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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

GearNex at Reducation Oct 15th

GearNex at Reducation Oct 15th

For all of you who want to get their hands on the new updated GearNex that we are so proud of, now you can at the REDucation in Los Angeles October 15th.

Come visit the R3D Data booth to see and play with it. Bret will be there to answer any of your questions.

Japan GearNex.jpg
 
Fedex was nice to us. The GearNex geared head is in my hot little hands! Unfortunately I didnt get much of a chance to play with it, as Im leaving shortly to prep for REDucation.

So stop by the R3D Data booth #2 tomorrow and come break it in!
 
As some of you know, we got considerable time on the Gearnex when we made the RED101 dvd. In fact we did a full module on it.

I was amazed at how solid it was.. And ours was still a prototype unit.. We'll be getting in finished in the next week or so with lots of the remaining goodies!

I was struck at the abilty to put this thing on a 100m set of sticks (They need to be GOOD STRONG sticks though). Joe and the guys did a fantastic job of building this thing. It's smooth, and works well. We also demo'd the Element Technica Eyepiece leveler on this thing.. During the "Dolly build" portion of the DVD I showed how the Eyepiece leveler worked, and it was flawless.

It's fun to see all the toys work together!

Jay
 
GearNex Demo unit available at Filmtools NOW

GearNex Demo unit available at Filmtools NOW

Do you live in the Los Angeles area and want to finally get your hands on the GearNex, NOW YOU CAN. FilmTools has their Demo Unit for you to play with.

Now that the prototyping is done and we are very happy with the results, we are getting ready for our second production run. Hurry up and get your order in.
 
GearNex on "Chuck"

GearNex on "Chuck"

Yesterday, Bret dropped off the GearNex unit 007 to Warner Brothers for Bobby Altman to use on the television series "Chuck".

Bret said they where excited to see it. We look forward to seeing the upcoming reviews.
 
Mini-review

Mini-review

Unfortunately Ive not had much time to play with my new head, as Ive been busy with my own software. Whenever I get to a brick wall with the software, I go over and spin the wheels for a second. :wink5: Clears my head everytime...

Overall, I feel this is a solid head. I have very little complaints about the head. It feels very smooth, and the shots playback just as smooth - no surprises that you dont see because you are operating.

Couple of small notes that Ive already voiced to Bret:
- Id like a tilt neutral to be able to easier balance the camera. As Bret explains it, thats not possible for 2 very good reasons. First, because of the worm gear you wont get a free-floating camera head. Secondly, most consumer users wont expect the free-tilt, and will complain/sue once their cameras sustain damage from the unexpected sudden tilt.

- They need to provide a smaller screw for those who order the mitchell plate option. The once screw is about 4 inches long - which is fine for the ball head, but takes longer than it should for the mitchell head to wind up or wind down.

- The manual doenst mention anything about maintenance. Bret explained they are still writing that part, and will have clear instructions in the future. That said, the general maintenance that Bret did explain looks super easy. There isnt many exposed parts on it, and removing the tilt plate looks to be super simple.

The only gotcha to operating on a daily use is the leveling of the camera on the head. If you feel that theres a little bit of grinding on your tilt (and by grinding I mean pressure, not flakes of metal), then your camera isnt properly balanced for that position. Thats true of all geared heads, but since the balance is harder to find on this head, you'll need to be more aware of this.

The amount of lines in the text here are deceiving - it looks like Ive posted a bunch of complaints. But read them for what they are - they are small complaints. You can only write "its smooth" so many times before your hands hurt.

One great feature that no one has posted anywhere about is the number of holes in this thing. Thats right - theres at least 20 holes all over it that are tapped out in various sizes. You can attach anything with a screw on the end of it to nearly anywhere on the head. Bret mentioned one of his ideas was to mount a LCD with via a Noga arm. The LCD would move with the pan, but not with the tilt - making it very easy to operate. First thing Im going to do is make a cup holder with a screw mount.

But I think the biggest compliment came at REDucation. One of GearNex's "competitors" came over to take a look. Once they found out I wasnt a GearNex rep (and for clarity, I do not have any interest in the company, besides purchasing their product), they felt they could show their true impressions - which was one of awe. They actually came over several times throughout the day with different company people to spin the wheels. I got the impression that there was some "I told you we should have paid attention" going on behind the scenes.

One point about CineToys LLC - they have been very responsive to my questions and needs. One particular part was about 1/8" off the measurement, which ended up being a very important 1/8". Bret went out of his way to make it right (including stopping by late at night), and Ill have a proper replacement soon. Though they are a small company, you dont get lost in the crowd. Factor that in with Sliverado's always-great customer support, and this transaction has been a 5-month breeze.
 
GearNex Update - 10/18/09

GearNex Update - 10/18/09

We have contacted a lot of you via email about your delivery and options currently available. If you haven't heard from me yet, you will soon.

I will be heading down to Los Angeles this next week and Bret will be bringing more units down on Wednesday. Even more GearNex units will be shipping out on Friday.

We are including in every purchase the training kit and DVD with Michael Frediani at the wheels. As far as we know, we have the only training video teaching you to use the geared head.

We are also including a 13piece tool set, just in case.

If you haven't been to FilmTools yet to play with the GearNex Demo Unit, you need to get over there soon to see what all the talk is about.
 
Ive had the head a week now. Im still impressed.

Ive had the chance to use it on a couple of smaller shoots now, and its been wonderful. Ive used it with a Red and my HDX900, and it handled all the configurations elegantly. Smooth as silk. The more I use it, the easier it becomes - not just for re-learning the head, but also I feel that the head itself has loosened up from when I first pulled it out of the box. Im sure its wearing in.

Ive got interesting video of my 2 year old son operating it. He's going at it both hands, looking in the finder. He loves it just as much as I do. I leave it on a high-hat and he'll walk up and start playing.

Any timeline for the tiltplate or optional larger wheels?
 
R3D Data said:
Ive had the head a week now. Im still impressed.

Ive had the chance to use it on a couple of smaller shoots now, and its been wonderful. Ive used it with a Red and my HDX900, and it handled all the configurations elegantly. Smooth as silk. The more I use it, the easier it becomes - not just for re-learning the head, but also I feel that the head itself has loosened up from when I first pulled it out of the box. Im sure its wearing in.

Ive got interesting video of my 2 year old son operating it. He's going at it both hands, looking in the finder. He loves it just as much as I do. I leave it on a high-hat and he'll walk up and start playing.

Any timeline for the tiltplate or optional larger wheels?
Click to expand...

Hi Conrad,

I am very glad to hear it is running well for you and that you are teaching the next generation of camera operators :-)

The big tilt plate is almost done with prototyping. We have a model built and we are fixing some issues that came up. Then it will need to go to testing. I am thinking it will be out by December sometime.

As for the larger wheels, that will be further down the pipe because we want to concentrate on getting the swivel tilt arm and tilt extension done first.

Thanks for the question
 
More GearNex units shipping this week. Also, a large distributor in Japan has just picked up the GearNex geared head for their product line.
 
Frank Weeks said:
Is there any way to find out when we might expect delivery? We ordered the week following NAB.
Click to expand...

Hi Frank,

It appears yours is scheduled to be assembled next week and shipped to Silverado the week of the 9th. I highly recommend ordering from them the custom heavy duty foam hard case since it is a precision device. I would hate to see it get knocked out of alignment or damaged because it wasn't properly stored.
 
Here is a picture from one of our GearNex owners son, Noah, learning how to use it. He said it is scary how good he is getting at it. Nice to see the next generation is going to know how to perform on the wheels.

Thanks for sharing Brian.

DSC_0148.jpg
 
GearNex at HD Expo

GearNex at HD Expo

Come see the GearNex geared head and meet Bret Allen at HD Expo located in the Marriott Burbank hotel this Wednesday and Thursday 11/4/09 - 11/5/09.
http://www.createasphere.com/
 
The GearNex was a hit in the SOC and FilmTools booth at the HD EXPO in Burbank that just ended. Thank you to everyone who stopped by and said "Hi" or to order one.
 
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