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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 :)

NATURAL HISTORY CINEMATOGRAPHY

I think as long as you a filter of some sort in there you're good.

As for the Signa 300-800 I'd agree with Alan on all points really - when we say it's a little soft at 800mm we're talking only slightly and compared to other focal lengths - I wouldn't have any hesitation using it at 800, especially stopped down a stop. Same goes with converters - loses a bit of sharpness and contrast but still excellent when stopped down a stop.
Steve
 
Humberto Ramos said:
Hi, my canon 150-600mm as arrives, I notice that it does have a 48mm filter from Canon that says "regular 1x", does anyone knows if I can put a 48mm ND, or ND vari ?

If so, should I buy vari, or normal, witch factors should I have?

Thanks
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Hi Humberto, are you sure it's not a 34mm filter? I'm not sure about the Canon, but I purchased the thinnest vari-ND I could find for my Sigma, and it's too thick to fit in the lens. Perhaps take the lens into a photographic shop and test filters there before buying.
 
Robert Hofmeyr said:
Hi Humberto, are you sure it's not a 34mm filter? I'm not sure about the Canon, but I purchased the thinnest vari-ND I could find for my Sigma, and it's too thick to fit in the lens. Perhaps take the lens into a photographic shop and test filters there before buying.
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Yes I'm sure, it says in the filter
 
Can someone please advice some long plate or other solution to secure and balance the canon 150-600 to the Red one?
 
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The Canon 150-600mm has two 3/8" threaded holes on the underside, if I'm remembering correctly. I ended up just drilling out a 3/8" hole in an old Letus35 support bracket and using that with a bolt from the local hardware store to hold the lens in place. More elegant lens supports can be bought or made with larger investments of time/money. Aside from that, I had the camera on a base plate with 15mm rods and a bridge plate to screw the tripod plate into between the camera and the lens support. Everything worked great with that setup, although it doesn't look like they sell the Zacuto base plate I have anymore so I can't give you a recommendation in regards to that part of your rig.
 
The regular version had 1/4" holes - if you had 3/8" it would have been done during a conversion.
A flat aluminium plate is probably the best and cheapest solution - any precision engineer should be able to make one - countersink a groove for a sliding lens screw and a couple of holes for screwing the camera on - then just need a spacer for either lens or camera to get height right.
Steve
 

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Humberto, 19mm or 15mm rods with any half decent lens support should work. I often use a Canon 400mm DO f4 with no problems but would recommend a dovetail 300mm or longer.
I think Tilta do a 15mm lens support for under $100. If you are in the UK try CinegearPro, they have loads of those Chinese imports.
 
Glen Harvey Jones said:
Humberto, 19mm or 15mm rods with any half decent lens support should work. I often use a Canon 400mm DO f4 with no problems but would recommend a dovetail 300mm or longer.
I think Tilta do a 15mm lens support for under $100. If you are in the UK try CinegearPro, they have loads of those Chinese imports.
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Thanks Glen,

Could you please give me an example on the cinegearpro shop?

My problem is that I need to balance the camera somewhere between the camera and the lens, right now I have the red one on the tripode, but with the 150-500 the center of gravity is between the two...
 
Glen Harvey Jones said:
I have a 19mm version of this 15mm one. I have never done business with CinegearPro, as I live most of the time in Southeast Asia but here is a link. http://www.cinegearpro.com/tilta-ls-t05-pro-lens-support.html
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Thanks Glen,

I do have a 15mm from other brand, the problem is that have to pot the red on the tripod and it stays very unbalance...

I would need to buy a cheep version of a bridge plate, cause they are expensive...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._AC_401_121_AC_401_121_19mm_Bridge_Plate.html
 
I have the 19mm Wooden Camera Bridge plate sitting on their 300mm dovetail on Sachtler 20. The balancing is easy with 450mm rods. The rods I actually got from a plumber that does stainless steel installations in hospitals. I had 100, 200 in 15mm rods and 400 and 450 in 19mm, all made from scrap that cost me two beers.
 
Hi Humberto, I'm not sure if this is of use to you but I had a Sigma 300-800 on a dovetail and 19mm rods, and I was struggling to counterbalance it on my baby Oconnor 515 (see pic 1). The bridge plate and rods add quite a bit of height. I was considering buying a Really Right Stuff rail and some quick releases but they are not cheap and I was concerned the camera would still sit too high. So I built myself a custom bracket that attaches to the Oconnor quick release and lowers the camera and lens below the top of the tripod (pic 2). It’s pretty ugly and I can’t change lenses quickly, but otherwise it works really well. And it was very cheap (4 x $4 brackets from a hardware store and some bolts). It also works nicely off the tripod when shooting out a car window (the raised section of the plate hooks over the window). I’ll have it re-made professionally when I have the time. If you are looking for a simple flat plate, it may be worth popping into a hardware store in case something off the shelf works.

Rob
 

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Hey Guys,

I'm a big fan of this thread and wanted to share my new demo reel which features lots of landscape and wildlife footage from British Columbia, Yukon, Europe and beyond.

Please enjoy!

 
Robert Hofmeyr said:
Hi Humberto, I'm not sure if this is of use to you but I had a Sigma 300-800 on a dovetail and 19mm rods, and I was struggling to counterbalance it on my baby Oconnor 515 (see pic 1). The bridge plate and rods add quite a bit of height. I was considering buying a Really Right Stuff rail and some quick releases but they are not cheap and I was concerned the camera would still sit too high. So I built myself a custom bracket that attaches to the Oconnor quick release and lowers the camera and lens below the top of the tripod (pic 2). It’s pretty ugly and I can’t change lenses quickly, but otherwise it works really well. And it was very cheap (4 x $4 brackets from a hardware store and some bolts). It also works nicely off the tripod when shooting out a car window (the raised section of the plate hooks over the window). I’ll have it re-made professionally when I have the time. If you are looking for a simple flat plate, it may be worth popping into a hardware store in case something off the shelf works.

Rob
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That plate looks really good, always a great idea to get the centre of gravity low. If you add a quick release to where the camera attaches (and possibly where the lens attaches too) it would swap pretty quickly - especially if you used a QR that was the same as your head.
Steve

Steve
 
Steve Phillipps said:
That plate looks really good, always a great idea to get the centre of gravity low. If you add a quick release to where the camera attaches (and possibly where the lens attaches too) it would swap pretty quickly - especially if you used a QR that was the same as your head.
Steve
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Thanks Steve. Yes, it has made a huge difference - my Sigmonster is now quite usable on the Oconner 515 (even in a light breeze). I agree some quick releases would help a lot. If I get round to having one professionally made, I'll add a bit of space for those.

Some more stills for you all...
 

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Sharing a 3 min short https://youtu.be/tqocpyGA3GAOne of the shots is that of a bee-eater swallowing snail shells for meeting its calcium requirements.
PS: not sure why the video from youtube doesn't get embedded. :(
 
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Hi guys,

I've been following this thread for a bunch of years now. It's a great source of inspiration and knowledge!

I'm thinking of getting a zoom lens. something like a Red Pro Zoom 18-85 or perhaps some older "vintage" lens like a Angeniuex 17-102. I know they are BIG and heavy, which isn't great for wildlife obviously.

What zoom lenses do you guys recommend on the shorter end?

Cheers :)
 
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