experience with Chinese EasyRigs?
- Thread starter nickbeef
- Start date
patrickbaldwin
Well-known member
I am sure there was a thread on here where somebody effectively took one for the team and said it was absolute crap and a waste of $400
digitalinnovations
Well-known member
Just the version they happened to buy or the whole concept?
rob norton
Veteran
I wonder why there aren't way more easyrig knockoffs from companies that aren't chinese. I'm assuming their price is so high, partly because they're tough to replicate. If you take one for the team be sure to report back.
There's a US company that uses bendable rods for the same purpose. I've brought it up a number of times ... but no one gave a flying fig about it.
rob norton
Veteran
fboonzaier
Well-known member
Is this it?
http://www.atlascamerasupport.com
http://www.atlascamerasupport.com
patrickbaldwin
Well-known member
It was just the one they bought for about $400 I believe. Basically it fell apart. Sorry I cannot find the thread.
paulears
Veteran
I've been buying Chinese gear for a long time now, and it's very much a gamble. This weeks new samples arrived. In ear monitors for stage use - looked great, good price and well packaged - BUT - sounded rubbish. All the too and fro emails about sound quality etc etc just didn't pan out. However, two microphones seemed exceptional. Excellent sound quality, good electronics and all going great. Modelled (read design copied) on the AKG small condenser mics often found on drum kits, but with an extended gooseneck. Going to be a good one - until I stuck it on a saxophone. On the AKG - the small flexible part is rubber to prevent noise from the drums travelling up to the sensitive mic. They hadn't realised that was it's purpose, so the rubber mount was moulded from hard plastic, and every key pressed clacked and banged - these noises clearly audible. Item 3 - a digital wireless handheld microphone. Nice design, solid construction, and when plugged in, not a bad sounding mic. However - the frequency in it was one of the Ch 38 ones already in my rack in the studio, left over from a previous job - and the signal was coming up on the desk. Shoving the fader let me hear the audio on the studio monitors. Still nice sounding. Why am I concerned - because the feature that attracted me was the fact it was a DIGITAL system, or in this case, not digital at all. The labels say Digital, so does the box, but it's a bog standard wireless system that my Sennheiser receivers seem happy with.
With these camera systems, the problem is that they copy the physical things they see in other brands, but they have no comprehension of why things are made in certain ways - so looks impress, but performance often sucks. Things like gimbals in Steadicam products. They have no idea what a real one feels like spinning, so any gimbal they have that looks the same will do. I've been offered some lighting desks - MA 'clones' if you know lighting desks - but they seem to run embedded Windows on hacks software - but oddly the control hardware is much more chunky, and quite attractive. Trouble is, even if you can live with these products you get no backup at all, no upgrade path and no easy way to fix them - for half the usual price.
With these camera systems, the problem is that they copy the physical things they see in other brands, but they have no comprehension of why things are made in certain ways - so looks impress, but performance often sucks. Things like gimbals in Steadicam products. They have no idea what a real one feels like spinning, so any gimbal they have that looks the same will do. I've been offered some lighting desks - MA 'clones' if you know lighting desks - but they seem to run embedded Windows on hacks software - but oddly the control hardware is much more chunky, and quite attractive. Trouble is, even if you can live with these products you get no backup at all, no upgrade path and no easy way to fix them - for half the usual price.
Eric Coughlin
Veteran
I've used a Chinese Easy Rig on a couple shoots. Worked pretty well. Guess I haven't actually used a real Easy Rig yet to compare.
That said, if I was buying I'd probably buy a real one because I wouldn't want to take the risks associated with a Chinese one. May be fine to use on a few shoots when it's not my rig which makes me a bit less responsible even though I'm operating, but to use on a regular basis as an owner, I then have more responsibility and more risk, so would likely want the real McCoy.
Kind of scary to imagine something snapping and taking your eye out or dropping an Arri Alexa or any expensive camera package. I suppose if you're just doing some lightweight rig that is not that expensive the cost savings for the Chinese setup may be more worth it.
That said, if I was buying I'd probably buy a real one because I wouldn't want to take the risks associated with a Chinese one. May be fine to use on a few shoots when it's not my rig which makes me a bit less responsible even though I'm operating, but to use on a regular basis as an owner, I then have more responsibility and more risk, so would likely want the real McCoy.
Kind of scary to imagine something snapping and taking your eye out or dropping an Arri Alexa or any expensive camera package. I suppose if you're just doing some lightweight rig that is not that expensive the cost savings for the Chinese setup may be more worth it.
Northcoast Studios
Member
I have to agree with what a couple people here have said; hit and miss.
I've bought several Chinese products and have not been burned yet. I do extensive research on YouTube when looking into these things. You can usually find at least 20 videos by people who bought the thing (whatever it may be) and they tell you about it, about their experience with it, and show you what they like about it and what they don't like, including poor craftsmanship or design.
Also, I am a Toolmaker and I have design and engineering skills, so I have an idea of what I am looking at. Often times, either at their website or their ebay auction. they will have very close pictures of their product and you can see how it is made and how much care is taken. Granted, you can't get a 100% perspective on everything, such as material quality or fastener quality and such, but you can get a good idea.
I bought a camera stabilizer with vest and articulating arm for $540. I am happy with it. It is better than I was expecting. I also did about 6 months of research on various Chinese knock-offs before choosing which one I was going to buy. There is only one thing I would want different and that is the gimble. It is not terrible, but there is something about it that keeps it from being 100% functional. There is a high and a low spot, which means even with the rig perfectly balanced it will very slightly want to turn when it should remain stable. It is not a deal breaker and not difficult to over-come. Otherwise, the quality of the whole thing is surprisingly good. Not $5,000 good, but certainly good enough. It was money well spent.
I am sure others here also have the Neewer CN-160 LED video light. That thing has been wonderful for me. The first one I bought several years ago was a CN-120 and cost about $50. Now I got the 160 LED version for only $35. Incredible.
Of course there are things I will not buy from China; Digital Audio recorder, shotgun mic, large diaphragm condensor mic, etc. I did buy some Chinese lav mics. These are less of a purchase and again, surprising quality for the money. I bought them after watching a Curtis Judd review on them. He does such a great job on his reviews.
Now, I should also say I buy American products when I can. I have an American made grill, cars, socks, shoes, shirts, and more when I can. However, being a Toolmaker, I am amazed how over priced a lot of camera gear is. I know how this stuff is made. I know what's involved, and we are being ripped off most of the time. One example is the Glide Cam stablizers, and especially the Devin Graham Signature unit. I love the guy, but that is one of the biggest rip offs, price-wise, on the market. Camera sliders are another one. Most of them use a track that is already mass produced for another industry and it is not expensive.
My first stabilizer was for a small video camera. Hague was selling a stabilizer for it for $150 US, plus shipping from the UK to US. I made my own for $12. I also made my own 9 foot camera jib crane. I have to admit, there was a lot of custom machining to make it, but hey, it's what I do. Not counting my time I probably have about $75 into it. It has machined aluminum parts (aluminium for the rest of the world), 3 four foot long military tent poles for the boom, and a camera quick release. It mounts onto a very sturdy tripod I already had.
Steve
I've bought several Chinese products and have not been burned yet. I do extensive research on YouTube when looking into these things. You can usually find at least 20 videos by people who bought the thing (whatever it may be) and they tell you about it, about their experience with it, and show you what they like about it and what they don't like, including poor craftsmanship or design.
Also, I am a Toolmaker and I have design and engineering skills, so I have an idea of what I am looking at. Often times, either at their website or their ebay auction. they will have very close pictures of their product and you can see how it is made and how much care is taken. Granted, you can't get a 100% perspective on everything, such as material quality or fastener quality and such, but you can get a good idea.
I bought a camera stabilizer with vest and articulating arm for $540. I am happy with it. It is better than I was expecting. I also did about 6 months of research on various Chinese knock-offs before choosing which one I was going to buy. There is only one thing I would want different and that is the gimble. It is not terrible, but there is something about it that keeps it from being 100% functional. There is a high and a low spot, which means even with the rig perfectly balanced it will very slightly want to turn when it should remain stable. It is not a deal breaker and not difficult to over-come. Otherwise, the quality of the whole thing is surprisingly good. Not $5,000 good, but certainly good enough. It was money well spent.
I am sure others here also have the Neewer CN-160 LED video light. That thing has been wonderful for me. The first one I bought several years ago was a CN-120 and cost about $50. Now I got the 160 LED version for only $35. Incredible.
Of course there are things I will not buy from China; Digital Audio recorder, shotgun mic, large diaphragm condensor mic, etc. I did buy some Chinese lav mics. These are less of a purchase and again, surprising quality for the money. I bought them after watching a Curtis Judd review on them. He does such a great job on his reviews.
Now, I should also say I buy American products when I can. I have an American made grill, cars, socks, shoes, shirts, and more when I can. However, being a Toolmaker, I am amazed how over priced a lot of camera gear is. I know how this stuff is made. I know what's involved, and we are being ripped off most of the time. One example is the Glide Cam stablizers, and especially the Devin Graham Signature unit. I love the guy, but that is one of the biggest rip offs, price-wise, on the market. Camera sliders are another one. Most of them use a track that is already mass produced for another industry and it is not expensive.
My first stabilizer was for a small video camera. Hague was selling a stabilizer for it for $150 US, plus shipping from the UK to US. I made my own for $12. I also made my own 9 foot camera jib crane. I have to admit, there was a lot of custom machining to make it, but hey, it's what I do. Not counting my time I probably have about $75 into it. It has machined aluminum parts (aluminium for the rest of the world), 3 four foot long military tent poles for the boom, and a camera quick release. It mounts onto a very sturdy tripod I already had.
Steve
Last edited:
digitalinnovations
Well-known member
Well I ordered a Flycam Flowline (EasyRig MiniMax clone) with a Flowline Placid (Serene Arm clone) from TheCineCity.com so I guess we'll see soon enough.
I was prepared to invest in the "real deal" MiniMax but after reading up a bit on the function of an EasyRig it appears the bobbing of the Z-axis hinders moving shots (where the Serene Arm comes in handy) but I was NOT ready to drop a couple thousand on just the Serene alone. After some research (some of the knockoffs just look "wrong" or cheap) I found the Flowline w/ Placid combo. It looks like a fairly well-constructed clone from the pictures and there are some positive reviews / videos. Since TheCineCity offers a money back guarantee I figured it was worth a shot...worst case I return it, get my money back and order the EasyRig MiniMax.
I was prepared to invest in the "real deal" MiniMax but after reading up a bit on the function of an EasyRig it appears the bobbing of the Z-axis hinders moving shots (where the Serene Arm comes in handy) but I was NOT ready to drop a couple thousand on just the Serene alone. After some research (some of the knockoffs just look "wrong" or cheap) I found the Flowline w/ Placid combo. It looks like a fairly well-constructed clone from the pictures and there are some positive reviews / videos. Since TheCineCity offers a money back guarantee I figured it was worth a shot...worst case I return it, get my money back and order the EasyRig MiniMax.
Braindead@70
Well-known member
I have the original Turtle rig and I have been looking at the Serene clone. I would love to talk with you about your experience. If you are willing, please send me your phone number.
JoJo....info@AtlantaVisual.com
BTW, have you seen the Serene arm that swivels?
digitalinnovations
Well-known member
Sure thing; I'll drop you an email shortly.
I don't think I've seen / noticed the Serene with swivel.
I don't think I've seen / noticed the Serene with swivel.
Are these the Sennheiser IEM clones which you got? I've been wondering about them.
AaronDunleavy
New member
Hi mate, please can you share your experience of the Flycam Flowline? Would really appreciate it!
digitalinnovations
Well-known member
Hello Aaron. Sorry for the delay in replying; things have been hectic.
I have been very pleased with the fit and function of the Flowline. So much so in fact that I am considering either going up to a larger weight capacity version OR picking up a new steadicam rig as mine is due for an overhaul. I may need to start a new thread on that topic but I am curious what brands of the steadicam knockoffs are the best right now.
Spartacus
Veteran
So you already checked the Chinese variation on eBay? How did you come to a decision? (I always thought TCC was just a Indian rebrand of Chinese products and not of the best ones.)
digitalinnovations
Well-known member
The Chinese variation of what? The Flowline? I don't know where exactly they (Flowline) are made but mine shipped from China according to the tracking. I had searched around for some reviews and looked at the pictures to try to get an idea of build quality and similarities to the EasyRig. So it was a little bit of a gamble but in this case it worked out.
starcentral
Veteran
A friend of mine had this one http://www.ebay.ca/itm/8-18KG-Gimba...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649 which I borrowed and used for a full day without a single issue. I was using a full sized Ronin with ext arms and camera on the heavier side.
Like all Chinese stuff, it's hit and miss, but if you are using it casually or on occasion with care I think you'll be fine. If you're looking to print cards and go into business as a dedicated fly-op, get the real deal. That's my opinion.
Like all Chinese stuff, it's hit and miss, but if you are using it casually or on occasion with care I think you'll be fine. If you're looking to print cards and go into business as a dedicated fly-op, get the real deal. That's my opinion.