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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 Lens Mount Reservations

This is bad news. I'd have to ship my camera from the UK for the mount to be installed, and pay for it to be shipped back, a lot of extra cost. I know there are people here who wanted to switch between Birger and PL mount for different projects, which seems isn't possible anymore either.

This is frustrating because the inital press release was from Red, seemingly a joint venture. Slowly it seems to have been palmed off as third party accessory. Erik has said a few times that he was not informed about the camera/PL mount changes of the X bodies; which set the production of his mount back even further at the end of last year. Now Red has seen this for the first time and delcared it as voiding the warranty. Was no one from Red overseeing the project?

I bought the Red camera based on the promise of a canon mount from Red, as did many here. Now we're paying for jumping on board early by being told its now a warranty issue. It's not that simple when we all assumed this was approved and instigated by Red, only to find out this week that is isn't.

I've had my camera since Feb and it has not been used (bar for 2 days when we hired a PL lens). So it's warrantly is running out while it sits here. There have been known issues with early cameras. I cannot take the risk of voiding the warranty as I'm almost convinced something will go wrong with my camera once I do start using it, like just going dead. The joystick at the back has already fallen off after only 2 days use. Something tells me I may need all of that remaining warranty.

So what do we do, suck up the costs and send our cameras back to Erik?

I would be happier if Red acknowledged the difference between failure caused by the Birger mount installation and failure of an internal Red part or known issue with the camera. This would give me more conifdence to install the mount myself.

I get the feeling Erik isnt keen on redesigning this so it doesnt void the warranty, and if he did who knows how long it would be until we got it. The warranty on my camera would probably be over by then anyway.

Like some of you, I need this mount and the politics surrounding it to work. I'm stuck without it. I cant afford PL lenses and I'd have to sell all my existing canon lenses to move to the dumb nikon mount. I'd never have bought the canon lenses if I knew this was going to turn into such a issue.

I feel like the complainer here, but it's so close to being the perfect solution for me that I'm hoping they can find an alternative way for this to work. It's good for Red's business as well.
 
Lowkus said:
What did Birger learn that makes them more qualified to do the mount swap than a RedOne owner? Whatever they learned, couldn't we just get an educational video showing us what needs to be done, thereby becoming equally qualified to do the swap?
Click to expand...

If Birger had a detailed video and RED clarified that you'd be in for a $1000 repair or whatever if you tried on your own and blew it then at least we'd be able to make a fully informed decision.

I just think between myself and my electronics engineer friends/relatives we could do just fine - as long as we were fully informed as to what the issues were. Perhaps there's a way to test for the short before power is plugged in.
 
is that what this is about, the I-cable? Anyone had that confirmed?

if so it would be really easy for Red to see if this was damaged by installation and therefore could keep warranty on the rest of the camera parts.

I'd be happy with that policy.
 
yeah, but someones camera went nuclear after a birger was hooked up to it. i'm pretty sure they're not just worried about a little wire.
 
I haven't gotten anything in the email.

Erik, when and how much can I send my red to get the mount put on?
 
I think a good answer to this problem is if RED allowed trained camera technicians to install the birger mount without voiding the warranty.

I'm assuming technicians from every country around the world could be easily certified to change the lens mount without destroying the camera.

Now a 15 minutes job wont take a few weeks.
 
Gary Stone said:
yeah, but someones camera went nuclear after a birger was hooked up to it. i'm pretty sure they're not just worried about a little wire.
Click to expand...


but this was when the mount was powered from the 232 port? Now it's powered from the aux at the back of the camera. So perhaps the only issue is the cable...
 
i thought it was from the aux port actually. maybe i'm a looney.
 
studiodrome said:
I think a good answer to this problem is if RED allowed trained camera technicians to install the birger mount without voiding the warranty.

I'm assuming technicians from every country around the world could be easily certified to change the lens mount without destroying the camera.

Now a 15 minutes job wont take a few weeks.
Click to expand...

Well, you live in LA. Most of us have to pay to have it shipped. It will take more than a week, cost a substantial sum, and then your stuck if you wanna go back to PL.

This seems pretty shitty to me.

I wonder what it would cost to have red repair damages to the "little cable" if we mess up on install. it would be worth risking damaging that wire as long as the warranty was voided only in relation to that wire, and if the cost to fix it were, say, under 400 bucks.... I would take the risk, and if I mess it up, it wouldn't cost a whole lot more than the factory install of Birger in the first place........
 
It's not the little cable, it's damage to the electronics of the camera that occurs when the little cable shorts. So far we have no idea of the cost of repair.
 
It's such a shame...
I just canceled my reservations, maybe I'll buy one after my warranty expires at the beginning of next year. I can't be sending the camera off every time I want to swap to PL lenses.

I've got a Nikon mount and lenses, and I'll get Doug's DX/G nikon mount. That'll do for now.
 
I agree with everyone that this is a horrible situation. If allowed to continue on this track, everyone will lose, Erik, RED, and the customer.

I should point out that P+S and Birger have an opportunity here.

P+S needs to understand that they are in the same boat in regards to Warrenty.

But what would you all say if you sent the Camera somewhere to have the P+S mount installed, and then you never had to worry about it again?

As it is now, the Birger project is changing serverly. They no longer have an option, but now you must decide to mount Canon mounts and KEEP them for the most part. It will be possible to swap, but at great trouble and expense.

RED needs to really step up and help Erik here. This is the only solution right now.

Erik is a one man company who has put an incredible amount of work into this thing, and he should be supported.

Now then, let's take a breath and look at reality:

Why the uproar? Because there was a boo boo on someone's camera that had a Birger Mount. I am sure the cause of the boo boo has been found. Erik will fix said boo boo and get the mount working. I KNOW some of you have already decided to take delivery of the Birger Mount, and screw RED's warrenty. Here's what will happen next:

1. Brave souls will install Birger mount on camera
2. Brave souls will show off amazing footage using Canon lenses and Birger mount.
3. Others will ask: Did it blow up camera? Brave souls will respond: No problems!
4. Everyone goes apeshit, and orders Birger mount, saying "screw warranty"

It would be better if RED supported this, but either way, this is just a temporaty speed bump for Birger. All will be fine, Erik you reading this? Don't worry, this is temporary.

Jay
 
you left out:

5: All Reds either rented or sold used from now on, will have some question asked like:
"Has this camera ever had a 3rd party mount installed?"
"No? Can you prove it?"

It's been my experience that any perception of a reliability issue affects resale value, unfortunately, even if it's negligible in practice.
 
Dear Jim. what were the results of the meeting with Erik? can we have a solution for this situation? My RED wants to be used.

thanks.

Mike Hedge
producer of ENGAGEMENT (shot on RED by Macgregor)
 
I'm just hoping the news comes that "Red buys Birger Mount", makes it a standard option on cameras going forward, and anyone purchasing the mount can send it in to Red for free mounting and maybe even makes it standard for Scarlett.

The existence of the Birger mount is what put me, and I'm sure many others, over the edge to buy the camera in the first place.

Please, please, please, make it workable!!! As much as I want one, I'm not willing to sacrifice my warranty to get it.
 
Not that I don't want the other solutions everyone else is suggesting... but if this is the way it has to be, fine. Let's get this going. Erik?!
 
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