Browsing Category Schneider Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm f/2

Tests and films with the Schneider Kreuznach Variogon 18-90mm 1:2 c-mount zoom lens.

Aloha Winter indiSYSTEM Bulldog Panasonic 14-140 lens GH13

indiSYSTEM Bulldog and GH2 ETC test from Snow Storm to California Dreaming

Snow Film Test Challenges with GH2 and indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip

Most of my short films come out of making something out of nothing. This instance is no exception. This past weekend it had snowed in Philadelphia and I thought it would be a great opportunity to shoot a test with the Panasonic GH2 camera and indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip rig using a few of my legacy zoom lenses. I first set up my Schneider Variogon 18-90mm c-mount lens with GH2 and indiSYSTEM Bulldog rig. I tested everything indoors pulling focus with my Chrosziel follow focus and 80mm SNAP! Gear fitted snugly on the lens and felt pretty good to go but as soon as I stepped out the door it was a different story. I could barely see the GH2 LCD screen with the snow falling everywhere and white brightness all around and I had forgotten my variable ND filter so I was getting utter crap. The camera and rig were getting icy and wet and I was just about to call it quits when I remembered I brought Tim Ovel's hacked GH13 with me in my bag as a backup. It had the Panasonic 14-140mm lens and I set the lens to autofocus and kept trudging onward. Since my gear was wet anyway I set the GH2 and Bulldog rig in the fresh heap of snow and took a few quick snow pics of the gear. I then gave the GH13 and Panasonic 14-140mm a quick spin on the Bulldog as I walked back through the falling snow. The 14-140mm lens in AF mode allowed me to press record with out worrying about looking at my snow filled LCD screen leaving me with at least some usable footage.

When the snow finally stopped I decided to go back out to give my legacy lenses one more try on the Bulldog rig. This time I wanted to shoot with the Angenieux 8-64mm c-mount lens which was the first legacy zoom lens that I purchased for the GH1. It's not a perfect lens by any means and is riddled with some of the problems that many c-mount zooms have on the m4/3 system but I was thrilled by the character of the lens and the ability to see it in action with the new GH2 ETC mode. It really shines with it's sharpness, contrast and color around the 20mm to 50mm focal range. The 8mm wide end has heavy vignetting and edge distortion and at 62mm, the longest reach of the lens, you'll see a couple metal edges of the interior of the lens in your shot. Despite these issues, I was just thrilled to finally use this lens with the new GH2 Extended Tele Conversion mode. The GH2's ETC is really bringing to life many of these smaller c-mount zoom lenses and primes because you can finally fill most of the frame of the sensor and record using the full resolution of the camera. Another nice feature of the Angenieux 8-64mm c-mount lens on the GH2 is that it gives the indiSYSTEM Bulldog that steadicam feel because the rig is so light weight. I'll talk a little bit more about this lens in more detail in a separate post. You can pick out the Angenieux 8-64mm footage pretty easily. It's all the Philly footage shot right after the snow storm.

Aloha Winter Notes

With the challenges of the snow and with footage that was varied and shot with different lenses I decided I would have to go back to the drawing board and figure out how I can put this all together. To help me in the process I decided to look over some test footage I shot with the GH2 over the holidays. I was in Southern California and spent some time with family in Oceanside, CA. Oceanside is a small beach town just on the outskirts of San Diego and home to an eclectic mix of of surfers, folks who love the beach and military personel who live and work near Camp Pendelton. There's a beautiful pier at Oceanside and I did a few tests with the GH2 and Contax G 28mm lens using the indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip. Looking at this warm beach footage and the joy of seeing my nephew and his love for his "Aunty Gayle" as he dragged her around the beach pier just made me think of the Hawaiian song "Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi". It is just the song that comes to mind that always makes me long for home especially during a Philadelphia snow fall. The song was written in 1951 for the remake of the movie "Bird of Paradise". I thought it would be a perfect song to connect these two winter stories together. One of my favorite versions of this song is by Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho whom I admire greatly. Their version of "Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi" with Tia's beautiful voice and Daniel's wonderful counterpoint with ukulele is quite evocative and filled with a childlike innocense and spirit of longing and reminescense. Their newest collaboration `ikena won them both a Grammy for best Contemporary Hawaiian album.

Here are the words to this beautiful piece.

Ku`u Lei Awapuhi
- Words & music by Emily Kekahaloa Namau`u Taylor

E ku`u aloha e (e o)    I call, my beloved (answer)
`Auhea la `oe (e ia no au)   Where are you (Here I am)
A huli aku au ia `oe    Return to me

Auhea la `oe e ke aloha   Where are you, my love
‘Awapuhi pala o ka ua noe   Like the ginger, covered in the misty rain
A eia no me au     Here, I am with you
I ka poli o ke aloha    In love’s sweet embrace

E ku`u aloha e (e o)    I call, my beloved (answer)
`Auhea la `oe (e ia no au)   Where are you (Here I am)
A huli aku au ia `oe    Return to me

Aloha Winter
a gary san angel film test

Cameras:
Panasonic GH2
Panasonic GH13

Lenses:
Panasonic 14-140 f/4.0-5.8 lens
Contax G 28mm f/2.8 lens
Angenieux 8-64mm f/1.9 lens
Schneider Variogon 18-90mm f/2.0 lens

Rig:
indiSYSTEM Bulldog
indiSYSTEM BallGrip

Music:
Ku'u Lei 'Awapuhi
Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho
Hawaiiana

Location:
University City, Philadelphia
Oceanside, CA

indiSYSTEM Bulldog rig and indiSYSTEM BallGrip- Never leave home without it.

indiSYSTEM Bulldog

No matter how prepared we think we may be when you go out on a shoot you inevitably wish you had brought that extra something often times it's the right filter, a wider lens, or the right rig. In my line of work, as a documentary filmmaker I have to streamline big time and be creative with as very little as possible. What the indiSYSTEM Bulldog does for me is allow me that extra little something to give me a variety of shooting styles in one small light weight rig. I can shoot shouldermount, handheld, or put the rig on a sturdy monopod or tripod. The key here is flexibility and light weight compact durability and that's a big plus with the indiSYSTEM Bulldog. I just don't have the capacity to carry heavy gear with me. If I'm carrying more than my bike messenger bag and a small gear bag then that's too much. I'm on the road and out in public and would rather be a fly on the wall out of sight and out of mind than be caught looking like a lost tourist.

Here's an example of the compact nature of the indiSYSTEM Bulldog. It fits perfectly in a small 12" x 10" x 4" gear bag.

There's even room left over for the GH2 and a small prime lens and follow focus.

I can set up the complete rig or modify it depending on my shooting needs and it takes me about five minutes to put together. I can then pack everything back up in minutes and fit everything in my little bag. Obviously, you'll have to find your own bag indiSYSTEM does not provide this with the Bulldog but it goes to show that the indiSYSTEM Bulldog is an essential part of your shoot and one rig that you won't be leaving behind.

IndiSYSTEM BallGrip

Here are some pictures of how I use the indiSYSTEM BallGrip just so people can get their head around the idea of using this tool. The ball joint is a brilliant idea by Tim Ovel of indiSYSTEM and it really works to help you pull focus while doing handheld shots. This is an example of how one would hold it when using a follow focus.

I use two BallGrips when I want to configure the Bulldog into a Bulldog mini. With this variation I can have something that I can walk around with in a big city or crowd and that gives me the ability to pull focus and the ability to have an extra bit of support on a moving handheld shot.

Here is the setup that I used for a recent test shoot. Since I had pictures of the Bulldog in a warm sunny Southern California beach I thought it would be only appropriate to contrast it in the cold Philadelphia snow fall.

You'll notice the Blue strap in the picture. That does not come with the Bulldog that is a camera strap that I attached to the BallGrip just as a precautionary measure. If you slip focus and let go of the indiSYSTEM BallGrip you'll still be connected and will never drop the rig.

It's important to note that the ideal for this setup to me would be a GH1/GH2 or similiar camera with a small body and a small prime lens or small zoom lens. The best combo that I have tested so far for just point and shoot hand held work would be the indiSYSTEM Bulldog and BallGrip using the Panasonic GH2 and the Panasonic 20mm lens. For legacy lenses, I find the Contax G 28mm lens with Metabones adapter and SNAP! Gear terrific to use with my GH2 with this setup. I'm still testing with a number of c-mount lenses including the Schneider Variogon 18-90mm zoom pictured above with the GH2. It was a little front heavy and better suited locked to a monopod or tripod because in order to use the lens you have to engage the GH2's extended tele conversion mode and with handheld camera shake it is a bit magnified. I did however have good success using the Bulldog with the very small Angenieux Zoom Type8x8B 8-64mm f/1.9 c-mount lens. It is probably one of the smallest c-mount zoom lenses and I got one to work on the micro 4/3 system. You can get more info about it here: Angenieux 8-64mm lens.

I put together a short piece using the indiSYSTEM Bulldog rig and indiSYSTEM BallGrip and the Panasonic GH2. It's called Aloha Winter.

indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear MP Schneider Variogon

indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear – Schneider Variogon c-mount zoom

As those of you know once you get your lenses and your new DSLR you’ll find that manually focusing by hand is fine in the beginning but when you want to push your work to more professional results it’s best to use a follow focus and focus gears on your lenses in order to have the ability for more precise focus, the ability to rack focus, and to lessen camera lens shake on your footage.

Tim Ovel and his team at indiSYSTEM have been hard at work again this time on their new SNAP! gear.

This new design is a very nice upgrade to their previous focus gear rings. What makes indiSYSTEM’s new design quite unique is that their focus gear is split in two halves and connected together with super strong magnets.What this allows is the ability to place the SNAP! gear ring on your lens and then remove it in a snap.

Snap! gears are sold in a set with five different gear sizes to cover most of your lenses:

70mm / 75mm / 80mm / 85mm / 90mm

At only $100 bucks for these set of five gears it's a pretty sweet deal. And for those who need just one you can purchase the 70mm for $30 each.

Each set of SNAP! gears comes with “squish” as Tim likes to call it, or thin self-adhesive foam.

The squish looks like poly foam weather seal tape that you use for weather stripping your home. It rests between your lenses and the focus gear and does a good job of making up the difference if your lens diameter is a few mm smaller than the focus gear. In my case, I tested the 70mm with my Schneider 1:2/18-90 c-mount and the lens diameter was 65mm so I had to make up the difference by doubling the squish.

In my initial tests the adhesive just wasn’t strong enough so Tim is sending some thicker “squish” and I look forward to using it and seeing if it will show better results. In the mean time, I doubled up on the squish that was already sent to me and secured it using some gorilla glue and and now the SNAP! gear fits nice and snug on my lens with no play between the lens and the SNAP! gear.

Here are just a few initial impressions so far.

(+)

You gotta love the "snap" the magnets make. They are surprisingly super strong. Once you have the proper squish, you literally snap the gear on and your ready to go in seconds.
One SNAP! gear can be used with your full set of lenses if they each share the same outside lens diameter.
With magnets and squish, no need to worry about the stress of tightening up your gears with Allen wrenches and leaving marks on your lenses.
I found the ½ inch wide gear great giving you plenty of grip using the MP's indiFOCUS20.
$100 for a set of five gears (70mm/75mm/80mm/85mm/90mm) is a great deal and covers most of your lenses.

(-)

Don’t place your hard drive or SD cards near the magnets for obvious reasons.
The current adhesive when placing squish on top of each other is not the strongest so you lose the stickiness on the adhesive and need to use something strong like gorilla glue to keep it together. (Will wait on the new "squish" adhesive hopefully that should solve it.)

(>)

70mm is the smallest size gear so currently you need some hefty squish to make up the difference with smaller lenses. It would be nice to have smaller gear sizes especially for my Canon FDs and c-mount lenses but it sounds like 70m is currently the smallest gear size that indiSYSTEM is offering.

Here is an initial test with the SNAP! gear and indiRAILSpro MP using my GH1 and Schneider 1:2/18-90 c-mount lens.

The first test was doing a rack focus test with theatrical lighting after a poetry event at the Asian Arts Initiative. I'm shooting with a c-mount zoom so there is typically a smaller image circle and also some vignetting. The lens is still pretty sharp and has a lot of character and it pairs nicely with the SNAP! gear and indiFOCUS20.

MP and Schneider c-mount zoom lens

Before "goin' down to the Shore" as the say here in Philly, Tim Ovel from Studio4 Productions was kind enough to send me a few goodies to test out. One of which is the their new indiRAILSpro MP, which I took with me to Ocean City, NJ for a little test run.The new indiRailspro MP combines the best features of a shoulder mount system, the ability to go hand-held, and has a built in follow focus to boot. It's lightweight, lowprofile, and flexibility is perfectly designed for the event shooter or anyone who needs the ability to stabilize their DSLR and use manual prime or zoom lenses and be on the move in an instant.

The MP consists of a Velbon RUP-40 monopod with a Giottos MH-652 compact quick release assembly and MH-642 plate which mounts to a top mounting stabilizing bracket. The monopod can be quickly attached and removed with the Giottos quick release assembly which is an added plus for quick setup, break down, and storage. On the bracket you have the ability to adjust the monopod, camera, and shoulder pad length as desired. An additional Giottos MH-652/642 quick release plate is where your DSLR mounts and you can slide your camera along the bracket's adjusting slot to set your camera and lens for proper follow focus use. Unfortunately, the slot was not long enough for me to use the GH1's 14-140 stock lens with the MP's follow focus. Tim will be sending me out a new bracket with a longer slot for me to test soon. In the meantime, I decided to test out another c-mount lens that I recently just got back from being overhauled, a Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 1:2/18-90 C-Mount zoom lens which I will talk about in detail later.

I wasn't able to use the follow focus on the MP with the Schneider so instead I wanted to simply focus on the MP's ability to be used as a DSLR stabilizer. Because the Schneider c-mount lens does not have a large enough image circle to fill the sensor, the GH1 must have digital 2x zoom engaged in order to get full use of the lens though out the zoom range and to fill the image sensor with out the "peep hole effect". Doing this however, means that any slight camera movement in higher focal ranges will create a heck of a lot of camera shake.

And this is where the MP comes in. I wanted to use my Schneider c-mount lens but I was on vacation and didn't want to drag an additional tripod with me. The MP was a perfect fit in this department because I could split up the MP with the Velbon monopod in my day bag weighting less than a pound and the stabilizing bracket (less than 2 pounds) in my camera bag.

Without the follow focus, you can be ready to go in 5 seconds, the MP's combination of monopod and shoulder mount bracket allows for enough stabilization so I can get fairly steady shots with my Schneider lens even with the 2x zoom engaged on the GH1. If I didn't have the MP, it would literally be camera shake city. Don't get me wrong, this is no substitute for a good tripod for rock solid shots, you will always see some movement and sway but when using the Schneider lens at the lower focal ranges like 18-30 (which is doubled with the 2x zoom factor to 36-60) and by keeping that camera nice and steady you reduce camera shake and can capture some really nice steady footage. The big advantage with the MP is quick mobility combined with stability.

The footage I captured was nothing special, just a few shots of our day at the beach with friends. Two big challenges with shooting with the GH1, aside from the sand and wind whipping around, the GH1 camera mics are absolutely atrocious and unusable in windy situations. Number two, in bright outdoor beach type settings, it is literally impossible to get an accurate reading on focus and exposure with the flip out LCD. I didn't have a hoodman on me so through out the footage you'll see the exposure settings change that is not the camera it's me trying to play with my Variable ND filter because I couldn't see the screen.

Again, the GH1 audio was simply unusable being a windy day so the visuals are accompanied with a live version of Dar William's song "The Ocean". Here is a quick test of the indiRAILSpro MP (no follow focus) with the Schneider Variogon 1:2/18-90 in c-mount. The footage was captured at 720/60p and converted to 24p using NeoScene.

Mosaic – Pennsylvania Station

I recently went up to New York City to meet a film collaborator friend of mine in Times Square. It was the first sign of spring after a series of blizzards in the Northeast that trapped everyone indoors all winter so I thought it would be a nice day and a perfect opportunity to test the SNAP! lens gear from iniSYSTEM. My goal was to try to be as low profile as possible and to carry light with only my bike messenger bag to hold my camera gear. I decided to take with me my GH1 and Schneider 1:2/18-90 C-Mount zoom lens and the indiRAILSpro MP with a 75mm SNAP! gear.

Most of my footage was just quick tests pulling focus with the gear and seeing how well you could rack focus. Overall I was really pleased with the performance of the SNAP! gear with the indiFOCUS20. With the right amount of squish in place between the lens and gears I was able to pull focus very solidly and with the MP and GH1 it looked like I was just shooting stills in Times Square.

When I got home I was initially just going to cut the footage as quick tests showing the smooth focus of this combo but when I looked at some of my opening shots I realized I starting filming at Pennsylvania Station and a light bulb went off in my head.

Whenever I think of Pennsylvania Station I think of Mosaic aka Glenn Suravech who is an amazing artist, producer based in Los Angeles. Mosaic released his ambitious debut album in 2007 entitled "Through the Eyes of A Woman" collaborating with independent artists and musicians from across the nation. One of my favorite tracks is his song Pennsylvania Station which my amazing sister Jenny San Angel who is also a singer/musician in her own right is also featured.

So I thought hmm..

Maybe I can use some of this test footage to make a music video for Pennsylvania Station.

Because I was literally just shooting what I saw that either grabbed me visually I was not focusing on any particular shots I was really just focusing on the SNAP! gears usability factor. I was not thinking end result at all so this really was kind of a challenging prospect.

But I decided to go for it and sat with the song for a while to listen to the lyrics and to find the heart and emotion of the song. For a few weeks I would play random images with the song in the background to see what relationships I could find to tie in the right image to the music. There was an Asian bike messenger who was sort of contemplative and calm among the fast flowing walking New Yorkers and tourists of Times Square. I sort of focused on him from far away and shot a quick sequence of him preparing to get on his bike and then riding off into the crowd. When I found that section and played it with the first verse of the song I knew that we could make something from what was meant to be just a simple test.

I tried a number of variations and combinations of footage literally squeezing every bit of good footage I had to make this work. The last scene of Times Square was shot with the very common peephole effect you get from using c-mount zoom lenses. From a technical aspect it's generally frowned upon because you want to use a lens to cover the full frame of the sensor. In this case, I liked it and left the imperfections. I wanted to use what was a visual flaw and make it work. It still had the right feel and moment.

When I finished I sent it to my sister Jenny and to Glenn as a little surprise. I knew that if they liked it we could post it as a music video online and if they didn't it would be just some nice test footage. When I got their e-mails that they loved it I was really floored simply because I never thought the outcome of the footage would be a music video for Pennsylvania Station.

In Glenn Suravech's e-mail to me he shared a little bit about the background and meaning behind his creation:

"When I was putting this song together for Jenny back in 2006, I imagined her standing and walking amid a ocean of people (just as you depicted in this video). While most of your shots were overground in Times Square, the setting for Pennsylvania Station is underground in the subway stop located beneath Madison Square Garden. There is a huge lighted corridor there where people seem to walk expressionless past rows of store fronts. Your video captures all of that in the song except that it's overground, outside."

I'm proud to put together a visual interpretation that complements this beautiful song and to use Times Square as it's backdrop. I went for simplicity and rawness allowing the imperfections to come through. The visual imperfections of me trying to focus from one scene to the next as well as the human ones, the images of real moments of people passing each other by, walking uptown alone, a city worker collecting garbage, a bike messenger on his way to his next destination or just friends and loved ones in a group going "uphill" though the "ocean of people". These are moments that we don't see because we are so busy going to our own destinations. In this piece, we can take a moment to see where they may be going and see our own connections to these random travelers.

Many, many thanks to Glenn Suravech and Jenny San Angel for allowing me to put this little piece together.

Pennsylvania Station

Written and Produced by: Mosaic

Lead vocal: Jenny San Angel

Lead guitar: Shin Kawasaki

Acoustic guitar, bass and keyboard: Mosaic

Drums: Harvi Kato

Special Thanks:

Gary San Angel– for your love, support and inspiration.

Tim Ovel, indiSYSTEM – www.indifocus.com

David Lin

www.glennsuravech.com

www.jennysanangel.com

www.componentgeek.com

indiSYSTEM indiRAILSpro MP with Schneider c-mount lens

indiRAILSpro MP on Immigrant Mother

IndiRAILSpro MP = mobility, stabilization, and follow focus all wrapped into one. Some of you may be wondering what gear we used to create “Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother)”.

A large part of the film was shot using the IndiRAILSpro MP made by Tim Ovel and Studio 4 Productions to help out guys like me who need stabilization for their smaller DSLR cameras but who are constantly on the move. The MP is ideal for run and gun, wedding, and documentary work because you can set up your shot quickly and be on the move in an instant. Instead of a tripod and a separate follow focus rail system, the MP has a monopod which rests under a long J- shaped support system. On the rear side of the support system is pad that rests on your shoulder.

In the middle, there is a sliding camera mount made from a Giottos MH-652 compact quick release assembly and MH-642 plate where your camera sits and an additional Giottos quick release mount located under the support system to attach to the monopod.

To finish it off they added a follow focus on the front of the rig so you can run and gun with your DSLR and your prime lenses in manual focus while having the ability to rack focus fairly smoothly.

In most larger rigs the shoulder support and the follow focus are separate attachments but Tim and his crew created a lightweight one piece alternative. The follow focus on the MP is the Indifocus 20. It’s a little larger than my Chrosziel AC-206-50S follow focus and a lot cheaper in price of course. The Indifocus 20 is fixed to the front of the MP with a sliding plate that loosens and locks into place with a quick release mechanism to allow you to change out your lenses fairly quickly. The quick release levers are not only placed on the follow focus mounting plate but also on the sliding camera mounting plate.

This is a great feature that was just added so you can adjust your camera and the follow focus at the same time with little hassle and with the ability to do immediate fine tuning in a pinch. When your camera and lens is not in the right spot you can tighten up the follow focus plate and camera mount with just a few turns of the lever and be ready to start shooting quickly.

It was imperative to use the MP in order to draw as little attention as possible and to set up our shots and move in and out very quickly. In Chinatown and Love Park, this was a necessity because the streets and sidewalks constantly have moving traffic from cars and people walking just about anywhere. With the MP, folks would turn slightly and walk around us, it’s a leaner setup and perfect to retain that honest realistic setting of our Chinatown and Philly neighborhood surroundings. I already had my Zacuto zip gears on my Canon FD prime lenses and they worked very nice and smooth with the MP follow focus. There was a little bit of play compared to using to the Chrosziel but overall the setup with the MP and GH1 and Canon primes were very lightweight and was a wonderful surprise to use. I’m so used to using not only the HVX or EX1 but also the added weight of a 35mm adapter rig. This was really like a dream come true to be so streamlined. The MP’s follow focus also includes one adjustable gear to place on your lens. It’s made of plastic and is usable but I found that even when you tightened down the gear the plastic tended to slowly slip especially when using a larger lenses. I had a hard time fitting the gear on my Schneider 1:2/18-90 C-Mount zoom which is a larger lens.

Putting the gear on the smaller Canon FD lenses seem to work but I needed reliability and consistency and it was nowhere near the solidness of Zacuto gears. There is some light adhesive tape that is like a cushioned version of double stick tape that does help secure the gear to the lens but it is cumbersome to put it on the lens and helps a little but not a whole lot.

My recommendation would be to wait and see if Tim Ovel comes up with better gears or go with some alternative manufactures. On the shoot, I found the MP’s strengths to be the following:

(+)

The use of manual lenses both zoom and primes is a major plus. Not having to drag along a heavy rig and follow focus system is perfect for those who want to use their DSLR in a variety of settings, on the streets of a big city, the wilderness somewhere, covering concerts, sports the sky is the limit. I used my Schneider 1:2/18-90 on the follow focus and MP and it worked very nicely. No need to worry about a gear ring because the Schneider lens has a built in gear ring on the focusing ring itself. This was a nice find. The quick release type locks to loosen and tighten the follow focus, monopod, and camera mounting plate are very well designed and well built. I also appreciate that the sliding plates are grooved into the bracket so that when the mount slides it will not move from side to side. This is really important and something that was added just recently so it shows that these guys are constantly tweaking and making things better. Based on a suggestion I had, the groove that the camera mount slides on has been increased so that the camera can be moved closer to the follow focus when using smaller cameras like the GH1 are used and that often use smaller prime lenses. I had no problems with my Canon FD primes and though I have not tried it yet popped on Kodak cine ektar lenses and they can reach the follow focus quite nicely.

(-)

The MP can never replace the stability of a tripod and a good fluid head. It definitely is not meant to do that. Even with a steady hand, you will get shaky footage especially when shooting with higher focal lengths. With the MP being a one piece unit it is a challenge to figure out how to store it and travel with. It's hard to find a bag that will accomodate the L-Shaped bracket. I'd rather not have to take that off every time. The Giottos camera mounting plate to the camera needs to be a stronger and a tighter fit. One of the problems that occurs is that the camera would loosen and move side to side over the course of a shoot from the pressure and use of the follow focus. I think if there is some way to lock the position of your camera to the mounting plate with out having it move from side to side that would be ideal.

(>)

I would love to have the ability to have a swivel tilt monopod head. This can be easily added and found online but it would be nice to have it with the package right off the bat. Although I like the MP’s follow focus, I would love the option of putting my Chrosziel follow focus. I kind of figured out a way to do it but it meant adding an additional component and a set of rails. It would be nice to have a simple cushioned slip cover and strap to protect the follow focus and that can hold the monopod and L-bracket. It would be great for traveling and storage. Currently, I have to strap it to the outside of my tripod bag. One thing that has been nice is seeing that you can also put the mp on a tripod if you need to have that extra bit of sturdiness and smoothness. It would be nice to get an additional Giottos quick release mount so that you can quickly switch from monopod to tripod.

Overall, the IndiRAILSpro MP was a great asset for us on our shoot of our music video and I constantly use it for event shoots were I can't bring a tripod. I know that Tim and his crew are constantly re-tweaking their gear all the time so I'm hoping that with some of these improvements the MP will be a solid go to tool for the always on the go filmmaker. Here is an outtake from the film/music video of Taiyo Na's Lovely to Me (Immigrant Mother). These are different shots that we were exploring for the opening sequence. The footage was shot with the Panasonic GH1 and Canon FD Prime lenses using the IndiRAILSpro MP from Studio4 Productions.

Steve Calvarese North Philly indiSYSTEM Test

We Will Be Missing You – Steve Calvarese

Over the course of this year, I will be creating special shorts with some of the lenses that Steve Serota restored for me.

The first is called, “We Will Be Missing You” written and performed by Spoken Word artist Steve Calvarese.

Steve Calvarese is an emerging artist based in Philadelphia who has really been growing and developing his craft. With the help of Michelle Myers, who is one half of the famed Yellow Rage yellowrage.com, Calvarese has been sharing his take on the Spoken Word form integrating personal, community, and social issues.

Calvarese says "We Will be Missing You" tells a story about gun violence in the city of Philadelphia. At the same time, the story is grounded on the belief that understanding is key, thus it opens our minds to multiple perspectives.

This footage was taken using the Panasonic GH1 with a Schneider 1:2/18-90 C-Mount zoom using the indiRAILSpro MP and a new indiSNAP gear.

Sound was captured with a Sound Devices 552 Mixer/Recorder and Sennheiser SK2000 wireless system with a Sanken COS-11D lavalier.

This version of We Will Be Missing You is set at the Christa Lewis Memorial Tot Lot in Russo Park Philadelphia.

This piece is dedicated to Steve Serota who used to run Camera Care in Philadelphia and later his online repair shop Classic Camera Workshop. This Schneider 1:2/18-90 C-Mount Lens was overhauled and repaired by his hands. Whenever I shoot with this lens, Steve Serota will always be remembered. His work was amazing and brought back to life every lens I brought him. He was a storyteller, a perfectionist, a great family guy, and he loved his work and was passionate about classic cameras and lenses. He will be missed.

Here are the words to the Spoken Word piece.

We Will be Missing You

Written and Performed by Steve Calvarese

Dedicated to all of those who died by gun violence

What weighs on his conscience

is greater than the weight

he carries on his waist

but the problems he faced

being raised in a broken home but no one can relate

so he alienates

himself from everyone else

away from the fake

those who create hate

cuz he’s seen as a Monster

which generates

his hate he has for them

no friends, accept for his gloc

forget about crying out for help

he’ll let his gun be louder than his mouth

R.I.P. carved into every bullet

finger itchin’ on the trigger waitin’ to pull it

so he can express his meaning of “Resting in Peace”

his piece

is always kept off safety

before the victim died. Mama was praying for his safety

before you go out make sure you walk the street safely

before he knew it cold metal was against his skin

he wanted to show him how cold the world really is

one shot left his frame frozen in time

where he hangs is in his home, a 8×10, a picture frame

the only memory his mom have left to keep herself alive

is his smile so everyday she don’t think about suicide

and dreams

dreams to remember about her baby boy

the only person she has left in this world is her baby boy

now that he gone away to a better place

she will no longer see the smile on his face

every night when she goes to lay herself to sleep

she prays

so she can listen to her son speak

sayin’ I’m still alive inside

when your heart beats

no more cryin’ out

you’re baby boy is here now

smile down

and watchin’ out

soon we’ll be together but for now

you got to remain strong

no matter how deep you feel pain

I know it’s hard to adjust and make that change

when the only thing you have left in your pockets is hope

hopin’ for better days

hopin’ that kids like me don’t gotta die today

she tires to be the voice about gun violence that needs to be heard

but no one wants to hear her

lying to ourselves when we know it happens too often

how many kids we gotta see dead layin’ in coffins

how many bodies gotta drop

being outlined in white chalk

we just chalk it up and talk

like it’s the new verb

but stuck in the pretense

because we are preoccupied by other things

what we need to do

instead of throwing shoes

we need to throw our guns on the wire

first we must be alive

say like Kanye “Through the Wire”

open our eyes

and not retire

the issue

I know we’re all tired

But I don’t want to tell another friend

“I miss you”

indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear – Cottman Ave.

Tim Ovel and his team at indiSYSTEM have been hard at work again this time on their new SNAP! gear.

Snap! gears are sold in a set with five different gear sizes to cover most of your lenses:

70mm / 75mm / 80mm / 85mm / 90mm

At only $100 bucks for these set of five gears it's a pretty sweet deal. And for those who need just one you can purchase the 70mm for $30 each.

Each set of SNAP! gears comes with “squish” as Tim likes to call it, or thin self-adhesive foam.

Here are just a few initial impressions so far.

(+)

You gotta love the "snap" the magnets make. They are surprisingly super strong. Once you have the proper squish, you literally snap the gear on and your ready to go in seconds.
One SNAP! gear can be used with your full set of lenses if they each share the same outside lens diameter.
With magnets and squish, no need to worry about the stress of tightening up your gears with Allen wrenches and leaving marks on your lenses.
I found the ½ inch wide gear great giving you plenty of grip using the MP's indiFOCUS20.
$100 for a set of five gears (70mm/75mm/80mm/85mm/90mm) is a great deal and covers most of your lenses.

(-)

Don’t place your hard drive or SD cards near the magnets for obvious reasons.
The current adhesive when placing squish on top of each other is not the strongest so you lose the stickiness on the adhesive and need to use something strong like gorilla glue to keep it together. (Will wait on the new "squish" adhesive hopefully that should solve it.)

(>)

70mm is the smallest size gear so currently you need some hefty squish to make up the difference with smaller lenses. It would be nice to have smaller gear sizes especially for my Canon FDs and c-mount lenses but it sounds like 70m is currently the smallest gear size that indiSYSTEM is offering.

Here are some of my initial tests with the SNAP! gear and indiRAILSpro MP using my GH1 and Schneider 1:2/18-90 c-mount lens.

Here is film test with Steve Calvarese who is an emerging spoken word artist based in Philadelphia. Steve has been sharing his take on the Spoken Word art form integrating personal, community, and social issues in his poetry.

Our first test was on Cottman Ave. an extremely busy street in his neighborhood in the Northeast right off the 95 highway. Steve performed his piece "We Will be Missing You" which tells a story about gun violence in the city of Philadelphia. Steve says that the story is grounded on the belief that understanding is key, thus it opens our minds to multiple perspectives.

During this shoot the SNAP! gear and MP set up really worked nicely with my Schneider zoom lens.

There was very little back lash and I was able to focus and rack focus pretty smoothly. Over all, I’m very happy with the results. The SNAP gear is definitely a winner in my book with a great price and flexibility.

Mero Cocinero

I recently had the chance to work with Chef Mero Cocinero known for his critically acclaimed cooking shows across the country teaching communities healthy eating and bringing new twists to cultural recipes. Mero was in town for a brief visit in Philadelphia and so we decided to head down to the South 9th Street Curb Market. This little film captures Mero's adventures through this rich and diverse neighborhood.

The film was shot using the GH1 and a Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 1:2/18-90mm c-mount lens with no tripod only the indiSYSTEM indiRAILSpro MP and a SNAP! Gear on the lens. Had some issues with the sharpness of the lens because the lens was not screwed on tight enough which is one of the down sides of using screw mount lenses since there is no locking mechanism to lock the lens down to the mount. I also had to use the GH1's digital zoom in order to avoid some of the vignetting and smaller image circle so there is issue of image degradation. I can't wait to test out the Schneider Variogon lens with the new GH2 tele extender feature which is in 1:1 mode so theoretically with this new feature we should yield some very nice results.

Open
Abierto

Featuring: Mero Cocinero Karimi
Directed by Gary San Angel
Producer: David Lin

Filmed with:
Panasonic GH1
Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon 1:2/18-90mm lens
indiSYSTEM indiRAILSpro MP
indiSYSTEM SNAP! Gear

Sound Devices 552
Sennheiser SK2000
Sanken COS11-X

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