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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 :)

Birger Watch

R

R Fogg

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It had to be done (quotes from the Birger Mount thread)

01-24-2008 All reservations are entered into the MRP system. We will process the credit cards, and send emails today.
02-19-2008 We will start shipping 29 February
02-27-2008 first 50 units should be rolling off the production line next week. Knobs might not be available until the following week.
03-12-2008 He (Erik) said he would have the first 10 done next week and volume shipping the following week.
03-12-2008 I spoke to Erik last week, and he said they were running a week behind. The first batch of mounts are supposed to be rolling off the belt this week.
03-12-2008 He (Erik) also told me it would be 2 to 3 weeks for delivery.
03-17-2008 I was told that, even having moved to the back of the line, that they expected mine would ship in 3-4 weeks
03-17-2008 i talked to Birger's people yesterday and they said 2-3 weeks for my mount
03-28-2008 Notifications of imminent delivery would start next week - 3/31 Still on target for this...
04-03-2008 I will bring a knob to NAB, and they should start shipping that same week.
04-13-2008 I am in vegas from tuesday through thursday. We will start shipping mounts when I return. Knobs shortly after.
04-22-2008 First few mounts (that will ship to customers) are going together today/tomorrow. These are going to the beta sites - aqua, rodney, apple productions, etc...
04-22-2008 We will start emailing by monday. We need to get the tooling squared away for the knobs, and then we will start clearing up the paperwork. We should be able to close out this thread soon.
05-09-2008 I spoke to Erik today and he says the first thirty are shipping next week.
05-12-2008 Look for my (Eric's) next update in a couple of days. Those reservations in the 107s (placed in November) can look for emails shortly with payment/delivery confirmations for their mounts but not yet the knobs.
05-14-2008 Amy is going through a whole bunch of emails today to make sure no orders got lost, and any cancellations and change requests were processed. Not sure if this will be finished on friday or monday. As soon as this is finished there will be an email "hey we got your order" going out to everyone. Next, we will start sending emails to all of the 107s with a target ship date, and an invoice (including shipping) that once paid online, will release the order for shipment.

05-19-2008 All orders are in the system (we think), and all cancellation requests processed/refunded. We are double checking in alphabetical order for missing orders, and all change requests. We are on the letter "G". Amy is out on tuesday. She thinks this phase will complete on wednesday, and the sales order confirmations will all go out that day. On thursday we should start emailing the first 100 with requests to settle account and short ship dates. Production ramp will start friday, which includes enough units to close out all existing Canon orders. Knobs are still on hold, as I am not yet happy with the adjustable tension. I think we will have that resolved and start shipping before the end of the month.

05-21-2008 I will post that all orders have been confrimed...probably be some time tomorrow morning (5/22).

05-22-2008 All emails / faxes / etc are processed and in the system. We will email everybody on friday (5/23).

05-23-2008 Amy and I will be here on Saturday (5/24) to get (the) email out.

05-24-2008 I believe I have emailed or PMed everbody that posted in this thread, that I did not find an order for in the system. I have reenabled PM on my account, so please contact me by PM or email if you do not receive a sales confirmaiotn in the next few hours. They are going out in about five minutes. (8:50 pm EST)

05-28-2008 We expect to ship a batch of 20 to 30 units on friday/monday. We will notify by email when each is packaged for shipment in this first batch, with a tracking number. After this first batch, we will then understand our delivery schedule well enough to post with a target ship date, based on confirmation number. We have enough parts in house, or due in the next few days, to ship all Canon mounts on order. After this first batch we will have an update on knobs and mac software. A clear majority of reservation holders opted to have the mount asap, with the knobs to follow.

06-04-2008 Pick and place machine is running. Built a few boards to prove that we are out of the woods. Should have more interesting things to say on thursday. It was a good day.
 
2008-May 9th...

I got my Birger in the mail.... (maybe I should have paid in full first?????)

I leave for Israel May 16th. I would love to have the Birger for the shoot.
 
The guy was obviously overwhelmed with orders and then decided to really put the extra mile into this product because of the vast amount of interest. Sure he could have hired a secretary early on and saved himself heaps of grief, hardly a crime. Anyone who is counting on a product that is in development and not in their hands, for a production, really needs to reevaluate their own expectations. It really is a great lesson to be learned the hard way. Anyone in this boat will learn the lesson a lot faster if they accept it and move on and not make the mistake in the future.
I'm sorry but that's life and no amount of winging is going to change it. In fact, it's probably the exact thing that is causing people from getting their product sooner. So sit tight, be patient, don't go making concrete plans without product in hand and smell some roses.
 
... what about thinking the other way around; Silence from Erik's side seems to mean progress. There is hope when he next comes out from the lab everything is ready. My guess is that Erik is a good oldfashion engineer to whom only the best is good enough. Consequently, the time he has taken has probably been invested in honing details towards perfection.
 
The prototype at the reduser party was very impressive. It will be an amazing product. I wouldn't hold my breath for any customer service, but mount and the feature set are excellent.
 
Erik,

If you happen to read this annoying list, just ignore it. These guys have no idea what it takes to pull off what you're doing. And, I'm going to assume, that they're ignorant (rather then ungrateful) of the HUGE added value and quality that you're adding to the mount WITHOUT raising the price for the original reservation holders.

Just a small point to be made to put things in perspective... Take some of those statements that were made around April. When Erik demoed the mount at NAB (I was there testing my L lenses and was thoroughly impressed), Erik incorporated the user feedback that he got there and on RedUser. Hence, more delays. But, again, improving the quality of the mount. And I don't think that this is the case of an engineer's continuous tinkering and not knowing when to stop. These are essential and fundamental improvements. He could have pushed it out the door if he let these types of posts influence and get under his skin. I'm glad he hasn't.

And so will you.

**I know you're just venting. For some people, it's difficult to wait. But I wanted to make sure to balance this post just in case it makes Erik do something hasty and affect the mount (I doubt that, but just in case).
 
Ditto. I really don't see the point for this thread. Do you think Erik isn't aware enough of these delays when every day is surely costing him money?
 
keep on keeping on...

keep on keeping on...

eric,

bring it. but bring it when it's ready. i for one, will be patient. my red is delayed until september anyway. best of luck and thanks for this creation of yours.
 
I don't see what everyone's complaining about. It's going to ship next week, after all. Jeez...!

No, seriously, I don't mind waiting. It's the constant false timetables that bug me. Erik has said the mounts were all machined and would start shipping. Then NAB came and the knobs went back to the drawing board for tweaking. For those of us who have eschewed PL lenses for the Birger solution, it would be much better to get the mount and just use it "dumb" for the time being than to keep waiting until the knobs are ready.
 
Well come on, the thread isn't really critical. I see it as a service to anyone who is making buying the decision to by a birger mount based on a manufacturers timeline and doesn't want to sort through 187ish pages of the birger mount thread to get an idea that the actual timeline for delivery and order processing is dynamic. In fact, I may have been venting a bit when I compiled the list but ultimately I found it encouraging as "2-3 weeks" turns to "next week" and "next week" turns to "this week" and "this week" turns to "tomorrow". Now if I could get me one of those birger calendars.

So birger boosters please relax, when someone says that the betas are delivered I'll add that to the birger watch list as well.

I have been sent to the back of the line haven't I erik.
 
No, you're being sent to your room. :sarcasm:

And you can't come out until... :calm:

...until...

...the birger mount is released! :)
 
i admit, my post goes along with the "luxury" of not having my red sitting here making me crazy. i'm sure it's infinitely more frustrating for those that already have their camera. my post still stands though. i'd rather him ship it full on ready than shipping it half-assed. then we'd have to return it later for fixes.
 
Sorry Riley, I guess I misread your post as being purely sarcastic (which I'm sure it is a bit ;) ). I do agree that misleading timelines, even though they are obviously unwillingly so, can be very counter-productive.
 
Wise words.

Wise words.

supernovafilms said:
Anyone who is counting on a product that is in development and not in their hands, for a production, really needs to reevaluate their own expectations.
Click to expand...

Exactly right.

I've been through the pre-order, early adopter, whatever else it's called when you order a product before it's released, situation before (and even beta tester). It's usually been well worth the wait.

But I've always had the understanding that it would get here when it would get here, and not necessarily when I wanted it to get here.
 
Thanks for the info, Rfo!

Wonder how many orders he has and how many a month they can crank out.

Best,

ATF
 
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