What's up with CinemaTechnic, Inc ?

[Damien Molineaux]

Well, it says in the title of this thread "Have a problem? Need to get something off your chest? post here." so here goes. This does not concern Red, but M. Jorge Diaz-Amador of CinemaTechnic, Inc.

I sent him an Angenieux 25-250mm zoom over a year ago, probably 18 months ago by now, to have it converted to PL mount. I initially told him I was in no hurry as I was waiting for my Red. We exchanged numerous e-mails over the following months. Until this one on May 9th :

***
Private correspondence deleted by moderator.
***

Since then, no news.

Cheers,
Damien

[jimhare]

That's certainly disappointing. Have you phoned him as well as email? Sometimes a verbal push does the trick.

Best of luck.

[Tony Lorentzen]

Request that he immediately return the lens directly to you or another company. While I think it's a bit inappropriate to post full e-mails written in privacy - stories like these can help others decide whether they want to do business with Jorge or not.

[Costelloe Michael]

Hey Earthling,

I've waited some time myself for 'low rent' repairs from 'respectable' lense outfits and eventually phoned up the company doing the repair, explained that this is outside of my expectations even for low cost repairs and had my stuff sent elsewhere.

There's a guy in the UK called Les Bosher who is very amenable and will give you a fair price and good indication of cost and time needed for the repair/conversion. He's done several lense sets for me and I can recommend his work and his service. He can do PL mount conversion, Focus and Zoom rings and Lense Suppports for your Angenieux. With the weakness of the pound you can probably get a good deal also!

PM me if you want his contact details.

Mike C

[James T Mather]

I recommend Duclos Lenses - Conversion to PL mount and cleaning, optically realigning a 12mm and 150mm Anamorphic - three day turnaround.

They were great.

[Florian Stadler]

Duclos is the way to go. Nice, knowledgeable, they will need a little lead time because they are busy.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

I figured it would eventually come to this. Since RED made a better mousetrap, my camera repair business has plummeted more than 90%. In the last 12 months I have serviced two 16SR's. I used to do about one major repair or camera conversion an month.

I always thought lens repair would make up the difference. But lenses just don't "break" as often. Also, I used to purchase and refurbish Zeiss Super Speed lenses (16 and 35) for resale. I'd make my money, not by marking up the lenses, but by adding the price of the reconditioning to what I paid. Now it is impossible to buy used lenses for reasonable prices.

With the greatly increased costs of doing business (that whole thing about "inflation is under control" is just another government lie), things have gotten *really* difficult. Try staying in business with high expenses on 10% of the revenue you used to get. After spending several thousand dollars investing in ARRI tools to repair the 16SR's. Money that is tied up in a greatly devalued investment.

Regarding your lens Damien, please keep one thing in mind: I wasn't expecting to receive it when you sent it. I had suggested in an e-mail that I could take a look at it, after being completely perplexed by the strange appearance of the rear housing in the photos.

I never recieve shipments of camera equipment at my P.O. Box, only checks and other correspondence. One day I'm there checking mail and I get a slip to pick up a package. It turns out to be your lens. I had no idea you were going to send it. You just took the P.O. Box address from my website and sent it to me.

At the time you sent your lens in, I was still in this nightmare that is the remodeling/construction of the house I purchased to expand my business. A task that is still not complete. A huge investment that has devalued at least 20%.

Moving my workshop alone took several months. Improvements on the property have come to a standstill due to insufficient cash flow. My metalworking machines are disassembled and crated, because the area where they were meant to be set up (the garage) is still not ready.

As for your lens, it turned out it was so old that I couldn't adapt it to the Angenieux universal mount. I had to hunt down some old parts to make it work. I spend many hours on the phone and in e-mail that I can't charge you for. I didn't want to ask for any money until I was sure I had something that would work.

In the meantime, bills keep coming in and I've got to work on jobs that will pay quickly in order to keep the doors open and a roof over the shop.

My customers have always been independent owner-operators, like I used to be (I owned a 16SR for 10 years). They always told me they appreciated that I was willing to work on their old equipment, and not over-charge them or refuse to work on old equipment, the way the manufacturers did. I knew what it was like to get force to pay through the nose for equipment and repairs when producers were knocking down your day rates and rental rates and then taking months to pay.

But this new mentality of expecting everything to be quick and cheap, despite the unusual or obscure nature of the work, is making this business model an obsolete one. It seems to me that the days of the small independent camera workshop are over.

I will contact you directly to make arrangements regarding your lens.

[Joe Gill]

Your lens didn't have the screw off universal mount? They were very common on the 240s. With that, you can just whip off the Bayonet and put on the PL...

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Your lens didn't have the screw off universal mount? They were very common on the 240s. With that, you can just whip off the Bayonet and put on the PL...

If it was that easy I would have taken care of it a *long* time ago. The lens we are talking about here is a very old lens.

BTW, I want to take exception to the posting of a private e-mail (including phone number) between myself and my customer. I have noticed that I would always get these lengthy confidentiality statements at the end of e-mail I get from many companies and individuals. Now I know why they are necessary and I will add them to my e-mails, starting today.

I suggest everyone here do the same. Unless you want your personal correspondence posted on a public forum and your own words used against you.

[Jeff Kilgroe]

OK,

I deleted the private email in Damien's first post. No one asked me to, but that's just bad form to post something like that publicly, complete with phone numbers, and other info.

This matter is still between Damien and Jorge. Being an outside observer, I can only speculate about the true nature of the situation, if I felt inclined to do so.

Jorge, you raise some good points in your post above. I'm sorry that your business has slowed. I unfortunately know a few people in the same situation. Saying that used lenses can't be purchased for a reasonable price is an understatement. Very frustrating, especially when there's not as much of a shortage as a lot of people would have us believe.

[Michael Hastings]

Let me chime in on a couple fronts. I have seen this type of posting private emails on the birger thread among others and it is just an obnoxious, unethical thing to do.

Second, you post an email from May with nothing to show that you had followed it up in any way with multiple phone calls, emails, etc. which I think you are obligated to do before or at least concurrent with posting on a public forum. Also you had to have enough sense to know that what you were asking was a difficult, low profit thing to do - and therefore probably not something you could ask someone to prioritize highly unless you had specifically agreed on that - which you obviously hadn't done if you just sent it to him out of the blue.

Third, I have known Jorge for over 10 years. We aren't great buddies or anything but we have had several buy/sell transactions as well as a number of the typical industry conversations and I know he is a good guy and I don't believe he is out to take advantage of anyone.

I think you have to be realistic about what you can expect when you are having custom work done and it varies depending on the situation. When you are talking about working on old lenses that require some creativity and finesse to make it happen at a reasonable costs then something like this has to be expected. For example I bought a Contax Zeiss 300mm in a package on ebay that has some fungus. Without the fungus it is worth $700 or so. With the fungus it is virtually worthless. Jorge took the lens a couple months ago because we were also thinking about buying these lenses and converting to pl and he said if he could he would try to defungus it with an apparatus he has. Just common sense told me this may or may not ever get done because to do it will probably take a day of setup and and several hours additional - but it is only feasible when he sets up to do a more expensive lens that justifies the setup time and then he will just slip it in afterwards and see if it works and take it from there.

With your lens he probably has to scrounge around for parts to make it feasible.

How many times did you try to speak to Jorge since May?

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

I've contacted Damien through PM and his personal e-mail. I haven't had a response, but it's Saturday evening in Geneva.

I have to make hurricane preparations this weekend but I will try to see if there is anything I can do regarding that lens. I'm just wondering why he didn't just ask me to return the lens if he though I was taking too long (which admittedly, I was). But he told me he wasn't in a hurry, at least originally. Also I'm wondering why he never called me if he had my direct phone number.

It's not like I don't know what it's like to have someone refuse to return equipment.

I once had a very bad situation with Van Diemen of England who refused to return my lens (a Zeiss 10-100 T2) and an ARRI 16S, both of which were sent to them for Super 16 conversion. They promised they could do the job in 2-3 weeks. When I called 4 weeks later they told me the company had gone into receivership and the equipment was "locked up".

I demanded they return my lens and customers camera, but they refused and got very indignant, as if I had no right to ask.

I got my lens back about 8 months later, still not converted to Super 16, and they forced me to pay for an overpriced lens overhaul. The also refused to refund money that I had wired to buy a 16SR3 magazine which it turned out they never had. I ended up having to take a damaged lens for my money, again overpriced.

The customer that owned the ARRI 16S decided that they wanted to pay the full price for the conversion (I advised them not to, only a 50% deposit was appropriate), so they decided to handle the problem themselves. I told them I could not help if they decided to do so.

I heard he got his camera back about 2 years later, and was forced to pay about 6 months before the camera was done, and had to pay for the difference in exchange rate.

I know this is a bit off-topic, but my point is, I know what it's like to have equipment held hostage, and companies refuse to refund money. I have never refused to return equipment to the owner, unless money was owed for a repair (and in this case, I don't consider that money is owed, since I had not invoiced the job). Although I have very rarely been asked for refunds, I have always complied with those requests.

Now that the private correspondence has been removed from the original post, I'm not so upset (I am editing one of my posts as well), and I'm still hopeful that Damien and I can come to an agreement on this. I just don't like leaving customers unhappy.

[Philipp Friesenbichler]

Damien,

I can vouch for the quality of work done by Jorge and his company CINEMATTECHNIC. He provides professional, high end results/solutions for very reasonable prices.
I have sent him lenses and have purchased equipment from him on several occasions and I was always satisfied.
I know that his business hit a rough spot since beginning of this year, trying to construct and relocate his shop and therefore taking away a lot of time from his customer service needs.
If you need a quick turn around on your lens, I'm pretty sure Jorge would be happy to mail your lens to any address of your choice - but we both know that it is hard to find a shop that can provide exceptional quality for such a good price.
best,

Philipp Friesenbichler
Director of Photography
Los Angeles, CA & Austria
www.pf-dop.com

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

My grandpappy used to say: If you keep your promises, no one can ever use your words against you.

:)

Except I never promised anything. Remember, I didn't even originally agree to work on the lens. We were talking about PL mount adapters via e-mail and it just showed up in my P.O. box one day. This lens also had strangest configuration of the rear housing I have ever seen.

Everyone remembers everything differently anyway. You could keep all your promises and you will still have someone who is unhappy.

Besides, how many times did RED have to postpone their promised ship dates? Did you cancel your order when they couldn't ship as promised?

From now on I will have a policy that I will refuse any unexpected shipment. I'm also going to have to institute a firm policy not to work on any equipment manufactured prior to 1978 (30 year limit).

[Kreisky]

.....since this gets quiet ! have you worked a deal out ?

[Damien Molineaux]

Hello Jorge and fellow Redusers,

Forgive me for my badform posting a private e-mail. Thank you Jeff for removing it. I've been away from my computer for the whole week-end so only discovered all the posts right now.

I've written (PM and e-mail) to Jorge following his replies here, by PM and by mail. I hope we can resolve this issue outside a public forum.

To answer some of the question in this thread, following Jorge's May 9th e-mail, my colleague and I sent him six e-mails and got no replies. So yes, maybe I should have picked up the phone before posting here, my bad.

I don't want to go in all the details here, but we did have e-mail exchanges prior to me sending the lens to him, and I never expected it to be cheap and quick.

I certainly didn't mean to kick him while he was down, as I didn't know he was down. Jorge I'm very sorry about the hard times you're going through, I hope things get better.

Cheers,
Damien

[Steve Sherrick]

Damien, not to single you out here, but I have noticed a trend in this day and age where people find it hard to make phone calls. They rely on email and other impersonal forms of communication. I have found this can lead to problems. Phone calls allow you to get to the heart of the matter quickly (as long as someone answers the phone). The only time a former business partner and I would have misunderstandings was through email. A phone call always cleared it up.

Hopefully you guys get this worked out. Jorge, sorry to hear things have been rough for you. Perhaps things will pick up again for you.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Damien and I are in contact and I am working on a possible solution. Fortunately my workbench is clear at the moment so I will be able to take some time out to look at this.

Also, although what I wrote in my posts reflected my recollections of the transaction, I may have remembered some of the details incorrectly. If that's the case, I'll edit my posts.

Now that everyone here on reduser is aware of my troubles (and assuming whatever they will assume as to the cause). I think it's time to say a few things:

I have been in the owner-operator world since film school. Coming from a still photography and Super-8, then 16mm (Bolex, etc.) background (oops... now you know my age), I always felt that as a cinematographer, I should know my camera intimately. So I always believed in owning camera equipment.

Nowadays, most new owner-operators of RED cameras are coming from a digital video background. This is significant because you are used to buying products from very large companies that make many other consumer products. Usually the camera you started off with was manufactured in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. And the market cap of the company that made your camera is in the billions.

I am a single-person company. It may surprise you to know how many well known companies in the used cine camera and lens industry are "one man bands".

In general, almost all companies in the cine camera business are much smaller than a new-to-the-business owner-operator might assume.

For example, in 10 years as a first camera assistant, I never saw a Panaflex with a serial number higher than 300. I know for a fact that in 30 years of manufacture, and three generations (16SR 1, 2, 3) ARRI made 5100 16SR series cameras. RED is on track to ship that many RED ONE cameras possibly before the end of the year.

One of the reasons that Zeiss Super Speed lenses are so costly now, is that not many were manufactured in the first place. Only as many were manufactured as ARRI committed to sell, and ARRI would base their orders on how many 35mm cameras they expected to sell in a year.

This is a tiny industry. ARRI is big because they make so many other products, besides cine cameras. The same goes for Carl Zeiss. Even Panavision is involved in "government systems".

I have spoken to other independent camera technicians who hired someone to help them and ended up regretting it. I was never even able to consider that step, because I never had (and still don't have) enough space for more than one person working.

As for me, it breaks down like this: I started off very small, got very busy unexpectedly (riding the Super 16 resurgence wave), and I needed more space (I was working in a totally unsuitable space that I modified with great ingenuity borne of necessity).

But my timing was terrible. We were in the middle of the biggest real estate bubble in U.S. history. I knew this. But I also knew that if I did not "take the plunge", I would be locked out when the credit market collapsed (which is happening right now).

I didn't want to rent commercial space because I'm very picky about my working environment and I like to make many improvements in my working space, and like to control humidity and air purity.

So I "bought the worst house in the best neighborhood". And there my troubles began.

I've gone on far too long here, so I will leave this for today. If anyone is interested in me posting the rest of the story, please let me know...

[ericyoung]

...So I "bought the worst house in the best neighborhood". And there my troubles began.

I've gone on far too long here, so I will leave this for today. If anyone is interested in me posting the rest of the story, please let me know...

Reminds me of "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long (Major SPOILER Alert for anyone who still hasn't seen the film!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj15gi7x6mg

I'd like to hear the story! Get it off your chest and share. :)

[Matthew Duclos]

The motion picture industry has changed a lot over the past few years. The field is losing a lot of talent and gaining a lot of consumers (by talent, I mean skilled tradesmen.)
This is a bad combination given the prospect of the industry as it is, five or so years from now.

That said, I have dealt with Mr. Amador over the past several years and have found him to be VERY knowledgeable and honest and skillful. I can also say that I know where he is coming from. If I'm correct, I've had a lens of his for almost 2 years (correct Jorge?)

Given the nature of this industry and its recent movement, it's only a matter of time before everyone has something negative posted about them somewhere on the web from a single unsatisfied customer.

This industry would be nothing without each other.
Let's all play nice, shall we?

[M Hsu]

where's the rest of the story? I'd like to hear it. :)

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Guys,

First, I want to thank all of you that have posted to support me. It really means a lot to me and it humbles me to have people I have so much respect for say such good things.

Second, I want to say that after communicating with Damien, I realized that I recollected some things inaccurately. I have edited one of my posts to reflect that. I am also working to find a solution for his lens at the moment and it looks promising.

So... at the risk of having you guys realize just how crazy I really am, I will relate the story of how I got to where I am:

Many of your are familiar with the quintessential American legend of the big business that started in the garage (Hewlett-Packard, Apple). Well, I didn't even have the garage.

I actually started and ran this business in a two-bedroom apartment (about 1000 sq ft) for seven years. In that tiny space, I had a "clean workshop", for camera and lens service, and a "dirty workshop" for metalwork. I had a Swiss toolmaker's lathe and a German milling machine in the "dirty" room. The Swiss lathe ran on 220v 3-phase power:

http://www.cinematechnic.com/images/tools/Habegger_JH102-55-20_sm.jpg

A photo of the old lathe set up on a workbench in the old workshop 2003

In that tiny space I converted ARRI 16SR's to Super 16 format. Over 15 cameras were converted between 2002 and 2006. Several sets of Zeiss super speed lenses were completely overhauled as well.

The sight of my lens cabinet a few years ago, with one set of Mk.2 S35mm speeds, and two sets of Mk.2 S16mm speeds sitting inside at one time (I owned them all), would be an amazing thing today (and my problems would be solved).

I was always too embarrassed to admit that CinemaTechnic was run out of such a tiny and unsuitable space. I used to laugh to myself when I would get an e-mail that said "would you please pass this on to Jorge".

This is the first time I have ever publicly confirmed this. I always thought that if people knew I was working from such a place, they would not take me seriously. But I feel the time is right to come out in the open now.

People suggested to me to move into a commercial space. I considered the amount of improvements that I would need to make to such a space to make it suitable: Bright flicker-free lighting, temperature and humidity control 24/7, filtration of air and UV to prevent mold, security, etc. The idea of paying someone rent (money that would then not be available to pay a mortgage), and putting a lot of money into improving the space that was not mine. I just couldn't see that as an attractive option.

In the meantime, the South Florida real estate market was going ballistic (literally - a median price chart looks like a missile trajectory). Prices were rising faster than ever. I realized we were in a bubble, but my research showed that after a bubble a credit crunch would ensue. It had taken me a few years to be in a position to buy (it's harder when you're self-employed). I wanted to make a sizable down payment, and have low fixed interest (which I did).

So I took possession of my little "shack" in Sept 2005. 2/1 with a carport under the main roof. No bigger than the apartment but sitting on over 8000 sq ft of land. The house was livable - but just barely. Mice had invaded the kitchen. I hates meeces to pieces!

I cringe when people mention the movie "The Money Pit". But I have to admit, I thought "It can't be that hard, everybody does it."

Was I ever wrong...

OK that's all for today. If you guys want me to continue this sordid tale, just post here and I'll deliver the next installment.

[Martin Weiss]

Please do, Jorge.

I think that many of us run their one-man shows, and can very much relate to your story. Thank you for sharing!

[ericyoung]

...
I cringe when people mention the movie "The Money Pit". But I have to admit, I thought "It can't be that hard, everybody does it."

Was I ever wrong...

OK that's all for today. If you guys want me to continue this sordid tale, just post here and I'll deliver the next installment.

Well, if you haven't seen the whole film, watch it when you've got through your current problems and laugh like a drain! :biggrin:

Respect to all one man shops!

[M Hsu]

oh do go on. I think you missed your calling. you should be a writer. please continue. :)

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Waiting on some parts for Damien's lens, but I need to work on setting my lens projector up with support rods. So I will take a break for today but perhaps resume tonight.

[Jeff Coatney]

Man, what a thread. I feel for both you guys. Having lived in Florida for 7 years, I know what Jorge is facing with the housing and the hurricanes. One of my best friends had a similar workshop set up like Jorge's as well. The beauty of this thread is that it reminds me that sometimes people get caught up in mis-understandings that are so frustrating it makes you want to pull your hair out. Sure Damian stepped over a line with the posting of the private email stuff (which I didn't see) but sometimes I can get that bent out of shape. It's clear no one had any nefarious intentions, and it looks like you guys are working it out. Hunker down, Jorge! I feel like I just watched an episode of "RedUser 90210".

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Jeff,

RedUser 90210? Where are the hot, turbo-slut chicks then?

Yes the Florida situation is depressing. The state just can't get it together (or just doesn't care) to compete with successful states such as Louisiana and New Mexico by offering some attractive incentives.

In fact they want to eliminate what we have now. They're even talking about eliminating the sales tax exemption, which is the only perk that the local producers and owner/operators can get.

They were talking about kicking Burn Notice out of the studio they are using (the Coconut Grove Convention Center) so some developer can tear it down and build some B.S. tourist trap or more un-needed luxury condos.

And the weather... Even with a very high efficiency AC unit, it seems to take a lot of energy to keep the temperatures down in the house. So much so that I have taken to doing lens focus calibrations at night so I can get the temp down to 25º C without consuming huge amounts of electricity.

And although the garage is not finished (and I will end up having to pull everything out of there to finish it) I can't control the temperature or humidity in there, unless I expend huge amounts of electricity. I need below 80º F and 60% in order to do precision metalwork. The temp can rise while I'm not working but the humidity can't rise because the tools will rust. And I have some exotic Swiss tools that would be very hard to replace.

I don't know how much that's going to change once the renovation is complete, and it's fully insulated, or when I'll have the funds to complete it.

OK, enough frustration for now.

[ericyoung]

...
And although the garage is not finished (and I will end up having to pull everything out of there to finish it) I can't control the temperature or humidity in there, unless I expend huge amounts of electricity. I need below 80º F and 60% in order to do precision metalwork. The temp can rise while I'm not working but the humidity can't rise because the tools will rust. And I have some exotic Swiss tools that would be very hard to replace.

I don't know how much that's going to change once the renovation is complete, and it's fully insulated, or when I'll have the funds to complete it.

OK, enough frustration for now.

Hey Jorge

Really good insulation should help keep Air Con costs down. There's some insulation stuff developed from something NASA use, which is many times more thermally insulating than standard housing insulation. You can thus use thinner sheets, or have the several layers for stupidly high insulation levels!

Will try and dig up the details if you like.

[Matthew Duclos]

From REDuser to RED90210 to REDhome&garden.

I can dig it.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Eric,

I would love to find out about the ultra-insulation. At the moment only part of the ceiling is insulated. I had to stop working on it because it turned out that I needed a permit to do it, which is taking forever.

I would have to use the insulation R-value that is specified by the drawings made by my architect. Once the job is done and passes inspection, then I can further insulate if needed.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

After many hours on the phone hunting, I have the parts I need to put a new back end on Damien's lens. But this lens is still going to need a lens support, which I haven't found yet.

So if anyone on this forum has a lens support bracket for a Angenieux 25-250 T3.9. The diameter of the hole in this bracket would be 68.5 mm [2.697 in].

I'd also be interested in focus and zoom gears that fit this lens. These were made by Cinema Products and other manufacturers many years ago.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[Steve Gal]

I have a high bridge support for the support bracket but no bracket. I also may have the focus and zoom gears but I don't have a lens in for measurements. If you can give me the focus and zoom diameters, I can check my stock.

[ericyoung]

Eric,

I would love to find out about the ultra-insulation. At the moment only part of the ceiling is insulated. I had to stop working on it because it turned out that I needed a permit to do it, which is taking forever.

I would have to use the insulation R-value that is specified by the drawings made by my architect. Once the job is done and passes inspection, then I can further insulate if needed.

Hi Jorge

Found the stuff - called "multifoil".

It looks like the jury's still out on the technology from the amount of discussion on the web about it! Also, all the multifoils seem to be lumped together, when in fact the different manufacturers products can vary quite widely. Actis Tri Iso Super 9 seems to be the first product to market (now superceded by new Super 10).

So far, there doesn't seem to have been an accepted independent test on it's real effectiveness or longevity (it hasn't been around long, foil may tarnish, mice seem to like it!), and many building regulators have yet to approve it.

There are also question marks over proper installation for effectiveness, and variability depending on external environmental factors.

So YMMV!

Some are recommending it be used in addition to rockwool or more known insulation to improve insulation rather than replace conventional materials.

But here are a few links, on both sides of the fence, out of the many I found on Google.

http://www.just-insulation.com/multifoil.html

http://www.housebuildersupdate.co.uk/2007/01/multifoils-last-throw-of-dice.html

http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/newforum/comments.php?DiscussionID=125
http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/forum/index2.php?DATEIN=tpc_wlpssdlpg_1142805843
http://www.greenbuildingforum.co.uk/forum/index2.php?DATEIN=tpc_wlpssdlpg_1142805843&LP=true

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/diy-39/463173-rafter-insulation-triso-super-9-a.html?showfull=1

Let us know what you go for, and if it in fact works! :cold:

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

I found the right combination of old parts to make this lens work:

http://www.cinematechnic.com/images/services/Earthling_10-1_Ang.jpg

The new rear section with PL adapter is installed on the lens. Normally I don't like set screw PL adapters, but in this case, the set screws will go into "dents" in the soft aluminum ARRI Std. mount (I'll be machining the dents). This (and a little loctite) will prevent it from coming loose, and I can offer this adapter at a lower cost.

Above the lens is the old rear section that it came with. Very old school.

Still waiting to see what Damien thinks.

[Cameron Preyde]

As far as the housing issue goes brother man...Cut your losses and get your butt out of Florida before the waters rise and swallow it. Don't expect it, but do prepare for it.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Hey Red-Cam,

I appreciate your concern, but I don't buy into alarmism (and I hope you won't either). Ever since I was a kid, I read the predictions of all the doomsayers, and they *all* turned out to be wrong. At the time I was born, they were predicting mass worldwide starvation. I still remember reading as a kid, when they were predicting an ice age was just around the corner. All the scientists seemed to be in agreement.

I'm about half a mile inland, and my house is 3.7 m [12 ft] above sea level. So if the sea continues to rise at 2.9 mm per year (the measured rise here in the Gulf coast of US), in the worst case, it will take about 100 years for the sea level to rise 1 ft [0.31 m]. It will be a few hundred years before I get converted to beachfront property.

If you want to talk about a real disaster, we can discuss this economy that is so wrecked that there is no way I could sell this house even if I wanted to. I hate it when I hear people say "we're not in a recession", especially the pundits that should know better. The government statistics are totally cooked (see John Williams http://www.shadowstats.com/ for an explanation of how this scam works).

We've probably been in recession since last year and it's about to get a lot worse. I'm sure you saw the bloodbath yesterday on Wall Street. The third largest brokerage house in the US went bankrupt.

The US Dollar has been getting pounded since 2002. We have to import $4 billion dollars every day just too keep this country afloat.

The US Federal government is acting like it has unlimited money to bail out all these failed banks and brokerages. But all they are going to do is print more worthless Monopoly money. Where is that money coming from?

Does anyone notice that neither of the two major party candidates in the U.S. presidential election is talking about cutting, or even freezing spending?

I wish I could solve the problems of my business the same way Uncle Sam does... by printing money, spending more and repudiating my existing debts.

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Steve,

Angenieux 25-250 T3.9 diameters:

Focus gear I.D. 80.6 mm [3.173 in]

Zoom gear I.D. 71.75 / 74 [2.825 / 2.913 in] (smooth part / knurled part)

Neutral ring I.D. 68.4 [2.693 in]

Let me know what you have stock.

-JDA

[Steve Gal]

I have the following gears.

I.D. 68.35mm, 70mm, 73.55mm

The individual gear pictured (also in first picture bottom) has a lip
that is 73.55 but steps to a diameter of 77.45mm.

2 top gears are set screwed in 3 places. Bottom gear has a different system where the set screws push against a clamping ring built into a groove on the I.D. of the gear.

Also High bridge support for 15mm baseplate

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Steve,

Thanks. Damien has 19 mm rods, as do most RED users, so I will need to find a ring that fits the neutral ring and then use a modern lens bridge.

I'd rather not have to machine any gears, since my lathe is not set up. And even if it was I'd have to charge for the labor time to turn the gears.

[Steve Gal]

I believe 1 of those gears are for the zoom but I don't have a lens in for fitting. You could probably use the Universal Mount from Red for a bridge support since that is 19mm. Just tryin to help out.

[Michael Hastings]

Steve,

I'd rather not have to machine any gears, since my lathe is not set up. ...

Might be a nice project when you help me check out my new Habegger, which is supposed to arrive today. :biggrin:

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

Thanks Nell,

I think I will have to drop any unprofitable parts of the business (film camera service) in order to concentrate on lenses and perhaps RED service (someday). I can already do very accurate focus calibrations on RED ONE cameras.

[Gary Ploj]

Thanks Nell,

I think I will have to drop any unprofitable parts of the business (film camera service) in order to concentrate on lenses and perhaps RED service (someday). I can already do very accurate focus calibrations on RED ONE cameras.

Hi Jorge,

what do you charge for focus cailbrations??? Curious

[Drew Suppa]

I recommend Duclos Lenses - Conversion to PL mount and cleaning, optically realigning a 12mm and 150mm Anamorphic - three day turnaround.

They were great.


I second this. Duclos is a great shop. Very small, very intimate, but they are all very knowledgeable and do a great job. They just serviced our focus on a Cooke 25-250 and turned it around to me in under an hour.

[M.Halsell]

Jorge,

As a bit of humor, since the entire Red board knows the backstory, I guess you can CC' all of us when the lens ships back to the original owner. :)

But on the serious note, having read many of your lense post, it is nice having seasoned craftsman and veterans contributing correct information on this board. As as excited as we all are about the new technologies, it still has to be tempered with best practices and best approaches to good and acceptable results.

[Adrian T.]

Jorge,

Your website at www.cinematechnic.com (http://www.cinematechnic.com/) is no longer accessible. What's up? Are you ok?

[Jorge Díaz-Amador]

I'm moving to a new server. The old server was too costly. It should be back up in a few days. I've finally got someone to go through the website and update it but that process probably won't begin until January.

[Peter Strietmann]

Hi Jorge,

I have that same lens (angenieux 25-250) and have made a lens support by using the Cinevate mount, http://www.cinevate.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=62&osCsid=83c6ba33bbf79ccdb8c106ad2f9110a8
You also need to use a rubber gasket to make up for the extra space between the mount and lens which can be found online at McMaster Carr online and is referenced by part # 4061T193, Square Buna-n O-ring, As568a Dash Number 147. It works great for me. I refer to the lens as the leading lady.

Best, Peter.