Field Report . Problems Noted

[zak forrest]

• Have broken 4 wingnuts so far. Each time it renders a universal mount or a Red Handle unusable. Good thing I have several backups of each but I'm running out. Also besides that, tightening the Red Handles is pretty difficult when it shouldn't be. I am wishing the wingnuts were bigger so I could get a nicer grip on them, but really I think the Handles should just have a better way of tightening. I saw someone else on the boards say they wished the Red Handles required an allan wrench because then at least they could get it nice and tight and know for sure it was good to go, but I think a non allan wrench solution would be better. I don't see why we should ever use an allan wrench with most of the parts of this camera.

• The release on the battery plate needs some kind of SAFETY. Just being able to press the battery plate against something (my body when I'm operating) and have the battery pop off is unacceptable to me, and also has been stressing me out, now I am always so conscious of my body and making sure not to get near the plate, its absurd to have to think of that kind of stuff when you are operating a camera and trying to focus on what's going on through the lens. It would be great if you had to lift something and THEN push the battery release button for example (I don't know, but some kind of two-stage, double protected way of releasing the battery is sorely needed). I have accidentally popped the battery off three times so far on my shoot, and I am already extremely aware of this and always trying not to do it. The other operator has done it twice. I can't stress enough how careful we are. We are shooting in cramped quarters a lot of the time with our bodies pressed against the camera.

• The camera does not alert me when a battery is about to die. The camera just dies when the battery runs out. Am I the only one?

• Small Kip locks seem like a damn fine idea for those Side Handles. When I want to do a quick re-adjustment on the rails, it's all so fast with the wingnuts but then I have to get the allan wrench out to loosen the side handle before I can proceed with my quick re-adjustment, totally unnecessary speedbump in my opinion.

• Camera 116 was just serviced and lubed up and sent back to me in ONE DAY which was amazing and awesome of RED to do. It performed flawlessly all day but then tonight it said INITIALIZING forever until we decided to cut the power and wait a minute and then try again, same thing happened. It was a necessary two camera shoot, and having it frozen like that was a bummer for sure. We just got home and tried again and it boots up properly. I wish it was doing that during our shoot.



So there are the only notes I have for the Red Team. I think the first two are seriously necessary. The "endless initializing" problem though I would like to know if anyone else has encountered. Is it linked to anything?

Question: when using Red Drives do you have to unmount them before powering down the camera?

I apologize if this post is harsh sounding. But it's been one long day, and some things seriously need to be taken care of, and I'm sure Red already knows everything I just mentioned but I thought it should be posted regardless.

Final NOTE: this camera is finally letting me do what I've always wanted to do. We shot for hours today uninterrupted, all improvised material, we filmed all the rehearsals, some of which will now end up in the final cut thanks to this camera. It was completely amazing. Like Soderbergh my hyperbole can't even describe how amazing the camera is, and what a dream it is working with it instead of film.

[Fergus Meiklejohn]

•
Final NOTE: this camera is finally letting me do what I've always wanted to do. We shot for hours today uninterrupted, all improvised material, we filmed all the rehearsals, some of which will now end up in the final cut thanks to this camera. It was completely amazing. Like Soderbergh my hyperbole can't even describe how amazing the camera is, and what a dream it is working with it instead of film.

That's pretty inspiring Zak

Fixing the handles to the rails: is it smooth metal bonding with smooth metal? We're going to need enormous torque to keep them from sliding around. It would help if one surface was rougher, or was a different material. How about gluing super thin rubber or shammy leather to the inside of the handle ring mounts?
Or is that a stupid idea.. ?

[zak forrest]

The side handles are a different texture than the rails. They get nice and tight for sure.

When you have your camera, and you want to move everything over a centimeter, you will see what I mean.

For my needs, I got some Zacuto gear, and might retrofit my side handles with Kip locks or something else that is a quicker solution than using an allan wrench. I hope in the future Red might make their accessories more like that.

[Finner]

• then tonight it said INITIALIZING forever until we decided to cut the power and wait a minute and then try again, same thing happened. It was a necessary two camera shoot, and having it frozen like that was a bummer for sure. We just got home and tried again and it boots up properly. I wish it was doing that during our shoot.

This is really bad.

If you were on a single camera shoot you would have been completely screwed.

[zak forrest]

Yeah. Like I said, it was a necessary two camera shoot. So when it died it was definitely a bummer. Maybe it wasn't NECESSARY after all because we got by, it was just really difficult and took longer and set everything back. Anyways this kind of thing is expected, it was awful, but I wasn't completely taken by surprise or anything (not saying that I expect the camera to perform poorly or get errors though). It's like Jim said a while ago when they pushed the shipping dates back, something like "don't plan a shoot around the ship dates of this camera. have a backup.." etc.. When something goes wrong with anything Red I still just count my lucky stars, and I'm glad they are actively listening and responding as quick as they do.

[Deanan]

Please contact tech support when you have problems. It really is the best way to get your problem looked at by the right people. It's too easy to miss something like this on the forums and not get tracked internally.

[donatello b]

"Have broken 4 wingnuts "
are you using washers with all the wing nuts ?
you may have got a bad run of some wingnuts - look to see if they are hollow where they break -
i broke 8 in the 1st week and haven't broken any in past 3 weeks ... if you have washers you don't have to tighten them as much as you think they need tightening- start with firm on rails, batts, universal mounts ... for the handles very firm ( not extreme tight) - the handles will move a little if you try to move them- under normal hand holding they will only move under allot of pressure ....
using them over time i prefer the handles move slightly so i can put the handle in a slightly different position depending on position of camera during the shot ( looking up i move the handles back a little ... looking down i move them forward ..

"release on the battery plate needs some kind of SAFETY"
are you using the quick release batt plate or the craddle ?
are you batts facing down or up .. do you slide in from bottom or you slide in from top ? ... they should slide in from top - if slide in from bottom =reverse the plate..
make sure you get 2 clicks when you press down to lock it in ..

"The camera does not alert me when a battery is about to die. The camera just dies when the battery runs out. Am I the only one?"

i get a very short notice batt stating to change batt ...

[zak forrest]

"Have broken 4 wingnuts "
are you using washers with all the wing nuts ?
you may have got a bad run of some wingnuts - look to see if they are hollow where they break -
i broke 8 in the 1st week and haven't broken any in past 3 weeks ... if you have washers you don't have to tighten them as much as you think they need tightening- start with firm on rails, batts, universal mounts ... for the handles very firm ( not extreme tight) - the handles will move a little if you try to move them- under normal hand holding they will only move under allot of pressure ....
using them over time i prefer the handles move slightly so i can put the handle in a slightly different position depending on position of camera during the shot ( looking up i move the handles back a little ... looking down i move them forward ..

"release on the battery plate needs some kind of SAFETY"
are you using the quick release batt plate or the craddle ?
are you batts facing down or up .. do you slide in from bottom or you slide in from top ? ... they should slide in from top - if slide in from bottom =reverse the plate..
make sure you get 2 clicks when you press down to lock it in ..

"The camera does not alert me when a battery is about to die. The camera just dies when the battery runs out. Am I the only one?"

i get a very short notice batt stating to change batt ...

i am using washers always. i think its hollow on all the breaks but not sure, can't check at the moment.

the batteries are sliding in from the top. thats not what i mean. i mean the button you press in to eject the battery is too easy to just push by accident and eject. i feel strongly about the battery plate having some kind of system where its impossible to press your body against it and accidentally pop the battery off. like those security doors that need two keys to open, one key on each side of the door..

[Sven Kommers]

• The camera does not alert me when a battery is about to die. The camera just dies when the battery runs out. Am I the only one?

I just got of a shoot where we used the RED #0046 with software version 12. I got a full-screen message 30 seconds with a count down timer telling me the camera will shutdown in x seconds

Question: when using Red Drives do you have to unmount them before powering down the camera?

No, you dont need to unmount since unmouting is only to make sure all file's are closed and the wring heads are in there "save" position, before removing the drive. Powering down the camera will do the same things.

[vincelucero]

I feel you on the wingnuts. They're fine for all except the handgrips. I've broken 3 so far. Not hollow. With washers. I've been careful with them since the 2nd break, but with a 30lb. camera, a loose set of handgrips is a bad thing.

I have faith that this issue will be resolved.