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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 :)

GearNex geared head UPDATE

TILT PLATE

TILT PLATE

I hope i did not sound too harsh on last post. In order to avoid further delay you might make simple 90 degree angle plate to solve this issue. Tilt plate looks easy to make but I imagine otherwise.
 
Shooting 90 degrees down (or up) on a geared head is never a good idea. As soon as you start indexing a tilt plate you are raising the center of gravity of the camera as well as shifting it "downhill". You compensate by sliding the camera back up the tilt plate, which further raises the CG. The result is that you start to lose the balanced feel of the head created by the arc; there is a limited sweet spot where the camera is balanced but the further you tilt to one end or the other of travel, the more resistance you feel and more force is required to operate. This is true of all mechanical geared heads, not specific to the Gearnex.

I myself will only engage the tilt plate to about 20 degrees max for shots that require a bit of extra tilt up or down than the standard configuration delivers; beyond that I will usually just switch out to the O'Connor, which when properly configured will feel balanced through 180 degrees of tilt. Certainly for any shot that requires a 90 degree orientation I will opt for the fluid head instead as the tilt function of the geared head becomes virtually inoperable at that point, the entire assembly being so front-heavy. I wouldn't opt to use one for tabletop for this reason.

As always, Joseph, I look forward to seeing your improvements to this product, you guys are obviously working hard on it.
 
tilt plate

tilt plate

I agree it is very difficult to operate under that kind of condition. Usually it is lock off situation when you are looking straight down.
Point being every time you want to use extreme angle changing to fluid head is bit of a pain. Having tilt plate solves that problem.
 
shin sugino said:
Point being every time you want to use extreme angle changing to fluid head is bit of a pain.
Click to expand...

That's what camera assistants are for! haha.

True enough Shin, for a quick lockoff it's nice to be able to keep the same head. I do get a tad nervous any time I have to add in a lot of tilt though--the system on the Arrihead is pretty good, but the Panahead is dicey enough that standard practice is to stick a couple of wedges in from either side as a safety (which inevitably invites derisive comments)!
 
Is there such a thing as a yaw free device that could go between the camera and head keeping the center of gravity constant? I've seen the ZeroGravity from Varizoom, but I'd imagine that would not be up to anyones standards here... and a little tall. So if a could mount to the side of a gear head, keeping the CG lower... then the "torque" from hanging forward or back would lessen? I think I'm just rambling here.... carry on.

I had a Sinar 8X10 P view camera back in the 90's and loved it's "yaw-free" design....
 
Bottom line ETA on TILT PLATE?[/QUOTE]

Hi Shin,

To answer your question how long to take to get a tilt plate done, we are estimating within 4 weeks of the GearNex being shipped, somewhere in October. We are using a different manufacture for our Tilt Plate and the design has been approved as well as the materials have been ordered for the prototype.

If you cannot wait, I would recommend getting a tilt plate/Wedge that accepts our 3/8 lock down screw.

Hope that helps
 
Hi Joseph,

Do you estimate beginning of september for first batch shipping of the GearNex ?

Thanks
 
Etienne Caron said:
Hi Joseph,

Do you estimate beginning of september for first batch shipping of the GearNex ?

Thanks
Click to expand...


Hi Etienne,

We have been told by our manufacture that the GearNex should be ready by the second week of September. Depending on when and if they are ready that week, we hope to be shipping the same week but it may be the next.

Thanks for the Question
 
The rough tilt shift assembly tested very well today. We now are fine tuning it with a smaller window for less slop in the tilt handle, adding a stronger spring and a window guard for dust. Should have something to test again on Thursday or Friday.
 
Take a look at our new website at www.GearNex.com, you may have to clean your cache to see the changes. We still have some more work to do but it looks pretty good.
 
Joseph- On the site specifications it says 50lbs max, the site FAQ says 40lbs, but in this thread you said 75lbs. Just wanting to clarify...

Also, what is the size of the surface area that the camera mounts to? Id like to get a dovetail that is just longer than it, so it doesnt interfere with the tilt wheel. Now that I think about it, maybe I want to know the length of the tilt plate....
 
R3D Data said:
Joseph- On the site specifications it says 50lbs max, the site FAQ says 40lbs, but in this thread you said 75lbs. Just wanting to clarify...

Also, what is the size of the surface area that the camera mounts to? Id like to get a dovetail that is just longer than it, so it doesnt interfere with the tilt wheel. Now that I think about it, maybe I want to know the length of the tilt plate....
Click to expand...

Thanks for catching that, it is 75lbs. We will fix that on the website.

I do not have the unit in front of me right now but I believe the top plate is 8.5" x 5" and an 1/8 inch.

As far as the length of the tilt plate, we are currently using Element Technica's Gamma Dovetail 9" and the 12". We used the 18" but we recommend our swing tilt arm, coming soon, for that Dovetail.
 
Last edited:
New GearNex in motion

New GearNex in motion

Here is a video we shot at my house with a Red and an Element Technica's eye piece leveler for testing purposes. It features the Redhead Red GearNex. Bret Allen, Soc is at the wheels.

http://vimeo.com/6000167

This Video is a 360 degree of the GearNex before we changed out the tilt mechanism.

http://vimeo.com/5995447


 
Hi Joseph,

Are there degree markings on the rocker to indicate tilt angle like I suggested at NAB? It looks like there might be in the pictures and videos, but hard to tell for sure. If so, where is the witness mark? This would usually be at 0º (level) at the bottom of the rocker's arc; but in this case that location is covered up by the rocker supports.
 
Paul Kalbach said:
Hi Joseph,

Are there degree markings on the rocker to indicate tilt angle like I suggested at NAB? It looks like there might be in the pictures and videos, but hard to tell for sure. If so, where is the witness mark? This would usually be at 0º (level) at the bottom of the rocker's arc; but in this case that location is covered up by the rocker supports.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Yes there is. The degree markers are on the upper tilt rockers and the witness mark is machined into the inside of the left rocker support (where the GearNex name is lasered) which is aligned with the rocker markers.
 
Today we approved the "Big" tilt plate mechanical plans and the materials where ordered to make a prototype.

We also decided to upgrade the GearNex case foam to a more dense foam to better hold up to the weight of the GearNex and accessories. Glad we decided to test it out before making all the cases even though we where assured the upgraded foam we already agreed to was good enough.
 
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