Richard James Lewis

Just a quick public thanks to Magnus for helping me out with one of my motors recently. Good stuff! Rich.

I now have two Transvideo 6" X-SBL monitors. They work perfectly, never have any issues. Bullet proof. Jacques is a gentleman, and a man of his word. I ditched my Cinetronic 2 over a year ago after the worst customer experience I've ever had with a company / product. It made my blood boil I was so angry at times. That silly monitor never worked properly and if was full of problems. Massive waste of time and money. I lost thousands, and being on the other side of the world with no real course for action Chris didn't give a shit in the end, and that Mike guy was a complete arse. I don't care if people stick up for Cinetronic. I'm glad it worked out for you, but for me it was a total nightmare. Rich

Use a pop up greenhouse tent. Then you can put your head through the flap and still work...

I mix gyros and antlers for vehicle work now, seems to make for good results.

Many many years ago I had an Archer that docked on the gimbal, and this was my experience then before I popped a docking collar on. Happy to be wrong and look forward to seeing it. Rich.

It's not much of a point I'm making, but it's a point non the less... Surely you are inclined to grip the gimbal the closest to the pan bearing as possible when lifting it. The lower your hands go the more uncomfortable and top heavy it becomes, so even when pulling it off the balancing pin you'd have to then shuffle your hands down away from the bearing to make room to dock it, and if the handle was facing away toward the dock at this point and not towards you then you'd have to move the handle around so the yoke wouldn't foul on the dock. If a grip has one hand under the base and then one had on the gimbal grip at this point then I maintain they will need to materialise an additional appendage to do this... ;)

I'd say 50% of the time I dock my sled and the other 50% the grip docks it for me. I can imagine the fun they will have supporting the weight of the sled while trying to chase that gimbal yoke and handle as it rotates around the post, aiming to clip it into the dock at just the right angle without knocking it, you'd need 3 hands.

Why not deliver it standard with a 1.5" or a 2" post instead of starting a new size? XCS offers different sleeves for all common post sizes out there. Something similar would let people use your new equipment on their current sleds, same with the monitor brackets. Maybe someone has an old PRO and is looking for a new gimbal... Or has a gimbal they like and need a new sled in 1.5 or 2" I can understand your post connector point, but there other changes that wouldn't make it such a closed system. Will there be a gimbal handle with a 5/8" hole? Rich.

Depends on your drop time...

I agree. I don't think a part like that should be getting that kind of abuse. Also when docked the CG of the system is now above the height of the dock, and I don't like the idea of that either. I'm sure it's a non issue tho, as you would likely just pop a Gorelock ring on there anyway... I'm also not mad on this non standard post sizing. At least make it 2" or 1.5" as options, and then everyone could buy their new gimbal, or integrate parts of it into their current system. Tiffen is only modular within Tiffen, and when the vast majority of seasoned ops use non Tiffen rigs, then they are only appealing to people who want to buy complete new systems, which drastically decreases their potential market. I'm sure there are many people more inclined to upgrade parts than shelling out on an entire new system. It's always confused me why this seems to be the case. No disrespect to anyone involved tho, it's good to see new things from Tiffen and I'm sure it will be a great sled when done.

...and Curt at Artemis.

Sorted i think. Rich

Doha even!

Didn't bring mine... Need to get one for a week. Pm me. Cheers, Rich

I got mine today. Looks great. Well made and installed in seconds. Best, Rich.

Great idea, I want mine done!

Thanks Jens. Interesting to know. :)

It was my understanding from speaking with Jacques a while ago that the SBL and the eSBL could be swapped out to the 2000nit screen. I was sent some prices. It's the same screen just a different backlight. I'm not too familar with the variations of the SBL tho, so maybe the earlier ones are different somehow? I had my e-sbl upgraded and bought an extra x-sbl at the same time. Fantastic monitors. Rick.

Jens. Curious as to why you didn't go the full way and have the screen swapped for the 2000nit one at the same time instead of just having the glass bonded option? Rick

I have two of these monitors now and they are fantastic. Reliable, and incredibly well built. I haven't had any issues seeing anything in sunlight. It's a really big difference from the 1000nit version, which was fine indoors but suffered outdoors. Anything you put into it it works, and I've never had any problems with performance. It's also a great weight. The gyro compensated level is also very smooth and accurate. Customer service has been excellent, Jacques and his team are brilliantly quick and very helpful. As Thomas says, a bit of gaffer over the front panel for those torrential rain sequences but otherwise you are fine. Jacques also wrote an update with a two button push to calibrate on the front panel. Saves you going through the menus. Great monitors. Rick.

It makes sense Eric, but I shall clarify. When the gimbal is assembled and tested it holds balance with a 4 second drop when statically balanced and then rotated 180 degrees. If once rotated 180 degrees the static balance is no longer achieved, then the gimbal does not pass as it not centred to within that manufacturers tolerance. I was informed that the PRO was assembled to the tolerance of at least 4 second drop time. Tiffen gimbals used to be aligned to a minimum of 3 seconds (although you can now use the blue whale tool to fine tune) MK-V gimbals also used to be to 3 seconds (this was years ago) If yours held for longer then that was great, but by luck. I understand from Greg that the XCS gimbal is built to hold centre to a neutral drop time, and when rotated 180 static balance should still be achieved. Happy to be corrected by Jack if things have changed. Best, Rick.

I've been very happy with my XCS gimbal, very smooth and solid. I like the ergo handle too, very comfortable. I've never been a fan of those clamp lever locks on things either, so the kipp handle on the XCS suits me fine, half a turn between loose and locked (I know you can get the PRO with a kipp lock too now) I love the PRO stuff, but I think the XCS gimbal is machined to a greater accuracy. The PRO I believe is centred to around 4 ish seconds on a 180 degree static test. I've seen some better, and some worse. The XCS is centred to neutral by default. If you want to take a look at mine Tom, then give me a shout. Best, Rick.

Optical Support have designed one. Check it out. Best, Rick.

Can you supply the TX / RX with Lemo power connectors as opposed to the mini XLR which it looks like it comes with?

Hey Chris. Can you please reply to my emails. Best, Rick.