Schedule and Machined EPICs...

[Jeff Coatney]

forgive me, but that sounds like an oxymoron to me. could someone please explain to me what is meant by this as I am confused? thanks

There are two ways to make a camera body: carve it out of a block of aluminum or cast it in a steel mold. The molds are not ready yet, so the option exists to carve the camera bodies out of a billet of aluminum... one-at-a-time.

The industrial term for a mold is called tooling. The mold is cut on a CNC machine (kinda like a 5 axis router) out of tool steel that is hard enough and stable enough to have molten liquid aluminum poured into it tens of thousands of times in its lifespan.

It takes anywhere from 30 to 45 days to cut an industrial mold and build it into a production tool. -- They are articulated to aid in the release of the very hot, formed part.

If you have a Solidworks™ file of the body, you can feed instructions to the CNC machine ( hence: Machined )and cut the camera body out of a billet of metal in a matter of hours. These CNC machines (CNC= computer numerical control ) are expensive and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The downside is you can only get about 1.25 camera bodies out of a single machine in a 24 hour period.

Molded bodies can be made in a single injection-molding machine at the rate of several hundred a day.

While the machined part is stronger, the strength is relative to the mission. A cast camera body will stand up to anything you can throw at it. The machined body is overly strong.

[roryhinds]

how much will the 128GB SSD cost and the batteries and charge be when production has started?
How much is the titanium PL mount?

It would be great to get an updated price list of all the modules, media and batteries for EPIC so we can all run the numbers

[Jason Wingrove]

I think.... you may need to get the accounts people back from holidays asap.

My guess is your about to get VERY busy. Prepare to make as many as you can between now and Production Epic kickoff :-)

Jas

_

[Jannard]

Well, a machined body would not justify a huge difference in price, would it?!

Not that I know anything about manufacturing costs, but it seems that Apple mass production is machined (Macbook Unibody ...) and they would not do it if their were a cheaper option for them. For small series production as EPIC, machining should actually be the cheaper option.

Don't get it.

You don't? Go out and get a quote for 50 of something complicated to be machined.

Jim

[Alexey Datsenko]

I am sure April is the excellent date for real production! We need to expect only 4 month! How may items of Epic are you expecting to production from April? 200, 300, 500 a month? It is the very important quastion!

[Michael Hastings]

Michael... I have always liked you. Sometimes the process is painful for a few seconds. You forced me to think about what we were going to do. Good job. Now we know and people can decide what it means for them. Just know that in the beginning, the middle and the end... we have our customers in mind.

Jim

Thanks, Jim. That's all I wanted to do. One thing that's always been clear is that you do care and are truly passionate about making the best camera you possibly can.

Exciting days ahead.

Now I should go back to bed and snuggle the wife - don't forget what Gibby said. :-)

[Jeff Coatney]

Well, a machined body would not justify a huge difference in price, would it?!

Not that I know anything about manufacturing costs, but it seems that Apple mass production is machined (Macbook Unibody ...) and they would not do it if their were a cheaper option for them. For small series production as EPIC, machining should actually be the cheaper option.

Don't get it.

The Apple unibody chassis probably accounts for half the cost to make the entire computer. Apple built a special assembly line to get those costs down as low as they can go.

[AnthonyFlores]

There is absolutely no advantage whatsoever to this package over a production EPIC... except timing. That is why I am surprised at the response. I guess some people can make back their money in 2 months. That would explain it. Or the fact that you have something that is next to impossible to own. I want one. But I didn't think there are others like me.

No marketing effort here. We'll save that for production EPICs... which will turn the industry upside down, inside out and backwards.

Jim

Btw, I know these cameras will practically sell themselves -- but please let me know if you need any help with this. I can't think of a better product to get behind ....

[Jannard]

The good news is that if you think the price doesn't make sense... you don't have to buy one. It amazes me that these same questions aren't asked of the companies that make a 1080P camera for $70K- $250K.

Jim

[Jeff Coatney]

In low quantities, some people opt for a Rapid-Tooling positive, since they are impregnated with aluminum suspended in a two-part epoxy resin. Depends on the application and complexity of the part. Rapid prototyping tech still requires hand finishing.