I was recently approached by Director Clyde Hayes to shoot scenes for his mixed media play entitled Rocket Men. The script was very clever and I immediately started to think about how to produce imagery for the selected scenes.

Our budget was ultra low, so we decided to shoot the scenes with a Panasonic HVX200, outfitted with a Redrock M2 35mm adapter and Nikon SLR primes.

In order to monitor and pull focus we had a 7” Marshall V-R70P-HDA and a Sony 14 inch PVM-ML5/1 CRT. Both were used in the upside down position in order to flip the M2’s inverted image. We also used the newer revision of the Redrock follow focus, a Chrosziel matte box and four SLR lenses; a Nikon 20mm f2.8, Nikon 35mm f1.4, Nikon 50mm f1.4, and a Nikon 85mm 1.4.

Although I had done some small tests with the M2 adapter, I had not used it in a real world situation. On a recent shoot we used the P+S Technik Mini 35 with a set of ARRI primes mounted to the HVX200. We also rented a Chrosziel follow focus and matte box. The images from the Mini 35 looked very nice, but I have not had the chance to fully evaluate them, so I can't compare footage at this time. One interesting side note is that I had the same focus puller on both gigs, so I asked him how he felt about the Redrock follow focus. He told me he liked the Redrock better for the simple fact that you set markers on the side of the unit rather than the top. This made it easier for him to see if he was hitting his marks.

My first impressions of the M2 vs the Mini 35 was construction. The construction of the Mini 35 is superior in nearly every way. I personally like the fact that the Mini 35 covers the focus and zoom rings on the HVX. This makes it unlikely that one might accidentally shift your focus or zoom while shooting or moving the camera.. With the M2, this is something that one needs to remain very conscious of at all times.

THE SHOOT

On Rocket Men, we shot 10 pages of script with multiple locations in one day, so we were constantly battling against time. Still, I never felt at any time that we were held up by the M2 unit.

POST SHOOT

After the shoot, I sat down and looked at all the footage. I felt that under the budget and time constraints we did a good job, but of course there are always things I would do differently if given the opportunity. One thing that struck me is that the M2's footage always had a soft focus. I noticed this pre-shoot and was extra conscious of how I set up and maintained the M2's setting throughout the shoot. I previously posted some M2 test footage on DVXUSER.COM and got into a conversation about making adjustments and hard-mounting the M2. I decided to order a set of rings and hard- mount the M2 to the HVX. Unfortunately, the delivery came too late for this shoot.

After seeing the footage, I decided it was time to take apart my M2 unit and see what was going on inside.

Before I go on, here's a quick note. If you are not comfortable mechanically or are happy with your footage, DON'T take apart your M2. I am not telling anyone to take apart their M2. I am simply showing what I did to improve my footage. Each M2 is going to have it's own variances and some may arrive perfect. If you open your M2, you do so at your own risk of damaging it.

Upon removing the inner unit, I turned on and off the motor and watched it spin down. To my surprise, the focal disk was wobbling back and forth and side to side. This presents a problem. If you are focusing your HVX on the focal plane and the plane is wobbling back and forth, then your focal plane is constantly falling in and out of focus.