Arnold F. Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 I would like to drum up more ENG/EPK/EFP gigs and and am trying to determine whether or not I should go into serious debt to be able to offer wireless camera hops (Zaxcom would be my choice) as part of my package. Are wireless hops usually expected? A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Mayer Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 Arnold, Not "expected", but nice to have. I always bill extra for it. It is not included in my basic kit price. The going rate for a Zax link seems to be $80-100/day. ---Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curleysound Posted January 7, 2008 Report Share Posted January 7, 2008 a little more expensive but it feature set blows away the competition. I agree, this looks like a good choice, but the max output of the xmtr is 50mw. Do you think that is poise for concern? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curleysound Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 That's an interesting observation on the zaxcom. I am now wondering if the truly digital transmission means that this is comparable to the reliable range of the analog transmission of a 200 series lectro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason porter Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I don't think the 50mw output is a big deal, unless you were planning on being REALLY far from the receiver (camera) One thing that I have noticed when using an RF hop, the transmitter(s) are not as affected by body absorption (like when on a persons' belt or ankle) because the Tx is usually mounted on the outside of your ENG bag or even better, up high on your harness. I think this can make up for the lower RF output. Another nice feature of less RF output, is longer battery life It would be nice if you could still select the RF output power, like on the older models, but I don't think it is a serious drawback. What were the options- 3, 20, 50 & 90 Mw? -JP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Toline Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I agree, this looks like a good choice, but the max output of the xmtr is 50mw. Do you think that is poise for concern? Tom If you check you'll see that most Lectro tx's are 50mw. More than enough for 98% of any application. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDirckze Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 While we're on the subject... I've just picked up a couple UCR411/UM400 for use as wireless camera link. In terms of gain I was going to set the receivers at -20 and the transmitters the same feeding tone @ 0dB. Does this sound right? Cheers, Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Has anyone used the new Lectro 2-in-1 RX for this? How about the Audio Technica 2-in-1 that Trew sells? Losing the cable feed to the camera on the shoots I've been doing seems very attractive today.... Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Arnold, Not "expected", but nice to have. I always bill extra for it. It is not included in my basic kit price. The going rate for a Zax link seems to be $80-100/day. ---Matt I am lucky to even get $50.00 extra a day for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jed productions Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I don't have much experience with using wireless camera hops. Though, lately I have been thinking about using one, as it would be a nice luxury to be free from the camera operator. Those of you who are using them, is there a good way to monitor return audio from the camera? Thanks in advance for any help with my question. -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSBELLA Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Has anyone used the new Lectro 2-in-1 RX for this? How about the Audio Technica 2-in-1 that Trew sells? Losing the cable feed to the camera on the shoots I've been doing seems very attractive today.... Philip Perkins Philip, a system just returned, and the client was impressed. used it as a camera hop on a 4 week reality gig. a couple things. the rcvr (2rf ch) is big and heavy ( however,comes with a nice pouch/clip) the 2 tx's are made out of that light weight plastic, but they are a bit robust and have a cool slip/cover that protects the tx controls. gotta go, will tell more later Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Those of you who are using them, is there a good way to monitor return audio from the camera? When I do monitor on a wireless return I usually use a Sennheiser G2 system and hook it into my return input on my mixer. I usually insist the camera op listen though especially in a high pressure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbrisett Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Here is a wireless hop question, and I'm sure I'm missing something fundamental here... So you go from the mixer to a transmitter, that goes to a receiver on the camera. Now, if you're fancy and went with a Zaxcom system, you've got the IFB100 on the camera, so you now have confidence audio you can monitor (or the camera op, or boom op). If time code is being used, it would seem that you would want to use the Deva or Cantar, or 744T, or (put your flavor of TC recorder here) to be the master TC source, and have the camera get jammed from that via wireless. Right now, none of the systems I'm aware of work this way. They use the TC from the camera via IFB to jam things. Why? When you've got to jam the camera from a lockit or similar device every time a battery is changed. Seems it would be easier and smarter to constantly jam the camera via wireless. I'm sure I'm missing why this isn't happening, but I can't figure it out. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Here is a wireless hop question, and I'm sure I'm missing something fundamental here... So you go from the mixer to a transmitter, that goes to a receiver on the camera. Now, if you're fancy and went with a Zaxcom system, you've got the IFB100 on the camera, so you now have confidence audio you can monitor (or the camera op, or boom op). If time code is being used, it would seem that you would want to use the Deva or Cantar, or 744T, or (put your flavor of TC recorder here) to be the master TC source, and have the camera get jammed from that via wireless. Right now, none of the systems I'm aware of work this way. They use the TC from the camera via IFB to jam things. Why? When you've got to jam the camera from a lockit or similar device every time a battery is changed. Seems it would be easier and smarter to constantly jam the camera via wireless. I'm sure I'm missing why this isn't happening, but I can't figure it out. Wayne There are lots of ways to go, but the underlying truth seems to be that the camera TC isn't all that stable or long-term accurate, and it burps when a battery change is done. Most TC audio machines have more accurate TC, it seems, than cameras. The uptown way to deal w/ double system TC is to jam a Lockit box to the audio TC and have it feed the camera TC and sync. The low budg way to do it is to transmit the camera's TC to the audio recorder and have the audio machine use Ext TC and clock itself to the incoming TC. In cases where the client insists on record-run TC, the latter is the only way to share TC (TX or wired TC). In practice the TX TC has worked very well, and I've been using an old VHF wireless I had lying around to do it. A peripheral advantage to this method is that you can then use autorecord (or whatever your machine calls it) to stop and start your machine automatically in response to ascending or stopped TC from the camera--handy if you are working alone. Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Popp Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I don't think the 50mw output is a big deal, unless you were planning on being REALLY far from the receiver (camera) One thing that I have noticed when using an RF hop, the transmitter(s) are not as affected by body absorption (like when on a persons' belt or ankle) because the Tx is usually mounted on the outside of your ENG bag or even better, up high on your harness. I think this can make up for the lower RF output. Another nice feature of less RF output, is longer battery life It would be nice if you could still select the RF output power, like on the older models, but I don't think it is a serious drawback. What were the options- 3, 20, 50 & 90 Mw? -JP Just to clarify, I have been told many times that "doubling the RF Output Power" doesn't double your range. The difference between 50mW and 100mW is only about 10-20% more power. The Zaxcom systems are converted to digital when transmitted. Instead of companding, there are zeros and ones that stream right to the receiver, then are converted back to analog to be sent out of the receiver to your mixer. It is much easier to send digital words through the air than actual audio, which is susceptible to noise and other "stuff" interfering with the transmission. Since the Zaxcom receiver just ignores/discards anything that isnt the digital signal coming in, it only has to ensure that the signal coming through is strong - and it will take care of the rest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Lewis Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Lectro's UM200's 400's and SM's are 100MW. 1st generation Zaxcom Stereoline were adjustable up to 90mw and second generation stereoline were changed to fixed 65mw. The new TRX with stereo adapter are also 65mw. I believe they chose 65mw because it is most power efficient. Also because RF power is logarithmic, going from 65mw to 100mw is not going to give that much more range and it eats more power. I just had some dropout problems with my Zax in an ENG gang bang at the Michigan Primarys. I got separated from my camera man because of all the media folliowng Mitt Romney as well as being at the Detroit auto show with 70 other crews. It was one of the worst RF environments to be in, and with digital dropout your audio just mutes. Lesson: scan once all the other media is around you and try to stay closer to you camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Perkins Posted January 22, 2008 Report Share Posted January 22, 2008 Lectro's UM200's 400's and SM's are 100MW. 1st generation Zaxcom Stereoline were adjustable up to 90mw and second generation stereoline were changed to fixed 65mw. The new TRX with stereo adapter are also 65mw. I believe they chose 65mw because it is most power efficient. Also because RF power is logarithmic, going from 65mw to 100mw is not going to give that much more range and it eats more power. I just had some dropout problems with my Zax in an ENG gang bang at the Michigan Primarys. I got separated from my camera man because of all the media folliowng Mitt Romney as well as being at the Detroit auto show with 70 other crews. It was one of the worst RF environments to be in, and with digital dropout your audio just mutes. Lesson: scan once all the other media is around you and try to stay closer to you camera. And roll a backup? Philip Perkins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Lewis Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 That would be the smart thing to do, BUT, this is hard news and not only would they not have time to recover audio from the recorder, but they would not know what to do with it ! It is Betacam SP being fed from a SAT truck. Right idea Philip, but unfortunately the news industry is way behind the times. They are still trying how to buy and shoot news in HD. LOL !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted January 23, 2008 Report Share Posted January 23, 2008 well, the news is always better if it is shot in HD, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.279748a58a2b862b7aa5f3b84126e232.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.