CF Dragon bricked??

[Robin Moran]

Hi guys,

Anyone else experiencing problems with their CF Dragons? I've recently gotten my CF Dragons (39 and 58) about a week ago and finally was able to do a simple cinephotography shoot on Saturday. During that shoot, Dragon #39 started showing problems. Half the screen freezes and then failed to operate. I've already got in touch with tech support and after a couple of exchanges, we've isolated the problem to the Brain. It seems that Dragon #58 crashes and pumps out a log saying it’s on version 5.1.23, but the camera info in the menus when the camera is on shows 5.1.35. Looks like the Brain is not completely taking the firmware update. I’ve already gotten an RMA and will be sending the camera back tomorrow.

However, here’s a kicker. Today, during a feature film teaser shoot, Dragon 39 doesn’t want to power on after lunch Talk about bad luck for me. Luckily, the production was willing to continue with their shoot using my Epic-X. When the camera came back from set, I tried various combinations of ways to power up the Brain (REDVolt, RED Brick, Pro-X, Jetpack, Beltclip, AC Adaptor, with and without +1 Module and side handle). Still no luck. I've just placed a support request for this new problem. Scary thing is I've got a signed agreement with the production to support them with these babies in mid-March. I'm sure RED will get right on it and have these fixed asap Just sucks that I'm halfway across the globe.

I’ve read in the forums that some people are experiencing the same issues but with their Epic-X (both the half screen and the power issue). I hope those who have a CF Dragon are not going through the problems I’m facing.

Best,
-Robin

 

[David Battistella]

Robin,

what a drag for you. But you have done the right thing in sending support tickets and shipping it back to RED. How about 58? You couldn't have put that one in place of 39?

 

[Robin Moran]

Hi David,

Dragon 58 was the first to fail during the cinephotography shoot on Saturday. After the half screen freeze showed up, I tried rebooting only to get color bars, an error message and a log file. Right now it's packed to go. I'm hoping I don't have to do two shipments for now.

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

Cool naming for #39 and #58.

Wish you a positive outcome.

 

[Brent Carter]

Robin, thanks for the post and also the support tickets. On top of tech support and RMA departments being on the case, I have also sent your situation to our quality control team. If we have more questions, we will certainly be in contact.

 

[Robin Moran]

Thanks Brent. Really appreciate you and the RED team being on top of things

 

[Brent Carter]

That is what we are here for!

 

[Robert Hart]

Brent. - Some out-of-left-fielders which might be worth examining if the issue is specific to carbon-fibre cased cams and you hit a dead-end as to cause. - Electrically conductive swarf detached from any carbon fibre structures from screw threads dropping onto components. Static electricity build-up between the carbon fibre casework and packaging either during shipping or when being moved between locations in a case. Environmental static potentials in cables etc might be finding an easier path via pins on plugs/sockets. Safe practice of touching outer shields of plugs to the outer lens mount before connecting might be worth a look as the carbon fibre casework might be resistive enough that static discharge may prefer a path of lesser resistance via a plug pin. This all might be a distractive dead-end direction of investigation, so apologies in advance if this causes any time-wasted. If Robin had two cams go down in Indo, static discharge should not be an issue as it is normally fairly humid there. However if he is operating in a closed airconditioned environment with carpets, the air might become dry enough for carpet sparks.

 

[Brent Carter]

Thanks, Robert. I can pass along to our testing and compliance teams. I do know they spent countless hours testing and qualifying the carbon fiber DRAGON but worth sending over to them...

 

[Robin Moran]

Robert, thanks for the info. In case you want to know, today's shoot was on-location outdoors all day so something else may have caused the glitch.

 

[Dunkan Wolf]

Sounds like the bad board problem many people were reporting about a few months ago. Had to send in my own X for repair and it's been working perfectly ever since i got it back. If the camera went bad within the first 90 days after recieving it you can get an additional year of warrenty for free.

 

[Robin Moran]

Hi Dunkan,

Good to hear that yours is now working perfectly. FYI, I've never had a problem with any of my cameras before this so I believe I just had bad luck with these two. RED has provided me with RMAs for both cameras already. I'll be shipping them out today from Indonesia. Hopefully they'll also change the OLPF to the new one while its there

 

[Dominik Muench]

this should not happen with a camera of that sort and price and age.
I had to send off my Epic-X yesterday for exactly the same reason, wont boot anymore...thats the 3rd time the camera is off to RED since november....the damage all this has done to my business is quite substantial. I hope they can fix your problem quickly and once and for all.

 

[paul schefz]

this should not happen with a camera of that sort and price and age.
I had to send off my Epic-X yesterday for exactly the same reason, wont boot anymore...thats the 3rd time the camera is off to RED since november....the damage all this has done to my business is quite substantial. I hope they can fix your problem quickly and once and for all.

wow i thought i was the only one thinking that....one is bad enough but TWO?
can't wait for the "professionals" to come and shower us with their wisdom: always have a back up....or 2 or 3....
and red taking care of this asap is NOT anything special.....if at this point 2 dragon die on a job, they should have tech guys flying out to fix it....not what i want to hear at all....considering the upgrade will come with a whopping 90 days! or is it 30?....regardless, the biggest damage is being without camera....

 

[Casey Green]

Not sure if you've tried this. This Hard Restore procedure can be used to sometimes fix screen freeze issues as well as other problems. Many users still don't even know it exists.

(This is quoted from the v5.1.38 DSMC Operation Guide

"SCREEN DOES NOT DISPLAY OR FREEZES
If the screen does not display on your LCD or freezes, perform a Hard Restore. A Hard Restore functions like a System Restore in that it permits ALL camera configuration and setup data to be reset to factory default values.
To perform a Hard Restore, follow the instructions below:
1. Press and hold the PWR/REC button on the BRAIN for 20 seconds or until the fans turn at a high speed.
2. Release the PWR/REC button.
3. The screen displays on the LCD.
NOTE: User key settings will be reset as well as any other changes from the cameras default settings. The RED- MOTE will also require pairing to communicate wirelessly with the camera."

https://www.red.com/downloads

Hope this may help...

 

[Robin Moran]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the info and concerns.

@dominik, I was just as surprised as you. The 3 other cameras I have never had a problem so this is definitely one for the books.

@paul, I agree. I was hoping owning 2 would cover the backup situation. This definitely makes me rethink that ideology, especially now that the camera is expected to support a 3 month production of a film starting mid next month.

@casey, support walked me through that procedure. My camera wasn't able to Hard Restore because it doesn't seem to want to power up at all. That's why they asked for it back.

 

[Stephen Franchek]

Yeezus! It's sooo scary that your cameras bricked on set. I have a single Epic Dragon on order and my hope is that by the time they start upgrading Scarlets to Epic Dragons the bugs will be worked out

 

[Adam Johnson]

This is beyond scary. Can't imagine my RED ONE MX dying on me on ANY shoot. Period. But a brand new $50k CF Dragon? Damn...that should not happen. Period. End of story. If you are selling the camera for cheap in as an early beta prototype sure...but Epic has been around a few years now and Dragon has been engineered to a T. When a camera is meticulously hand built and crafted with precision and care like the CF Dragon I would expect 99.9999% error free no camera bricking BS. IMO you should get a substantial store credit or refund for your troubles in your CF investment. Same goes for any new Epic that bricks within the first year. I completely understand that these are computers and they are delicate machines. But how come I NEVER hear about any other companies cameras bricking left and right and having issues galore? I assume it has to do with the huge amount of stress the internal hardware is pushed...I imagine it's like a maxed out computer pushed as far as it can go without exploding, but over-clocking and pushing something to the max will cause more frequent issues? Would make since if this was the case considering everyone is essentially using the same technology just different formulas and recipes & RED has the guts and vision to push the technology to the edge - like overclocking a computer and trying to get every ounce of power possible. I don't know I'm probably off the mark with that notion, but if that's the case then why are so many people having issues?

 

[D Anderson]

can't wait for the "professionals" to come and shower us with their wisdom: always have a back up....or 2 or 3....

So true. And if 2 flagship cameras diei on the same customer, yes, RED should fly someone out to look at them.

 

[Daniel Grosseman]

So true. And if 2 flagship cameras diei on the same customer, yes, RED should fly someone out to look at them.

agreed