Be very careful when swapping lens mounts

[chuck colburn]

Two of my screws wouldn't come out. So I took my camera to Red and they pulled them out and swapped out the allen screws for Torx screws. The Nikon mount kicks ass now that I was able to swap mounts. I think if people are having problems with getting the screws out you could just send it in. But if you want Red to swap mounts for you I believe its $300. Of course email or call Red to get the real skinny on the info.

And better yet than Torx are "Torx Plus" head screws. They provide even more surface area contact with the wrench. There are "Allen" wrenches called "Allen Plus" that also work better than standard Allen wrenches.

[Alexis Hanawalt]

Film Tools recommended and sells the Wiha drivers for smaller Allen/Hex screws - that's what I'm going to use when my Nikon Mount arrives.

I nearly stripped the screw on the side just putting on the ET Break Out box, the little Red wrench was worthless.

[ericyoung]

Film Tools recommended and sells the Wiha drivers for smaller Allen/Hex screws - that's what I'm going to use when my Nikon Mount arrives.

I nearly stripped the screw on the side just putting on the ET Break Out box, the little Red wrench was worthless.

Sounds like Red should change the supplied allen wrench!

[Steve Gal]

I have changed the mounts several times with no problems and I use Wiha allen drivers. I have had to drill out 1 screw on another owners Red when it was the first original PL mount on the earlier cameras. I had my camera come back from a week long shoot and when I checked the camera in, all the screws were loose about 1 turn. They used the camera on a Helicopter. I hope the vibration of the tyler mount would not be enough to jiggle them loose. For now on, I will be checking those screws or probably replace them with the Torx and still monitor the tightness

[Kevin Halverson]

An "Allen wrench" is actually a trade mark of the Allen Tool Company just like a "Crescent wrench" is another brand specific term, the actual, correct terms are a hex key and an adjustable spanner.

I always use new, high quality, hex keys for any smaller sized fastener. Never use ball end for a high torque extraction, that's just asking for a problem. If your in a bind, you can grind down a used hex key to give it a new, tight insertion fit.

Don't cheap out on hex keys. Buy high quality tool steel grade ones, not the cheap, plated crap that the low end hardware departments offer. It's just not worth the grief that can result.

[Finner]

So your advice then is to not cheap out and make sure to buy good allen wrenches?

[Alexis Hanawalt]

The thing is - the REALLY good ones are like $5. How often in this industry is the best version of something you need to buy less than lunch?

[Fredrik Callinggard]

It happened to me yesterday here in Mexico City, with 4 screws, going from Nikon to PL mount.

We ended up drilling the 4 screws out (something I don't recommend if you don't know how). That was actually not that difficult and scary as it initially sounds, but still not a funny thing to have to do.

edit: Both camera and Nikon mount were unharmed


Fredrik Callinggard