The January 2006 Varicamp in Burbank was a hoot!

[Gregg Goodwin]

Hey Ray, this is Gregg G. from Florida. You’re right, as a new Varicam owner/operator, I can’t imagine going out there and selling yourself as an experienced operator without attending Varicamp first. That is, unless you are REALLY good at reading manuals and you have a waveform, Vectorscope [SDI], and a Chroma Dimage chart. It was great meeting you, good luck, and we’ll keep in touch here at Creative Cow.

PS No response via e-mail or phone yet from Varispeed, but I’m persistent. I’ll keep you updated.

GOODWINHD.COM

[Ray Palmer]

You did strike me as the persistent type.
The Varispeed is fairly cheap to rent and Film & Video in Denver has one.
I could see it used a lot with Nascar events.

Later,
Ray

[Gregg Goodwin]

I saw you were asking about the best way to travel with your camera package. I have been travelling with my package for 15 years domestically and internationally at least twice a month and I always pack the camera in the padded thermodyne type shipping case and have never had a damage problem. I remove the lens from the camera to reduce shock on the bayonet and put it in the case as well. My feeling is you risk more chance of the camera getting dinged or broken by hand carrying it everywhere and cramming it into overhead storage, plus you have to deal with security and risk it getting ripped off when you’re not looking. I know of at least 2 guys who had their cameras ripped off while it was sitting at their feet at the rental car counter last year during the Superbowl here in Jax. Just my 2 cents worth!

As far as the Varispeed, I’ll keep trying. I would rather buy than rent because I could use it for several things I shoot. I’ll let you know what happens. Thanks for your help with the camera setup at Varicamp, I did finally get a chance to tweak mine.

GOODWINHD.COM

[Ray Palmer]

Good advice on flying with the camera as baggage. I need to fly to DC in April with our camera and I will check it as baggage. I just hate to let it out of my sight.
As it turns out, we decided to drive to Burbank from Phoenix for Varicamp. It took 6 hours to drive it and it would have taken 5 hours to do the flight with the 2 hour pre-flight, picking up a rental car and etc.

[Gregg Goodwin] “As far as the Varispeed, I’ll keep trying. I would rather buy than rent because I could use it for several things I shoot. I’ll let you know what happens. Thanks for your help with the camera setup at Varicamp, I did finally get a chance to tweak mine.”

Go get em. I might try to see if I can get a street price for you. We will need to rent, at least until next fiscal year.

All the Best,
Ray