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Johanwindfeld

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Thanks Rob for your answer.

Indeed Jan told me you had one of his arms. He also told me once you had a problem with it and you received the replacement part in Thailand two days later. Is that true ?

 

The system you are talking about is strong enough for most video work. However, a full sized Panavised CineAlta with its zoomlens and motors might be too much.

 

Do you mean that the lighter arm would be too weak for it ? Or that the gimbal wouldn't be strong enough ? Or simply that balancing the system would be impossible without adding extra-weight at the bottom ? May it really be a problem (to add counter-weight) ?

 

And one extra-question: did you try the progear HD monitor ? Is it viewable in daylight conditions, with full sun reflections ?

 

Ok Rob, that's all for today, I don't want to upset you with all my questions :angry: !!!

 

Cheers

 

Nicolas Duchêne

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Yes, I did have the parts in a few days, a few bearings and axises , at a price of course, the rediculous transport costs that were higher than the parts itself.

 

The arm comes in one size, it´s the choice of springs that determine the payload.

 

And about being to lightweight: yes I mean you need counterweight with heavy camera´s.

But that is the same with more rigs: I saw a Chrosziel with Panavised CineAlta, zoomlens and 3 motors and on the bottom there were 2 or 3 Preston Batteries taped together and it was also fully extended, making the rig too long in my opinion.

Similar thing can happen with a 535B or a moviecam compact.

 

My goal is always to have useful counterweight, like in extra (heavy) batteries for the camera.

 

The HD monitor: I never saw it working.

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Thanks again Rob.

I understand what you mean talking about a too light rig, however I think it shouldn't be a problem for the use I'll make of it. Anyway I don't intend to work with heavy configurations...

The "light" arm Jan told me about in Amsterdam is different from yours. It's a new lighter version. It's like half your arm, it only has two cannisters (exactly the same principle as the provid arm). You can use it with two "heavy" or two "light" cannisters. As Jan hasn't quite finished it yet, he couldn't tell me exactly which weight it will lift. Depending on that I might be interested in this version or in the classical (four springs) version.

 

Well, is that true that nobody except Rob knows about Progear ?!!

I searched in the archives but found so few things :( !

Anyway I'd be pleased if someone owning a sled from Progear could tell some words about it !

 

Come on !!

 

Nicolas Duchêne, Paris, France

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  • 3 months later...
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i have a progear arm. works well and is very cheap. with different combinations of springs it smoothly carries anything from ... well a pd150 to .... anything ...... so it makes a very pragmatic arm for someone in my position... working regularly on dsr570s and hopping to oldschool filmschool 35mm pigs whilst loitering amoungst sr3s chopping and changing. no other arm can do so with such ease except the gpi-pro.

 

I am going to sell it someday soon though and bite the bit bullet and get the much acclaimed GPI-pro arm. only because its the best in the business.

 

with regards to progear themselves... find an intermediate company to buy it off, as he s pretty difficult to contact. confirm u have a warantee. etc etc

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  • 2 months later...
So, any feed-back about this Progear system ? What do you think of it ?

 

Nicolas Duchêne, Paris, France

 

Your English is better than mine :rolleyes:

 

I'm interested in the progear also and may even own one verry soon!

You will see lots of info/pics and field reports if i get my hands on one soon.

 

Cheers

Matt

planet-mu Records

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I have a progear arm! and through tracking and mischief i found a few people around that had had them.

 

I bought it because everyone said they had been pleased with the performance of their ones....

 

And I am chuffed with my one... works well, nice only to use one arm whatever I do.. I don t know about only having 2 cannisters. I think you ll only regret not getting the 4 cannister one when the jobs come in.

 

If I raise enough money over the next few months for a GPI-pro arm ill be selling my one. email me if interested.

 

Good luck with your choices

 

Thomas

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I have been thinking about this a long time and I have come to the conclusion that I need to inform you all, new and aspiring Steadicam-similar gear users and buyers, about my situation with the Progear/Sprint company in Denmark.

 

As most of you know on this forum, I am using a Progear arm and while the arm performs well I had major issues with some parts of it. That caused the arm to just brake loose from my harnass with a fully loaded rig.

Of course I had a lot of damage after that, to my rig and to the 435 camera on it.

All that has been solved with my insurance, leaving me with a manageble/surviveble/repairable loss.

 

The major part involved in this is the socket block, something I warned about long before the accident and in that process, I was promised a replacement for it by the maker himself. That has been almost 2 years now and still after countless emails, SMS-messages, expensive international telephone calls and as many PROMISES from his side to send this a.s.a.p. I have not received anything.

 

He also doesn´t reply anymore to my questions about this.

 

Now I have regular emails every month from people who ask me about the Progear/Sprint equipment en the company behind it. So far I have been honest about it - referring to the archived messages on the forum - but also neutral, making no strong statements.

 

But this has reached a stage where I have to warn all that are interested in the equipment from this company to realize that, despite what Jan may say to you, he will give hardly any after-sales support.

 

He promised me countless times to improve his customer support and has done nothing (towards me) after that. I have the emails to prove that.

 

Sadly, I have heard from people/emailed with people that have parts/arms of him of similar stories and they are very upset with him too. ( I have those emails to prove that too!)

 

It is sad, as most of his parts are of good quality and for a good price.

But if after-sale service is lousy or non-existent, it´s better to look for other brands!

 

 

Sorry for the spelling mistakes in the header: Should be: Think Twice Before You Order..... could not correct that anymore :(

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It is sad, as most of his parts are of good quality and for a good price.

But if after-sale service is lousy or non-existent, it´s better to look for other brands!

 

 

 

Hi Rob,

 

one thing about machining metal that is invisible is temperature problems.... if the piece is not kept at a certian temperature during the machining process hot spots will cause the material to have weak spots... the part will look EXACTLY like a good part, but just wont be as strong... one solution is heat treatment but that is an art in itself....

 

Tiffen and GPI seem to have incorperated many designs and practices from the southern california aircraft industry.... their designs all seem to scream aviation engineer to me anyways.... but more importantly, they do seem to stand behind their product plus you have a larger group of people using their gear to let everyone know if problems are developing...

 

ive been piecing together my gear for some time now, but i appreciate the genius that i see in the steadicam and GPI designs... just got to save a little more $$...

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I've recently bought a gimbal and docking stand off ebay from Pro Gear. Jan is not hot on replying to emails, or posting things when he says he will.

He promised he would post on the Monday, 1 week later, I email him, and I eventually get a reply saying that "he just missed the post" well I thought you?ve had a FUC*ING week!!!!

 

Anyway, the parts did arrive and I am very happy with the construction, and the gimbal seems very smooth.

 

Just debating weather or not to but the other bits of my sled from them. Their prices are too tempting for a newbie op. And the gear seems nicely made.

 

I have decided to go for a Blue Spring EFP From Rig, (Their customer service rocks!) over their Progear Light arm.

 

-Rick.

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Blue Spring EFP From Rig.....

 

 

probably the choice that i too will eventuallly follow.....

 

i dont have to impress anyone but myself....

 

 

i might eventually get one of the even more expensive arms, but what Rig is offering is a slight modification of a tried and true design.... (at a price i can almost afford)....

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The Silver Spring arm is a bit too steep for me at the moment, but in the future I can always trade in the EFP against it if I desire.

Plus, the EFP arm is in very good mechanical and cosmetic nick, and is at a price I can afford. It will do everything I need it to, and take anything that I would wish to carry.

Plus I recon it?s a very nice looking arm.

 

-Rick.

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Hi Rob,

 

one thing about machining metal that is invisible is temperature problems....  if the

 

Just to make sure there are no misunderstandings: the breaking parts were not of his factory, but due to some design choices of his socketblock that proved to be not so good they collapsed.

 

The issue is about the improved socketblock that he is making after this happened.

 

Look for a example at the other hot topic lately: Why not a GII. Only that bolt opened up while mine completely snapped off explosively.

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Hi guys

Does anyone have any idea what's rotten in Denmark, (sorry couldn't resist that one).

I ordered paid for an SSV1 vest from Jan at the end of August on the basis he would be using it at IBC2005 as a demo. Afterwards he would ship it to me in Australia.

I have so far received a couple of vague promises during Sept but during October he has not answered any of my numerous emails, voicemails and faxes.

I have read posts that attest to his lack of communication at times but he always seem to come through. This is starting to worry me a bit though.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Norbert von der Heidt

Electric Images

 

 

P.S. Please see Nov. 1, Dec. 1 & 15 for updates on this ridiculous situation

Edited by electricimages
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