blimping a camera

[Hanthx]

You know, I read an article (forget what magazine) on a fellow who shot his feature with a 7008 camera. Even though the camera is relatively quiet, he built a box made out of a heavy cardboard on the outside, and some sort of soft foam on the indside, similar to the stuff underneath most carpets.
I didnt look very sophisicated, actually very ugly, but it worked.
Maybe this might spark an idea?

Scott

[This message has been edited by Hanthx (edited July 31, 2001).]

[Rigo]

Alex told me a couple of days ago to use a blanked... I tried it with my camera, wich is very noisy. And while being in the bed I came with the idea of using another "high-tech device" and it worked awesomly. A nice soft pillow will adapt to your camera and absorb all the noise out. If using a tripod you can even tie the pillow up to it.

It?s great that we don?t need this kind of things shooting exteriors, imagine?

[MovieStuff]

I guess it depends on whether you want a blimp or a barney. Using an abundance of soft material to quiet a camera is really a barney. They work, but can be a bit unwieldy. True blimps are hard shelled and are built in one of two ways:

a) either they use heavy deadening material like metal (sometimes lead sheets)

or

b) they use lighter materials but leave an air gap between two sets of walls. Imagine building a room within a room and that's how lighter blimps are made.

The hardest thing is isolating the lens area since, by its very nature, has to be exposed to the outside. The camera should be isolated from the outer walls using rubber mounts that touch the smallest surface area possible of the camera. This reduces transmission of vibrations.

Hope this helps!

Roger Evans

[ulrichsd]

I was asking about blimping because I didn't think a barney would be able to do the job by itself.
A while back, I tried wrapping a thin pillow around the camera, but it really didn't do much and the camera noise was still very evident on the tape.

I figure I will probably have to end up using a barney AND a blimping device to shield the camera and fiim a fair distance from the camera (~3 meters) for most shots and film closer when there is no dialogue for some break away shots.

Here is another question:
If you don't have a unidirectional microphone and can't afford one, can you put shields on you mics to block camera noise?(similar to ones you see at American foortball games to block crowd noise to get sideline and huddle discussions).

Thanks for the ideas everyone, I guess I'll try thicker pillows and cardboard and stuff and see if that helps any more.

Scott Ulrich

[ulrichsd]

I'm shooting with a Canon 1014E and it is LOUD. I'm recording sound on a high quality 8mm reel to reel analog system (it uses the same reels as an 8mm projector, cool!). I'm afraid that the mic will pick up motor noise from the camera and I don't think a barney will be able to quiet this beast.

So... does anyone know how to build a blimp relatively inexpensively (under 100 USD)?

Any other suggestions? (and please don't tell me to just go buy a Nizo 6080 )

Thanks in advance,
Scott Ulrich


[This message has been edited by ulrichsd (edited July 31, 2001).]

[MovieStuff]

Hi, Scott!

A good barney or a blimp should do the trick. You don't need both. I don't know what your mechanical skills are or what kind of tools you have, but building a blimp is not that difficult, if you stop to understand what you are trying to do. Basically, you hear the camera because it vibrates the air around it. If you can keep it from affecting the surrounding air, then you won't hear it!

Therefore, if you put your camera in a box, then put that box in another box with the inner box setting on some rubber washers or the like at the corners, you would be surprised how much quieter the camera is. This is because the inner box slows down the vibrations. Then the vibrations have to make the journey from the wall of the inner box, across the air gap to the wall of the outer box. Buy the time that happens, there isn't much energy left to vibrate the outer box so the surrounding air isn't affected.

Now, I'm not suggesting you make a blimp out of a cardboard box, however, I have seen double walled blimps make out of pine that work just great. Line the inner box with foam but not the outer box. Leave it with an air space between the two boxes. And don't forget about the rubber mounts for both the camera and the inner box. It is vital that the vibrations from the camera not be transferred to the outer shell.

Not sexy, but better looking than a pillow duct taped to your camera!

Roger

[ulrichsd]

Thanks everyone for the ideas, now I have quite a few ideas to try.

Rollemfilm, as for the mattebox, do you know where I could get one that would fit a Canon 1014E? I don't know where I could even attach one on the camera. And I'm curious, why do you say it will make the picture look so much better? There wouldn't be much of a difference between a filter on a matte box and a filter directly on the lens, would there?

Thanks,
Scott Ulrich

[MovieStuff]

Hi, all.

I respectfully disagree with Rollenfilm about the sound coming mainly from the front lens. I have used matte boxes on all kinds of cameras and I have never noticed any kind of sound damping qualities by using a matte box. On the contrary, what I have noticed is that the matte box will sometime act like a megaphone and amplify the sound of the camera and direct it toward the set!

Roger

[rollemfilm]

as far as where to buy a mattebox for super8, i don't know. i do know they have made them. you might have to rig something yourself. yes, a mattebox is far better than any lens shade, being so deep and adjustable for any focal length. if you have a good matte system with glass filters it will help reduce sound. this is why on many of the early sync cameras they were build with lens covers. you still need to blimp, but you will add more blimping power with a matte box. if they were'nt useful, they would'nt build them. if you saw the last american cinematographer, there is a photo with a 4008ZM witha box on the front. i think the best advice for those with very loud cameras is go the ADR route. unless you are a documentary filmmaker.

[MovieStuff]

Hi, Rollenfilm!

You wrote of matte boxes regarding sound deadening: "if they were'nt useful, they would'nt build them"

I agree, they are useful... as a lens shade. However, I never implied that one should build a blimp and NOT cover the lens. Perhaps I misunderstood your meaning. I thought you were implying that a camera with no blimp could reduce the level of noise it generates by using a mattebox only. That's what I was responding to; the idea that a mattebox alone would reduce noise.

Of course if you build a blimp, you must cover the lens with a mattebox or some other covering to keep the transmission of noise down. No argument there!

Roger