Birger Mount

[maxusa]

Actually, the problem, as I see it, is that these companies communicate TOO MUCH about their unreleased products!

Yes, many outfits do that. There may be many reasons for this strategy, and most of them have very short term effectiveness with rather quick expiration date. This strategy when used out of alignment with the new product introduction (NPI) process may soon become detrimental. Think how many RED One prospects had second thoughts based on Epic/Scarlet rumor mill, or went with another brand altogether to "bridge over." And how many competitors were given advance notice complete with feature shopping lists? On the other hand, many start-ups use rumors to heat up the segment when they want to affect upcoming investment or an imminent acquisition. There could be many reasons and, I hope (for their own sake) marketeers at RED know what they are doing...

If you look at just the 2 examples discussed here lately, both outfits are young entrants with low organizational maturity still operating the entrepreneurial style. Lack of experience with NPI, track record, low capitalization, lack of resources, high risks, weak sales/ customer support/ manufacturing channels are just a few common attributes. No wonder that marketing runs rampant at times (or most of the time).

Whatever the root cause of this strategy, prospects are encouraged to exercise their own judgement including seeking counsel from the community. This forum has vast collective experience, and I found that many won't mind sharing their opinion on just about anything.

 

[jdesignhi]

Let's keep this on the topic of the birger mount and not devolve into which camera or company is better.

The Birger mount is not a product. It's a dream... a six month old dream. Unrealized, and unfulfilled.

 

[Rick Burnett]

The Birger mount is not a product. It's a dream... a six month old dream. Unrealized, and unfulfilled.

Dreams do come true if you believe!

 

[maxusa]

Sounds very much Disney, Rick.

 

[Rick Burnett]

Haha! Well I am an optimist! I want the AF100 mount to come out so the FS100 mount can come after that!!!!

 

[Pelican]

Let's hope that Birger has learned from this experience and will be more responsible with their announcements, and responsive to failed commitments. But I think we can move forward, and appreciate how great this device will be. It must be a huge endeavor and negative criticism is never a motivator. I suggest we them be, and allow them to concentrate on delivering. Okay, stepping down from the pulpit now.. sorry.

 

[Birger]

I am truly sorry for the delay.

I am truly sorry for the delay.

My announcement of this product was premature. Please note the use of "my" rather than "our". Rather than further compound my mistake, I am choosing not to announce the release date until two weeks prior to shipment. My employees do not have any other answers to offer when calling on the phone. Insisting on a release date, or some other inside information, is not going to change this decision. This is a strategic product for Birger, and is to be the first released on our new platform. We are working through the details to get this into production.

A very wise man once said, "If you can't build it, it isn't a product." That man was my father. I grew up around the machine shop at the heart of his company as a child, and worked after school helping to assemble their products. Building stuff is in my blood. And, coincidentally, building stuff is what we do here at Birger. We are gearing up to go from a company producing products in thousands of units per year, to thousands per month. This has required some change in the ways in which our products are designed, and built. And, this has required us as a company to learn some new manufacturing processes.

I will tell the stories after we are done. Most have been rather mundane. Two of the funnier stories involve a custom built lathe, that showed up four months late, weighed 500lbs more than the spec (too heavy for the elevator) and 12 inches wider than spec (too wide for the door). And the new vapor phase reflow oven that literally fell off the back of a fedex truck, and had to go back to the factory to be checked out before being redelivered two weeks ago. These stories are funny now, because they are no longer gating the result, and the new processes that these pieces of equipment represent, are now fully up and running.

I think the "transparency", that some of my counterparts at other so-called "American" companies talk about, has been disingenuous at best. They tell of the problems, and the brilliant solutions. They tell of the progress, as it inches along, only to later tell that there is yet another issue. They talk of the outside factors that are at fault. I used to be that guy. It does nobody any benefit. Certainly not the heads of the companies. Certainly not the customers. I am not going to tell you what the issues are, or what details are left. I have not been that guy for quite some time.

The important details are as follow: We are working on the AF100 to EF product; This product is of strategic importance to me and to Birger; It isn't quite ready yet; We will tell everyone that signs up for our "general news" email list (now numbering over 1500 strong) two weeks ahead of shipping any new products.

I look back on this experience to date, and I see one mistake that matters, I set a date that we (I and Birger) did not meet. The other market communication was an important part of learning what was wanted in a product. And, I think a better product is coming as a result. I am sorry for the delay.

Lastly, there was no release date in this post, and our lack of offering a release date, or talking publicly, should not be interpreted as a lack of seriousness with which we pursue this development, nor should it be taken as an indication that the release of the product is way off into the future.

 

[dcloud]

Erik,
I have no problems with the delay just so promise that when it does get released its widely available and easy to obtain

 

[EditingFX]

As Dcloud said, whenever it comes out is OK (sooner is of course better) as long as there's one unit for me to buy when it does!!

 

[Barry_Green]

Birger has told me that their plan is to release a product in wide release, worldwide, on day one. No trickle-out slow release, no massive backorders, but wide availability worldwide on the first day.

Thanks Erik for an eloquent summation of the situation.

I, for one, appreciate the decision to just get back to doing, instead of worrying about announcing and updating. We now have everything we need to know -- the Birger is not imminent, we don't know when it will come out, but we will know about two weeks before it begins shipping.

 

[Alpha Beta Omega]

When you do get it on the market I for one will buy it for sure.

 

[groveChuck]

Thanks Erik! (the man is busy making, not marketing...)

 

[sofresh]

How may people would buy the redrock mount instead of the birger if they get it to market first?

 

[dia3olik]

if the redrock will cost $200-300 I'd take it for sure!

 

[Rick Burnett]

If it was $200-$300, yeah, I'd get it....until the Birger came out I want all the remote capabilities that the birger has with it.

Which reminds me, Erik, I had an idea over the weekend that I don't know if you thought about with the Birger system. It would be nice on both the Panasonic and Sony implementations if you had a connection that could go into the remote/LANC ports of each protocol and control the camera from your remote as well. Maybe in a future version.

 

[FilmEquipmentHire]

You make one post and are already whining. We've talked this to death for 6 months. Sell your AF100, sell your lenses but don't try to place the blame on Eric or anyone but yourself. I can't believe you actually bought the AF100 because of a Birger mount on the drawing boards - most of us bought the camera for it's image quality.

Birger is ready when it's perfect and as I've said before, at least the AF100 mount is going to be released before the Sony and Arri models. Until then, I and many other posters on this forum are perfectly satisfied using Voigtlander, Zeiss, Canon, Lumix and Nikkor primes and any other glass that works.

In the meantime, I'm thankful for this return to 'film school 101', back to basics and the beauty of prime lenses with a twist to focus, f/stop rings, light meters and none of that zooming auto-crap that we grew much too accustomed to and reliant upon.

Regards.
Scott

The AF101 is a brillant camera and works great with primes. The return to basics has been happening for a few years now with the availabilty of DSLR's and the popularity of shallow DOF looks, but there are many situations when they are not appropriate and a zoom is necessary. The micro 4/3 mount is relatively new and zoom options are pretty limited which is why many people have looked at the birger option. This may have influenced peoples decision in both buying the AF101 or indeed holding off buying other solutions, re-sellers have been taking pre-payments for quite some time now.
I'm sure Birger have learnt from this and are no doubt trying their best but continuous delays and announcements do have a real impact, I don't think it unreasonable for people to be unhappy and they should not be harshly criticised , which is the point I was trying to make in my first post.​

Regards,​

Colin

 

[nyvz]

I think this gives us an opportunity to thank Panasonic for being a "stand-up" company. When they announce something, they
deliver in a timely manner. They may not announce everything we want .. but contrasting them to RED (the poster-child for over-marketing
and under-delivering) and Birger (silence is deadly) .. I'll take predictability over
hype and promises any day.

jeff

I think it is a mistake to think any company is incapable of delayed delivery. My (and many others) Panasonic GH2 took 4months from release date to ship despite my preorder(s), and I know people who preordered the AF100 and still got it over a month after scheduled release...

 

[anatusa]

I think it is a mistake to think any company is incapable of delayed delivery. My (and many others) Panasonic GH2 took 4months from release date to ship despite my preorder(s), and I know people who preordered the AF100 and still got it over a month after scheduled release...

i payed for my af101 to polish dealer in the very end of december 2010 and got like in few days after the new year.... i have never preordered anything, and never would, i just waited till dealer got it. i can only jealous to the people who can take money out of business for uncertain time and give that away for some product that no one knows (not even the guy who produce it) when it will see the light. strange that after that we hear complains

 

[Barry_Green]

delaying the product for like 7 month or even more, taking peoples money, and then say - u know what! - i don't know when it will be ready, so don't bother to ask, and we don't take preorders anymore

Birger hasn't taken a penny from anybody.

 

[Oliver Rush]

Birger is ready when it's perfect and as I've said before, at least the AF100 mount is going to be released before the Sony and Arri models. Until then, I and many other posters on this forum are perfectly satisfied using Voigtlander, Zeiss, Canon, Lumix and Nikkor primes and any other glass that works.

In the meantime, I'm thankful for this return to 'film school 101', back to basics and the beauty of prime lenses with a twist to focus, f/stop rings, light meters and none of that zooming auto-crap that we grew much too accustomed to and reliant upon.

Regards.
Scott

+1!!!