RED Pro Prime - lens service...

[Tony Lorentzen]

In truth - this is more of a growing worry than it is a "complaint"... here's the deal:

It finally looks like the RED Pro Primes are getting somewhat accepted by DPs here in Denmark (where I live). Those first couple of zooms didn't do RED any good in that department. Well - that's great for someone like me looking to earn some of the investment back. This also beg the question - what will I do in the case someone drops one of my lenses or breaks something on it - like a front element or just makes a giant dent in the housing?

What are my repair options? Is RED Europe in the UK set up to do lens repairs - or is RED simply counting on people to just buy a new lens?

As someone who rents out his lenses - I can certainly tell you that nobody (including insurance companies) is going to pay for a new lens because they accidentally drop it and - say - break the back element or PL-mount.

I've talked to a couple of places locally that are a little reluctant to service these lenses as they have no experience with them and/or no documentation on them. I don't want to write a blank cheque out to a service technician and end up having to pay him a full day for a simple back-focus adjustment or lube. As inexpensive as the lenses are - that will make them more expensive than Ultra Primes in the long run.

Looking to get some clarification from someone at RED on this as I have asked about this before I got the lenses - and never gotten a clear answer.

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

 

[Eirik Tyrihjel]

I see where you come from Tony, I am also trying to work up the acceptance of the RPP´s here in Norway, and it´s going the right way at the moment (slowly but steadily), but it´s a long-haul from peoples initial experience with the zooms.

I am also curious and interested in servicing.

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

I hear you, my Norwegian brother ;-)

 

[Curran Giddens]

The good news is:

RPP's have a cellular mechanical design that will accelerate repair time tremendously. 48 hour turn around instead of the normal 2 weeks....

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

Curran - I remember you posted that line before in another thread about an 18-85 being dropped, but I never managed to find the actual post so I could see who posted it. It would've been nice with some unmistakable information directly from RED.

Preferably - that should have been enclosed in the box along with the lenses, but I was surprised to find ... nothing

 

[Brent Carter]

Curran - I remember you posted that line before in another thread about an 18-85 being dropped, but I never managed to find the actual post so I could see who posted it. It would've been nice with some unmistakable information directly from RED.

Post: http://reduser.net/forum/showpost.php?p=426651&postcount=145

And, yes, our goal is still to have that quick turnaround. Brian, Jarred, and I (plus others) have spent a lot of time the last few weeks making some advancements in the lens repair process to help achieve that goal. We are not where we want to be yet, but we have made some big leaps infrastructure-wise to get closer and closer.

I hope that gives you a little confidence to know how important it is to us and that we had a big lens summit earlier this month where this was a big topic.

BC

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

Thanks for your speedy reply Brent. It sure helps, but I'm still a bit worried about this and the fact that Jarred posted that over a year ago and it still isn't clear how this should be handled. It will be extremely expensive if I have to ship lenses across the "pond" every time it needs a repair so I really need something a bit closer.

For the record... I just shipped my RED to RED Europe via FedEx and paid approx. $320 usd for it :-/ (someone fried my camera on a rental)

I never quite understood why the UK was selected for European service centre. I can only hope there will be one in Germany as that would greatly reduce shipping cost for those of us on the "mainland".

 

[Brent Carter]

It is not like we have not made positive progress on this front in the past year. I was merely stating we made some recent big strides.

It will depends on nature of repair where lenses can be worked on.

BC

 

[Bérenger Brillante]

Germany would be nice for repair or France ( :b ), Luc Besson's "Cité Européenne du Cinéma" should open soon, and there is a lot of space available (20 000m²). It would be easier for the Euro zone, and shipping prices and taxes.

 

[Jay Gannon]

I think Pinewood was a good choice for the EU base but an office on the mainland would be beneficial also.

 

[Tony Lorentzen]

Noted, Brent. Looking forward to hear more (hopefully) soon.