SteadiCam Pilot Mount for Scarlet?

[Alonzo Von Threet]

Hi All,

I am trying to mount my Scarlet "Job's Joy" (#1369) on to a SteadiCam Pilot. Does anyone know the correct baseplate to purchase to mount the Scarlet onto the SteadiCam cheese plate?
Here's cheese plate for the Pilot. It has only 1/4" holes and the peg holes that are on most camcorders . They don't align to the wider 3/8 holes of the Scarlet.

I did get the Scarlet to mount the 1/4 but I need a matching, studying solution. I was hoping to a simple connector plate.

Do I need this?
http://www.red.com/store/products/dovetail-mounting-plate-short-2

This?
http://www.red.com/store/products/epic-mounting-plate-pack-modular-m

or this?

http://store.zacuto.com/studio-baseplate-for-se.html


Thanks.

 

[Kyle Wullschleger]

When I used to fly a pilot sled I liked to use a manfrotto 357 plate and receiver because it delivers some additional fore and aft adjustment, and is light weight and low profile.

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-357...id=1342709428&sr=8-7&keywords=Manfrotto+plate

Much else and you'll start to go over the lift capacity of that arm.

Good luck!

 

[Paramon Ivanovich]

i use manfrotto 577 on my both rigs, 357 is probably better, cuz it has longer plate, but I already have like 10 of them on every single piece that i use , so i am stuck with it, i wonder if 357 plate will fit 577 adapter;
I'd say this setup is already over the pilot's limit, add some accessories and you're playing dangerous game, arm will hold it although it will be sagging, but this is not dangerous, gimbal sooner or later will snap, and that is dangerous.

 

[Alonzo Von Threet]

kyle and Paramon,

Thank you very much for your help Gentlemen. These look like the perfect solutions. I just ordered the 357 but it's good to know the other options.

I was also hoping that someone would comment and critique my set-up. Thanks for making me aware of the pre-cautions. I will start backing down the weight off my system as soon as I get the Manfrotto plates. Presently there are extra weights on the Pilot which I took from my Merlin. There's not batteries in the LCD yet, so that will help balance it as well. I gave it a test flight with the robo-arm and vest. I am very happy to gain this experience with the Scarlet and SteadiCam rig.

So I take it the Scarlet is essentially just too heavy duty for the Pilot and I should consider a heftier sled/arm rig? Yes, current the arm does sag a lot more than when I use the Merling and my Sony NXCam HXR-5U. I thought I didn't have the tension screws tight enough. I hope to get a better balance. So far it is a vast improvement.

I also want to take down the lense to a shallow 18mm. Possibly I can also take off the Touch Screen, use only the Pilot's LCD and the RedMote. ;-)

 

[Phil Anderson]

A week has gone by, and I'm wondering how well you got it to work, if you did.

I have not tried using Scarlet on the Pilot, but I do know that a fairly stripped down Scarlet and Epic have been used by some on it. As you noted, using the Pilot's monitor is a good start (and a good idea, IMO). It gets to a point where you have to ask yourself how complicated your shot needs to be, how large of lens do you need (as in focus/DOF control), etc. etc.

Yes, big difference between the Merlin and Pilot. While the Merlin is a cool unit, the Pilot is more in the realm of pro gear. The entry into Steadicam's professional line, if you will.

 

[Paramon Ivanovich]

sure it's doable, i'd power camera from pilot's battery and get rid of the side handle, with no any accessories and medim size lens should be just fine,
i need to try that

 

[Alonzo Von Threet]

Hey Phil,

Sorry I missed your message. I guess I need to change to email notifications. A couple of weeks ago, I used my Scarlet, "Job's Joy" for the first time, professionally on a music video shoot in Rochester NY but it was on a tripod and shoulder rig. I have a new shoot in Rochester again, but with a different director. This time we are going with the SteadCam Pilot. Except, now I have upgraded my rig with a few features that I believe will make it too heavy for the SteadiCam Pilot. I don't want to crack the gimbal or anything like that.

I now have a PL Mount on my Scarlet. It's an 18mm ƒ18mm battle-tested RED Pro Prime. I am concerned about the weight of it on the Pilot. I also have a Zeiss 18mm 'ƒ3.5 which may be tricky in low light. I also outfitted my Scarlet with a Quad battery pack for my RedVolts, so I am not considering using that at all.

I'm trying to specifically find out how much weight the Pilot with the RoboArm SteadiCam can carry. It's all interesting to me because even though I see now that Paramon mentioned it a year ago, Lens sizes was never a thought to me before now.

As far as the Dove Tail I ordered for the CheesePlate on the Steadi Cam "Job's Joy" a year ago. It worked fine. However, the base plate for the dovetail and the screw holes on the cheesplate don't match as well as I would like. There's only one screw fastening together. I would hoping to match with at least two. Trying to mount a PL Mount with only one screw is another reason I am concerned about the rig. I fear the weight of the lens may cause the screw to snap...God Forbid!!

Anyhow, I'm stripping the system back down to the original configuration as it was a year ago and I will talk to the director about planning the shoot for the slower Zeiss lens. Heck, I have a couple of Mole-Richarson's 2000 watts and Dedolights, so It can't be all that bad.

Thanks.
AVT

 

[Alonzo Von Threet]

I broke the rig back down to just the Scarlet and a EF lens. The one screw is a problem. It won't it won't stay tight.