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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 :)

Weapon thoughts

Took the lemo adapter appart to day which is simply two screws and then it falls in half. I was trying to see if there was a way to spin the lemo connector 90 degrees. But as it looks thats not really possible without cutting a plastic ribbon cable and reseat the connector. So I really hope red starts to make thin soft pogo to lemo cables and pogo to pogo cables that can mount between of camera and old and new screens etc. Would be simple, WC has allready pretty much done it with their cabling for the top plate. Just need the cable to be a male in the monitor end an long as a normal monitor cable.

So the old 90 deg cables sticks out a bit weird on the side like in this picture.

 
Phil Holland said:
I just got mine. I need to close up this vodka shoot today, but I'll slap it on the camera tonight and grab shots for you.

The Wooden Camera V-Lock Plate is "safe", but as always it's a 3rd party accessory and anything is possible. I know at least 5 DSMC2 shooters using it though.
Click to expand...

Sounds great! :)



Matthew J said:
The cableless v-mount plate isn't shipping yet, but hopefully soon. I don't see why it wouldn't be any good. It's just passing power to the camera the same way the ET plate is. If you are really concerned about the WC plate, just spend some more money and buy the ET plate. I do believe the WC plate has the advantage over the ET plate in that it can mount lower. Hopefully, I will be getting my WC plate in the next week or two and can post how it is, but I would assume it's just as top notch as their other stuff. Right now I am loving the top plate with the lemo's built in.




Are you sure it's not because of where your face is and where the fans are? I would say it seems louder behind the camera than the Epic, but in front it's way quieter than the Epic-which is what really matters. Overall I would say mine is quieter. But again, the 2.0 Fans were way louder than the original Epic fans.
Click to expand...

There's no reason getting the ET mount because the WC mount is all about the ability to lower the batteries. If I wouldn't do that I would go with the Red V-Lock expander instead, no reason not to in that case. The whole reason I'm not digging the v-lock expander is because it makes the Red batteries protrude upwards. If Red made a V-lock expander that didn't do that I would go for that in a second. My personal opinion is that the whole Redvolt XL thing is a very odd line of priorities since most of the professional community use V-mount batteries. Instead of doing yet another RedvoltXL mount as the standard package, they should have gone with a better designed V-Lock solution as the primary package. It's like the thunderbolt connection for Apple, there aren't THAT many people using it, probably the reason why thunderbolt tech and USB merged into a new standard instead, because it doesn't work having two ways when almost everyone uses USB3.0 anyway.
Now if the RedvoltXLs were more powerful it might have been different, or maybe even then it wouldn't have, since the entire industry use V-mount batteries. Standards are there for a reason and most of the time you're spending a lot of money on things that might be EOL in a short period of time and that is I think what's going to happen to the RedvoltXLs. There's just no point having two different battery solutions when one is inferior in it's power AND non-standard to the industry. Just make redesigned batteries and design the camera for that battery purpose. Going against the current is a thing Red usually does and most of the time it's good and push the industry... but sometimes it's not and it brings problems to the people working out in the field.

I'm so wanting to go out and shoot with my new Weapon, but at the moment it's fixed to a wall socket :glare:
 
Björn Benckert said:
Took the lemo adapter appart to day which is simply two screws and then it falls in half. I was trying to see if there was a way to spin the lemo connector 90 degrees. But as it looks thats not really possible without cutting a plastic ribbon cable and reseat the connector. So I really hope red starts to make thin soft pogo to lemo cables and pogo to pogo cables that can mount between of camera and old and new screens etc. Would be simple, WC has allready pretty much done it with their cabling for the top plate. Just need the cable to be a male in the monitor end an long as a normal monitor cable.

So the old 90 deg cables sticks out a bit weird on the side like in this picture.

Click to expand...


I use my EVF a lot. Attached as close as I can to the side of the body.
This side cable exit is just not going to work for me at all. I think wooden cameras top plate with cable ports on the far side is going to be fast becoming the must have item.

[url]http://youtu.be/zdBw7-XEe9c
 
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Mark Toia said:
I use my EVF a lot. Attached as close as I can to the side of the body.
This side cable exit is just not going to work for me at all. I think wooden cameras top plate with cable ports on the far side is going to be fast becoming the must have item.

http://youtu.be/zdBw7-XEe9c
Click to expand...

or just a different angle connector or a cable that has the wooden camera kind of of finger screw on connector in one end and normal EVF lemo connector in the other, no?
 
Björn Benckert said:
or just a different angle connector or a cable that has the wooden camera kind of of finger screw on connector in one end and normal EVF lemo connector in the other, no?
Click to expand...
they will have that, pogo to pogo and pogo to lemo.
 
Phil Holland said:
While ^ that specific example might be a use case for the newer design of DSMC[SUP]2[/SUP] the clearest actual functional improvement for all shooters is that these new cameras are faster to unpack, rig, and shoot. Also, it moderately eliminates a very common point of failure and frustration by taking cables out of your rigging, which is something people have desired as well.

Specifically the bigger gripe that I see is the combination of a Top/Front mounted cable-less LCD Touch while used in combination with the new DSMC[SUP]2[/SUP] Top Handle (which may or may not have battery clearance issues for the setup you have).

Solutions to all of these gripes are:
- Use the Universal Side Handle or a Top Plate that serves as a DSMC[SUP]2[/SUP] riser to clear the battery (or even something like the Outrigger)
Click to expand...

Ah yes, I took a look at the Outrigger and that actually looks like a good solution for my needs (I have no problems with battery clearance, just sometimes need to bend the monitor towards me during concert shoots!)

Thank you for the suggestion!
 
BrendanLeahy said:
Thank you for the suggestion!
Click to expand...

No problem Brendan.

I wish you guys could see the questions I get regarding RED cameras. How to use them, how to build them, and all that sort of thing.

It's a tricky thing because packages represent a fantastic value, but don't necessarily scratch every shooter's itch for how they like to rig or ahoot. However, for some (perhaps many) they do. To me when I see RED execute these combination of accesseries they are also making shooters look at some of the actual strengths of the DSMC[SUP]2[/SUP] concepts.

You may find yourself not "needing" a Top Handle that has a user programmable key on it, but it's clear that the system has that designed as a strength. Same for Weapon and the REDVOLT XL Module on Weapon pre-orders. You may not even have XLs yet, but you can't argue how lightweight and compact that makes the camera. Heb. And you can fly with those REDVOLT XLs for that matter.

There are a lot of rather intelligent people at RED designing their cameras and accessories. To date I've never seen a manufacturer this open to user/owner/shooter/production feedback. I know this because I've worked with a few of them in the past.

Modularity is the core concept and you can indeed make these cameras whatever you'd like to shoot with. Sometimes the answer is clear, sometimes you're waiting on that accessory that just makes things feel just right. The new Side Handle comes to mind on that front. It's all coming. We're just navigating through virgin waters of an entirely new type of camera system with accessories sprouting slowly through the spring to summer days :)
 
Bob Gundu said:
They need to design a travel charger for those XL's! The current one is not travel friendly.
Click to expand...

There is a hack for it.... which involves a Dremel and a volt travel charger. :)

Also as soon as the Vlock module becomes available the XL modules will start to list for sale. I think price for those will go down quite a bit. They already list used for around 500-600 USD and they work fine with the AC adapter as chargers. Also nice to have a spare in the bag when traveling.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
There's no reason getting the ET mount because the WC mount is all about the ability to lower the batteries. If I wouldn't do that I would go with the Red V-Lock expander instead, no reason not to in that case. The whole reason I'm not digging the v-lock expander is because it makes the Red batteries protrude upwards. If Red made a V-lock expander that didn't do that I would go for that in a second. My personal opinion is that the whole Redvolt XL thing is a very odd line of priorities since most of the professional community use V-mount batteries. Instead of doing yet another RedvoltXL mount as the standard package, they should have gone with a better designed V-Lock solution as the primary package. It's like the thunderbolt connection for Apple, there aren't THAT many people using it, probably the reason why thunderbolt tech and USB merged into a new standard instead, because it doesn't work having two ways when almost everyone uses USB3.0 anyway.
Now if the RedvoltXLs were more powerful it might have been different, or maybe even then it wouldn't have, since the entire industry use V-mount batteries. Standards are there for a reason and most of the time you're spending a lot of money on things that might be EOL in a short period of time and that is I think what's going to happen to the RedvoltXLs. There's just no point having two different battery solutions when one is inferior in it's power AND non-standard to the industry. Just make redesigned batteries and design the camera for that battery purpose. Going against the current is a thing Red usually does and most of the time it's good and push the industry... but sometimes it's not and it brings problems to the people working out in the field.

I'm so wanting to go out and shoot with my new Weapon, but at the moment it's fixed to a wall socket :glare:
Click to expand...

I agree about the V-mount batteries being an industry standard (along with the AB mount which is really a far better design than v-mount) and it's odd that RED is really pushing their RV XL's as they are a pricey way to get power to the camera. I liked the original REDVolt for the Side Handle as it was great to have a hot swap option (though it came at adding quiet a bit of weight to the camera) but otherwise I think pointless since they just don't power the camera for that long (RV or RV XL)

What were you doing for power on your epic that you can't use it on the weapon for the time being? I had a v-mount plate hanging off rods off the top of the Epic and I've just bolted that onto the weapon and plugged in the power cable to the power input.
 
i would think red would of thrown in a battery or 2 with the XL expander to entice people to go with it, everyone i know that got a weapon pkg has sold their expander first thing.
 
Phil Holland said:
Modularity is the core concept and you can indeed make these cameras whatever you'd like to shoot with. Sometimes the answer is clear, sometimes you're waiting on that accessory that just makes things feel just right. The new Side Handle comes to mind on that front. It's all coming. We're just navigating through virgin waters of an entirely new type of camera system with accessories sprouting slowly through the spring to summer days :)
Click to expand...
Modularity is a blessing and a curse when it comes to RED cameras. It's great to be able to configure them in a multitude of different ways, and personalize them to your own style of shooting. But that modularity/complexity is one of the intimidating factors for some users (they prefer the ARRI approach, where the camera basically only comes rigged one way).

And as a small rental house, it means that I have to stock at least 1 (or more) of everything, to be able to build a camera the way someone prefers it to be rigged. I definitely have my own preferences, but in the rental world, it's not about what I want, but what the customer wants. The addition of a bunch of awesome 3rd party accessories to the mix adds to the fun (and the confusion) and the emptiness of my bank account, lol. For example, though I generally rig my cameras with AB Mount batteries, I have also embraced XL's as a way to make the cameras small and light and added a bunch to my inventory…it remains to be seen if my clients feel the same way!
 
Tom Greenberg said:
I have also embraced XL's as a way to make the cameras small and light and added a bunch to my inventory…it remains to be seen if my clients feel the same way!
Click to expand...

Considering the XL's are 1.5 lbs and the module is 1 lb, once you get a battery plate like the WC plate that is cableless and add a 90watt v-mount you are at most 6 oz heavier and not stuck with a propriety system. Plus, considering how far the XL module extends with an XL installed, the v-mount might be slimmer in the end. But it does depend on what people want.
 
Bob Gundu said:
They need to design a travel charger for those XL's! The current one is not travel friendly.
Click to expand...

The XL camera module is kind of a travel charger. Except very slow.... the new ones can also charge on camera, which is nice.

I have the Epic XL module that I can't sell, might just keep it for this purpose, rather than selling it for 5% of its original value.
 
I dunno I like the XLs and modules. It is actually a well made unit. I clocked average charge times of about 1 hour and 20minutes for a pretty much dead XL. And I have been getting 45minutes to an hour of use with a 7inch. This is not breathtaking of course and would need a multi charger - but if people want to sell off the charging modules cheap I could be interested.
 
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