[Todd Terry]

Just an update…. in case anyone else wants to get more life out of an ancient camera…

I got the FireStore FS-4Pro HD all rigged up and mounted up and cabled up and all that jazz. I’ll admit it is a tad Frankensteiny (which I don’t like… I hate loose cables and such)…. but I have to say it does work like a charm…

… and so for 200 bucks I’m able to get some more use out of once-reasonably-expensive camera that was just sitting in storage. Actually, it wasn’t even properly stored… it was literally sitting on the floor in a corner of the audio booth because, well, that’s the last place someone put it down, who knows how long ago.

The FireStore battery is long since shot, so I’m powering it via the goldmount powertap so the same battery that powers the cable powers the recorder. I have that big brick mount on this camera because I used to use it with a P+S Technik 35mm lens converter, so rather than use little individual batteries I had rigged this so the same brick would power the camera and the lens converter… so that mount was already there. I just had to make one cable that had the FireStore’s power plug on one end and an AntonBauer powertap plug on the other.

One thing I did notice, the FireStore’s hard drive breaks up long clips into individual files that are about 8:45 long. They say they are seamless when stitched together, but in reality it does drop one frame at the stitch point. I can live with that.

I did find a guy on YouTube who gutted a couple of FireStores and replaced the hard drives with CF cards. It looked incredibly easy (or at least he made it look easy), and only takes one $4 part. I might try that later.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

What we came up with is sort of the poor-man’s version of this….

https://vimeo.com/83858076

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Eh, Rich… we have sorta figured out a way to do that, but not quite as well as I would like.

We take off the handle and use a little short ball-mount magic arm to re-orient the monitor (while flipping around the screen, and using the “mirror” button to re-orient the image), and then use a Hoodman loupe with an extender on it…

It works fair… I’m the first to admit that it is far from a perfect set-up, but good enough to get by for the occasional handheld work (which fortunately I don’t do much of). We also usually use it with longer rods that stick out the back, to which we attach a shoulder-mount thing (I was a little too lazy to rig that part up for the pic, since you only asked about eyepieces).

Unfortunately I don’t believe Hoodman makes that exact loupe and extender anymore. I think that because the rubber eyecup on the loupe recently needed replacing (developed a tear that could not be glued), and when I inquired about a replacement eyecup from Hoodman I was told that part was discontinued. I found one on Amazon, but had to pay almost fifty bucks for a one-inch piece of rubber. Well ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

I believe someone (maybe it’s Zacuto?) makes a better solution that I recall seeing years ago, but if I remember correctly it was quite expensive, so I just went the DIY route since we only rarely use it in that configuration.

I love the C300 (one of my all-time favorite cameras), but I do think the designers huddled and said “Let’s make this body as ergonomically unfriendly as possible for handheld work.”

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I honestly don’t think it’s a mystery or some big flat lighting instrument at all… I would entirely bet the farm on that. And the neighbor’s farm, too. The passing shadows totally give it away.

That’s the sunroof. It might be diffused additionally somehow (although the stock sunroof has a diffused position), but I honestly don’t think so. I think it’s just the Land Rover “Panorama Sunroof,” as they call it… nothing more, nothing less.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

The one with Adam Levine… different vehicle and NO open sunroof….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZkUNPBlJIQ

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Well I stand corrected about the roof rack… there was no rack on the vehicle used with the Red Hot Chili Peppers (which I think was the best Carpool Karaoke yet)…

You can see it clearly in the exterior shot at 5:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfudXO_vzWk

You can also see lots of tree shadows at 4:47.

I think those lines are just struts that are part of the Land Rover “panorama” sunroof… it’s not just one gigantic big hole in the top. I’ll give it a look the next time I’m in one.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

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[Todd Terry]

They might have put some diffusion material on top of the sunroof, but it does have a position that looks pretty much exactly like that… if I recall… it has been a few months since I’ve been in one.

I think those horizontal stripes you are seeing are just the roof rack that is on top of that vehicle.

Could be wrong, of course.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrEGWf1KAd4

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

Well could be… but I’ve shot in enough Land Rovers (tons and tons of times) to know that’s exactly what the sun roof looks like when it’s pulled to the translucent panel position.

As far as I know, I always thought Carpool Karaoke was just shot available light. In the occasional exterior shot you can always see the myriad GoPros attached in bunches of places, but I’ve never seen any sign of any lighting instruments.

Of course I could be wrong… and frequently am.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Todd Terry]

I’ve always noticed that they almost ALWAYS use a Land Rover as it has a very large and translucent sunroof.

Is that what you are talking about?

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com