NYC NJ Jib Op now with a Fujinon Cabrio 19-90

Long time and no text! Sorry google! This NYC based jib operator has been busy busy busy thru the pandemic times. Fortunately business has gone well and I’ve been able to do a few equipment upgrades including two Sony PXW-FX9s and a Fujinon Cabrio 19-90 T2.9. The Cabrio lens is absolutely beautiful and covers the FX9 in 5k Full Frame. That allows a little bit more width on the lens which is wonderful on a jib.

The first use of the FX9/Cabrio 19-90 Combo came a few weeks ago. I turned into a Phiadelphia Jib Op for a day (or perhaps just a Bucks County one) and worked on a project at The Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. The results were stunning! The image is magical and the servo functions like a dream come true. I honestly think I like this lens more than the Canon 17-120.

New Hope, PA was beautiful and sad it only lasted a day. I was back home by 7PM in Jersey City, NJ where Universal Jibs is based. In the coming weeks I may be turning into a Washington D.C. jib op or a Boston Jib op - we’ll where the bids take me!

Sony PXW-FX9 with Fujinon Cabrio 19-90 T2.9

Jibbing at the Bucks County Playhouse

Jibs vs Drones Part 3: Practicality

Another installment of jibs vs drones! This time, let chat about the practicality of both. Say you want to do live sweeping shots a parade and be connected to a live switch. That seems like it’s a slam dunk for a jib right right? However, it’s surprising the number of people that are trying to turn to drones for this. Of course, the drone can soar far about the parade lending views a jib could never do! But is this practical? First of all, let’s forget the legality issues with doing that as it’s sort of obvious there would be loads of them. Let’s focus on work flows. A drone needs frequent battery changes, is not as weather proof, and only get you a handful of shots. Jibs can run off AC and don’t burn thru battery power nearly as fast, so that lets us provide much more sustained coverage. With proper rain gear, jib rigs are impervious to torrential rain that would make a drone crash almost instantly. The drone would be locked into some kind of blimp camera angle. That’s an amazing shot, but it’s not nearly as versatile as a jib would be. When I’m jibbing a parade for example, I position the end of my arm to come within a few feet of the floats. This lets me very high and wide but still maintain an eye angle to the people on the ground. It also lets me zoom right into close ups of people on the float and give the effect of flight within that space. Doing this with a drone would certainly be an amazing skill set, but those propellors can slice a person up very easily so it’s just too risky. Even the smallest contact with a tiny branch can knock an sUAS out of the sky. For now and years to come, it’s simply not technologically feasible to do this kind of camera work with a drone. This doesn’t mean a drone shouldn’t be considered for some grandiose high and wide shots, they will look amazing!

Why jib ops love wide angle lenses?

Why are always asking for super wide lenses when we get a say in lens choice? This tends to apply most to events, cool spaces, or epic scenes. The jib has a role of establishing the space BUT also taking you into it. You don’t need much zoom to achieve this b/c the tight camera angles will capture those details. I have two polar opposite situations where wide angle lenses are super useful to me. The first one is MMA and the second is orchestras! In MMA, you want to position the end of the jib so it comes just over the cage bar. With a solid 2/3” 14x4.3 or a 4.5x13, you can usually fit the entire cage in your shot when flying around it. When it’s time to take viewer into the cage, you can boom out from the crowd, go super high over the cage, and then drift down INTO it for quite an experience if you’re watching it on a big TV at home. For orchestras, a lot of clients love the jib right on the stage to get the perspective of flying over the musicians. A super wide zoom lets you get the entire stage in the shot and zoom right into close ups of fingers on instruments or bows moving on violins! On top of that, you can start doing jib moves zoomed in while booming in the opposite direction to create a pretty trippy effect!

Rain Gear - Protect the Jib

I’m probably way to excited about this subject, but having proper rain gear has really saved me from having to replace parts on the Jimmy Jibs. Being a NYC based jib rental operation in the summer months means it can be sunny one minute and pouring rain the next. I found wrapping electronic components with garbage backs to do well except for certain potentiometers on the zoom/focus handles would die and occasionally there’d be trouble inside the control box. Shooter Slicker makes amazing rain covers for Jimmy Jibs and can customize anything for your particular needs. https://www.shooterslicker.com Since investing in these easy to use covers, I haven’t had to do a single repair following a gig in a monsoon. They have a great control box cover which I have modified to seal around an israeli arm mount for my monitor. Being a jib operator in New York City also means shooting in the freezing weather! The control handle covers come in handy in the winter as well b/c you can put pocket heaters in there to help keep your hands warm on a cold day! I’m still in search of warm gloves that give you full function on touch screens and tactile touch on controls. For now I layer up latex gloves with pocket heaters in the control covers.