I’ll try to translate as many Tweets into Dutch and post them on the new Dutch Twitter-clone “Kwex”.
One of the complaints i’ve received from Dutch and Belgian readers of both this weblog and my Twitter stream, is that all the messages are in the English language.
I hope to cater to the Dutch speaking audience via Kwex, which can be viewed through: http://kwex.nl/martinbeek
You an signup via http://kwex.nl It works roughly the same as twitter, but then all in Dutch.
Cheers!
Martin.
Bloody hellfire!!! My favourite lens, the 50mm. Nikkor f1.2 prime has died yesterday.
It was an accident waiting to happen. The killer: my Cokin mattebox (filterholder). See picture. I walked into the camera while it was sitting on my studiofloor, after which the whole front part of the Nikkor lens broke off. Two lenses and some small springs and stuff were launched through the room. I tried to put it all together again; also did my colleague Bart. To no avail… Part of the front lens is chipped after Bart dropped it a second time…. 
The whole damn problem is, that the Cokin filterholder (let’s stop calling it a Mattebox) is NOT attached to rods, but directly to the lens thread. So, the thing is actually hanging at the lens. Indeed, an accident waiting to happen.
I started using the Cokin thing two years ago on the Sony EX-1, and i have quite a large collection of large Cokin filters.
I have been lacking the budget ever since to buy a proper matte box, something i regret now. I have been on the brink of buying the RedrockMicro matte box – because that’s my favourite – but i can’t remember why i eventually cancelled the order. We had some budget last year; which has evaporated regrettably.
Now, i’m banging my head against the wall – why haven’t i bought the RedRockMicro mattebox when i had the budget for it?! Or any other matte box that sits on the rods. No i lost a $550 prime lens.
Btw… anyone intereseted in a Cokin “mattebox” in mint condition..? Or a Nikkor DIY construction kit? 
My telephone numbers have changed.
The Netherlands office number +31 40 3685268 is no longer in use.
NEW NETHERLANDS NUMBER: +31 6 55 724212
UK Pinewood Studios office, direct line to Martin Beek remains: +44 560 156 6517
Cheers!
It has been delayed a few weeks, due to bad weather and illness. But here it is:
Continue reading ‘DollyTrax camera dolly – January Hardware Testdrive’
Due to illness of myself and my wife – how inconvenient..! – i’ll have to postpone the january hardware testdrive of the Dollytrax to the coming weekend.
i’ll get back to you all a.s.a.p.
Martin
A short update…
This new year started off with moving (our offices) from one town to the other. Man, i hate that…
Now busy editing Dutch short movie “Vrije Val” and planning a Hardware Testdrive of the DollyTrax dolly system for my website (http://www.martinbeek.net).
Finally my IMDb was updated: search for Martin Beek on www.imdb.com.
My website has not been hacked for over a week now… Although i’ve made many adaptations to the Joomla installation and code, i’m still waiting for the next attack. Well… i’m better prepared this time.
Hoping to get a Gearnex head for testing/review for february’s review. This machine is far beyond my budget – specially since i mainly do non-profit projects at the moment – but i am hoping to work out something with the European distributor.
For march i am planning a special Hardware Testdrive issue about my experiences with the RedrockMicro M2 Encore 35mm DOF adapter.
Let’s hope that 2010 will be a much more prosperous year the 2009. That should not be hard, since 2009 almost killed my business…
Good luck to you all and i hope to get back to you next week.
Martin Beek
Happy new year y’all! May 2010 bring everything you wish and hope for.
My website at www.martinbeek.net has been hacked 4 times now the last 48 hours. Hahaha very funny. There seems to be a vulnerability in the caching mechanism of Joomla; the content management system i use. I think i found and mended that security-hole now.
Thanks to my provider LeaseWeb.com, for replacing backups the whole day, without complaining,
Look out for my next Hardware Test-drive, of the DollyTrax dolly.
Martin.
Happy birthday to you, Noa Arielle Netanya Beek (my daughter, 11 years of age) and Steven Spielberg too (63)!
Will be flying to London later today whith Noa. Let’s hope it has stopped snowing at Gatwick airport and that there are no delays.
If you are of the Christian persuasion; merry christmas!
I’ll be back before the end of the year.
Martin
It so much bigger than i thought it would be. The postman had to haul it out of his little car, under loud complaining.
But… the box was heavily damaged, parts sticking out. I have to see if anything is missing or damaged. Had to pay another 200 bucks customs fee. This all – including shipment – makes it NOT a budget dolly as advertised (for international customers)…
But, it’s here! The all new DollyTrax “affordable” dolly will be the subject of our january Hardware Testdrive. Let’s hope i get it up and running as it should before christmas – but i doubt it…
Watch out for that review sometime during the course of january; visit my website at martinbeek.net to read the december review of the Tascam DR-07 field recorder.
Cheers!
Martin.
I think that the current YouTube 1080p streaming quality is unsurpassed. It’s uploading and encoding process is very fast and the results are beautiful.
The following short clip is a take from a two hour interview with my 84 year old mother, by Karien Huijbregts.
Filmed with the Canon 7D, unshaded, unedited, no filters. Converted to h.264 using MPEG Streamclip and uploaded to YouTube.
25fps/1080p, Carl Zeiss 50mm. f/1.4, F2.8 1/50th 200 ASA. “Daylight” from filtered tungsten. Audio recorded w. Tascam DR-07.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtG43GBgosk
While you’re pixel peeping, have a look at Philip Bloom’s Skywalker Ranch video at YouTube HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY055QEPM18
Don’t forget to use the new Youtube HD feature: select 1080 or 720 from the dropdownbox next to the HD button.
Cheers!
Martin
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