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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 :)

Wooden Camera Cable-less or V-Lock Expander?

If you use an ET V-lock it has two 2-pin lemo power connectors and a d-tap. We use the 2-pin lemos for our RT Motion and Teradek transmitter.

Most non-RED batteries ship with d-taps now, and some with USB as well, and you can always use a d-tap splitter, but not my favorite idea.

Agree with the notion of having the expander and battery plates separate. We have two weapons and two Scarlet-W's and I'm waiting to get two OMOD Latitudes for the Weapons, then I'll move our Base I/O + ET V-mounts to the Scarlets. Of course then I'll still need to buy two battery plates, in which case, I'll likely go with ET's unless Mark has something more compelling than ET up his sleeves like a V-mount with a puffer battery.

BTW, look for more top plate options as well at NAB that include the brain and modules (not saying who...). That's one thing I find appealing with the OMOD system. As you expand the back of the camera, you get more space for mounting AKS on top of the camera. Then again, they integrate stuff in the modules so you don't need to bolt as much shit on.

Should be other options for all this stuff at NAB which is just a week away now :)

M
 
So far more people is recommending to keep the base expander and get the WC mount :)
Does anyone know how good the ET is compared to the WC? I mean, are they built "the same"? The WC still has an edge in that you can lower the battery, though I'm not sure how it affects the battery and camera temperature if it semi-blocks the bottom fans.

As for D-tap, both the WC and the V-lock expander has D-tap so that's no issue or a deciding factor.
 
Matthew Quinn said:
The blueshape vlock version has 2 dtaps and a USB port, I'm going for that one
Click to expand...

Have you heard anything from them about delivery, when do you expect to get yours?
 
They are still on pre order. My plan WAS to grab one at NAB.. But I just picked up a gig so I had to cancel those plans. However my experience with WC has been great.. Very nice people who are passionate about film making. Better to wait till after nab anyhow to see what other people come up with
 
Christoffer Glans said:
Have you heard anything from them about delivery, when do you expect to get yours?
Click to expand...

On the 5th Jeff at Wooden Camera told me that they should start shipping the cable-less plates in about 2-3 weeks. Of course, it was supposed to be shipping by now originally too, but oh well. If you are going to order one, I would go ahead and do it. No clue what kind of backorder they have, but I would guess the list is fairly long already.
 
I am using the ET V-lock / base expander combo with good success. Just had to saw off an old redone handle and screw it onto my new handle yoke to make it all fit. Now my hand snuggles into the handle and is prevented from slippage by the battery behind it. Really a nice solution. Red aught to make a stubby handle so folks don't have to own a hack saw.
 

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Matthew Quinn said:
They are still on pre order. My plan WAS to grab one at NAB.. But I just picked up a gig so I had to cancel those plans. However my experience with WC has been great.. Very nice people who are passionate about film making. Better to wait till after nab anyhow to see what other people come up with
Click to expand...
so this whole WC discount and picking equipment up at nab that you had mentioned before, i was in the store the other day in LA and they were like no, they cannot sell or give anyone anything at NAB. you can place an order, but they will have nothing, no stock to give or sell to anyone.
 
well i find that on the last day they like to sell the stock they have on display... like less to ship back.. i got my easyrig and a few other things last year, maybe they changed the rules, or maybe im getting people in trouble but heh
 
Matthew Quinn said:
well i find that on the last day they like to sell the stock they have on display... like less to ship back.. i got my easyrig and a few other things last year, maybe they changed the rules, or maybe im getting people in trouble but heh
Click to expand...
haha yeah, you might be, it's actually against the rules to sell anything there, but ill still check it out!
 
I went through the same thing trying to figure out which is better, but I ultimately went with Base Expander + Wooden Camera Cableless

I'm getting the Blueshape plate but it's still about 2-3 weeks out from delivery from the last update I got from Wooden Camera this week.

Even though it's more expensive, here are the main reasons:
  • The Quick Back came out before the V-Lock Expander and I was able to use an older IDX RED plate through the RED Base Expander to power my Scarlet-W. Therefore I didn't have to wait several weeks if not months for the V-Lock Expander to ship.
  • More P-Tap outs (3) and a USB out. The more the merrier.
  • Ability to put it in "high and low" modes - Just gives better weight distribution options
  • Choice of Gold Mount batteries instead of V-mount only. I've had clients ask for Anton Bauer batteries and I now have the option of providing both battery plates.
  • More universal than RED's V-Lock expander. Some batteries are too wide for the V-Lock expander.
  • Ability to go straight into the camera without the Base Expander. You can make your camera even smaller by going straight into the brain if you have no need for the I/Os.
 
Brian Nguyen said:
I went through the same thing trying to figure out which is better, but I ultimately went with Base Expander + Wooden Camera Cableless

I'm getting the Blueshape plate but it's still about 2-3 weeks out from delivery from the last update I got from Wooden Camera this week.

Even though it's more expensive, here are the main reasons:
  • The Quick Back came out before the V-Lock Expander and I was able to use an older IDX RED plate through the RED Base Expander to power my Scarlet-W. Therefore I didn't have to wait several weeks if not months for the V-Lock Expander to ship.
  • More P-Tap outs (3) and a USB out. The more the merrier.
  • Ability to put it in "high and low" modes - Just gives better weight distribution options
  • Choice of Gold Mount batteries instead of V-mount only. I've had clients ask for Anton Bauer batteries and I now have the option of providing both battery plates.
  • More universal than RED's V-Lock expander. Some batteries are too wide for the V-Lock expander.
  • Ability to go straight into the camera without the Base Expander. You can make your camera even smaller by going straight into the brain if you have no need for the I/Os.
Click to expand...


^^ this
 
the top handle will not fit, but the universal handle that comes in the v lovk package will fit. very confusing!
 
I may be a little out of place here because I decided to go Gold Mount with mine but I have to say that I absolutely love my WC cable-less back plate. With the gold mount its a good happy medium on top and bottom height with the battery.







 
John Shofner said:
I may be a little out of place here because I decided to go Gold Mount with mine but I have to say that I absolutely love my WC cable-less back plate. With the gold mount its a good happy medium on top and bottom height with the battery.

Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards getting the WC mount, so far there hasn't been much arguments for the V-lock expander and the lower battery is how it's suppose to look when having a V-lock battery.
On a side note, those rods holding up the Sigma lens aren't needed. I'll get the tele lens, but the sigma is small enough to be supported without help from rods.
 
Brian Nguyen said:
I went through the same thing trying to figure out which is better, but I ultimately went with Base Expander + Wooden Camera Cableless

I'm getting the Blueshape plate but it's still about 2-3 weeks out from delivery from the last update I got from Wooden Camera this week.

Even though it's more expensive, here are the main reasons:
  • The Quick Back came out before the V-Lock Expander and I was able to use an older IDX RED plate through the RED Base Expander to power my Scarlet-W. Therefore I didn't have to wait several weeks if not months for the V-Lock Expander to ship.
  • More P-Tap outs (3) and a USB out. The more the merrier.
  • Ability to put it in "high and low" modes - Just gives better weight distribution options
  • Choice of Gold Mount batteries instead of V-mount only. I've had clients ask for Anton Bauer batteries and I now have the option of providing both battery plates.
  • More universal than RED's V-Lock expander. Some batteries are too wide for the V-Lock expander.
  • Ability to go straight into the camera without the Base Expander. You can make your camera even smaller by going straight into the brain if you have no need for the I/Os.
Click to expand...

These are very good points. I sincerely hope that the mount is reliable though, it's always a risk with third party stuff, but the V-Lock expander is really really bad in it's design. The point about it not being able to mount wider batteries just adds to the list of faulty design choices that went into it. I think I'm settling for the WC mount, Red should really redesign their mount, it doesn't help that they will "redesign" their own batteries, we still can't use wider batteries on the mount. V-Lock design is supposed to open up choices in batteries, otherwise we could just go for the RedvoltXLs and have Red create new more powerful versions of those for that mount.
 
John Shofner said:
I may be a little out of place here because I decided to go Gold Mount with mine but I have to say that I absolutely love my WC cable-less back plate. With the gold mount its a good happy medium on top and bottom height with the battery.
Click to expand...

How did you get yours already? I ordered within minutes of the email announcing that they were taking orders and mine is supposedly still weeks away.
 
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