Birger Lens Mount Reservations

[Frank Weeks]

It would be great if Red would turn you loose on a few workflow videos. How about a "Special FX with the Red one"

Only half joking really. There are many areas where instructional videos would be welcomed. What ever the outcome, best of luck.

But back to Birger. Bring em on.

 

[Jay A. Kelley]

RED has me doing one video right now, and that's how to put their PL mount BACK ON after you have installed the Birger Mount

As for any other videos for RED... Nothing has come up yet, but they have been extremely supportive of what I'm currently doing.

Jay

 

[Carl Dieker]

display of iris settings

display of iris settings

I just got the shipment schedule email from Amy. Thanks!

Some thoughts and questions.

Is it so that a Birger installed RED, which shipped with or was upgraded with the i-pins program, will display the iris data of the Canon lenses in the EVF or LCD?

If so, I have RED #2818 and cannot benifit from this yet. With the current i-pins upgrade rate (my estimate, 100 cameras/week, see link below) it seems that I can expect an email from RED in June.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17565&page=17

Now when the Birger is finally shipping and the Impero is around the corner, four months seems an awful long time to wait for an iris read fix. Will there be any other solutions presented at an earlier date? And how do the people who have recieved the mount deal with not being able to read iris?

A side note, the 1AC on a Birger/Impero RED shoot will not only have to pull focus but also iris. [EDIT: I forgot, the DOP would still have iris control through the buttoms on the mount.]

Best regards,

Calle

PS: I am looking forward to Jay's videos.

 

[Lauri Kettunen]

Iwith the i-pins program, will display the iris data of the Canon lenses in the EVF or LCD?

Can't see immediately how this could happen as the i-pin cable is put into a slot. Once the mount is installed the cable is embedded in a cavity which has no holes except the one from which the cable comes from inside the camera. In this light it seems more likely that for this purpose another cable is attached from the mount to the camera carrying the iris data. At least the mount has three connectors and only the bottom one is employed to power the mount. ...But we'll see what Erik says. Who knows he may have a surprise in his sleeves.

 

[Carl Dieker]

Thanks, Lauri. I remember now reading about a second cable carrying the i-data from the mount to the RED. If this thread wasn't so long... No need to worry about my place in the i-pins upgrade program. Anyway, being able to read iris is important to me.

 

[Joel Kaye]

And how do the people who have recieved the mount deal with not being able to read iris?

I generally go by the histogram instead of the iris when shooting so it's no big deal. If you're matching two cameras you can count 4 clicks per stop. You're right, the rs232 port on RED will carry lens data from the Birger mount and should display as soon as Erik gets it implemented. RED has it working.

If you need to rack iris during a shot you can do it via a mac laptop and Erik's software right now. One click and you can go from F2 to F11 in a fraction of a second. Very cool. Perhaps the Impero will offer that capability though I'm not sure how. Having the AC make 20+ clicks of a button to get from F2 to F11 won't work during a shot.

 

[Siva Kollipara]

I generally go by the histogram instead of the iris when shooting so it's no big deal. If you're matching two cameras you can count 4 clicks per stop.
.

Histogram only tells if exposure is to the level desired or not, but it doesn't tell tell you which stop we are on.
If my count of clicks is wrong then bamn, I have start from 1.

You're right, the rs232 port on RED will carry lens data from the Birger mount and should display as soon as Erik gets it implemented. RED has it working. .

Is birger still using this RS232 port..? I thought had some issues and avoided it

If you need to rack iris during a shot you can do it via a mac laptop and Erik's software right now. One click and you can go from F2 to F11 in a fraction of a second. Very cool. Perhaps the Impero will offer that capability though I'm not sure how. Having the AC make 20+ clicks of a button to get from F2 to F11 won't work during a shot.

Does the laptop show you the f-stop..?
Hope it soon come on iPhone.

 

[Karl Gustav H.]

Histogram only tells if exposure is to the level desired or not, but it doesn't tell tell you which stop we are on.
If my count of clicks is wrong then bamn, I have start from 1.


Is birger still using this RS232 port..? I thought had some issues and avoided it


Does the laptop show you the f-stop..?
Hope it soon come on iPhone.

Birger used to use the RS232 for data and power. This caused some issues, so now uses a separate power feed. The mount still has RS232 out, and sends data along it. I guess the issue is now for Red to interpret this data, both to show the F stop/t stop on the display, and to record it as metadata.

Failing that, the mount already pits out this data via Bt and cable; the laptop app shows this and lets you control the mount. It probably wouldn't be too much of an issue to port this functionality to some kind of mobile device, but the iPhone isn't really the best bet as the SDK doesn't allow full bluetooth control; whether this is something that a jailbroken phone would let you do, I don't know. It could well be a lot easier just to pick up a cheap Windows Mobile device.

 

[Lauri Kettunen]

Just collimated the mount, which in fact is a pretty straightforward thing to do as the design is clever. Simultaneously took a very close look at the mount ... hmm ... we'll see.

Erik, you have really managed to get me confused, but the quality of your work completely counterbalances such issues. It's finally time to make the camera to sing with EF-lenses!

 

[Gregory Leno]

. Simultaneously took a very close look at the mount ... hmm ... we'll see.
Erik, you have really managed to get me confused, but the quality of your work completely counterbalances such issues.

Care to elaborate?

?

G

 

[Jay A. Kelley]

I'm currently doing the research for the show.. I have installed the mount a few times, and I have collimated the lens as well.

As Lauri said (Repeat after me Jay, Lauri is a guy, Lauri is a guy The mount is extremely well made, and works with the Imperio like a charm.

All I need is my voice back so I can shoot the damn thing.

Jay

 

[Michael Hastings]

If you need to rack iris during a shot you can do it via a mac laptop and Erik's software right now. One click and you can go from F2 to F11 in a fraction of a second. Very cool. Perhaps the Impero will offer that capability though I'm not sure how. Having the AC make 20+ clicks of a button to get from F2 to F11 won't work during a shot.

I believe you can add a second impero knob to rack iris and focus separately via the two knobs, however since the knobs are fairly expensive you may be interested in something that we (AquaVideo) have been working on and should have finished in the next couple of weeks, which is a small circuit board to send the rs-232 commands directly to the mount. It was designed primarily for our underwater housings and will have button/toggle commands for focus near/far and iris up/down plus a trigger button. It will have 11 other buttons that we (or the end user through a simple windows program on a computer) can program for any command strings so you should be able to preset direct f-stops or focus points to allow you to do that instant move.

Since it was really intended for our use with the underwater housings, I have no idea what we would want to charge or what testing we would have to do but it is not particularly expensive and was designed to also be sold for $150-250 as a generic hobby/proto board for sending RS-232 commands. Selling it like that would probably be the only feasible way to avoid the cost of potential software support and liability headaches. Since the commands structure for controlling the birger is an open spec (you can download the manual from birger.com), you would just have to put the commands in via a computer - and I am sure that REDUSERs could share those scripts to make it easier to load up (wink wink).

.

 

[Steven-Marc C.]

Michael, that seems like a very interesting solution. Count me in.

 

[Andrew Young]

Iris knob

Iris knob

you may be interested in something that we (AquaVideo) have been working on and should have finished in the next couple of weeks

Michael,

I would love to have a dedicated knob for the iris that is smaller than the Impero and could be mounted next to it (or anywhere else). When I think about how often and quickly I have to make on the fly iris adjustments during doc shooting the thought of repeated button pushes, not to mention groping for them, is a major concern. I don't know it this could be achieved by wiring a knob (or a Griffin PowerMate) into what your doing, but if it is, I'd love to know about it.

 

[Joel Kaye]

It will have 11 other buttons that we (or the end user through a simple windows program on a computer) can program for any command strings so you should be able to preset direct f-stops or focus points to allow you to do that instant move.

Neat. Sounds handy.

I'm excited about this scriptability of the mount. I'm looking forward to the day I can script complicated focus pulls with perfect repeatability.

 

[Kyle Mallory]

Erik,

Can we get a shipping status? All the people that have been asking me about the mount availability for their productions, who I've told "2 more weeks" for the last 2 months, are asking again. I'd like to tell them something different this time...

 

[Paul Cronin]

Michael it sounds interesting look forward to more details.

 

[Joe Shemesh]

Seeing red

Seeing red

I believe you can add a second impero knob to rack iris and focus separately via the two knobs, however since the knobs are fairly expensive you may be interested in something that we (AquaVideo) have been working on and should have finished in the next couple of weeks, which is a small circuit board to send the rs-232 commands directly to the mount. It was designed primarily for our underwater housings and will have button/toggle commands for focus near/far and iris up/down plus a trigger button. It will have 11 other buttons that we (or the end user through a simple windows program on a computer) can program for any command strings so you should be able to preset direct f-stops or focus points to allow you to do that instant move.

Since it was really intended for our use with the underwater housings, I have no idea what we would want to charge or what testing we would have to do but it is not particularly expensive and was designed to also be sold for $150-250 as a generic hobby/proto board for sending RS-232 commands. Selling it like that would probably be the only feasible way to avoid the cost of potential software support and liability headaches. Since the commands structure for controlling the birger is an open spec (you can download the manual from birger.com), you would just have to put the commands in via a computer - and I am sure that REDUSERs could share those scripts to make it easier to load up (wink wink).

.

Hi Michael,
It's incredibly frustrating to try and get your attention this way, but since you don't seem interested in replying to repeated e-mails and phone messages (even though as a customer we paid you US10,000 back in early December 2008) this will hopefully serve as a warning to others. Your total disregard to repeated inquiries regarding delivery of our purchase is nothing short of astounding. We sent you monies in good faith - now get your
F?????G act together and at least have the balls to get in touch with us and let us know what the hell is going on with our delivery!!!
Since it's inception, REDUSER has helped bring together a tight community of like-minded professionals who's dealings are always in good faith, don't take it upon yourself to destroy this reputation!!!

Joe Shemesh

 

[Chris Swinbanks]

getting off course

getting off course

Guys, kindly take your tanty's to another thread..... sheesh.... there's enough RED herrings here!

Erik... shipping schedule updates, PLEASE!!!!!

 

[Jay A. Kelley]

Hi Michael,
It's incredibly frustrating to try and get your attention this way, but since you don't seem interested in replying to repeated e-mails and phone messages (even though as a customer we paid you US10,000 back in early December 2008) this will hopefully serve as a warning to others. Your total disregard to repeated inquiries regarding delivery of our purchase is nothing short of astounding. We sent you monies in good faith - now get your
F?????G act together and at least have the balls to get in touch with us and let us know what the hell is going on with our delivery!!!
Since it's inception, REDUSER has helped bring together a tight community of like-minded professionals who's dealings are always in good faith, don't take it upon yourself to destroy this reputation!!!

Joe Shemesh

Joe, another alternative:
Michael, I regret that I have to contact you in public on this forum, but I am out of options as E-mail and Phone messages have been unsuccessful to date. We are very excited to get the product we put our deposit down on in Dec of '08 and would be extremely grateful if you could let us know a status on said order. As you can imagine with any high ticket item (And as seems to be a issue on this thread sometimes) a lack of communication can be a stressful thing.

Please feel free to conact me by phone or email, or leave a number where I may contact you within the next 48 hours.

I know you are upset Joe, but I can almost promise you your letter will not have it's intended effect. The letter above would.

Jay