General weight questions

[kaplooee]

Im currently looking to pick up a new skill, which would be a steady cam.
I was looking at the basson system and also some systems on the homebuilt stabalizers site. and am pondering getting a basson system. My main question os are most people using this system for video only. Ive seen some digi betas on these rigs in the gallery. have any one used a basson system with a film camera. Since i dont shoot video, and at the moment am not working enough to buy a full steady cam system. I shoot monstly s16 and 35, and my main concern is can the basosn handle alittle more wight. Might i be able to switch out some of the springs for stronger ones. Ohh and what is the arm actually made out of, steel or alum? If its steel, doesnt it seem a little thin ? I read almost every post in this forum and am aware of the some of the contructions issues. I contacted Basosn with these questions and they told me they are making a new 950 arm that will be out on the 15th of this month, anyone know anything else about it?


Can the basson be beefed up to handle 30lbs or am i just crazy thinking this. Because the system isnt made for such weight. and if so what parts of the system are limiting it?

Any input would be great, also I heard there is another argentinian system out there called the fly cam. How is this ? is it in another pricing leage altogether?

Ohh one last thing, i know im asking for alot, but would it be possible since they are not on the basson website for some detailed pics of the 800 unit, the arms components, vets and sled.

thank you
kaplooee co.

[optonica]

Hi

The basson is strong enough to handle s16mm arri cameras and should cope with a konvas 35mm camera (loads on ebay if you want a cheap light 35mm camera with cinemascope anamorphic lenses). but anything heavier i.e. panavisions or arri 435's and it would be too heavy for the rig, even if you upgrade the springs the elbow or the joints will break as they are not designed for the weight! Real deal steadicam rigs sometimes break under the weight of a full 35mm rig (believe me i've seen them).

The arm is steel but steel is stronger than aluminium so the thickness of the arm walls are not really a problem! and steel will flex before it breaks so just look for warning signs that it isn't happy with the weight, thick wall aluminium holds rigid with little flex before it gives up, so you get little warning before it goes.

If you were to beef up a rig to handle a 30lb camera rember that you have to counter balance the camera on the sledso you have to make the bottom heavier by about another 5-10lbs depending on post length so keep that in mind.

the flycam seems a good system I havn't used it but it looks good. the only thing is it costs about 2-3 times the price of the basson, not far from the price of a second hand steadicam rig!

also for your info the 600 and 800 arms are identicle the sled is only really different at the base of the sled. In all honesty I would say go for the 600 as you will find it difficult to put a different batt system on an 800(anton bauer etc) as the lead acid battery goes into a hole in the sled! also as nothing on the sled can move in and out you can't adjust dynamic balance on an 800! and you will save some money on the 600 system (don't forget any import taxes for you country on your rig when working out your prices).

I'm sure jason can stick a couple of pics of his arm on for you (he has a 500 which is the same as a 600/800 arm but with different springs).

Any more questions feel free to ask
Ant

[kaplooee]

Thanks for the reply,

I didnt think i could through a 435 with a steaicam top and lightweight mags on. It's still pretty heavy. But if i can through a SR3 with primes and a clip on mattbox or an XTR prod i would be stoked. So if the steady can handle it, this seems to go beyond what the basson specs tell me. Are they just being carefull or would i still need to change out some springs? and hos is the gimble on this system, is it ok?


Thank you
I will be looking at the 600 since it seems the sled would be easier to modify.

Thank you
kaplooee Co.

[optonica]

Hi

From what I remember when I had a fiddle around with an sr3, with film in it was far lighter than a beta or the panasonic that jason uses on his rig. So should be fine just dont go overboard with the mattbox stick to a simple one not a full studio rig!

The one thing I will mention is that the sr and xtr cameras are coaxial mag cameras, so as they run the film moving from one side to another will mess about with your balance on the sled! (why people don't use arri bl cameras on full rigs often apart from the weight of the damn thing) you can run with an sr or xtr but something like an arri st, either with or without 400ft mags fitted or another type of displacement mag camera would be best!!!!

The gimble hmmm one of the bad parts of the basson design. If you look at the forum section about jason's gimble problems you will see what I mean BUT THEY CAN BE SORTED!!!!

Where do you come from if you live in the united kingdom maybe me you and jason can meet up and show you round the rig and answer any other questions you may have.

Hope this helps
Ant

[kaplooee]

I know the coaxial mags are an issue, the cameras were not really designed for steady work but they are light and produce awsome pictures. I live in san francisco, ca. So if there is anyone out this way id love to meet up. Thank you once a again for all the info I feel alot more confident with my insticts now to go with the basson rig.

One thing is i would love pictures of the arm joints and connectors and the spring system. We have a machinest at my work and id love to get his oppinion. Also on the sled to see how hard it would be convert it to NP batteries, since they are cheap and everyone has them on set.

once again i cannot thank you enough for the quick replys and the wealth of information.

/.
kaplooee. co

[optonica]

Hi

Np battery holders allways come up on ebay etc so getting one should be easy. fitting it should be easy too just remember to run a power feed up the post for the camera, into a donkey box would be best so you don't have a million leads hanging down. also you can get a cheap video transmitter from ebay to go to a directors dummy (viewfinder/monitor). I know you probably already know this but don't forget you need to add the weight of a video tap to you camera, for the monitor on the sled!

hope it goes well for you and don't forget to post some pics on the forum when you get flying, and any mods you do too.

Ant

[optonica]

Hi again

The one thing I should mention that I really worry a little about is the spring hooks! the basson system uses the spring hooks for hooking onto parts inside the arm as you can see from jasons cool macro shots. if you know an engineer get him to make you some spring plugs to fasten the rig to the springs as they are far more secure. the hooks probably will not ever fail within the rigs weight limits but plugs are far safer!

Ant