Birger Collimation.... Not Repeatable

[Joel Kaye]

But still having severe problems getting the Impero to consistantly sync. Did some test setups and shots today, worked like a charm for 3 hours, swapped lenses, quit talking.

Here's the deal as I currently understand it based on my experience.

Wired mode works well. Wireless gets funky as batteries drain. I've also added longer antennas that seem to help the range a lot. Sometimes you lose sync by going out of range and by walking closer to the camera you get it back (newest firmware). I haven't tried the new antennas on a real shoot yet, but around the house they appear far superior to the little 1" one's that come with the units.

If you have trouble syncing with the mount try power cycling both the Impero and the Birger. Hold the I button on the Impero when you power back up (after a couple seconds you can let it go). Be very close to the camera when you're gaining sync. Sometime I stick the antennas right next to each other.

I know the Impero had (has?) a weird bluetooth bug where it won't sync when you first power up. The second power up often works. Seems like the Birger mount may do something similar because unplugging/plugging it seems to help.

Some lenses can cause the whole thing to shut down. My Sigma 50MM 1.4 is very erratic.

Once I get the first sync of the day things seem fairly smooth after that. Now I don't wait longer than 15 seconds for a sync before I try power cycling. That's saved me a lot of time and frustration. I also have a 10 Foot wired cable that is fine for many/most situations.

 

[Scott Miller]

I am going to spend more time tomorrow STRICTLY focused on methodically getting the 2 to play nicely together. The last time I mounted a lens, the mount buttons wouldn't even control then lens. and actually I have never had the wired method work, and I have a short and a 10' cable. They will do the lights/blink/sync thing. I can press F or I and they will light up, but nothing on the lens does anything.

LOTS TO LEARN! (I am not yelling, just excited)

 

[Joel Kaye]

The last time I mounted a lens, the mount buttons wouldn't even control then lens. and actually I have never had the wired method work, and I have a short and a 10' cable.

Hmm. Try holding the top button on the mount for a few seconds when you put a new lens on. I believe that's a reset and opens the aperture wide open. I usually do that for every new lens. Also, if you set your Impero in the same spot every time you use the CAL button your focus marks should line up. To get the Iris working on Impero press the I button and then the CAL button. You then can rack iris and it's really smooth. Pretty impressive.

Yeah. Needs a real manual. LOL.

 

[Craig Schober]

Now, what about Collimating WITHOUT the Impero? Focusing on your chart by hand and without the Impero will throw-off your calibration-- that's my understanding.

it will only throw off the focus if you switch between using the impero and manual focus ring on the lens. you just have to choose one or the other and stay with that. i've collimated several times and have never written down any numbers (haven't had lens data in a while). it's just trial and error measuring the distance in focus between the two extremes on my wide zoom. at least that's what works for me. but i don't have a ton of lenses either so there aren't as many variables for me.

 

[Joe Taylor]

Excellent. Thanks Craig.