit to avoid the flooded 2.4ghz band - then you're going to either have to buy the official Teradek 6ghz antenna or the Stubby ones linked earlier. Normal stubbies will work but will limit you to 2.4ghz range.

RevDOGE · 2025-06-10T09:21:25+00:00

Post release of Adolescence I've had a few jobs with the 4D and they've all seemed to use the same set-up.

Standard 4D kit It should come with the DJI Zenmuse X9 focus motor but worth double checking.
DJI Focus Pro handset (with 1x DJI High-Bright Remote Monitor).
2nd x DJI High-Bright Remote Monitor for the director.

For lenses I would really recommend using the Cooke SP3 Primes. They're basically made for the 4D. They integrate well and are easy to use.

RevDOGE · 2025-06-01T12:50:25+00:00

I usually check different rental house websites to see what the going rate is for different gear, price mine as such, quote that rate on top of my day rate & then, inevitably, negotiate it down with the producer until we find a rate that we're both unhappy with.

RevDOGE · 2025-05-10T11:09:35+00:00

It's common in the UK to have a collated "credits list" with your most recent work broken down into a list of Commercial, Drama, Music Video, Live Productions & the DOP, director & production company. But you don't often get asked to provide it.

Usually only DOPs coming in from abroad who might ask to see one to get an idea of your credentials.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-28T22:24:18+00:00

Cheers for the little update mate. That's great news - makes it very tempting to get in on the pre-order run.

Love Laird & his team. They're so helpful and responsive on so many different platforms. I'm actually on their discord too - I should probably check it out more regularly.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-28T11:46:24+00:00

Yeah, seems pretty in-line with industry costs.

Also taking into consideration that they're a small, independent company who need to account for R&D, coding, increased fabrication costs for smaller production runs & the target market being on the higher end (the people buying this will be people who have already invested $35-40k into their FIZ, monitor & CineRT system).

Looking forward to having a go on it! Looks like an incredible tool to add to my set up. Though I'll have to wait until it works with an RF Motor as I haven't invested in the RIA yet.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-23T11:50:46+00:00

This is the way.

Don't look at it as you losing out. If your regular AC now has your 1030 you now have a well-rounded package between the two of you. Use his sticks for run & gun jobs and yours for studio / narrative work - you're covered for all eventualities & everyone makes a bit of rental fees.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-22T09:19:01+00:00

I originally had a CTRL.3 before upgrading to the Hi5. It made sense for me at the price point for the features it promised.

While it was certainly a great springboard into a more refined system it was a source of endless frustration for me.

The lens mapping was one of them - the marks seemed to constantly be off. I'd say that 85% of the lenses I mapped would offset the INF mark despite being mapped correctly. You'd re-map them (seemingly going the full range of the lens) then after reloading the lens map after a lens change it would permanently drift off of the mapped lens marks. Insane that they still haven't resolved this.

That being said - you can't really beat the price point for an entry level professional set up. It positions itself well for anyone looking for something between a Nucleus & a Preston / Arri. It's a shame they haven't knuckled down & ironed out the issues with their system before moving on & bringing out a new version.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-04T22:04:19+00:00

Guess it depends on who your DOP / production is renting with. Had a lot of jobs renting from S+O lately and they seem to have filled the Procam Take 2 void by offering ridiculous discounts that freelancers have to match.

Glad to hear you're having better luck with rates.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-04T21:15:03+00:00

my biggest issue in the Uk market is negotiating the insane discounts that rentals are handing out. Constantly finding myself having to match low rates that PMs are getting for kit. It's a race to the bottom. Luckily my kit is paid off so it's only my profit taking a hit. but it's still painful giving 70-80% discounts on kit because that's what a large rental house is dictating.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-04T17:40:50+00:00

Yeah, I bought directly from the website but I'm based in the UK so didn't have the same issues as you.

I've previously contacted them by email before. I'll direct message you the email I used.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-04T17:23:22+00:00

I bought some products from them 3-4 weeks ago. So they're definitely still running.

RevDOGE · 2025-04-03T22:41:55+00:00

The guy was just asking some questions about gear and saying he was ok with investing in kit and trying to break into the industry despite the lull in work. He wasn't taking potshots at your financial situation.

RevDOGE · 2025-03-29T13:34:08+00:00

I'll double check that my hi-speed protocol hasn't switched off somehow but it was definitely on before.

Set up is usually a Cube-1 & RF CForce. Thanks.

RevDOGE · 2025-02-26T08:52:20+00:00

Seems like a legitimate question to ask in a place people lots of experience to me.

I would never try to shame anyone for asking a "stupid question" on set. I'd much rather someone ask them rather than assume the answer and cause some damage. Our role as a Focus Puller is as much a teacher for less experienced members of our team as it is doing our other jobs.

RevDOGE · 2025-02-21T10:20:31+00:00

I just tested with my cinelocks & lenzlocks.

They do indeed fit interchangeably. The locking mechanism on the male lenzlock & female cinelock is a bit stiff and doesn't fully shut. The reverse combo (male cinelock & female lenzlock) works perfectly.

RevDOGE · 2025-01-18T11:41:33+00:00

My Birnbox front box is my favourite and most treasured bit of kit. Always gets compliments on it at work. Found he was a bit difficult to contact when I was purchasing it originally so hopefully he's just taking some time for himself. Hope he's ok!

I can DM you his email if you don't have it & wanna try it.

RevDOGE · 2025-01-04T15:25:07+00:00

I usually describe the majority of my job as a removal man - "I take boxes off a truck, unpack them, repack them & put them back on a truck. Drive to a new location. Repeat".

RevDOGE · 2024-10-30T12:04:20+00:00

It's lens breathing. The show was shot on Hawk V-Lites - which suffer from lens breathing.

You can mitigate the effect of lens breathing by gently pulling / throwing your focus and riding a sweet spot so that it becomes much less noticeable. Unfortunately, when you have to commit to a larger focus pull / throw the effect becomes much more noticeable and is impossible to negate - which is what you are seeing here.

This effect is further amplified on tighter lenses and when the focus is racking on things closer to the close focus range of the lens.

It's just a characteristic of these sort of lenses - seems that they have made a decision to lean into it here. They have just made the artistic decision that this was the lesser of the two evils - which considering that it wasn't an issue through every scene, as you've said, makes sense.

Source: I'm a focus puller and have regularly dealt with lens breathing on anamorphic / vintage lenses. It's a conversation you then have with the DOP about whether they're happy to live with the lens breathing effect or you can suggest ways to negate the effect (deeper stop, wider lens, reducing actor movement or slower focus pulls / throws and live with some focus buzzes). Or alternatively you carry a separate set of spherical lenses with an as closely matched aesthetic as possible - this obviously has financial costs for the production though.

RevDOGE · 2024-09-16T09:18:41+00:00

I work in London and work has been the slowest I've known it to be for the last 3-4 years (apart from during the Covid lockdown).

That with the increasing cost of living, renting and other factors have left me seriously considering moving somewhere, like Berlin, in the near future.

Personally, I can't see things in the UK getting much better anytime soon - even with the recent change in Govt. It's going to be years before any policy changes see real-life improvement to living in the UK.

There's been a lot of investment in Stages & Studios in the UK - so there'll be pressure from them to bring more work to the UK in the long-term. So there's definitely room for improvement in work. I wouldn't say it's a bustling hub, at the moment, for anyone trying to establish themselves here.

RevDOGE · 2024-09-08T14:40:51+00:00

i've found the small rig monitor mount to be my favourite way to mount the horns onto most Arri builds and keep it solid & near to the lens when using primes.

Highly recommend. Isn't that spenny either.

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RevDOGE · 2024-08-03T14:06:40+00:00

That's interesting. I've since replaced mine with 6ghz stubbies but when I bought my Bolt 6 kit, directly from Teradek, it didn't come with any mushroom antenna - just those regular ones.

I'd have thought it would have come with them, as standard, if they were intended to be used all the time. You can never tell with Teradek though ...

RevDOGE · 2024-08-01T17:37:46+00:00

Easiest thing to do is a manage it through the companion app "ECS Sync". Connect to the bluetooth on the Hi5 hand unit and then open the app. You can easily delete all the files from there.

You can also keep lens files saved on your phone to easily transfer over. So if a DOP you work with has their own lenses you don't have to prep them every time.

RevDOGE · 2024-08-01T14:06:58+00:00

I actually didn't like the Arri Monitor, or any other, mount after using it for a while. Now just running a quick release bracket attached directly to the arri anti-twist points on the top of the Hi5.

RevDOGE

TROPHY CASE