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Advice on Upgrading (GPI vs M-2)


Nicholas Langley

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Hello Everyone,

I am a newer operator with a Zephyr system. I have been using it for about a year now, it has treated me well but it feels like time to upgrade. I currently plan to invest in either a GPI Pro set-up or a Steadicam M-2. I'm hoping to hear from folks with these rigs about why they love one or the other. Advice, suggestions, horror stories, or whatever are all welcome. I appreciate the feedback. 

Thank you!

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  • 2 weeks later...
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The new M series sleds look nice and seem to have all the goodies one needs in these silly amd trying times on set. That is an observation with no 1st hand knowledge (except a new M2 gimbal/volt) — though I see certain features I like and hear positive impressions from operators. 
 

That being said I have been a Pro owner since 1997 and extremely happy with both the quality of the product as well as the customer service (which is most often more important if ya know what I mean). I started with a Pro1...flew it for 13 years then “upgraded” to a Pro2 in 2010 because of hd. Same gimbal, cables, accessories etc since the beginning. As mentioned above I have a new M2 gimbal/volt on my sled (about 2.5 months now) and that seems to be ok. Getting used to the volt, that’s going well, I am liking that more and more. The gimbal I am not so excited about about. The Pro gimbal is better so that I miss a lot. Not sold on the built in volt brain (M2 topstage) because the brain seems to be the primary culprit when there happens to be issues and one would need a spare topstage to keep working (perhaps I am wrong but that is my impression from ops). Possibly not a huge problem in the grand scheme of things but perhaps something to keep in mind?

Pro seems to still be churning out good solid and simple rigs and maintaining a good customer service record as far as I know. The M series has more bells and whistles available as options. I prefer to keep things simple (less to leave you high and dry) but it’s all a matter of taste and what you can afford. They are both nice sleds and no doubt either will serve you well. Talk to owners of both before writing any checks.

hopefully others will chime in and talk about their experiences.

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Thank for your response, this is exactly the type of thing I was hoping to hear. I have heard that service department at GPI is a lot more responsive and provides quicker turnaround than Tiffen from other ops as well. I’ve also heard that the Pro arm out performs the G-70x arm, do you feel that way too as a GPI owner?

You also mentioned the bells and whistles on the M-2, could you elaborate on that?

Any M-2 owner’s reading this, I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Again, thank you so much!!

 

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