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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 :)

Cameraless for almost 3 weeks and paying a ridiculous amount for an sdi component.

Viet Mac

Viet Mac

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So I decided to upgrade my Epic to a dragon they said it would take 7-10 working days. I sent it in almost 3 weeks ago and they just told me last week that it going to take longer than expected because it had water damage. The SDI port was corroded and they wouldn't continue the upgrade unless I paid $700 for it to be fixed. I don't know too much about SDI ports but I thought $700 seemed really steep for a component like that does any one here no anything about that? . Not only did I have to cancel a few gigs but also have to go out of pocket to rent another red for some of my shoots that I have had. Really sucks to be cameraless for such a long period of time. Does it really take that many days to perform test on these cameras?



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Based off of what you wrote somewhere in the 7-10 business days they uncovered the damage.

Considering that level of water damage a thorough body check would be in order. Every board, every wire, every connection, things behind things, etc....

Certainly sucks to have any time without your camera body, but they did uncover something that really needed to be fixed and it could have been far worse. Sounds like there was an inspection and diagnostic and that's where you're at now.
 
The $700 is to replace the entire I/O board. not the $20 bnc connector. That type of circuit board can have 6 or more layers,making the removal and re-soldering of external components, like that connector, unfeasible.
 
I got exactly the same email "water damage" - I was told that it would cost 2000 euros to fix and they wouldn't do the upgrade without it - the camera worked just fine when I sent it off. I'm pretty pissed off about it.

I'm interested to see if my second one will have the same "problem" when it goes in. Also I was told three to four weeks and sent it off about six weeks ago.
 
RED is obviously very thorough about their inspections for upgrade and clearly want to take care of any issues before upgrading. After all, would you want to spend $10K-12K upgrading a camera that already had problems waiting to happen? How pissed would you be when something went wrong three weeks later?

My own Scarlet, it was discovered, had a bent bottom base (probably as a result of tightening the mounting plate to it with too much force is my guess) and they charged me about $200 to fix it. I imagine most three year old cameras have developed some set of issues; small or large.

All told, my camera took about 11-12 business days (including the extra time for the repair) and, because of shipping and weekends, was gone just short of three weeks.
 
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I had a bended pin detected, impossible to ignore or correct it - i was told - 1300$ to pay for a new board in order to perform the dragon upgrade. My 2nd dragon upgrade was faster and without extra costs, nothing to complain.
The bureaucrat in the dragon upgrade line gambled away Red's premium spot in my heart.
bended_pin.jpg
 
Did you guys w/ water damage have your camera out in the rain?
What is the typical gear used to prevent that from happening? Just curious. I don't have that issue, but if it's common, it's worth discussing.
 
Proximity/exposure to sea spray, ocean air, handling equipment with salty hands can present some exposure risks. Tape all open ports as a precautionary measure. Wind whipped salt particles are tiny and stick when they dry, making it a pesky or impossible cleaning task once the particles circulate in the interior of the equipment. As diligently as possible, keep salt crystals away because when the camera is placed in a humid or damp environment, the cocktail will activate the corrosion process.
 
Mine had two slightly bent pins in a contact group that is located beneath the triangle, I was told that board replacement was necessary.

Set me back some $1500. Servicing with RED sure ain't cheap.
 
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Specifically regarding the defective SDI ports, is a good example and forward thinking of the cable less design of the Weapon. Fewer I/O points reduce exposure which equal less down camera downtime/expense
 
I imagine that water damage is much more common that any of us might expect.

I'm of the opinion that the Epic design in particular is especially vulnerable to damage from water due to the design of the camera with the air flow going right through the heart of the camera. Perhaps I'm wrong but I never rent out my camera without being present and I'm continually amazed at how careless a lot of AC's are with the Epic and rain. In my view, the camera should never get wet at all, even the least bit. Am I crazy?

Many AC's handle the camera like it's weather sealed.
 
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