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Real face of MK-V Customer support


Tomas Riuka

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When you hook the monitor up directly to the camera without going through the sled, then key the radio does it do the same thing? I was having problems at one time and it turned out to be the monitor oddly enough. My service from MK-V has always been spot on.

 

JA

 

Hey John, do you have the 2 stage post, 4 stage post, 1.5 or 2"? Im going to guess 2", 2 stage? The shorter length of the post cable probably makes the difference.

 

BTW, I suffer from the same RF issue and I still wait for a solution.

 

 

I do want to chime in here. I feel like someone needs to offer a different perspective here. I cant speak about any negative customer service, because I have ALWAYS received prompt attention.

 

 

At the time I bought my MKV Nexus, it was the ONLY full system to even consider HD and multiple video lines down the post. The concept of a 2", 4 stage post was very appealing to me as well! At that time, I felt it was the only choice for me and my needs in both video & the film world. The modularity of the Nexus gave me the ability to work with any camera weight. Additionally, I felt it was worthy of being "AR" ready in case I wanted to go down that road in the future. I liked the ideas and the development of MK-V. So, I commend Howard for being experimental and pushing the edge of development in a time when others stayed away from radical design changes. With that said, as a forerunner, he has suffered the fall out of "growing pains" . I stand behind my equipment as does Howard. Yes I am awaiting a resolution to the "RF" HDSDI issue. I also understand the technical difficulties of running HD through tiny spaces at long lengths (4 stage post), Its just not that simple! For now, I wait, and run a single wire outside my post, not that big of a deal. Am I frustrated that my rig doesn't work perfectly, yes I am. Has there ever been 1 manufacturer to make the perfect rig? No. I can recall problems with my equipment from Cinema Products, never was everything perfect, its part of the problem with such unique equipment. We all have stuff from multiple manufacturers and some degree of customization, its just the way it is. The HD world we are in is still very new and there are some road blocks along the way. Problems are to be expected and hopefully solutions are forthcoming!

 

Lets stick together!

 

Cheers,

Jeff

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At the time I bought my MKV Nexus, it was the ONLY full system to even consider HD and multiple video lines down the post.

 

 

Ummm sorry but that is incorrect. The XCS Ultimate has had multiple video lines (HD-SDI Compliant) down the post since day one and that was the late 90's well before Howard ever came along. As for your other comments I'll refrain from addressing them but my opinion and experiences are well known...

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I'm filming with alexa today and having to run 2 !! Cables for hdsdi is really annoying. Also must notice that i can't power alexa from the bottom, cause i'm pretty sure that laoding 10 amps (alexa, rff and wireless hd video) will definitely blow electronics inside with those tiny tiny cables.

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Sorry jeff, its really no rocket science. both my rigs, a 2 stage and a 4 stage, both run hd now without any more issues. Same with power, issue free now. I do agree that i was very impressed with the way Howard came up with ideas i liked. ( i still love my sled ) but technically it was a mess. But even that i can understand. What i cant understand is the constant bs he gave me. Its not the rig, its your monitor, its your cable, its the way you mount things etc etc or even worse, just dont reply. Sometimes he gives you the feeling your a retard with the rig. I was fedup. I have seen the inside now, and if he isnt going to radical changing the way of electronic thinking, then i wish you good luck with waiting for the solution. In the mean time i found my solution, and i cant be happyer about it. For the first time in 3 years ( yes, 3 years ) my issues are gone. Dont sell it as a HD rig if it isnt capable for it.

 

He would be a real good salesman if he would offer 50% of the expenses i had to made to make it all work, but that will be a dream.

Anayway, do whatever you like with this info, i rest my case. I am a happy nexus user now, but thx to others.

 

Job

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"Am I frustrated that my rig doesn't work perfectly, yes I am. Has there ever been 1 manufacturer to make the perfect rig? No. I can recall problems with my equipment from Cinema Products, never was everything perfect, its part of the problem with such unique equipment. We all have stuff from multiple manufacturers and some degree of customization, its just the way it is. The HD world we are in is still very new and there are some road blocks along the way. Problems are to be expected and hopefully solutions are forthcoming!"

 

- Jeff Muhlstock

 

 

As Jeff said,

All of us have modified our rigs to accommodate the needs of our genre. I have to admit I was in awe of the MK-V when I first saw the moduality of it, I actually flew Jeffs rig and for the record, I look up to him as an operator and a person , he recommended it to me and I looked very seriously at it, but I the threads warned me and as Tomas said, I wanted to see for myself. I tried to have a conversation a few times with Howard and apparently he was too busy to address my questions in person at NAB and Cinegear, so I moved on and wrote it off to a busy company with a good product but not enough customer service to help me in my inquires. I'm not knocking MK-V because I really have never had to deal with them, as a matter of fact I still love the machining of their parts, I just felt I had to chime in regarding Jeffs comment, "that there has never been one company to make the perfect rig".

 

My point here is, That was the reason I tested all the rigs Tiffen/Steadicam, XCS, MK-V, PRO and as there was something about all of them that I loved non of them had all the bells and whistles that I wanted and wouldn't have to modify. That's why I got together with Tiffen and redesigned the Phantom to accommodate all the things that I would have had to modify. The XCS and Gregs customer service and customability makes his rig an amazing product and I was very close to buying one of his. In the long run it's all about getting a product your happy with, that's going to grow with you and do the job your wanting it to do.

 

My new rig does everything I could want it to do and more, thanks to the customer service of Tiffen.

 

Tomas, I'm sorry you didn't get the customer service from MK-V, but if you have the rig of your dreams and it's going to take an external company to get it fixed to your specs, like Job had to, that sucks! but in the long run being Happy is what is important. If they are willing to send you a refund and then you send your rig to them, well, I say that would be the way to go! Then hit up a company Like Tiffen, XCS or PRO that have a proven track record of helping out their customers. You could have a new rig within a week from any of these companies and I would bet you would be just as stoked on their product.

 

 

Just my two cents

 

Fly Safe

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All of you are right, but we're not discussing if there is a perfect rig in a sense on features or something. An issue in mk-v's (not mine cause it's in all sleds due to poor electronics desing) rigs is it's not functioning as it should, as it is being advertised. Simply some features are broken or crippled, that's a totally different thing.

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And once again, yes - physical design is great, quality good, and i will be a hapoy customer when my hd-sdi and power issues will be fixed. Yes, third party company can fix them for around 3500 euros or so, but i think if mk-v cannot fix that, they should be refunding that cost. Then i would be happy, cause i paid full price but some features are broken. So i guess that's fair to ask to fix them? :)

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Yes, third party company can fix them for around 3500 euros or so, but i think if mk-v cannot fix that, they should be refunding that cost.

There's a quick answer for you. You should seek damages for the fix by the third party company. In the states, small claims courts are limited to around $15,000

 

 

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Feel sorry for you Tomas. Good thing this thread is pinned, I hope it will stay that way.

 

I made up my mind of never dealing with MK-V last year on Cinegear after being ignored by Howard for about half an hour while receiving numerous apologies from the rest of the staff. Howard, you missed an AR sale there...

 

I would return the rig if I were you.

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Sigh.... I hesitate to enter this foray. My experience w/ Howard/MK-V and the AR debacle and the time spent detailing it on this forum drained me to such an extent that I have barely visited this place since (years).

 

I have so much sympathy for you Tomas. Sadly you are another victim. It is despicable that our hard work and money is so easily thwarted. 9 lives indeed, very funny (but not really) Robert. It kind of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "failing upwards". It depresses me to read all this, as I too wrote what I did to help bring some light to what people might encounter with MK-V. I can say it was probably one of the darkest experiences I have dealt with in my 20+ years in this business. Selling my AR brought me blissful happiness, and my work in the industry has only excelled since.

 

My XCS sled was in fact a far superior design to carry the AR as Greg Bubb designed many aspects of his sled (a long long time ago) to accommodate power, video and strength issues of the AR designed by Lynn Nicholson. Howard needed to go back to the drawing board from day 1. Not just with the AR but with the Nexus as well. It tries to accomplish things from the 3 Sled manufacturers (i.e. Howard has never had an original idea - just copied other peoples research and design) yet never has had the know-how to accomplish any of it. You only have to look at the mediocrity of his products to see this. All the pictures and variety look great on a website, but the reality is that none of it works as well as the others. The XCS sled is infinitely more rigid than either the 2 stage or 4 stage MK-V sleds. YOu only have to fly one to know. The workmanship in electronics by PRO, XCS and Tiffen is just so deep. Everything has been tirelessly worked out and refined so that you the operator can do your job without worry. Wow, what a concept! Within 4 inches I can achieve lens heights with a new PRO or XCS 2 stage post that any 4 stage post can achieve. DON'T be misled by all the dog and pony shows! Get trained in how to use it properly.

 

I don't want to get away from your primary issue Tomas, that the Nexus simply does not function as we are led to believe it should... with great pomp and fanfare from MK-V. You paid very hard earned money and you absolutely should not have to pay a penny more to have it fixed by a 3rd party (Betz is a reliable company however). Our jobs are hard enough as it is, and to become successful you need to be able to forget about the gear because it works every time and you trust it. In this way we can concentrate on the REAL job which is operating the camera and offering the DP and Director whatever they can dream up.

 

I just taught at the PRO Workshop and was so impressed with their new battery hanger. It is solid and beautiful and handles HD no problem. This was not achieved easily. George Paddock spent well over a year developing how to make the HD be reliable in his rig and he did not release it until he had this worked out. Wow! Another concept MK-V are immune to. George was willing to acknowledge the complications (there are many) and revisited his approach more than once in order to offer you the customer/operator a reliable, modular and very sexy rig.

 

I just can't say enough good things about PRO and XCS. It is why I own their products. I own multiple rigs. Recently I had 23 amps and over 300 watts, HD above and below, HD transmitter, Alexa with Codex (controlled w/ wifi interface), and a Kino Kamio lens light controlled remotely, all running flawlessly with a total run time of 1.25 hours before changing batteries (3 total). Oh, and no cables needed to be run externally. I am so pissed at myself for not taking a picture!!

 

The HD era is no joke. It has raised the bar significantly and only those manufacturers who really know what they are doing, and are able to listen to the guys in the field, will be able to support you in this new era.

 

Back in the AR saga I said I would send part of the money I earned with the AR to Lynn Nicholson, the inventor and patent holder at the time of the Alien Technology, because Howard refused to pay him any of the royalties that were originally agreed to by him. The 'A' in AR was originally a nod to Lynn by calling it the Alien Revolution. It is now called the "Auto-Leveling Revolution" to lead you to believe that Howard came up with the idea. Sigh. Go read the thread.

 

One important thing for people to realize is that Tiffen now owns the Patent to any Auto-leveling technology carried by a Steadicam. Technically you are breaking the law by operating an AR. MK-V can legally manufacture the AR outside the USA because the Patent only covers USA, but by operating the AR anywhere in the world you are facilitating Patent infringement and are legally liable to prosecution.

 

I followed through with my promise to Lynn when he still owned the patent and sent him money as he had helped me get the very mediocre AR to partially work. Lynn is a truly honest and brilliant man and I wanted to honour that.

 

I am so disgusted with the continued lack of professionalism by MK-V. They and their products simply don't deserve a place in our very challenging business. All they do is compromise our ability to do our jobs well.

 

Your situation Tomas strikes close to home. I want to help. I want to urge that you get a full refund and return the sled. This is a great time to buy from Tiffen, PRO or XCS as the dollar is weak. I can see however that it will be difficult to get MK-V to send you the refund before you send them the sled. And I would STRONGLY urge that you DO NOT send the sled before you receive a refund.

 

As someone in this thread pointed out, it would be wise to go to UK and sort it out in person. This way you get your money and they get your sled and there is no funny business and broken promises. Therefore I am offering to pay for your airfare from Lithuania to UK in order to facilitate your refund and return of your sled. They have offered you that refund, I suggest you move on it. Do it. Put your money to much better use. Get back to work with a sled that works and does not have to be fixed. Get yourself out of this ridiculous situation. What a nightmare. 3rd parties fixing your brand new sled so it can work for "years to come" is a pipe dream. Brand new means it should already work for years to come.

 

I am very serious about this offer.

 

Sincerely

Will Arnot

willglide@mac.com

+1 917-417-4701

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WHAT AN INCREDIBLE OFFER, Tomas, take this man up on his offer, and then go speak to Chris at Optical Support, they are UK Steadicam specialists.

But more importantly, they are really really really nice guys, and offer a fantastic level of service, I cannot say enough good things about them.

If you do decide to come to the uk, please feel free to message me for my contact details, get yourself your money back from MKV, I will personally introduce you to the guys at optical support, and shout you a few beers afterwards too.

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Will, you have always inspired me. Today you humble me and leave me truly moved. Tomas, seize this opportunity. Embrace and act. Go buy yourself a real sled from a real manufacturer and go do real jobs. Once achieved, only look back when it's time to help someone else. Good luck.

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