My Name is Thomas James

[theguycalledtom]

Hi Guys and Girls,

My name is Thomas James, I'm a filmmaker from Perth, Western Australia. I'm very much new to the steadicam scene but I need to put an order in for a steadicam Flyer asap.

I am totally stumped on what battery mount I need. Steadicam seems to offer three different versions. IDX-V-Mount, NP-1, and Anton Bauer. What are differences between these battery systems? Are there pros and cons to each? I'm not such a big fan of NiCad batteries but thats all I know.

In the forseeable future I'll only be flying cameras in the Canon XL range.

I know this should also probably be in the batteries forum but I'm new and I thought I would introduce myself at the same time.

Thanks for anyone who can help me out.

[optonica]

Hi

Find out what the most common mount is in your part of the world! For example in the states it's Anton Bauer in the UK it's Pag now being closely chased y the V-Lock system (IDX-V-Mount) as it's now standard on most sony camcorders. For gods sake stay away from NP1!

I would say go with V-Lock as you don't seem to be tied to any system yet and they are a good standard to go with. As I can see it being the mount of choice for most users round the world over the next couple of years.

Ant

[Adrenochrome]

Hi Thomas,

I'd reccommend the Anton Bauer Gold Mount style if you're flying XL1's. Simply because there is a battery adapter freely available for the XL1 to take gold mount batteries and you may find that convenient in the future. Also AB is pretty common in Australasia.
Cheers,
Martin

[theguycalledtom]

Hey, thanks for your help guys.

So it sounds like its a good idea to get a battery system that can power your camera as well. Is the Anton Bauer Gold Mount style the same as the "Anton Bauer Battery Mount" version of the flyer in the official pricelist (http://www.steadicam.com/images/content/2006_Flyer.pdf)?

If I was to get the V-mount system, do you think this adapter (http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/public/view_item_cat.php?catalogue_number=idx_a-e2h1) would be enough to power an Xl camera, possibly an xl1? I'm pretty sure they all use the same batteries.

[optonica]

Hi

Yes a gold mount is the same as the anton bauer battery mount. Yes it is a good idea to get a battery system that can power your cameras also. The batt adaptor that you posted a link to will work for the xlh1 only possibly the xtandard def xl1 too but that will be it as it has the mounting points for that camera only.

Ant

[Adrenochrome]

I use this on my XL1 when loaded on my V25.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=364143&is=REG&addedTroughType=search
It not only powers my camera all day without a battery change but adds the extra weight to the camera that I need to get my rig to float.
You can pick the adaptors up easily enough on places like ebay for a reasonable discount on the new price but they are designed specifically for the XL series cameras as they feed power to the camera via an adaptor similar to the mains adaptor that runs from your charger.
It's a really useful piece of kit for running a lightweight camera on a rig. The extra weight really helps getting the rig to float nicely.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Martin