You may have been wondering where the updates went!  Well there’s been a lot of reasons why the website (and this blog hasn’t been updated regularly), don’t get me started on my now former web developer.

The single most primary reason you haven’t heard much from us is product development!  At Hot Rod Cameras we have seen the future- and it is good!  The Hot Rod Cameras roadmap for 2012 contains our best and most diverse group of new product offers ever.

A lot of things are still “hush hush” at the moment but we’ll start announcing where we are going and what we are doing over the the next 3-months.  Also if you look around the site, and notice that something isn’t there that you want to buy, please pick up the phone or email us.  We have a lot of products that are not on the website.

We are also expanding our offices and increasing our staff!  So if think you might like to work with us, get in touch.

If you are a college student and would like an internship with one of the coolest companies in Los Angeles?  Click here and send us an email.

(In the interest of full disclosure, we’re not that cool- we’re a bunch of nerds, but if you think nerds are cool then you’ll want to intern with us.)

Our dedication to innovating new professional grade products has never been stronger, exciting times lay ahead!

Also the long promised Hot Rod Cameras Sony F3 mod has official pricing now.

The Hot Rod Cameras Sony F3 Top Mod (New Photos Coming Soon)

Hot Rod Custom F3 Top Mod with Surf Handle – $2535 (Removes Original EVF, and retains all other features)

Hot Rod Custom F3 Right Side Plate with QR-Lock and wedge $450 (Only available with with the Hot Rod Top Mod, removes Zoom Rocker Switch)

Hot Rod Electronic Viewfinder System Mount (EVF) – will support EVFs, small monitors and Convergent Design Gemini!  Dollars and details SOON !

We are now a factory authorized dealer for Convergent Design and will have a Gemini & Hot Rod F3 Top Mod package deal coming soon.

Also, here’s a quick preview of the NikonCine Alexa Mount:

The Hot Rod Cameras NikonCine Alexa mount is the highest grade and most professional Nikon mount ever created for HD cameras, and includes the following features:

- Locks a Nikon lens on to the Arri Alexa with a solid (no rocking) pressure mechanism.

- Allows for any Nikon lens to be mounted at 90-degrees so that the witness mark is in the proper position for a camera assistant and also has a the ability to mount the lens in the traditional manner with the witness mark on top.

- All Nikon lenses (including G-Sereis) can have the iris adjusted smoothly by way of a lever, and the iris can be locked into position.

- Part of a new line of mounts- all available in black and a grey gunmetal accent color, which is a close (but a bit more reflective) match to the Arri Alexa camera body color.

- The Hot Rod Cameras NikonCine mount for the Sony F3 is coming in February!  Available in micro 4/3 and Sony E-mount as a special order item.  Call or email for details.

The NikonCine Alexa mount is already being used on a major feature project- details and BTS pics coming soon.

More details including price coming soon!

Hot Rod Cameras NikonCine Alexa Mount shown with Ducloslenses.com modded Zeiss ZF 21mm lens.

And finally if you own any flavor of the Hot Rod Cameras Tuner Kit, we have a nice option upgrade available shortly.  Just one more way we are helping to keep your kits the best designed and built!

Highlights:

Attach the forthcoming Hot Rod Cameras R-Grip (Rosette Grip) to the HRC Shift to create a “Shift-R” handle.
We were inspired by the kind of handles found on the rear of some 35mm motion picture cameras. It’s a great location for a handle, and Hot Rod Cameras is pleased to be the first to bring this staple accessory to HDSLR and small format HD camera markets. A rear camera handle can be the perfect place to grab for a pan/tilt move, introduce effect shaking or to get a second hand on the camera when lifting or handing off to another person.

The one big problem with the old-school film camera rear handles were that they were always in a fixed position which made them limited in operation, and a bit awkward when the camera was out of balance.

Shift-R handle solves that problem by employing a mighty rosette. The rosette allows for more than 180 degrees of handle angle adjustment. Making the Shift-R incredibly comfortable to grab, and flexible enough to find any position. A tool-less horizontal adjustment compensates for cameras that are somewhat out of Left/Right balance. The handle can be mounted in nearly any direction, and the quick release rod mount means that it can be completely removed in less than 5-seconds.

The HRC Shift can be combined with the Sony Nex-5N/Nex-7/Panasonic GH2 and other Hot Rod Cameras modular accessories to create a fantastic PL Mount director’s finder. Unlike most other Director’s Finders, this one is capable of recording full 1080/24p and 1080/60p (Sony Nex-5N/Nex-7).

PROTOTYPE SHOW - FINAL PRODUCT MAY LOOK DIFFERENT

1) Offer a viewfinder/monitor mounting point in the most favored position of camera people (operator side, forward.)  Allow that same viewfinder mounting point to be mobile.

PROTOTYPE SHOW - FINAL PRODUCT MAY LOOK DIFFERENT

2) Create a place for external recorders to be attached to the main body of the F3, rather than relying on arms, rods or other hardware.

PROTOTYPE SHOW - FINAL PRODUCT MAY LOOK DIFFERENT

3) Offer greater flexibility for mount hardware, and all accessories, and do so without sacrificing functionality.

4) Create the most kick-ass top handle possible.

5) Figure out a place to hang sunglasses.

PROTOTYPE SHOW - FINAL PRODUCT MAY LOOK DIFFERENT

I’m pleased to announce we were able to meet all of these goals.

We were able to also:

-create a new external monitor/viewfinder point that allows maximum flexibility and maximum control.  It can be relocated to the aft for long viewfinder style work, or it can remain in the usual forward position.

-make a space large enough to accommodate the Convergent-Design Gemini 4:4:4 recorder on-board the right side of the camera.  This space can also accommodate other external recorders or on-board V-mount (shown above) or Anton Bauer Gold-mount sized batteries, or wireless receivers.

-retain the headphone jack, tally light, IR remote receiver, REC start/stop, and all the dedicated button functions of the camera through the use of assignable buttons.

-build an absolutely amazing top handle.  This handle is based around a custom rosette that is incredibly strong, this rosette allows for a flop-over design so that the camera handle can be placed instantly to other positions for comfort and balance.

-add a space that is totally suitable for hanging your specs.  One of the things we always loved about working with Panavision cameras was the attention to details.  Standard equipment on most Panavision cameras is a place to put your glasses, we decided that was something theF3 needed, so it’s got it now.

In addition to all this, there’s a few more things we were able to pull off:

-changing one or both 1/4″ holes in the bottom of the camera to 3/8″.

-cable management for HDSDI cables to provide stress relief and routing.

-add appropriately spaced (and well spaced) 1/4″ and 3/8″ accessory mounting points.

-port all the top handle hardware to the Sony FS100.

-build a universal/adjustable viewfinder mount (not pictured) available separately, compatible with the top handle on the FS100, and other cameras.

Here’s more good news.

Most of the mod work and the accessories that go with this will be available a la carte.  So in other words, if you want the top plate and top handle but not the side, we can do that.  You want just the bottom 3/8″ mounting point- no problem.  You want the works- plus all the accessories to make it happen, yep we can do that too.

Turn around time will be quick on this one, faster than the 2-week 7D-PL conversion.  Also, price for top/side mod will be less (much, much less) then the cost of Canon 7D-PL conversion.  Full pricing details for mod and accessories is coming in the next few days.  More photos in early August, and we’ll anticipate starting mods August 15 (if not sooner).

Price and schedule is of course subject to change…blah…blah…blah… but we’re feeling pretty confident right now.

P.S.  There is one extremely cool option we haven’t mentioned yet, and we’re not going to say what it is until we start taking orders.  But it’s another first, exclusive to Hot Rod Cameras!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that there are (finally) a couple product updates-

Hot Rod PL Tuner Kit with AF100 and Zeiss Master Zoom

- The Hot Rod PL Mount for M4/3 cameras (micro four thirds) is now IN STOCK and is NOW available separately on our website here.

- The Hot Rod Chassis Support is now IN STOCK and for the first time is also available without a kit purchase on our website here.

- Cineroid has released an ENHANCED version of their popular HD EVF and it is currently available EXCLUSIVELY in the USA on our website here, in extremely limited quantities.

- Just recently we made a very large purchase of Cartoni Focus HD tripod/fluid head kits and we are offering an unprecedented promotion, purchase a Hot Rod PL Tuner Kit and get the Cartoni Focus HD F126 tripod/fluid head kit for only $1099!  Details of the Focus HD F126 kit can be found on this page, but to get the package price you must order on this page.

- Full Details of the Hot Rod Cameras CUSTOM SONY F3 MOD will go live later this week, details and pricing information included!

- A sneak preview of a long-running top secret HRC project will also go live later this week; stay tuned for more!

So if you have never been to the USA and feel that you are on the outside looking in, wondering why people here get so worked up over the 4th of July I offer this very short (and far from comprehensive) rationale.

I know on face value (statistically speaking), America is not #1 in many important areas, such as education, infant mortality, crime, sustainability, food safety and quality of life.

We’re also not the only country to embrace both capitalism and democracy. And the citizens of many countries are less embarrassed by the past actions of their country on a global scale.

So why do I and many others think America is a truly great nation?

1) Our optimism. We’re not all optimists, but as a whole we are a nations of optimism. In the face of difficult, if not impossible odds, we seem to achieve solutions where at once there appeared none, we continually have optimism that tomorrow can be better than today.

2) We are a nation of immigrants. Despite some outbreaks of xenophobia, we are not a homogenous culture unlike many other parts of the world. We are generally much more tolerant and even embrace outsiders who have distinct culture, beliefs and cosmetic differences. We’re not perfect in this regard, but we have been improving for more than 200-years- and we are very much more inclusive than other poor and wealthy countries around the globe today.

3) We’re like the Borg. We take good ideas from one place or another and we assimilate. While this is not unique, our ability to take what’s distinctive about the world and integrate it into our own (and at a lightning pace) is a huge asset. A big thanks to Germany every 4th of July for introducing us to what we now consider American, hot dogs and beer!

4) America is whimsical. That’s right, what makes America great is whimsy. We love art, beauty, kitsch, and perhaps more than any of that, we love to laugh. When these things are combined in a particularly clever way it makes it all the better.

We export whimsy, like no body else. It is gobbled up and regurgitated back by the rest of the world. Many of our theatrical comedies are more popular overseas than they are at home. We send out random and senseless like no one else. Should you need more proof look no further than America’s most universally beloved family, the Simpson’s.

And to this last point I would like to offer up a small honor to one of our more influential (although today a somewhat anonymous) native son, Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg.

Ruben was famous for being an inventor and cartoonist (the modern form of which being another American invention, assimilated from Europe by a much more famous son of America, Ben Franklin).

So in honor of America’s birthday I would like to offer up some Rube Goldberg-esque whimsy that comes in the form of a clever commercial. The commercial is from Japan, a place that has been greatly influenced by one of our most popular exports, whimsy.

Just a quick update. In case any of you can remember Teen Wolf (and even Teen Wolf Too) guess what, it’s been rebooted as a TV series on MTV. The show was shot on the Arri Alexa, Red and PL modified Canons from Hot Rod Cameras.

The first 8-minutes of the show just went live, here’s a link to a story about the project courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

I.

Illya Friedman
President
Hot Rod Cameras

Hello Friends,

I just received a new project from talented director and cameraman Kholi Hicks. This was shot a few months ago entirely in existing light on a Sony FS100, and it looks spectacular!

Here’s some more technical details:

Sony FS100
Hot Rod Cameras Tuner-S PL mount system
Cooke Panchro/i Lenses
Blacklist Productions – Post Production Services

The content is for headwear manufacturer, Spirit Hoods. The company makes hats that go beyond just keeping your head warm, they have also added whimsey. In their own words “SpiritHoods are more than just a wild fashion accessory. They are a way through which we express ourselves and our unique fashion sensibilities, but they also symbolize a shared bond we all have with our wild natures.”

The model in the commercial wears a bright (and very saturated) red hood, a difficult color to capture well. The images are really impressive.

Check it out on Vimeo here.

Just a quick pic of the forthcoming Hot Rod Tuner-S Kit. It’s a complete PL mount system for the Sony FS100 camera. More details will be posted soon!

DP Eric Koretz posted a really cool blog all about a project he recently shot. The project is one of a recent trend in what’s known as “sponsored content”. It’s only one part commercial, the other part is a short form documentaries.

I’ve noticed over the past 10-years this format is becoming one of the most popular for on-line advertisers.

The subject of this project is the emerging DIY sport of Bike Polo, and the sponsor is Banana Boat Suncare. Here’s some behind the scenes photos from the shoot.

See the full blog with all the details at Eric’s website HERE.

Just a quick note to let you know that a couple absolutely gorgeous new videos (Loved On Water and Head in the Clouds) recently were posted on Vimeo. “Loved” was shot with a Panasonic GH1 and a Hot Rod PL Deluxe Kit. “Head” was shot on a Hot Rod 7D-PL Deluxe Kit. Watch both and get more information HERE.