Pro Titan VS Smart System X1 arms

[Remi Tournois]

Has anyone switched from the Pro Titan arm to the Smart System Arm X1?

If so, I'm curious to hear from you. Please chime in...

I've been flying the Pro arm for close to 15 years. The setup, tune-up, and maintenance are straightforward. It's a solid, reliable workhorse that has never failed me. But it's heavy and has a smaller boom range than this competitor. So is it worth the change?

- Is it easy to tune up between shots? Whether adjusting the springs or switching them out.

- Is the boon range smooth all the way through?

- Does it require regular servicing?

-How does it do over time?

- Has it failed you?

 

Thank you

 

 

 

Edited February 6 by Remi Tournois / SOC

[Taj Teffaha]

Hi Remi
I have an arm x1  and Lite + if you would like to demo it. 
let me know if you are in the LA area

as I will also have two Smartsystem rigs for demo purposes. 
cheers 

Taj 

[Benjamin Navarro]

I'm not a pro operator but I used both during my steadicam workshop last month.

The X1 is indeed great, probably my favorite between all the ones I tried (G70x2, xArm, Pro, X1) as it's very small, quite lightweight and very comfortable to operate.

When it comes to tuning the arm, there are a couple of things to know.

The top spring of the forearm can be tricky to adjust when the sled is on because the handle is in the way of the Allen key. Might be a matter of finding a key with a shape that works well for this. Another way around that is to fully compress to the top spring and making adjustments on the bottom one.

To get the best arm response, the springs needs to be as compressed as possible. Which means that for a given load, you have to look at the charts to find the spring set that has a max load as close as possible to yours. In other words, if a spring set gives you a 15-30kg load range, try to use it only for loads that are slightly below 30kg for the best response. 

One of our instructors, a Pro Titan user, tried the X1 at some point and thought it wasn't good. During the workshop, another instructor took an X1 arm, tuned it and gave it to him to try. Made him change his mind...

So keep that in mind if you try one out. It's not one of these arms that behaves well no matter how you tune them. 

Changing springs is quite easy and fast. And it's totally safe, no risk of springs flying around.

Can't answer about servicing and long term use.

So once you get familiar with its tuning, especially the spring choice, it's definitely a great arm.