Premium Members Kevin Andrews SOC Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Chris, I'll do it for sure and let you all know. A little clip of me working, the arm flies beautiful as said, I only need it to be more precise in slow walk, something for the maniacs. Hopefully the upgrade will do. backstage onstage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkssIz5re40&list=FL52ZwVUdWK4z38mF2qHx3rA&index=3&feature=plpp_video What are those strings hanging from her skirt ? Oh never mind those are her legs . . . . . =) Sorry couldn't resist Nevermind, back to discussion about the G50x and G70x arms --------------> Is your upper arm section pointing down while the lower points up in that vid? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members William Demeritt Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Yea, a few weeks and that much money? This is where rumors get started. Let's wait to hear directly from Tiffen with their press release tomorrow before things get (even more) out of hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Garrett Brown Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Garrett or anyone in the know, Why did some arms work fine and others not? I took the workshop and loved the the g series arms. A year later I ordered the G50 and it bounced. Got a loaner while mine was being looked at and it bounced as well. Got mine back and it bounced. So I decided to go with a different arm. I don't remember this bounce in the arms at the workshop. I believe Jerry said it happened later in production. Why would one arm have stiction that is made of the same parts but a few years apart? Michael, Some arms seem to exhibit this behavior and some don't -- I don't yet know exactly why. It may be dust contaminating the several teflon bearings in the inner mechanism. In any event, none of the exotic ball bearings in the links/endblocks do this, so we are confident that the new ball-bearing 'innards' will be a durable improvement. best, GB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Marco Dardari Posted January 26, 2012 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think the upgrade was 2500-3000 usd. takes a few weeks to do. Hold the phone.... $2500-$3000 and a few WEEKS for a BEARING change? Wow Eehhh!! $2500-$3000? For the upgrade? For new ball-bearing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JobScholtze Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think the upgrade was 2500-3000 usd. takes a few weeks to do. Hold the phone.... $2500-$3000 and a few WEEKS for a BEARING change? Wow Eehhh!! $2500-$3000? For the upgrade? For new ball-bearing? Wow, Then the arm has costed 20k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Pedro Guimaraes SOC Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Stopped by tiffen today on my way to visit my mom(live closeby) Snapped a few pics....but for the most part looks almost the same. That said many of the parts are different and geometry has changed. I give them kudos to continue improving thier product....as for the non-x version possible price decrease on the used market......well have you seen what the iphone 3g selling for these days.....It just the way of the world.... Thats the country we live in folks! That said....I do own a PRO arm. without further ado....here some pictures.. G70 X pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Pedro Guimaraes SOC Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 I'm pointing to the pivot that has been relocated 2 degrees in a new direction (geometry change) NEW ball bearing where there used to be a teflon bushing the OTHER new bearing location Everyone there was really nice and they were eager to talk about the new improvements. Also He did mention there is NO PRICE increase on either of the improved "X" arms. I just see it as regular product refinement and improvement.....iphone3, 4, 4s.....etc....windows95, windows2000, windowsNT..... Would I be pissed if I had just bought the arm last month??? yes. Usually people in the market have an idea that a new version is coming out.... Like we all pretty much knew that NIKON was about to release a D4 replacement for the D3s. I for one did NOT buy a D3s last January because i had a good idea the D4 was on the way. That said I just put my money down today for a D4 :rolleyes: I hope Tiffen has a plan to ease some customers pain....especially if they just purchased a g70 like one of the recent posters It woul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members James Davis Posted January 26, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 26, 2012 Looks like fairly significant geometry changes and larger bearing housings on the G50x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Aaron Medick SOC Posted January 27, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 I'm one of the NY OPs that compared arms a few years ago. I was in the market for a new arm. I need a few items so I was hoping i didn't have to buy PRO arm, but I was considering it heavily. I was trying to get my hands on a g70 arm. then one day a used g-70 comes up on the forum, $15500. The next day i get the invite to the private arm event. Long story short we all decided that the Prices were accurate for the gear. The PRO ARM was a little better, say 4 grand better. But the Big thing I want to point out here is the G-70 and PRO arm were WAY better then the Ultra/ master and 3A arms we were comparing them to. The 3A arm was mine and it is the nicest 3A arm I'd ever used and many other ops have said the same. The only instance that the arms didn't perform equally well was , at what point did the arm stop removing our movement. We tested this by walking in place and slowing down until the sled rose and fell with us. The PRO ARM worked a little longer. This is the reason people see there steps sooner with a g-70 arm than a PRO ARM. But it was only a small difference. Lets remember, part of our jobs as operators is to recommend the proper equipment for the shot, if it should be a slow dolly get the camera on the dolly. After the side by side we all talked about my impending purchase. Well, I found the money fast and bought the g-70 arm. I've used the G-70 arm for the last few years with great success. A few months ago I was on a Big TV show and the DP came up to me and said "It's a little floaty." I said, "good or bad Floaty." "I think I can see your steps," he replied. This was the first anyone had mentioned it or I had seen it. It was subtle, but definitely there. The design of the shot was perfect of showing THE ISSUE. So like any Professional would do, I panicked. Well first I got the shot with as little bounce as possible. Then I panicked. Then I called TIFFEN and emailed Garrett. Garrett called me with in 10 minutes of me pressing SEND. We talked. I set up the upgrade with Tiffen. They supplied a PHANTOM arm for me to use. It took about a week and $2500 for me to get my arm back. It's GREAT, so smooth. Next time I get a chance I'm going to get together with my PRO arm buddies and do another comparison. They have to be so so close now. There was a few weeks I waited for a loaner arm to be available. I don't want anyone to think that Tiffen dropped everything to take care of me. We all talked and worked out a schedule. I feel they took good care of me. Do I wish is was cheaper. Yes. Would I spend the money again know the difference. Yes, I Would. As for the g-50, I've never use one, tested on, or seen one. so I have nothing to say in that regard. I hope everyone, can come to a solution that makes everyone happy. I know Tiffen, Garret, Jerry, Larry etc, have all put in many hours for R&D to make this upgrade possible. I for one couldn't expect it to be free. Good luck everyone. Oh Yeah, the Full disclosure thing. I have never bought an Item from tiffen. I've never worked for them or be offer anything to support them. All the New Items, I've purchased from PRO, XCS. I have blue Eye and like to take long walks of short piers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Matteo Quagliano Posted January 27, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 Is your upper arm section pointing down while the lower points up in that vid? Yes Kevin, I always keep both sections little above, in that case I was low mode using the bracket on the gimble to have the camera lower, that's why the outside part is pointing up but I really need that inches. I always set the arm for the shot needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members James Davis Posted January 31, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 So Tiffen...any news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jeremy Horn Posted January 31, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Add me to the list of G50 owners with noticeable bounce at slow speeds. Just last week I had a job where I was cornered that this would be an issue. The shot required slowly walking down a long narrow hallway that opened up to an empty courtroom and continuing up to the witness stand. The client sent me a handheld demo of the shot and I could see from the video that the hallway had strong horizontal references. Since there was nothing moving in the shot but the camera I knew that I would see my footsteps with my G50 arm . So the day before the job I practiced a similar shot and tried my best to reduce the bounce - adjusting the ride knob, adding more weight, even using the camera's internal optical stabilization. The "best" results were with the ride knob in (clockwise) all the way and 10 pounds of added weight. But my footsteps were still very noticeable. In frustration I came to the forum to look for info on lubricating the arm. That's when I found the thread - 3A Arm type Adjusting the Springs - about the new G50x and G70x arms with new bearings to deal with the bounce. I bought my arm new in September of 2005 with my Archer 1 kit. I had the arm repaired for a cracked bearing block and other damage in 2008. Apparently the damaged was caused during assembly; Tiffen (after a phone call or two) decided to cover the charges and return shipping. I really appreciate Garret making a statement in this thread and it is my hope that Tiffen will step up and offer a remedy to this problem for current owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members James Davis Posted January 31, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Just had a nice chat with Robin from Tiffen, looking at around a week or so before we get more details about a bearing upgrade/fix for G50 arms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members JobScholtze Posted January 31, 2012 Premium Members Report Share Posted January 31, 2012 Just had a nice chat with Robin from Tiffen, looking at around a week or so before we get more details about a bearing upgrade/fix for G50 arms. thx, good to know. love to know the options Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Marco Dardari Posted February 6, 2012 Author Premium Members Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 News? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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