Jump to content

G50 / G70 / G50X / G70X Maintenance


Mariano Costa

Recommended Posts

  • Premium Members

Hi all,

This post is getting worst and worst.

I'm sick of it.

I think some of you didn't do any research or play dump!

 

Till today, as most of us know, PRO arm is still the best comparing to other arms in the market.

The G50X and G70X are too new, too young for the comparison and testing.

And PERIOD.

 

I myself own 4 arms (3A, Baer-Bel, Master, PRO)

 

I am begging all of you guy. Please stop and move on to other more helpful topic.

This kind of topic is a time-bomb which sooner or later will destroy this community.

 

Happy Holiday, and a better coming year.

 

Ken Nguyen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Ken, i am sorry you feel this way. I am under the impression we are talking about arms here. Sure, some manufactors dont like this kind of discussions, but we are end users, so we discus the pro's and con's of arms. There is no bashing here. Other people learn from posts like eric makes, or larry, or whoever has something about arms. I am affraid that your post dasnt help this arm discussion. Please dont make this something its not.

 

Have a great christmas

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Job,

First of all, read the title of the post first.

This post has been hijacked, distorted, exaggerated.

For maintenance, all arms can be hose down with water after a sandy or sea-water shoot.

All maintenance steps are the same.

 

Secondly (yes, I hijack the thread as well), comparing the G-arm with PRO arm is unfair.

You pay for what you get.

As a end user, you felt bad because you bought a G-arm.

This because you didn't do your homework at the time you purchased.

Or may be at that time your working market is small.

But, it did serve you good. You got better, your market demography is wider. And, you earned more.

That how you stepped up to the PRO arm and better sled...

 

The G-arm has its own market.

I don't own one. But, if I do, I will use it for long hour concert shoot instead of PRO arm.

Dues to the limited staring-up budget, most non-PRO arms will be good enough to get you into the business.

Once, you are better, then go for the dream-equipment.

Again, you get for what you pay.

And, some get much more than the others having the same equipment.

To a higher level, "pro" level (which I'm not there yet), it is the skill of the operator.

 

Cheers,

 

Ken Nguyen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

"For maintenance, all arms can be hose down with water after a sandy or sea-water shoot.

All maintenance steps are the same."

 

good luck with that....there goes the warranty...

 

BTW, you can hose down the PRO arm chassis but not the canisters, please...

 

"comparing the G-arm with PRO arm is unfair"

 

Pro Arm incl. 4 spring canisters $18,250.00

 

G-70X Arm with steel connector $18,800.00

 

seems fair to me....

  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

G-70X Arm with steel connector $18,800.00

 

Pro Arm incl. 8 spring canisters $21,500.00

 

I know that you can get around with only 4 but in order to match G series weight range you need 8 canisters or you'll have gaps in your low and mid range. And when you receive a call from a producer asking you about a 3D job you'll certainly miss the 2 additional blacks.

 

i'm not saying PRO is no good. it is a very good arm indeed. but cost vise it's apples and oranges.

Edited by Evrim KAYA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Jens,

There is nothing wrong of hosing down the arm with tap water.

Is there a warranty which mentions this? I doubted.

 

Of course, after hosing out all the sand, or mud, or sea-water, you need to dry it out (I use air gun).

Next is lubricating, and greasing (if needed).

 

If this is a bad idea, then all of my arms already went bad, because of my on-going abusing method in the last 10+ years.

Only one time I had my arm serviced by Luna.

It was when my 3A cables were snapped.

 

Cheers,

 

Ken Nguyen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Job,

First of all, read the title of the post first.

This post has been hijacked, distorted, exaggerated.

 

Yes it has, you happen to be one of the hijackers.

 

Let's try to stick to the facts please

 

For maintenance, all arms can be hose down with water after a sandy or sea-water shoot. All maintenance steps are the same.

 

No they are not. here is a DIRECT quote from the maintenance section in Tiffen's G-50 manual "Protect the steel parts in the arm from water, salt water, and other corrosives. " Their warranty also exempts ANY WATER DAMAGE

 

 

Secondly (yes, I hijack the thread as well), comparing the G-arm with PRO arm is unfair.

 

No it's not. Going by Tiffen's sales lit the G-Series arm is the best arm in the world. Tiffen brings the companions upon it's it self, and honestly that's where tiffen made their mistake, if they would have marketed the G-Series arm as a mid range arm and priced it accordingly they wouldn't have so many upset people.

 

 

Again, you get for what you pay.

 

Not exactly....

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No it's not. Going by Tiffen's sales lit the G-Series arm is the best arm in the world.

 

 

OK. This is clearly a fair point.

 

I think it is wrong to compare ONLY the price between two arms. These high-end products are so much more than their prices. They represent a whole different approach in order to solve the same problem. They both got some very nice and not so nice properties including the price, the boom range, ease of use, modifiability, smoothness, adjustability and so on.

 

I think it’s wrong to focus only on any one of many characteristics for each arm and comparing. It’s like comparing a Porches’ top speed to Hummer’s acceleration.

 

But I too believe we ought to discuss G series arm and their servicing under this threat. They are some of us really wanted to discuss their arm’s needs but the discussion is constantly clogged with PRO arm.

 

When you ask a question about Porche’s fuel consumption any get an answer about Hummer’s fuel injection you feel like someone has just wasted your time.

 

If you want to compare the two arms by all means create a new treat and compare them as a whole. Hell, it would be an interesting threat to read and join. Just leave the people who wanted to talk only about G/Gx series maintenance without interference.

 

For some time I wanted to create a “G/Gx iso adjustment threat” but frankly I’m a bit scared that it also will be a PRO vs. Tiffen battleground.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

Regarding maintenance, My G series arms especially the last one had to go back to the factory so frequently that Tiffen ultimately replaced it with a brand new arm which I appreciate and commend them for, but that was only after the arm was banned from use on the set at NFL Studios. Tiffen did however always provide a loaner arm while it was in for service. The problem with my G series arms was in design and parts, not a purely maintenance item.

 

For maintenance, GPI- PRO Systems has a series of videos online provided for operators so you can do most cleaning and basic repair in the field. They build a good product and empower you to keep it running instead of having to send it out to someone or back to the factory. I've never heard of a canister breaking but I'm sure they have, but I have spares if needed and know other owners who could loan me a canister because they have spares too. Does Tiffen have maintenance videos?

 

As far as I've been able to read back into the archives, the PRO arm, since it's release became the gold standard by which other arms are compared. Based on this and other threads it appears to still be so. I'd love to demo a production model G70x instead of a trade show demo unit. Having owned three Tiffen arms including two G50s and now a PRO for the last 3.5 years it would be a good test to feel the alleged improvements.

 

Mr. Kaya, $3,000 price difference is negligible in the scheme of things. That's equal to a single long day with overtime and kit rental or 12 specialty Preston cables or 2.5 days +/- kit rental.

 

Like performance, maintenance should never be a limiting factor to your work. The tools we use should hopefully be invisible to our work.

 

Exactly what is it you want to know about maintaining your arm that the manufacturer is not providing or that you can't find in by searching our in-depth archives?

 

Best regards,

 

Robert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

 

They are some of us really wanted to discuss their arm’s needs but the discussion is constantly clogged with PRO arm.

 

I believe the thread starter first asked you about your experiences with the G and Pro arms and people responded and commented on (and corrected) some of your observations. I don't know if this is the thread but there were some pretty silly comments made about using tools that were so ridiculous that people came out of the woodwork to join in the silliness. So that is where it began...with you and the thread starter.

 

rb

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$3,000 price difference is negligible in the scheme of things. That's equal to a single long day with overtime and kit rental or 12 specialty Preston cables or 2.5 days +/- kit rental.

 

 

In that matter I beg to differ. If we are just talking about the initial purchase price (which isn’t the best way to compare two arms as I already stated on my previous post) $3.000 is the 1/6 of the invested value which is not negligible.

 

Exactly what is it you want to know about maintaining your arm that the manufacturer is not providing or that you can't find in by searching our in-depth archives?

 

What I want to have is a detailed step by step maintenance manual/video by the manufacturer as promised when they were just introducing the G-series arms.

 

I heard numerous complaints about the old G series arms by some very veteran/skillful operators but also we have numerous operators who swear by them. These both respectful but contradicting reports might signal to a lack of proper Q.C. at Tiffen. I am very happy to have a G-70 which gives me total satisfaction but frankly, I want to know if I have a time bomb in my hands (and if I could delay the decay by servicing the arm myself frequently) or I’m one of the lucky bunch which got one of the “good ones”?

 

I’m just a Tiffen user. I’m in no way have an interest to hide potentially harmful information regarding their products. If there is a problem, it’s in everyone’s interest to put it out in the open. That way, we the customers could demand Tiffen to solve it either by at least freely upgrading the arms.

 

But I don’t know if we already lost the occasion of demanding manufacturers’ accountability as we (ME included, mea culpa!) turned this debate to a very long and silly cold war between PRO and TIFFEN arms, which was never the real issue.

 

By the way I also like to hear more reviews of upgraded G series and Gx series owners/users comparing them to their old un-upgraded G series arms whether they were one of the “good ones” or the “not so goods”.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

$3,000 price difference is negligible in the scheme of things. That's equal to a single long day with overtime and kit rental or 12 specialty Preston cables or 2.5 days +/- kit rental.

 

In that matter I beg to differ. If we are just talking about the initial purchase price (which isn’t the best way to compare two arms as I already stated on my previous post) $3.000 is the 1/6 of the invested value which is not negligible.

Actually I tend to agree with Robert. When you are spending ~$20K on a single piece of gear, I'm not going to "settle" to try to save what in the long run is a small amount of money

 

 

Exactly what is it you want to know about maintaining your arm that the manufacturer is not providing or that you can't find in by searching our in-depth archives?

What I want to have is a detailed step by step maintenance manual/video by the manufacturer as promised when they were just introducing the G-series arms.

you mean the repair manual that was promised by Jerry in 2006? Personally I don't think they are going to publish a repair and maintenance manual or do videos for it. Their design is not really that of user serviceability. In one post Robin states that he would share how to do it but only off the forum. WHY? PRO has no issue providing the information both printed and in videos.

 

 

I’m just a Tiffen user. I’m in no way have an interest to hide potentially harmful information regarding their products. If there is a problem, it’s in everyone’s interest to put it out in the open. That way, we the customers could demand Tiffen to solve it either by at least freely upgrading the arms.

You might want to ask the experienced operators that spoke with Tiffen, sent their arms in, were promised fixes and upgrades and in the end were told that their either was no issue, the arm is working as designed or only recently that there is an upgrade and you can pay for it, how that worked out. That upgrade on the G70 arm made it more expensive than a PRO arm....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

When you are spending ~$20K on a single piece of gear, I'm not going to "settle" to try to save what in the long run is a small amount of money

 

As Charles Papert has said before, the two things that most directly influence on your operating are your gimbal and your arm. 1 HD line or 8, tally line or dc regulating microprocessor, back mounted vest or 2" centerpost, all operating still comes down to specific components that make your life (and your job) easier or harder.

 

$3,000 on the arm when compared to the cost of the arm is 1/6, but if you're making an investment that would last years, a 16% price increase becomes less prohibitive if you've saved and planned your investment. Furthermore, if you're buying a full package that you'll use as a foundation for the run of your career, then a 16% "premium" on a piece of equipment that you never have to revisit is a smarter business decision than buying something you may need to "upgrade" before it's fully paid for.

 

Lastly, again considering the package as the foundation, then the $3,000+ "premium" should be compared with the price of the full investment. So when considering an economical full package valued at $90,000+, $3,000 more on the arm is only a 3.333% increase. In the scope of a package the "big guys" have, it's $3,000 out of $150,000, or 2%.

 

In the scope of a career that should last many years, providing livelihood for you and your family, why wouldn't you budget to purchase a piece of equipment that plays a MAJOR role in your success, considering that most other equipment could "take a back seat" budgetarily, if necessarily?

 

I'm really doing my best to make the above statement objectively, not just as a Steadicam operator but as a business owner/operator. You know your business, you know what you need and what works best for you. Maybe the G series arms can "split apart for storage" which makes it optimal? I just think the folly here lies in making it strictly a financial decision when many other factors come into play... even though, as I'm trying to indicate, a business financial decision points towards the "more expensive" option being the safer, less risky one with a negligible price difference.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

I hate to break to you guys, BUT the differnce is not $3000.

 

G-70X Arm with steel connector $18,800.00 (13 to 70 pounds) , no spares

 

Pro Arm incl. 6 spring canisters $19,500.00 (2 blue and 4 blacks - 13 to 72 lbs) , 2 black spares automatically inlcuded

 

Difference is a whopping $700 !!! or 3.5%

 

http://www.gpiprosys...Arms/index2.htm

 

 

peace of mind = priceless

 

 

should we start talking about resale value now... :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Members

In practice you may be correct, Jens. But if your link is supposed to be the evidence it's failing a bit. :P

 

On paper, based on that link, 2 blues and 4 blacks gets you a range of 13-34,39-72. In practice that 5 lb gap (if even present) is perhaps a non-issue.

 

Surely we've established by now that Pro arm maintenance is easier than G arm maintenance. For G arm Maintenance contact Mr. Thwaites and/or send your arm in.

 

But honestly, I just hope everyone keeps arguing about the price difference for another 7 days ;)

 

 

Happy Christmas everyone

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...