What the thread found

• The Tango arm is designed for use with Zephyr and Archer2 Steadicam sleds and can achieve vertical boom ranges up to nine feet at maximum extension.
• Recommended payload capacity decreases with arm length: approximately 10 pounds at shortest configuration, 8 pounds at mid-length, and 6 pounds at full extension.
• Canon EOS 5D or 7D equipped with Zeiss Compact Prime lenses represents the standard camera setup for Tango operations.
• Compact Prime lenses are larger than the camera body and require a riser to position them properly on the camera.
• The lighter Zeiss ZE or ZF stills lenses can be adapted to work with the Tango setup when used with appropriate follow focus systems, potentially allowing longer arm extension or additional accessories.
• Zeiss Compact Primes have a bottom lens support point that provides a second anchor point, which is particularly valuable when operating the camera inverted.
• A Preston follow focus system with HU3 interpolation capability can map focus distances with accuracy to fractions of feet, matching the precision of cinema lenses.
• The Bartech follow focus system with variable torque adjustment can be configured for use with stills lenses without risk of damaging focus rings.
• A bubble level or digital level system can be mounted at the slave end of the arm, powered by the follow focus battery.
• Horizon judgment is more difficult with the Tango than traditional Steadicam due to the dual-sled configuration affecting roll momentum.
• The Sony FS100 and Sony A1E cameras are suitable alternatives for Tango work due to multiple mounting points.
• Small design revisions demonstrated at NAB reduced vibration issues across all arm lengths.

Depends on

• Payload weight recommendations are approximate and assume optimal conditions; vigorous moves at shortest extension or slow moves at full extension may further reduce practical capacity.
• No commercial mattebox is considered satisfactory for use with Compact Prime lenses; a specialized 15mm mattebox was planned but production status is unclear at the time of discussion.
• Setup complexity may discourage experimenting with non-standard lens choices in commercial production environments.
• The boom range estimates are based on limited testing and may vary with different arm posts and camera configurations.
• Roll control is more difficult than with single-sled Steadicam systems due to increased momentum from dual sleds.
• The viability of adapting stills lenses depends on having adequate job preparation time to properly configure follow focus systems.

Gear in this thread

Zephyrcatalog, HU3

Parts

Follow Focus

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