Red Cam destroyed

[Radoslav Karapetkov]

Red In Pieces?

.

These are some monumental idiots, if the rumor is true.

This baby should be touched with velvet gloves only.

 

[Jeremy Hughes]

It makes me almost cry or throw-up.

I want to drill a hole in my lens and rivet my circular polar filter to it. Nobody will notice. Then I can just rip the rivet out and continue shooting normally without the filter.

 

[Pig]

Let's hope that person never gets access to the RED store-room:

 

[Jaime Vallés]

Let's hope that person never gets access to the RED store-room:

OMG, Pig! How on earth did you do that?! Hilarious, and disturbing at the same time... :sorcerer:

EDIT: I just saw that the pic of the cameras is for real and not photoshopped. But I still think your composite above is great, Pig!

 

[Joel Kaye]

OMG! Have you guys heard about the Red Op who was in the water shooting surfers just North of San Francisco? A Great White bit off the arm that was holding his Red...

I think you should greenlight this story.

 

[Michael Hastings]

Is it really so crazy?

Is it really so crazy?

Hi everybody,
I'm not naming any names, but I've heard from a couple sources that a Red Camera (####?) was destroyed during a shoot up here in the Bay Area.

Apparently, an operator was attempting to mount the Red to a radio-controlled helicopter, and in doing so drilled HOLES in the camera body. A circuit board was perforated, rendering this particular Red into a pricey paper weight.
..
With the array of mounting possibilites available for the Red, I am left dumbfounded as to why anyone would attempt a hack job on this camera.

Perhaps someone from the Red Team can tell us if a drilled-and-killed camera has come in for repair, and if so, was it possible?

-M

I don't want to get flamed but - Is it really so crazy?

As a manufacturer of underwater housings and therefore a frequent user of high end cameras in tough environments, maybe I have the wrong perspective - but I have seen a lot of aggressive modifications to cameras 2 to 4 times as expensive as the RED.

I've seen new BVW400s loaded into a Pelican case and dropped down to the Aquarius underwater habitat for an ABC 20/20 shoot - and watched it brought to the surface with bubbles streaming from the sides - scary to say the least but it was wrapped in a bag and it survived. I saw the same camera dropped down in a paint pot - no leaks but it hit the side of the boat so hard it cracked one of the drive wheels. The cam op got the shot because we only had 60 minutes bottom time, but about every 15 seconds or so the video would break up because of the transport problem. (I had the underwater camera so didn't have to deal with the repercussions)

We've chopped up cameras, viewfinders, and more - it's part of the biz. So far in 25 years I've never flooded a camera - but it could happen.

As far as drilling a hole in my RED, I will certainly look for other ways first - but if it is necessary and someone is willing to pay for it - then onto the Bridgeport it goes.

With that said, I really hope that damaging one of the circuit boards doesn't turn the camera into toast - it seems like that should be an easy board swap repair.

I will be like a kid at Christmas if Jim gets me my #206 next month - but in the end it is a tool. I suspect the relatively low cost of the REDONE will mean it gets used in a lot of "crashcam" situations

 

[Paul Hazlett]

I'm quite curious as I don't have experience with such a situation. Would any insurance package cover for that kind of damage?

you cant insure against stupidity. at least not for a reasonbale price.

 

[John K]

-Duplicated Post-

 

[John K]

This was one of those guys that works for 100 bucks an hour, right?

No, as it happens, he is highly regarded for some reason. Unfortunately he's one of those people who sometimes overdoes the "can-do" persona, to his eventual detriment. He's a pain in the ass for rental organizations, arbtrarily rejecting one piece of perfectly good piece of equipment after another like a wannabe wine snob who keeps sending bottles of wine back in a restaurant trying to impress people.

 

[Matt Redmond]

I've seen new BVW400s loaded into a Pelican case and dropped down to the Aquarius underwater habitat for an ABC 20/20 shoot...

We've got some PAL BVW400's here if you want some more of them - submerge them as far as you like

With that said, I really hope that damaging one of the circuit boards doesn't turn the camera into toast - it seems like that should be an easy board swap repair.

An easy board repair only as long as you send it back to RED HQ - and with the minimal number of boards on cameras these days (along with their increased complexity) I'd say it wouldn't be a cheap exercise.

Yes you can fit out the Red with lots of rods and brackets, but sometimes there isn't the space for all of that gear on a rig and you have to modify. However the golden rule remains - never drill into anything without knowing what's on the other side.

 

[Noah Kadner]

No, as it happens, he is highly regarded for some reason. Unfortunately he's one of those people who sometimes overdoes the "can-do" persona, to his eventual detriment. He's a pain in the ass for rental organizations, arbtrarily rejecting one piece of perfectly good piece of equipment after another like a wannabe wine snob who keeps sending bottles of wine back in a restaurant trying to impress people.

Please let us know the name so we can place on the 'never rent to' list. Or sure, that will be a $50K drill deposit my friend.

Noah

 

[John V]

Like I thought....

 

[Drew Suppa]

I don't want to get flamed but - Is it really so crazy?

I'm not a flamer, so don't worry... but there's a bit of a difference between dropping a camera into paint and water and haphazardly drilling holes in the side of it.

I've lost Sony cameras to water (not humidity... it was a pool and it was submerged), but have taken it apart, let it air-dry, reassembled it and voila! a week later it worked again (and it even seemed the chlorine cleaned the heads!... joking...)

If an experienced CAMERAPERSON (and no one else, as they shouldn't be touching the f**king thing) decided to drill holes in the camera, for whatever silly reason, I would have only assumed they would have had the smarts to consult a schematic or would have otherwise found out where to and where not to drill.

I can't believe I'm even justifying this. :ranting2:

 

[Mark Mannschreck]

Hi everybody,
I'm not naming any names, but I've heard from a couple sources that a Red Camera (####?) was destroyed during a shoot up here in the Bay Area.

Apparently, an operator was attempting to mount the Red to a radio-controlled helicopter, and in doing so drilled HOLES in the camera body. A circuit board was perforated, rendering this particular Red into a pricey paper weight.

Apparently these guys were asked to pack up and a complete cinema helicopter was brought in for the remainder of the shoot, using another of several Reds that were on hand.

With the array of mounting possibilites available for the Red, I am left dumbfounded as to why anyone would attempt a hack job on this camera.

Perhaps someone from the Red Team can tell us if a drilled-and-killed camera has come in for repair, and if so, was it possible?

-M

The story is true... BUT no drill. The person responsible supposedly used a socket wrench and threaded two inch long 3/8" wide bolts all the way into the body - through the heat sinks, fan, circuit boards, etc... The shoot was actually finished in a Wescam with the exact same (replaced/repaired) camera two weeks later.

 

[Jaime Vallés]

The story is true... BUT no drill. The person responsible supposedly used a socket wrench and threaded two inch long 3/8" wide bolts all the way into the body - through the heat sinks, fan, circuit boards, etc... The shoot was actually finished in a Wescam with the exact same (replaced/repaired) camera two weeks later.

Good Lord! It's not an urban legend?! :blink:

 

[Brent J. Craig]

That was what I suspected. There are many cameras out there where if you screw too long of a bolt into it you hit delicate components. If my memory is correct, most 16SR's have a warning sticker about just this problem.

 

[Jarred Land]

Just to be clear, it wasnt the camera owner who did it.. it was rented out.

Its a really good idea guys to find a way to be with your camera when it goes out.. so you can keep an eye on it, no matter how much you trust the people that are renting it from.. dumb things happen.

 

[I Bloom]

Sheesh, why don't they redesign the camera so we have some places to drill at least.

I don't know guys, I'm hoping to get a camera in January, but this whole drillability issue might be a deal breaker for me.

IBloom

 

[jbeale]

A few years ago, a company I worked for made an OEM product in the telecom market. Within a month of initial prototype release, one came back with a complaint that it didn't work... we found it had a bolt-hole through a circuit board. Some tech ignored the assembly diagram we provided and used a bolt 3x too long. Just seems to be human nature.

 

[Clint Johnson]

Sheesh, why don't they redesign the camera so we have some places to drill at least.

I don't know guys, I'm hoping to get a camera in January, but this whole drillability issue might be a deal breaker for me.

IBloom

The secret is to have the camera powered up and be watching the monitor while slowly turning in the self tapping screw. When the image deteriorates simply back off a quarter turn and you are good to go.

A handy tip is to fill the camera with epoxy/resin through a fill hole you drill into the top. You can do this since there are no moving parts to mess up! The camera is then much sturdier and it allows for those screws to have a far greater hold.