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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

RED HANDLES.. they suck.

The old wheel: ET 15mm or 19mm base. Buy it. It's worth it. My red base is still in the bubble wrap. I'm pretty happy with my configs.

My handles besides not matching seem to hold OK. I will use them with ET's shoulder mount when that comes out for handheld use. However the universal mounts, top mounts, and other parts don't match. It's sort of all over the place. The guys at ET actually thought the RED cast parts are better than the anodized ones but not quite as pretty or scratch resistant. I just want consistency. Camera people sure are an anal bunch.
 
Guys,

I'm sure we've all read the baseplate and handles QC issues on these threads quite a few times. I sympathise with those that have ordered them and they are poor in quality because of tolerance issues. Simply vote with your feet. Send them back and ask for a refund. It's what you would do with any other product you find defective.

I'm quite surprised that people are surprised. I don't want my camera taking longer because Red are too busy making a minor part fit right. Want some handles? Go buy some mountain bike side handles and have some 15mm and 19mm brackets miiled up at your local small engineering store or visit your local hire house they probably have some they can sell you cheap. Don't find the Red baseplate too useful? Buy the ET baseplate instead.

Gear that evolves at this rate will have these issues. I'm not saying you should accept it, customer feedback is the way towards improvement. I've spent quite few years in the field adapting things to make 'major' camera manufacturers systems, and sometimes lack of systems, work for the situation we find ourselves in. Wetting T shirts to keep 1000' mags cool in Africa, gaffer taping handwarmers around eyepieces to keep them from freezing in the arctic are amongst the more extreme. But most days there is something to be invented or adapted to work 'properly'. The point is that things that don't work get sent back to the hire house or manufacturer and we hire or buy other solutions.

Red have said before they will address this issue, I'm pretty sure they will, they have been pretty responsive about most issues. Maybe they should have a special forum section for 'gripes' and 'venting'. However many positive things are said about a system it is usally the negative that is remembered. I would suggest people talk to Red first and foremost and by all means post here and let us know if they shrug you off or you don't get a satisfactory answer.

My 2 pence worth anyway. :whistling:

Mike C
 
You get what you pay for.
If you want a perfect camera, go buy Some other camera.
RED has already made it abundantly clear that they do not have a perfect product.
Buyer beware.
 
chuckt, what is your main maladjustment? Every comment you have is negative. You don't own a RED, all you do is gripe about something you have no personal experience with. Do you actually think folks are listening to your tripe?
 
This must be a quality control ramp-up issue. I got two front handles, and while I do have to tighten them good, they do become solid. Also my shoulder dovetail is tight, I use it on a tripod all the time. In fact, the tolerances are so tight, that when Red is fully loaded, it's difficult to slide it. I mounted it on a swooping JimmyJib the other day via the shoulder dovetail and it was rock solid.
 
you have #27 - you do not have the "cast" bottom plate, dove tail ,universal mount , handles etc ...
i'm not sure what they call the early method ( maybe machined?) before they were cast ?

it's the "cast" products that are having some issues ...
 
Jarred Land said:
this is true.. but quality (good or bad) is long remembered after the price is long forgotten.
Click to expand...

Good saying!

Does fit perfectly into filmproduction. Clients forget how cheap their film was, they never forget the hassel they had and the questionable quality they got. One reason why dumping into a market is often a boomerang.

Hans
 
Jarred Land said:
the shoulder dovetail isnt a compression wedge like a base plate, its a pin lock, so some movement is to be expected.
Click to expand...

Hi Jarred,
As I stated on an earlier thread the "BASE PRODUCTION PACK's RED Bottom Plate Shoulder Dovetail" may have been designed with shoulder mount operation in mind, but it should have been much more stable to be adequately tight for tripod use, otherwise as repeated from an earlier thread it should have be noted to eveyone buying this part before purchase that this plate should only be used for handheld and not to be used for tripod use at all.

My suggestion fix for this part is...

1. Add beefy washers on the 4 weak side holes. To prevent an accidental breakage of the side holes. Or modify the part to screw the plate down from the bottom of the camera.(see link)
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8756

2. Change the locking mechanism to a side clamping system similar to Arri’s baseplate side braking system this will allow an infinite amount of lock down positions for a more precise camera balance not just where the hole lines up which is about an inch between lockdown positions. It will also stop the looseness & wiggle room in the current base plate & dovetail gap.

3. Add a safety lock like in Arri’s base plate & dovetail so the camera can’t slide right off the back or front of the dovetail when the brake is off.

Thanks for listening to all of our feedback.
Chris B. Hill
http://www.hilldigital.com/
 
Chris B. Hill said:
Hi Jarred,
Change the locking mechanism to a side clamping system similar to Arri’s baseplate side braking system this will allow an infinite amount of lock down positions for a more precise camera balance not just where the hole lines up which is about an inch between lockdown positions. It will also stop the looseness & wiggle room in the current base plate & dovetail gap.
Click to expand...

Right on.
 
Jarred Land said:
the shoulder dovetail isnt a compression wedge like a base plate, its a pin lock, so some movement is to be expected.
Click to expand...

Jarred Land said:
hey Mark your comments are noted.

The shoulder plate will mount on a tripod just fine, it just wont be as solid as it looks like your hoping for. The shoulder dovetail's primary purpose is to be used on your shoulder. We make the cheeseplate that attaches to the baseplate for when you want to have a rock solid base with zero movement, if thats how you plan on using it.
Click to expand...

Chris B. Hill said:
Hi Jarred,
As I stated on an earlier thread the "BASE PRODUCTION PACK's RED Bottom Plate Shoulder Dovetail" may have been designed with shoulder mount operation in mind, but it should have been much more stable to be adequately tight for tripod use, otherwise as repeated from an earlier thread it should have be noted to eveyone buying this part before purchase that this plate should only be used for handheld and not to be used for tripod use at all.

My suggestion fix for this part is...

1. Add beefy washers on the 4 weak side holes. To prevent an accidental breakage of the side holes. Or modify the part to screw the plate down from the bottom of the camera.(see link)
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8756

2. Change the locking mechanism to a side clamping system similar to Arri’s baseplate side braking system this will allow an infinite amount of lock down positions for a more precise camera balance not just where the hole lines up which is about an inch between lockdown positions. It will also stop the looseness & wiggle room in the current base plate & dovetail gap.

3. Add a safety lock like in Arri’s base plate & dovetail so the camera can’t slide right off the back or front of the dovetail when the brake is off.

Thanks for listening to all of our feedback.
Chris B. Hill
http://www.hilldigital.com/
Click to expand...

Yes. Very Well put. Please listen to these valuable suggestions from an industry veteran. The idea that the dovetail / baseplate is fine "as is" is just not right.

Jim, I sincerely hope that something is done regarding the inconsistencies in the baseplate and dovetail accessories as well as the quality of the finish (lesser issue). I still am perplexed by the change from the advertised anodized versions to the cast versions of the accessories, but the fact that the base plate and dovetail issues are now being spoken of by Jarred as "some movement is to be expected" is very disconcerting. I really do believe that this is not consistent with RED's excellent track record. It seems out of place, not to mention that this was not mentioned in the description of the product. I just am very surprised by it and especially that RED is not taking care of this as a high priority issue.

There have been several suggestions of how to fix the problem and also many suggestions to buy third party products, but that does not change the fact that accessories were purchased based on the advertised specs and photos of the products.

It actually pains me to have to publicly criticize RED for this issue, since I am a huge advocate of the Camera and your company, but I just feel very strongly that this needs to be addressed. From reading the other threads, there seems to be many many others who feel the same way. See thread below:

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?t=8889&highlight=dovetail

As a member of the RED community, we have always lived by the philosophy that we should speak up when we feel something is wrong and should be addressed.

I only want what is best for the Camera and it's users, so I felt it necessary to voice my concerns here and hope that RED does the right thing here and provides a solution to this issue.
 
CrewPix.com said:
I guess what many people are asking is if a part looks completely different from the sales site and is much less finished, is it defective?
Click to expand...

As Jarred posted in another thread:

"We have addressed the finishing irregularities with a new process. This is a running change that is almost complete.

Most of the parts we have sent out were just fine ( as reported here ) but some of you may have gotten some parts that don't have a finish that lives up to expectations. You can contact customer service and send them back, and we will update them with the new finish."

Defective, no. If you feel your part does not have the expected finish, we'll update the finish, yes.

BC
 
After writing a few comments in another thread on 'sexy v crappy' i must say with what i have read from Jarred and Brent i am happy enough. My camera is paid for and just waiting for delivery and so the next test will be when i get all the accessories. I still must say i will be dissapointed they won't be machined as other buyers received but if the handles and other gear works, looks the part and has RED saying just send it back if it doesn't work and we'll replace it i'm good...enough.

But one more question...whom shall i ask will be responsible for freight and import charges, taxes etc if i have to do this? I guess it'll be me?
 
bris-vegas said:
I still must say i will be dissapointed they won't be machined as other buyers received but if the handles and other gear works, looks the part and has RED saying just send it back if it doesn't work and we'll replace it i'm good...enough.
Click to expand...

Gotta say, I think the matte handles work great - they're for protecting the camera body and for gripping, and matte offers better grip.
 
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