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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Monstro and weather

P

Philippe Therasse

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Hi ,
I have to make a 60 days movie to '"La reunion" (next to Madagascar) in July/Augustus/septembre .
I would like to rent a RED MONSTRO for this movie but the camera rental company told me that "The Monstro was not reliable for this kind of shooting because of the sun and wet weather."
Could you advice me with your experiences about this issue ?
I know RED Weapon and I don't have any problems with this camera.
Do you think RED monster is more fragile than an Alexa mini , maybe because of the fan ?
Thank you .
Phil.
 
Philippe Therasse said:
camera rental company told me that "The Monstro was not reliable for this kind of shooting because of the sun and wet weather"
Click to expand...

Sounds like they either don't have a Monstro or are trying to rent you a different body.

Very literally have had the Monstro in snow, rain (covered of course), and blazing hot sun (and I'd recommend a shade if you can for you and the camera for that matter). An umbrella goes a long way to protect from heat and rain. The other cameras have fans too and not more fragile than a Mini, actually quite the opposite.
 
Look at Mark Toia's reels. I don't know many who push as hard as he does.
 
It's a lie to say that the Monstro is incapable of dealing with extreme weather conditions. I have taken mine from Tanzania's humid summers to our local Montreal winters and have never had an issue.
It would also be a lie to say that the Monstro/DSMC2 fans are as quiet as certain other camera's fans. If you are working in tight spaces with sync sound and lots of dialogue, it's worth testing the different fan settings offered with your camera assistant and sound recordist to find the sweet spot.

And it's good to note that if possible, the Ranger body also exists and offers a larger fan as a way to alleviate the loudness when working in sync sound environments.
 
Mine has been in mud, pisspooring rain, severe humidity. Dipped submerged in powdersnow in minus 10 degrees. dropped / Submerged in powdersnow when in plus degrees and camera was hot from the sun looked like a dripping snowball when I managed to pick it up.

Only issues I experiensed is that the touchscreen can start to act up when getting lot of water on it. It has not got any permanent errors but starts to work again when dried up.

As with all electronics and photo equipment its important to avoid condensation. But I find my lenses to run into trouble with that long before the camera.

So weather vice I find the weapon bodies to work very well. Monstro just the same as helium and the others. Not much to worry about in that regard.
 
I'll second Bjorn's observations. Your touchscreen will stop responding and your lenses will fog internally before anything else bad happens. Touchscreens will stop freaking out once dry--I haven't totally killed one yet. (all in my own experience, of course. your experience may vary)
 
Phillipe,

The advice from the rental company is just weird. According to Wikipedia the the weather on Réunion Island is cool and dry from May to November as it is winter in the Southern hemisphere so heat and moisture is just not an issue. I own a Monstro camera and it has not missed a beat but considering the isolation of Réunion for a sixty day shoot I would take a complete spare camera not matter what system you choose. If the budget is super tight the backup camera could be an older Dragon sensor body? Anecdotal evidence points to the Mini being an extremely reliable camera but to match the Monstro you would have to consider a Mini LF and unsure if you could even source one?
 
Thank you very much to everybody for your experiences and advices.
Best regards.
Philippe.
 
Tom Gleeson said:
Phillipe,

The advice from the rental company is just weird. According to Wikipedia the the weather on Réunion Island is cool and dry from May to November as it is winter in the Southern hemisphere so heat and moisture is just not an issue. I own a Monstro camera and it has not missed a beat but considering the isolation of Réunion for a sixty day shoot I would take a complete spare camera not matter what system you choose. If the budget is super tight the backup camera could be an older Dragon sensor body? Anecdotal evidence points to the Mini being an extremely reliable camera but to match the Monstro you would have to consider a Mini LF and unsure if you could even source one?
Click to expand...

Agree, I try bring an extra body when traveling far. So far I has never came to critical use. But also way nice to have a B cam to work with to cover more angels etc. One on tripod one handheld, or one on gimbal /drone what ever. an extra body today does not cost much more to rent than an extra lens.
 
It's like saying you can't use a Samsung in hot weather you need an Iphone...
Shooting in humidity, your lens will fog before your camera freezes. I've been shooting in Amazon with Epic and Weapon without problem. Just handle it as an electronic device.

Pat
 
I shot a four part doc series last summer for 3 months with my Gemini for Curiosity Stream where we seemed to follow Heatwaves around the world.
Some of the hottest and most humid conditions I have ever worked in and the Camera never missed a beat!
Your hire company is telling you 'porky pies'.
Trailer for the series https://vimeo.com/315708572
Proof of the pudding as they say...
Kind regards,
Phil
 
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