VFS Inclino, Imperio, Origo News ??

[Shawn Booth]

Guys, be patient - the wait is beyond worth it. Was just at View Factor and .....

Origo - MUST HAVE for every camera body. Period. They work great and simply. Continue to be patient with the guys that are busting their asses to make -

ANOTHER GAME CHANGER - Inclino and Impero. Forget Preston and the other guy. The controller fits perfect in your hand and then your pocket when not in use. The cost for 3 motors (to control the whole barrel) is less than the other guys, plus they are stronger, easier to use.... you'll see. I could keep going on and on, but I'll show you instead:

**Video articles coming 01 DEC 08**

 

[Martin Weiss]

Can't help but think:
Is this here the new Birger thread?

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

No.

Stephen

 

[Andrew Benz]

Can't help but think:
Is this here the new Birger thread?

No.

Whenever I get a little frustrated, I think about how frustrated Curt and his brothers are at this point. The gear has to come out at the right quality for the prices that they stated. This gives the VFS very little wiggle room to overcome their obstacles.

I understand everyones frustration, but we should not let this split our ranks, cause more infighting or bad feelings.

Anyway, my best to everyone.

 

[Lee Dashiell]

I feel a little hurt that people think we are trying to make off with their money or in some way practice underhanded business ethics. .

Curt,
No one here on the board thought that until you quit communicating with everyone. As Leo said, no returned calls, emails or PM's and people start to wonder.....We are all waiting, just keep us posted. It's pretty simple.

 

[M Hsu]

Is it really so unreasonable to expect vendors to meet shipping dates?

Are we really awful people if we expect vendors to communicate when those dates aren't met?

I think most of the people on this board are big fans of the companies they are buying from. I think 99.9% of us want them to succeed and we voted with our dollars.

From what some people would say here, if you built your plans around a projected ship date, you are a fool. Indeed a fool has no backup plan. But we build our plans around these products because we believe in them. we believe in the people making them. I've personally padded 6 months to the birger schedule and of course it's not shipping yet. I ordered an origo because I need one 30 feet in the air and 6 feet out. If it doesn't ship soon though I'll order the monster cine version. It happens. After watching the redrock drama I just passed on that entirely. I'm also waiting on the optitek viewfinder and alesniaks canon smart mount.

I like all of these people, Curt, Erik, Alesniak, Jacek... I think they're all smart clever people. I've put money towards all of their ideas. Many of them are game changers and are making revolutionary products in the spirit of Jim himself. That is awesome. I talked to Doug at long valley and he told me when the 7jib came out, it was the only option like it at the time. I bought his jib and dolly.

But I don't think it's fair to expect that we all wait like placid sheep when shipping dates aren't met. I understand these are small shops, sometimes at the mercy of their vendors. I don't expect them to work miracles.

I just want frequent updates so I can adjust my plan. If it's going to be another month, fine, I can find another solution. Another week, I can wait. No problem at all. I just need to know. Not knowing puts me in a position of having to cover at the last minute. That is expensive. I have a shoot coming up which I absolutely need to have a good set of lenses for. I have a $12,000 collection of Canon glass just waiting for the birger mount. Erik just left for his wedding. So.... I am in line for alesniak's smart mount and I bought a nikon mount, a 50 1.4 and Ticos entire nikon lens collection. That's a $3000 plan C. All because I can't get a solid read on when Erik is going to ship.

I need the origo before the 20th. I ordered it awhile ago. I emailed curt last week asking if he thought I could have it by then. No response. So of course off to monster cine, where fortunately they have a similar product in stock. If curt could tell me it would be there by then, i would be happy to hold off. I'd rather buy curt's product. I like their vibe. I like their moco head. I might buy one. I'm curious about the impero and if I can adapt that as a zoom motor....

So really when people are frustrated, what you hear is the sound of disappointment. It's the sound of a customer who believed in a product and wanted to order it. It's the sound of someone who feels betrayed by someone they invested money with.

It's human, it's natural. A little realistic communication goes a long way. Let people vent. They are upset because they still believe. The peope who quit believing in birger aren't posting on the birger board. They have moved on. The upset people are the ones still on the fence. The one who can still be won back. The upset people still care. That is why they are upset.

I know these are small shops. Richard Andrewski at cool lights had nothing but sympathy as one vendor to another when I asked him about the birger delays. He knows what it is to be hung out to dry by a parts manufacturer. I get that. But consider this...

Element technica is a small shop, Long Valley is a small shop...

I don't see anyone complaining about them.

just my 2 cents. I have respect for all.

 

[RivaiC]

I believe Curt is frustrated as much as we do. If you read his previous post, it's about the manufacturing parts company who jerk around with them. I think Curt is more frustrated than any of us, he has to wait and when the company cant meet deadline, it affected Curt and eventually the customer which is us. There's a give and take. I do agree tho if he needs to give frequent update.

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

Element technica is a small shop is a small shop...

I don't see anyone complaining about them.

because if you can order it at ET you will get it...thats my experience...beside red`s customer support...ET is doing a great job.

curt should take all the time he needs...i dont want another dissapointment.
i usually work with bartec and c-motion....the sound level of there motors is acceptable for the sound guys.

This is my biggest wish....make it as low noise as posssible.

 

[ericyoung]

...Element technica is a small shop, Long Valley is a small shop...

I don't see anyone complaining about them.

just my 2 cents. I have respect for all.

To be fair, ET and LV aren't combining electronics, electrical and mechanical manufacture. Electronic debugging is usually more tricky than mechanical too.

 

[Shawn Booth]

because if you can order it at ET you will get it...thats my experience...beside red`s customer support...ET is doing a great job.

curt should take all the time he needs...i dont want another dissapointment.
i usually work with bartec and c-motion....the sound level of there motors is acceptable for the sound guys.

This is my biggest wish....make it as low noise as posssible.

It's practically silent....

 

[Lee Dashiell]

Curt was the "great communicator" by updating his site on a regular basis but people quit hearing from him and got concerned. I think peoples concerns are realistic.

 

[Shawn Booth]

1 man + hundreds of emails/phones calls + delays = a wait for everyone.....

I understand the frustrations but consider View Factor's POV -

I too waited longer than I thought I would for the Origo. I also waited a lot longer for other products which I "needed" - all I can say is the wait was, and is, worth it.

 

[Lee Dashiell]

1 man + hundreds of emails/phones calls + delays = a wait for everyone.....
.

No, that's not how it was working. Curt was updating his site one time every few days or even once a week and people were informed of delays or setbacks, then it stopped. He wasn't responding to hundreds of emails, just one posting of an update every few days.....and then he quit updating.

I'm not overly concerned about delays, I understand that he has had his fair share of issues with development, however when you pay someone $2000 up front you should get updates. It's the silence that has been the killer.

I am totally convinced that Curt will deliver but he does need to keep everyone updated.....even if it's news that you don't want to hear.

 

[Curran Giddens]

Curt posted an update on the VFS forum.

NEW UPDATE: Die Cast parts will arrive on Wednesday of next week. We are modifying the last batch of parts and trying to get some systems up and running to verify the components that are correct. We are trying to get a head start on testing the motors while we are waiting for the replacement parts. I will have solid ship dates next week. I understand that this is a frustrating experience for our customers and I assure you that we are doing our best to get these units shipping as soon as possible without sacrificing quality.

 

[Adrian T.]

This is the kind of update we sought for! :tongue:
Thanks Curt (and thanks Curran for bringing it to our attention).

 

[frankmartin]

yes we finally heard that there will be another delay but he still hasn't updated the serial number page since august 13 so we can't even find out if we are in the first two hundred. I think the least Viewfactor could do is update this info
So we know where we stand in line.

 

[Adrian T.]

NEW UPDATE: Die Cast parts will arrive on Wednesday of next week.

Ok, this was yesterday. Please keep us informed!

 

[Jim McKinney]

So . . . have the die cast parts arrived? Are they up to standards?

I know you're busy and harried, Curt, but please let us know.
Thanks.

 

[Manuel Wenger]

From the VFS Forum:

>NEW UPDATE: Die Cast parts have not arrived yet. We finally have the mill and lathe setup in the shop so we are hacking some of the parts to make them work in the bad shells we received.....<

Sorry to hear that, but thanks to keep us informed.

 

[Paul Hazlett]

give us the name of the Jackass supplier and we wil go bug them until they get there act together!!!