Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • 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 :)

Red Joystick issues

K

Kjetil Haugen

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Messages
267
Reaction score
0
Points
0
I've had the camera for two days now and I've already noticed problems with the joystick (no response or click sound when lifting it upwards - sometimes it works, sometimes not...). No damage was done to it, and I've been gentle. Still the joystick is acting up. I'm conserned that over time this joystick will wear out even with normal and cautious use.

That said I thought I'd suggest something for future builds. Could the buttons for playback (rewind, play, fast forward) be used to navigate when in menu (sensor, system, video) mode. All the navigating through settings is all done with the joystick. Enabling the buttons would let the joystick rest from time to time and also serve as backup should the joystick wear out on set somewhere...

I hate to be the one complaining, the camera is awsome and I'm having a great time with it!
 
Menu Knob seating

Menu Knob seating

Hello Kjetil,

While shooting with Red #186 the control knob at the end of the joystick came loose and fell off into my hand. There is a very small setscrew that holds the knob onto the shaft of the joystick. After finding the right size allen wrench, very small, and putting the knob back on, the joystick would only click to the left intermittently. Up, down, and right directions still worked all the time.

A call to Red support provided a fix for my situation. I had re-attached the knob fully seated on the shaft. Lifting it a bit higher on the shaft and tightening it there brought back left clicking. They implied that this was a common situation. Perhaps the knob on your camera has slipped too low on the joystick, that is -too close to the back of the camera.

A backup joystick knob, and the allen wrench to tighten it, might be good things to have in one's RED kit. If the knob comes off it is easy to lose, I was just lucky.
 
Michael Male said:
Hello Kjetil,

While shooting with Red #186 the control knob at the end of the joystick came loose and fell off into my hand. There is a very small setscrew that holds the knob onto the shaft of the joystick. After finding the right size allen wrench, very small, and putting the knob back on, the joystick would only click to the left intermittently. Up, down, and right directions still worked all the time.

A call to Red support provided a fix for my situation. I had re-attached the knob fully seated on the shaft. Lifting it a bit higher on the shaft and tightening it there brought back left clicking. They implied that this was a common situation. Perhaps the knob on your camera has slipped too low on the joystick, that is -too close to the back of the camera.

A backup joystick knob, and the allen wrench to tighten it, might be good things to have in one's RED kit. If the knob comes off it is easy to lose, I was just lucky.
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael. That was exactly the issue. The knob had slipped down to far on the shaft. Pulling it out brought back up-clicking. Hope this joystick is as bulletproof as they say, I'm nervous everytime I use it. Maybe a touchscreen LCD will be available in the future...
 
Kjetil,

I've been using my camera heavily since early January -with lots of toggling the menu joystick to change frame rates. It seems quite solid except for the knob position on the shaft issue.

Enjoy your shooting!
 
Like anything that is handled, it's possible to accidentally push the joy stick knob in.

The joy stick knob requires a .9mm allen key.

OR

A .035 works as well.

It's a good idea to track a couple of these allen keys down and keep them with your kit.
 
Sam Druckerman said:
The joy stick knob requires a .09mm allen key.
Click to expand...

Not again, Sam! :biggrin:
There's no such thing as a 0.09 mm allen key. That would be about the diameter of a human hair! So it must be the 0.9 mm one. :wink:
 
Michael Male said:
Hello Kjetil,


A call to Red support provided a fix for my situation. I had re-attached the knob fully seated on the shaft. Lifting it a bit higher on the shaft and tightening it there brought back left clicking. They implied that this was a common situation. Perhaps the knob on your camera has slipped too low on the joystick, that is -too close to the back of the camera.
Click to expand...

What is common? The knob coming loose or being seated wrongly?

BTW, to put the knob back on, it would be a .035" or 0.9mm Allen key.
 
Hello Pana-tech,

I should have chosen my words more carefully. "Known situation" is what I should have said.

The problem may or may not be common. I see that there are at least two past posts with people trying to find 0.9 mm allen keys...

Seating the knob all the way down on the shaft and then tightening it in place seems like it should be the proper procedure, but with my camera and apparently others as well it isn't.

All the Best,

Michael
 
Sorry guys..... Just now seeing the thread was moved.

Michael Male said:
OR

Is it a 0.9 mm (.035") size allen key?

Thanks,

Michael
Click to expand...

It's definitely 0.9mm!! As Big and Pana have stated correctly.

Thanks for the catch.


big lebowski said:
Not again, Sam! :biggrin:
:wink:
Click to expand...

LOL Dude! :-) What can I say? Sometimes it's not easy being me....

The truth is I have a mild form of dyslexia, and she can be a cruel mistress. It's a bummer, and times like this are very embarrassing...... Thank god for spell check.

When I wrote the post I knew it was 0.9mm , but..... I switched the decimal point. I have issues with switching #'s like in a phone #, or letters in words.

My apologies to all for the confusion.

BOT

IMO the joystick works great. The critical part which lies inside the camera, the actual switch itself, feels bulletproof.

Sometimes things can get pushed or bumped no matter how careful you are. And all screws, nuts, etc can just become a little loose and require tightening.

My camera came back from a three day shoot with the Joystick knob pushed in just a little, so it wouldn't always click. The DP/Op on the gig was someone who works for me often and I trust completely.... Things happen.

So my advice is pick up the allen key and keep it with your kit. And every once in a while, check all the bolts and screws on your rig, and tighten them all.
 
Sam Druckerman said:
And all screws, nuts, etc can just become a little loose and require tightening...
So my advice is pick up the allen key and keep it with your kit. And every once in a while, check all the bolts and screws on your rig, and tighten them all.
Click to expand...

And/or you could use some of this :detective2: :
http://www.difflock.com/buyersguide/tools/loctite243.shtml
http://65.213.72.112/tds5/docs/243-EN.PDF

Worked a treat on a couple of countersunk bolts on my Steadicam Flyer which kept coming loose - a lot cheaper than Steadicam's part replacement solution!

Note: Make sure it's 243 and not one of their other threadlockers designed for permanent locking!
 
Okay, so my knob has come off and so I look up this thread. Sweet! .9mm or a .035" allen...great, can't find it! Where do you find one? Smallest I can find is .05" or 1.5mm
 
We have had troubles with the knob on one of our two REDs. The first one came off. . . naturally it was lost. A second one was ordered. Naturally, it came off, too. And we've had a dickens of a time getting the full use of the joystick with the knob on. It is a clear design flaw that I hope they don't repeat with Epic.

Stephen
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top