when you switch out a lens for your DP, make sure it is already set to the corre

ct f-stop. Pay attention so you know the shooting stop. always keep an eye on yo
ur waveform. be quit to set marks for talent, be quick adjusting and moving the
tripod, be quick with anything your DP asks you. You are basically there to make
life easier for them, so always approach it with that mindset. Also, if you're
shooting at even a slightly shallow DoF, measure your damn marks. Too many other
wise good AC's miss focus slightly at times because it looks sharp on a 7" on se
t monitor. Just grab a tape measure and then set your focus based on the distanc
e, then you can't go wrong.
This is the way camera assistants are meant to focus. If you look at a monitor y
ou're only seeing in two dimensions, just like the operator. By the time you see
something is out of focus it's too late.
On professional and prosumer cameras there's a hook or a stub on the right side
or top of the camera, right next to the plane of the sensor. Hook your cloth mea
suring tape there and run it out to the talent's eyes. If your back focus is set
correctly the distance on your measuring tape and the markings on the lens shou
ld line up.
If you get all your marks this way then you can look at 3D space with your eyes
and adjust the lens as the subject moves through it. If the subject misses the m
ark you can try to compensate on the fly by estimating the change in distance an
d only then looking at your monitor to verify that you got it right.
A professional camera assistant should be able to tell you the distance to anyth
ing on the set within 6" to 1'. That takes time and experience, though. Using a
measuring tape also helps you learn to estimate distances.
You want to be unobtrusive when running the tape. Don't interrupt rehearsals. Ma
rk the talent whenever they stop and use those marks to get your focus distances
. You can also use furniture and landmarks as references.
Don't get too many marks, though, as you'll confuse yourself.
I used to write the distances on a piece of white cloth tape on the side of my m
easuring tape and then stick them on the side of the matte box. I'd then transfe
r some or all of the marks to the follow focus disk with a dry erase marker or m
ake little arrows out of tape and stick them to the lens. You can also wrap the
lens in 1/16" white pinstriping tape and make marks on that using a dry erase pe
n.
A professional camera assistant will never look through the lens to get focus ma
rks unless the subject is a long way away and they're on a long lens. This was t
rue even when we didn't have focus monitors, working in film. Focus monitors are
a way to verify that you got something in focus in case it ends up in a differe
nt spot to where you expected.
You do need to check your back focus. This is easy on long lenses: focus, measur
e, see if the distances match up. Do this at a couple of different distances to
verify. Back focus is more critical on wide lenses, so if you focus and the mark
s come up wrong you may have a back focus issue. Also, make sure you check infin
ity focus because, if back focus is out, you may not be able to reach that.
If you're working with a zoom, you need to check a number of different focal len
gths, and different distances at each focal length, because poor back focus will
result in focus drift as the lens zooms.
None of this works with still lenses, though. They don't have reliable distance
marks, only ballpark marks as still photographers don't really focus that way. A
lso, still zooms never track focus as they aren't meant to be used that way.
NEVER leave the camera or lenses unattended. If you need to step away from the c
amera have your 2nd stay with it. The DP might even do this if he's a nice guy.
Cover the camera up with a space blanket and find a nice secure spot to stash it
during lunch.
When you put the lenses back in the cases they should be wide open with the focu
s set on infinity.
Kim wipes and Panchro are what you want for cleaning lenses.
A hard tape is nice to have.

Make sure not to prematurely cut the camera if there is a tail slate.
Test ALL your gear.
Its important to anticipate the DP's needs. If your DP is using the ND .6 on all
your day exteriors and you are about to go do another one its pretty safe to ju
st drop the filter before he asks.
Filter trays are extremely fragile, handle with care.
Make a Velcro label for each filter. When you drop the filter, stick the label o
n the side of the mattebox.
No smoking around the camera unless the talent is doing it for a scene, or the D
P owns the camera and is the one smoking. It would be terrible for the fans to s
uck in an ember, or for something to get in to the lens port during a lens chang
e.
There are so many different expendables, which could be its own list in and of i
tself. If you don't own any bongo ties yet, buy some. They are so versatile and
useful.
Personally i prefer using a camera carpet instead of the rubber attachments for
the tripod feet. If you don't know what a camera carpet is, its a small piece of
carpet you put down under the tripod. The metal spiked feet dig in and its very
stable.
Another preference of mine is to not use spreaders unless I have to. I like to s
et the front leg of the tripod to be a couple of inches longer than the other tw
o. It allows you to pick up and place the sticks and camera quickly and easily.
Its tough to explain the technique, I couldn't find a video.
By far though the three most important things are not formatting a mag that hasn
't been dumped, keeping the camera safe and working, and keeping the image sharp
. I can't emphasize enough how important keeping the image sharp is.