This tripod system was over £2,500 new 7 years ago and I am selling it for £800, it was mainly used with  my Sony FS7. Anyone buying this will be treating themselves to a bargain, it is as good as new. Please bear in mind this weighs in at 10KG including bag.

Contact me at smallvideo@mac.com stating Miller tripod deal. Usual payment via PayPal the price is £800 plus postage.

• The Compass 25 fluid head with 4-14kg payload range enables a diverse choice of cameras and camera configurations to be used.
• From HDV / DVCAM to XDCAM and ENG cameras the Compass 25 fluid head is one of the most versatile pan/tilt heads available.
• The Compass 25 incorporates the best pan and tilt fluid drag range in its class combined with a selectable counterbalance system and 100mm ball levelling.
• A quick release camera mounting system utilising the standard Euro camera plate allows it to integrate easily into existing camera support inventories.
• Five selectable positions of high performance drag plus a zero position.

One of the features with the head is the accessory bloc which takes a magic arm for adding accessories like external recorders/monitors as seen below in a recent production on Arran.

Head Features:

• Head Fitting: 100mm
• Leg Section: 3 Section
• Material: Carbon Fibre
• Max Height Group: 6′ 5″
• Max Payload: 19kg
• All legs down 25″ (Spread-eagle 9″ off the ground)

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Just had a call from one on my site sponsors asking me to highlight Sonys recording media chart for the Sony PXW-Z190 as customers are finding problems with certain media not filming 4K footage. The main problem with this is the card manufacturer themselves giving customers inconsistency in their card information.

 

Here are a few examples..

They are all SDXC cards, class 10 but in the case of Transend what does the 200x refer to !!! The only card suitable for 4K filming is the Lexar at U3.

Using the new V90 SD card association protocol (90Mbps). 4K up till now required a card to have a U3 rating with a 64G card. I do find this all very confusing as only the most recent Panasonic cards have the V rating on them.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

The Sony HXR-NX200 is a 20MP 1.0 Exmor R CMOS camcorder, capable of shooting 100Mbps 4k in XAVC S at 25p, or 1080p at 50p onto SD cards. The stabilised lens is 29mm to 348mm equivalent 12x optical servo zoom, opening up from F2.8 to F11. The lens has three rings to control focus, aperture and zoom, all of which can also be controlled automatically. Sony’s Clear Image zoom extends the zoom range to 18x in 4k and 24x in 1080p. It features a 1.56M dots LCD and viewfinder, built-in ND filters (2-6 stops), microphone and two phantom powered XLR-ports and uses Sony’s NP-F style batteries. Sony is also using a new natural color science. Here’s an overview:

• 20MP 1.0 Exmor R CMOS sensor
• 4k 25p (100Mbps), 1080p 50p (60Mbps) XAVC S
• 29mm – 348mm equiv. stabilised lens (12x optical, 18x Clear Image 4k, 24x Clear Image HD), F2.8 – 11
• Three control rings on lens
• Built-in ND filters and microphone
• New picture profiles

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Having spent the best part of a day producing my RODE filmmaker upgrade it finally occurred to me there might be a better way of producing the same thing with less weight on the GH5 hot shoe, hence the Sugru option. It works out at about £1.62 a pack.

If you have not come across it before Sugru sticks permanently to lots of stuff like ceramics, glass, metal, wood, rubber, and most plastics and fabrics.

Sugru Mouldable Glues are designed to feel soft and malleable. Roll the material in your fingers, press it where you need it, and mould it by hand into any shape. You have 30 minutes to shape it, smooth it, and reposition it as required, then it takes 24 hours to cure.

This option takes any cold shoe accessory off the camera onto the tripod itself and the beauty of Sugru is its ability to mould to its surroundings. A tip from me is to use disposable rubber gloves when handling Sugru especially the black version.

Fortunately RODE supply the curly cable, as this is mainly for interview situations you won’t be panning the tripod. I usually get the 8 pack of Sugru, 3 black, 3 white and 2 grey for £13 from Amazon.

As a word of warning make sure you check the date on the back of the Sugru as it has a use by date and in some places like B&Q it can lie for a while as I got a packet that was 1 year out of date. PS. If it is out of date it won’t work nearly as good a fresh Sugru, the freshest is usually sold by Amazon.

In Part Three I will look at probably one of the neatest alternative brackets that will do the same job.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

I produced a review of this tripod back in December 2016 not knowing how appalling this tripod was in a sports environment.

The culprit lies in the ball joint (055LC) as seen above if you put the least amount of pressure on the camera for example following a game of football this ball joint slides out of alignment rendering the shot useless. Did I try tightening the handle, yes, but there is only a certain amount of pressure you can add to this before it breaks.

If all you are producing is talking heads this tripod is great but sadly I was hoping to finally have a one tripod suits all situations to keep the quick release plates the same and a system thats a bit less cumbersome than a set of Vinten 3819 Pozi-Loc legs.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

My son was recently filming an interview and soon became aware that the RODE receiver is far from accessory friendly. One of my readers made a very good point about the weight of the camera light, the LED camera light above is an APUTURE AL-MX (with shoe mount) weighing in at 345g with a 55 minute internal L-ion battery. The concern was for the stress put on the GH5 hot shoe, which is why you will need to wait till Part Two to see a good alternative.

I decided to re-engineer the receiver with a cold shoe I bought on Amazon for a fiver.

Unfortunately the M2.5 screws that come with the cold shoe ar too short for this process by luck I had a 180 piece set from Maplin in my drawer. The screws/bolts needed are M2.5 x 12mm cut down to suit).

Firstly you need to remove this circular nut from the audio output connector.

Annoyingly you need a very fine pair of circlip pliers or jewellers very fine chain pliers.

Next, remove the rubber flanges to reveal two torx screws and using a T10 torx driver remove the two screws.

You are now left with this be careful not to pull the wires coming out of the battery compartment.

WARNING…As you gently pull this board out you must be wary of the ribbon cable holding the motherboard onto the LCD.

The LCD board slides upwards and is not locked in position by glue, thankfully.

This is what it all looks like once you have taken it apart.

 

Position the cold shoe in the centre of the top section of the transmitter.

Drill the holes for the M2.5 screws

You are now left with two screws that are too long so you have to grind them down to size

This is to avoid the screws impinging onto the metal screening on the motherboard.

The cost of the upgrade is £5.90 for the cold shoe plus the two M2.5 screws and nuts which I had in stock, thanks to a wee kit I bought in Maplin. Its not easy so and remember it will null and void your guarantee from RODE. Quite a few times I use two RODE transmitters side by side so this upgrade will certainly help that problem of where to put the second transmitter.

Two things for RODE to take from this for version 2 of this product…

1. Next time make sure you add the cold shoe to the receiver.
2. Please reduce the size of the body pack (transmitter) in version 2.

If you think this is beyond your technical capabilities there is a simpler way to add a cold shoe for holding your radio mic transmitter…In Part Two I look at a far simpler way to accessorise your equipment with a cold shoe .

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Newly announced at IBC 2018 are two new models in the CONNECTED CAM range – the GY-HC500 and the GY-HC550 – which offer unparalleled IP connectivity in a handheld camcorder form factor.

Both models feature a 1” 4K CMOS sensor which is combined with a newly-developed 20x lens with 3-ring control, resulting in excellent imaging performance and shooting flexibility. And with a high-resolution viewfinder, imaging framing and focus control is easily achieved. The GY-HC500/550 can achieve up to 12 stops of dynamic range, with support for BT709, BT2020 and BT2100 HLG colourspaces. 

Using the latest generation codec that’s also used in the GY-HC900 shoulder mount CONNECTED CAM, the GY-HC500/ HC550 can record to SSD media in a wide variety of formats, including 10-bit ProRes 422 at 4K resolution and 50/60p frame rates. A number of other codecs and recording formats are also available, including H.264 and MPEG-2, ensuring a wide range of workflows can be supported.  

Both the GY-HC500 and GY-HC550 deliver an advanced, class-leading set of IP connectivity functions, with both models offering live streaming, FTP file transfer and remote camera control over IP. The latest CONNECTED CAM technology now adds return video over IP, high-quality IFB audio return, and the ability to stream at up to 1080p50/60 at 20Mb/s, giving a uniquely high-quality contribution stream over IP, directly from the camera.  

The GY-HC550 furthermore adds in an additional range of features, including Wireless LAN antennas, built-in broadcast graphics overlays, and Zixi protocol support for streaming applications.   

The GY-HC500 and GY-HC550 add to the first model in the CONNECTED CAM range, the GY-HC900, which is a high-quality shoulder mount camcorder, ideal for a wide range of live production applications. The GY-HC900 has 3 x 2/3” CMOS sensors offering outstanding low high capability, and supports an industry standard B4 mount, allowing a wide range of broadcast lenses to be utilised. The professional shoulder mount form factor of the GY-HC900 will appeal to those users requiring a highly reliable, flexible ENG solution, with all the benefits of the CONNECTED CAM IP technology. The GY-HC900 can also be easily adapted to use as a studio camera, through its unique docking system for fibre studio connection. 

The new GY-HC500 and GY-HC550 are scheduled to ship in early 2019 and add to the CONNECTED CAM range of products, with the GY-HC900 shoulder mount model shipping in October 2018. 

• 1” 4K CMOS sensor which is combined with a newly-developed 20x lens with 3-ring control, resulting in excellent imaging performance and shooting flexibility.
• High-resolution viewfinder
• Can achieve up to 12 stops of dynamic range, with support for BT709, BT2020 and BT2100 HLG colourspaces.
• Can record to SSD media in a wide variety of formats, including 10-bit ProRes 422 at 4K resolution and 50/60p frame rates.
• A number of other codecs and recording formats are also available, including H.264 and MPEG-2, ensuring a wide range of workflows can be supported.
• Delivers an advanced, class-leading set of IP connectivity functions, offering live streaming, FTP file transfer and remote camera control over IP.
• The latest CONNECTED CAM technology now adds return video over IP, high-quality IFB audio return, and the ability to stream at up to 1080p50/60 at 20Mb/s, giving a uniquely high-quality contribution stream over IP, directly from the camera.
• Wireless LAN antennas, built-in broadcast graphics overlays, and Zixi protocol support for streaming applications.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Finally we get a 4K 50p camcorder with 10bit 422 from Canon and with the added bonus of a 15x servo zoom lens. At a hefty £7,000 including vat it won’t be flying off the shelves.

Canon XF705 (XF-705) HD Camcorder – MPEG-4, 160Mbps, H.265/HEVC Codec, 15x Optical Zoom Lens and 4K UHD CMOS Sensors (p/n 3041C007). Canon UK has launched the newest addition to its XF range of camcorders – the XF705. Equipped with the next-generation XF-HEVC format, XF705 offers 4K UHD 50P 4:2:2 10-bit recording to SD cards, with impressive image quality and superior levels of detail. Combined with a 1.0 type CMOS sensor and DIGIC DV6 processing, the XF705 delivers vastly improved noise performance, sensitivity and cinematic depth of field. With a host of enhanced HDR capabilities, including an advanced 12G-SDI interface and IP streaming, the XF705 is poised to revolutionise UHD HDR production workflows for the better.

Versatile file formats to transform workflows:
Underpinned by High Efficiency Video Codec (HEVC) video compression, and leveraging the industry standard Material eXchange Format (MXF) as the container, Canon has developed the XF-HEVC file format. HEVC offers a newer encoding technology that is about twice as efficient as mainstream H.264/AVC.

Specs

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Call Andy or John on  01684 575 486

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions

Just another period western meta comedy short film. Featuring the mellifluous voice of Nick Offerman.
I hope you enjoy it!

The Gunfighter from Eric Kissack on Vimeo.

For all your video production needs in Scotland, get in touch with Small Video Productions