Benefits of the Lemo Connection?

[Jonathan Petts]

Hello All,

Ive just been having a discussion with a couple of people about a recent video that was posted complaining about the cost of RED's Lemo cables for their monitors. I tried to justify why LEMO cables are typically more expensive than an SDI or any other connector for such reasons as :

• High quality connector and locking mechanism
• Durable and has very high tolerances
• Can Transfer more than just video data in one cable (power, input, video)
• limited production runs compared to many other connections

But they don't seem to be able to appreciate why RED would opt to use this specific type of connector, so I thought I would come here and get some further opinions and maybe some actual reasons as to why RED firstly uses the Lemo connection for the RED monitors and do you think the price of the cable is justified ? Also I can't think of what alternative RED could use that would be an AIO solution, sure they could use SDI and then run a separate power cable but that's hardly a good solution is is...

Appreciate anyone who has to the discussion

Jonny

 

[Brendan H. Banks]

Does the same group of people believe that Arri is also unjustified in their use of these cables for their EVF? You outlined the big one which is that it can handle data, power, and video in the same connection.

Also, no one ever says you MUST have a RED monitor. Lots of folks (myself included) opt for SDI or HDMI in lieu of the RED touch....though I have found that I like it a lot in recent months.

 

[Erich Roland]

There are lots of bad cables and connectors out there that break easily and cost a lot to fix and potentially ruining a shoot. Lemo is the best connector available.... they are expensive and totally worth it. The people questioning these connectors and the expense have not yet had to solve these problems, probably young and relatively new to this industry.... that's my guess. Over time these people will likely learn that some things are not worth scrimping on and good, solid, repeatable connectivity is one.

 

[Tommaso Alvisi]

The people questioning these connectors and the expense have not yet had to solve these problems

^this

and I'd like to extend the plethora of problems to Lemo "equivalents" which are now used by brand names too...

they fall apart and loose connection more often than not...