Bottom Stage ideas? modding flycam 5000

[Alejandro Alexandr]

Hi guys,

Take a look at my bottom stage right now. It's yucky.

I am going to attach a new monitor and batteries. Any ideas of good ways?

I have seen many here but wasn't sure what would be minimal work. I don't change around cameras at all and don't need too much fine adjustments in the field. (i hope anyway).

Not sure if I should work with a D box? J box? Or can get away with lesser work.

Should I use styrofoam like I am using now to form a base? That works but I have to be extra careful during transport.

[Charles King]

Hi there. I just have to ask. What rig is this?

[Vladimir Korshunov]

Pilot as prototipe is great:
http://www.steadicam.com/images/content/PILOT%20Manual_112607.pdf   

[Chris Harding]

Hi Charles

It's a Flycam 5000 sled (I used to have one) It has just a flat bottom stage much like the glidecam.

This is how I did my bottom sled back in 2008. My LCD was from a car reversing kit and the little junction box came with the LCD kit.

Chris

[Alejandro Alexandr]

Hi there. I just have to ask. What rig is this?

Hi Charles! It's Flycam 5000.

[Alejandro Alexandr]

Hi Charles

It's a Flycam 5000 sled (I used to have one) It has just a flat bottom stage much like the glidecam.

This is how I did my bottom sled back in 2008. My LCD was from a car reversing kit and the little junction box came with the LCD kit.

Chris

Thanks Vladimir!

Hi Chris, I saw that before . I think I need to raise the monitor and battery because the gimbal is not adjustable and i am only using a lightweight canon hv30 + diy mattebox + wide angle lens (35mm dof maybe)

ah yes Vladimir, I was thinking of that. Not sure if  I can get away with using PVC piping! (easier to get here in the states, than aluminum rods)

Do you guys know in the Pilot, how does that bottom rod connect to the sled post? I think it slides right?

[Tom Hall]

Here are 2 images of a similar setup I used to have on a Glidecam 2000, and the third image is what I'm currently using as a base.  Works very nicely, and the manfrotto 357 sliding plate (blue outline) allows for some fore-aft movement of the batteries (red outline) which is always nice.  Green is the breakout box which houses the monitor fuse box, and the rest of the cabling.

[Alejandro Alexandr]

Hi Tom, ah very nice!

How come you have the battery below the plate? How is the dynamic balance?

Can the sled stand on the ground by itself?  I am thinking of trying to keep the batteries level with the monitor so I still have a base to stand the sled on the ground.

thanks!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Tom

To go slightly off topic I see that your gimbal is WAY down the shaft...mine is a mere 6" down and I was told that it should be as close to the top stage as possible.. Mine seems to fly well with a low gimbal but I need lots of bottom stage weight to counteract the 10lbs of camera above. However it DOES give me a nice 'idle' height.

Alejandro, why not just adjust your gimbal to suit the bottom sled so you can leave it low???  With a light camera maybe you are already too close to the top stage??? What I use is Lithium Ion CCTV camera batteries instead of lead acid..they are a fraction of the weight and actually cheaper too!! My 1800mah packs last me around 1.5 hours with the 7" monitor. Making your bottom stage lighter will probably work out better for you!! I get my batteries and a charger on eBay for $20!!!

Chris

[Alejandro Alexandr]

Hi Tom

To go slightly off topic I see that your gimbal is WAY down the shaft...mine is a mere 6" down and I was told that it should be as close to the top stage as possible.. Mine seems to fly well with a low gimbal but I need lots of bottom stage weight to counteract the 10lbs of camera above. However it DOES give me a nice 'idle' height.

Alejandro, why not just adjust your gimbal to suit the bottom sled so you can leave it low???  With a light camera maybe you are already too close to the top stage??? What I use is Lithium Ion CCTV camera batteries instead of lead acid..they are a fraction of the weight and actually cheaper too!! My 1800mah packs last me around 1.5 hours with the 7" monitor. Making your bottom stage lighter will probably work out better for you!! I get my batteries and a charger on eBay for $20!!!

Chris

Hi Chris,  ah I have the flycam 5000 without the adjustable gimbal. So I am stuck. right now I have a piece of wood to raise the height of my camera . ah yeah I got the lithium ion batteries on ebay mailed from china. they are about same weight as the rca lcd monitor I got . ~250g?

Right now with the lcd screen that I cut off a broken dvd player, I have to sit the lcd screen , as you see in photos above, on top of some styrofoam boards I glued with hot glue gun.

[Chris Harding]

The flycam 5000 bearing should have a collar top and bottom with a couple of allen screws in it which stops the bearing sliding up and down the shaft. If you loosen those screws you SHOULD be able to move bearing up or down to suit your camera. It's not quite as precise as the 6000 but I know that my bearing was secured like that. If you CAN move the gimbal then you might have to strip away the thick plastic decal on the shaft so the bearing can slide to the position you need. If yours doesn't have collars then I apologise but on the CineCity site you can clearly see the black top collar and the hole where the allen grub screw goes in to lock the collar.

It's worth a look as it will save you having to add bits to the sled!!

Chris

[Alejandro Alexandr]

ah great . i opened it before but didn't know how to proceed further.

I know there is a round collar washer thing? that needs a specific plier to pull it out? I forgot the name of this type of plier for circular metal locking thing.

thanks!

[Chris Harding]

No!! that's part of the bearing...above the bearing is a collar (I have attached a pic) it's black and will have two holes with allen grub screws in them..if you loosen the screws with an allen key you should be able to slide the gimbal up or down...when it's right, tighten the screws again.

Chris

[Alejandro Alexandr]

No!! that's part of the bearing...above the bearing is a collar (I have attached a pic) it's black and will have two holes with allen grub screws in them..if you loosen the screws with an allen key you should be able to slide the gimbal up or down...when it's right, tighten the screws again.

Chris

ah! i've loosened those and slide the black top part up before. But the gimbal doesn't seem to move? is that just friction? I look more

[Chris Harding]

Hi Alejandro

I don't have my 5000 sled any more so I cannot look but common sense would "assume" that there would also be a collar under the bearing to stop it slipping down so you would need to loosen both collars and then slide the bearing up or down before re-tightening the collars. If the bearing has a lip underneath, they might also be using that as the bottom collar???

The bottom line is when they make the sled they take a piece of pipe and slide on a bearing so there must be collars to lock it in place so there is no reason why you cannot reposition it. Thway you will be able to also discard the wooden block under the camera and the whole thing will look way neater!!

Chris