Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted June 4, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 So a few pages back there were some posts about people being afraid of posting things on the forum and not being able to receive service afterwards. I understand where you are coming from but I think there might be something else to it as well. Could it be that people are afraid of the diminishing value of their rig's resale value? I wish it was that, but it's not. Howard has said many times to his clients that have complained that if they go public they will no longer receive any form of warranty or support. He has gone as far as to send in an email that "until I start to see positive comments on the forum all I'm going to do is wave my middle finger at your emails" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JobScholtze Posted June 4, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 Tomas, you can also come and visit me and have a look at the HoFoPro!! Eeh???? Will that solve his rig issues? Like you I thought that this post was not only grossly out of place in this thread but incredibly self serving ESPECIALLY in light of Will's Fantastic and generous offer Damn Eric, we should stop agree with eachother so much ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tomas Riuka Posted June 4, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 come on guys, stop pushing Pete for nothing. We're good friends, chat daily and i bug him all the time when he can ship me out new hofo pro. This does not have to any anything with advertising, merely - friendly joy Coming back to Mk-v and question raised by Michael Wilson... I did thought about that when posting on steadicamforum.com too. All of these stories may not help selling the rig, but i don't want to do it. I mean i really like it (as noticed, i didn't try PRO or XCS, so i can't compare), but i like it. Also as Job Scholtze said, having fixed the issues the rig itself is great. So if MK-V keeps their promise and ship me out a new gimbal first, then i hope finding a mutual solution to fix hd-sdi issues. Yesterday talking with anoter op from UK, we discussed and i agree to it, that not every operator is so much demanding, not everyone is working with f35 or other extremely power hungry cameras. As well as not all walkie talkies cause hd-sdi signal problems. So naturally, there are certain situations where rig may not functions as it's supposed to, but then again, not everyone pushed it to the limit. Well, anyway, this thread has caused a lot of buzz. Imho Mk-v can learn a lot from it and turns things the right way. We will see if that happens. I'd like to believe so, cause my intention is not fighting just to fight or fighting to cause damage on purpose. Sometimes a good kick in the back is needed to get things going. \ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert weldoff Posted June 4, 2011 Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 hi all im very sorry to hear/read about the issues that Tomas is having. I think it is absolutly deplorable. (i have never in my life been shouted at by customer services, that is just so hectic, i would hang my head in shame) i personally have never dealt with MK-V, however i think there are always two sides to a story. From what i have read here, i would not touch mk-v with a 10 foot pole, but before we all lambaste MK-V should we not get Howard/ MK-V to give there side of the story? i mean if it was my company i would do whatever i could to save some face before i go bang! Or would this be completely out of thr question because MK-V just does not give a shit. i was having a cup of coffeee with a friend who wants to upgrade, and he was thinking MK-V and i pointed him to this thread and that has now been decided against. (sorry if my grammar is crap ive been drinking with old friends all night -_- i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted June 4, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 4, 2011 Yesterday talking with anoter op from UK, we discussed and i agree to it, that not every operator is so much demanding, not everyone is working with f35 or other extremely power hungry cameras. As well as not all walkie talkies cause hd-sdi signal problems. So naturally, there are certain situations where rig may not functions as it's supposed to, but then again, not everyone pushed it to the limit. not sure panning 180 degrees, losing power and signal loss due to a device found by the dozens on most every set is pushing one's gear to the limits. I am sorry to hear about the issues and the fact that you may have to re-do the electronics as Job did. I have flown Nexus sleds and found them to be solid though way too long (to be fair the U2 is too long for me as well). I did not experience the video break-up due to walkies but did have power issues. Batteries hot off the charger were going fast and getting low voltage warnings on the f-35 (with ssr deck, not the srw) after a few minutes. Same batts on my pro2 powered the same camera/aks for much, much longer. An xcs sled would have gone even longer (I swear Greg put a squirrel on a wheel in his sled to get more power out of it -- maybe it's just Bubb voodoo). And I have to agree with Will (a fabulous operator and gentleman) and others about the 4 stage post not really being necessary...ever. Things just work better if you keep them simple -- period. Hope it all get's worked out. And thank goodness for this forum...most of which can be drivel but the little bit here and there that saves your butt makes it invaluable rb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Tan Posted June 5, 2011 Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Hi Tomas, If your V2 gimbal is only a little out of balance like mine was (I only noticed it when using a really long drop time) you may be able to adjust it quite simply with an allen wrench. Read this topic... http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?showtopic=9684 And also I have precisely the same issues as you with those Motorola walkies knocking out the signal (we are using much of the same equipment - Transvideo/Boxx) I spoke to Howard a couple months ago at NAB and he acknowledged the problem to me but has not offered a solution yet. The saving grace so far is that because the base of the sled is designed to pass any type of cable down the post I was able to run another bnc cable for HDSDI which bypasses all the electronics. It works, but I agree it's a little sloppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tomas Riuka Posted June 5, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 5, 2011 Hello Jason, Read the topic, unfortunately i don't see how adjusting that bolt may affect gimbal balance. Just to make sure i tried doing that, but it does not change anything. So i guess i will have to wait till Howard ship me a new gimbal and see if that helps, maybe it was some machinery error or smth, will see. Regarding hd sdi - there is always a solution having another cable, but not a very convenient one... Let's hope this time Howard comes up with a solution. The solution is pretty much clear, mk-v just has to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tomas Riuka Posted June 14, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Small update.. after a number of direct emails with Howard, replacement gimbal is on the way! That's some progress! Should be getting it friday, will test as soon as possible, hopefully that solves balance issue. What concerns hdsdi, still to be solved, but there is some progress, should get more info in a few weeks. Tomas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Tomas Riuka Posted June 17, 2011 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 Alrighty! The new gimbal is here and it's perfect! One problem solved, happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JobScholtze Posted June 21, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Alrighty! The new gimbal is here and it's perfect! One problem solved, happy! Great, thats the way it should be going. it looks like Howard is dealing with it. I saw on his website that Rachel isnt working for mk-v any longer? He is on a roll, good for him though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invalid username Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 I've noticed that there was a change of rolls once Rachel left. She was the customer support person, and Howard was the designer. Now that she's gone, I feel he's done a good job filling both rolls. For those of you who are using this post as a way to flame and bash MK-V's rigs in general, let's keep in mind that the issue is limited to the centerpost, and the rigs themselves are not bad (this is not targeted at the O.P., who said he was otherwise happy with the system). I'm very glad to hear that your gimbal was replaced. I've gotten the idea from this thread that BETZ can fix the problem with power and signal down the post. Is this correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Twojay Dhillon Posted July 17, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 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. Will was a stellar teacher at the PRO Workshop and I am SO glad that I went with PRO. Can't say enough about the support (thanks Jack and Ash!) and the quality of what they produce. My rig also has XCS pieces and they -- like their inventor Greg Bubb -- are rock solid and completely reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members RonBaldwin Posted July 17, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 ...let's keep in mind that the issue is limited to the centerpost... I've gotten the idea from this thread that BETZ can fix the problem with power and signal down the post. Is this correct? If I remember correctly it was not limited to the centerpost -- the upper and lower jboxes were completely re-wired as well. I think it was around $3500 euros for Betz to do this fix. No big deal, just just drop the monitor from your order and it will all even out! Maybe someone will chime in with a better memory than me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invalid username Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Sorry, I forgot about the boxes. 3500€ eh? Doesn't sound so attractive anymore :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Eric Fletcher S.O.C. Posted July 17, 2011 Premium Members Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 For those of you who are using this post as a way to flame and bash MK-V's rigs in general, let's keep in mind that the issue is limited to the centerpost, and the rigs themselves are not bad Not true at all, you should do more research. The d and j boxes are also incorrectly designed and have both power and signal issues. Mk-v's equipment is sub-par. You can and should do better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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