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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 :)

GROUP BUY: Cinegears Wireless Follow Focus Christmas Special!

Yea, I don't know what's going on with Cinegears right now with not responding to your guys' emails...sorry that it seems to be falling on deaf ears. Obviously there are quite a few happy people from this group buy, but a couple of bad customer service issues can taint the water, and rightfully so, if issues aren't addressed.

Steven...please address these issues.
 
Eric Santiago said:
Okay I didnt want to mention this on here but its a free country.

I did not ask for a free upgrade.

I received an Express Controller back in November 2014 to replace the original one I purchased in September 2014.

However that Express Controller came with a single Marking Disc.

The original Controllers five Marking Discs did not fit it.

Since my Cinegears Kit was perfectly marked for my Rokinon Cine lenses I couldnt rent the FF kit with the Express Controller.

I asked numerous times for a replacement for the discs and nothing was done about it.

The Express Controller sat in a box for months.

When the Cinegears kit started acting up I had no choice but to send it back.

I was told at initial RMA request to send both controllers back so they can check whats wrong with the kit.

I had no idea if the Express Controller worked since it was abandoned in the original packaging in my office.

Look I just want the Express Controller back with five marking discs as well as the Motor.

The emails back an forth would drive any normal human nuts.

Its so confusing and def lost in translation and thats not a pun.

I am not trying to rip anyone off here.

And yes this has nothing to do with the Group Buy and I apologize ahead but honestly, I am not getting anywhere with personal emails and this is all I have.

Ive already spent more on renting a Bartech for current projects than the cost of a single Cinegears Kit :(
Click to expand...


Hi Eric,

I appracite that you like Cinegears product,
Cinegears had sent you a free upgraded controller 8 month ago,
Cinegears have been ask you to return the original controller at January 2015, you finally returned it at July, the controller has been damaged, the anntia is disconnected,even the speed button is missing.
Cinegears had replied more than 10 e-mails to you since last week.

I personally offered you a free upgrade controller 10 month ago, how can you ask for more free marking disks without return the original controller.

I will send you a upgrade controller and 5 more marking disks, would this satisfie you?

However, Cinegears will take your case as busines lost, I consider this is my personal decision and contribution, as part of Canadian film community.
thanks,
 
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Hi all,

Just to give some fresh air, in my case each time i asked something to Cinegears, i have a reply.
I know my words wont resolve some personnal case but for people reading us, its interesting I think.
 
I just used the Cinegears follow focus. My movie I DOPed had 2 Sciopro FIZ and one Prestion FIZ. While shooting 4 Red Dragon cameras I needed extra shots with my Gimbal operator when he had to shoot by himself when we were with out a focus puller. We attached the Espresso a finger wheel wireless control. I was happy because the operator was able to shoot without a focus puller. The lens on the Gimbal with a Red Dragon was the Sigma 18-35mm. And when we used a focus puller the Cine Gears focus the focus unit worked great. We used the unit within 30 feet. My 1st camera asst tould me that we had the latest focus motor.
I was truly impressed this Focus unit.

Cliff Hokanson
www.cliffswebsite.com
 
Steven He said:
Hi Eric,

I appracite that you like Cinegears product,
Cinegears had sent you a free upgraded controller 8 month ago,
Cinegears have been ask you to return the original controller at January 2015, you finally returned it at July, the controller has been damaged, the anntia is disconnected,even the speed button is missing.
Cinegears had replied more than 10 e-mails to you since last week.

I personally offered you a free upgrade controller 10 month ago, how can you ask for more free marking disks without return the original controller.
Click to expand...


See this is where it all goes wrong.
Parts of your message Steven is correct but the key points are all off from what I have been told by your team.

Yes you sent me the Express Controller in November.
And we had many emails back and forth as to why I refused to send and all due to the missing Marking discs to match what I originally had received in September 2014 which was five discs.

And no I did not ask for more discs. I have sent you back all the marking discs with the Express Controller (single disc untouched) and five with the original (marked for my Rokinons, however dirty with markings hard to clean yes this was noted on REDUSER last year).
I just want the matching five discs to come back with my Express Controller.

And the Express Controller was not the broken one according to your tech team. It was the original. This is where I get so confused.
That unit was never used on set due to missing discs.
Again sat in its original packaging.
Emails from your team stated so many different stories.
At one point they claim I did not send back the Express Controller.
I have been very careful with my gear.
There are REDUSERs here that can attest to that.
I am borderline ANAL with my equipment.
If the original was broken then it its not something I can visibly see.
All I can admit too was a missing speedknob.


I will send you a upgrade controller and 5 more marking disks, would this satisfie you?
Click to expand...

This was all I asked for in the beginning, but all the emails between your team and I was so confusing that it escalated to this point.
I took a photo of all the items I sent via RMA and it proves what I sent.


However, Cinegears will take your case as businesses lost, I consider this is my personal decision and contribution, as part of Canadian film community.
thanks,
Click to expand...

Steven in any other situation I would feel for you. But after all the emails and this I dont know what to say.
I did my part as a REDUSER and helped boost sales for the Cinegears kit.
I have personally talked to a lot of REDUSERs in PM and in person on how great the kit was in the first few months.
I still do this day believe in that but things went awry with Communication.
I am hoping this doesnt happen to anyone else.
 
Gunleik, don't be too hard on this thread, this is the only way I have been able to reach Steven. so at least keep the lines of communication open.

Nick
 
Hi Morning Everyone,

Thank you very much for all the support, I will quickly conclude a bit on the recent issues and concerns among some of the users.
First of all, we do understand that the equipment could stop working or be damaged during use, and the company would love to provide the best support, including repairing/replacing service.
However, I am mainly in charge of technical support, so won't be the most efficient one to be contacted if there is requests on repair and replacement.
In stead, please contact the CINEGEARS service team and I believe they will always be happy to help. The contact information will be found on the website: http://www.cinegears.com/rma/
And we still welcome to discuss here if there is any technical related issues.

We appreciate all the support and great suggestions. :smile:
 
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I had a good resolution to my issue. I now have the new "no lag" motor (not sure what it is officially called). From my initial tests it seems to be exactly what I wanted all along. Leaving tomorrow to start a feature with it, I'll report back after it's been put through it's paces in the horrid real world testing grounds of a low budget feature schedule in Alabama in August ;-)

Also, I think with Steven's post above, maybe those of us with issues can get better resolution in the future by going through proper channels. Steven did go out of his way to help me out before I left.

Cheers,

Nick
 
Hi guys. I'm using my Cinegears kit about 1 month. Seems to be it's a second generation motor that was released in May 2015.
I can conclude that in general my device works well - sometimes I had connection issues but usually I solve them by turning off/on both the units.

But I'd like to ask about one thing.
From the first day I use it, I see that in some situations with slow focus movements the motor always moves jerkily - with small steps. For example if I use 135mm lens and change focus for very small distance - from the ear to nose of actress, so when I slowly move the wheel of the main unit, the motor goes not so smoothly as wheel - it goes with small steps.
Here is a video test with this thing.

It's not a big deal for 95% of use, but in some moments it's critical - with long lenses, with foto-lenses which have short range of focus ring movement, and with macro lenses. This steps are quite visible during focusing in such moments.

Is it ok for all the Cinegears motors or I've got damaged motor?
 
Oleksiy Kardash said:
Hi guys. I'm using my Cinegears kit about 1 month. Seems to be it's a second generation motor that was released in May 2015.
I can conclude that in general my device works well - sometimes I had connection issues but usually I solve them by turning off/on both the units.

But I'd like to ask about one thing.
From the first day I use it, I see that in some situations with slow focus movements the motor always moves jerkily - with small steps. For example if I use 135mm lens and change focus for very small distance - from the ear to nose of actress, so when I slowly move the wheel of the main unit, the motor goes not so smoothly as wheel - it goes with small steps.
Here is a video test with this thing.

It's not a big deal for 95% of use, but in some moments it's critical - with long lenses, with foto-lenses which have short range of focus ring movement, and with macro lenses. This steps are quite visible during focusing in such moments.

Is it ok for all the Cinegears motors or I've got damaged motor?
Click to expand...

For macro type stuff...adjust the speed knob (little blue knob in the upper right hand corner) to it's slowest (all the way to the right)...that should help. You could also manually re-map the focus range to a shorter distance, but utilizing the entire range of the cinegears...meaning, you have to move the wheel a lot more to go a much smaller distance. :-)
 
Chris McKechnie said:
For macro type stuff...adjust the speed knob (little blue knob in the upper right hand corner) to it's slowest (all the way to the right)...that should help. You could also manually re-map the focus range to a shorter distance, but utilizing the entire range of the cinegears...meaning, you have to move the wheel a lot more to go a much smaller distance. :-)
Click to expand...

Chris, so glad you are avail for advice! You def know this system inside and out!
 
Chris McKechnie said:
adjust the speed knob
Click to expand...
But in normal mode this knob does not affect on anything. I tried to adjust it in different ways and also looked through the instruction manual so I found that "Speed" knob works only for "Preset" Mode - for adjusting the speed between automatic changing of focus positions at A, B, C and D programmable points. It doesn't affect on speed in manual mode.

Chris McKechnie said:
You could also manually re-map the focus range to a shorter distance
Click to expand...
I tried this too, but even when the wheel of main unit pass big distance and the motor pass small one - it's still doing this as a jumping step.
Here is a videotest:
Is it normal or there is something wrong with my motor?
 
Last edited:
Guys, could somebody give me an answer please, is your Cinegears motor moves with the same small steps on the slow speed or it moves smoothly? Thank you.
 
I'll check for you next time it's up and running, probably tomorrow. However, if thats what they all do, thats a problem Cinegears will need to address.

Nick
 
Oleksiy I do see a bit of that jumpyness
on small or large moves, quick or slow.

Have been meaning To do a video just like that for a while.
Not sure where the 'steppyness' comes from or if there's a fix at all
nb I have THE latest latest hi torque motor too
j
 
Make sure that the actual gear is tight and not loose.

Also, if you're going micro adjustments in focus, set the speed all the way down to the slowest speed (dial all the way to the left)...that will ramp the focus knob moreso than what you're experiencing.
 
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