FX6: FX6 and Flowtech: A Scary Story

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Andy9

Well-known member
I arrived early to a job last week and was getting some external wides when the client arrived. I turned around to say hello and the tripod tipped over with my FX6 on it. I think one of the (Sachtler flowtech) legs wasn’t fully extended and I didn’t notice. It must have hit the tarmac with some force given the distance it fell (about 5 feet vertically but it will have covered more distance than that, falling in a graceful, accelerating arc) and the weight of the tripod.

The FX9 loupe disassembled itself but there didn’t seem to be any other damage. Still, I used the B-cam for the rest of the day just in case.

I’ve tested the FX6 and lens since and everything seems fine, incredibly. There isn’t even any superficial damage. Even the loupe snapped back together and seems as good as new. So here is my question:

Would you send the camera to Sony for a service?
Do you think they’ll just turn it on and run through the kind of basic operations checklist I’ve already done, or will they do something more in-depth and exhaustive?

It’s only 150 USD or so but I’ll be without the camera for over a week. I’d rather not bother if it will be a waste of time, but if it will reduce the chances of me getting a nasty surprise on my next job then it’s a no-brainer. I’d appreciate your opinions.

In hindsight, the funniest part of this happened just after the tripod fell over. I gathered up the bits, put the camera in its bag and turned around to resume introductions to the client. I’d barely said hello (again) when, for the second time in two minutes, there was a look of horror on her face as she looked past me - this time pointing at my camera bag which was pouring thick, white smoke. I knew immediately what it was. I opened the bag, disconnected the NP-F battery from the top handle, dropped it on the floor and kicked it a few feet away.

I think this is probably why I was (seemingly) lucky - it must have landed on the NP-F battery and the loupe, rather than the side handle or the lens. Still, what a glorious first impression! At least she'll never forget me.
 
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Has the lens mount bent.? . shoot a brick wall and see if you can focus all four corners and the middle.

Check your tripod for being stuck, not locking etc.
 
That’s never something you want to happen…. Glad it sounds like you came through largely unscathed.

But I was honestly expecting this to be a story of a leg giving way. While I absolutely love my Flowtechs, I own two sets, I’m about to send my second set in for service, that were just purchased last year. I had to send my original set off last year, because the cables in the legs had somehow become stretched, preventing proper release of the braking mechanism, and now my newest set is both failing to release a leg and properly clamp it, allowing it to slip under load (same leg).
 
Andy9 said:
... Do you think they'll just turn it on and run through the kind of basic operations checklist I've already done ....
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For $150, yes. That is only 1 hour of labor. They would run through their QC list and that's about it. If you don't find anything wrong, they likely won't either. As Morgan said, the most important thing is to make sure the lens mount and sensor have not been mis-aligned.
 
This thread really hits home because I had my FX6 hit the ground twice this year. Once at Monument Valley on my trip home from NAB, and then again last Monday night at a rocket launch.. Both times the torque of the shotgun mic hitting the ground caused the XLR connectors to break off from the handle. In my 40 year career I never had a camera hit the ground, but this year is has happened twice with virtually the same damage both times. It is embarasing and makes me feel like a rookie to make such dumb mistakes -- twice.

The first accident happened because the camera didn't lock into the VCT adapter properly (sand may have blown into the mechanism), so when I picked up the tripod to move to a new location the camera slid right off. Dumb. The lens (24-105mm) and Gratical EVF came though without any marks or damage. The camera continued to function normally (except for audio) for the rest of the trip and I ordered a replacement handle when I got home a few weeks later. After $800 and 2 minutes of swapping out the handle it was as good as new.

Then, last Monday night I was setting up four cameras after dark for a Falcon Heavy launch (F55, Z750, Z280, and FX6 with 200-600mm). The conditions were brutal. It was so windy that SpaceX eventually scrubbed the launch, but before that could happen a rogue wind blast took down the Z280 and FX6. Some still photographers also suffered the same fate. The Z280 came through fine, but the XLR connectors got torn off the FX6 again. Everything else on the camera seems fine, so now I'm awaiting delivery of another FX6 handle. Until then I have no audio, but that is no big deal.

Operator error both times.

My advice is to to look the camera over, shoot some test footage, and it everything looks good just give it a clean bill of health and put it back to worlk. The camera itself seems pretty rugged if you don't count the handle.
 
I too was expecting this thread to be a story of a leg lock slipping to cause the camera dump. Early in my career - when working at a production company, I took the blame when a Beta SP, at full height on a Vinten, took a nose dive straight onto the lens after being set up on very rough, uneven terrain. It left a big impression on me. I haven't turned away from a camera on a tripod since without checking to make sure the head is locked and regularly do a push test on my Sachtler flowtech legs now.

I'm with Doug.... shoot a bunch of test footage and if it all looks ok... put it back to work. And thank you, Doug and Andy, for a reminder that even accidents can happen to a true professional. That "click" of the VCT plate when putting camera on... is one of my favorite work sounds.
 
morgan_moore said:
Has the lens mount bent.? . shoot a brick wall and see if you can focus all four corners and the middle.

Check your tripod for being stuck, not locking etc.
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Thanks for all your replies - I hadn't even considered the possibility of a bent lens mount! Will test. And it's very useful to get confirmation that the Sony service isn't going to add much.

I'm not sure what the lesson for me from all this is other than 'be more careful when the camera is on a tripod'. It could also be 'bring a backup camera' but that's not always practical.

I was very lucky with the job it happened on. The person I described as the client was really the interviewee (the client was a European public broadcaster). She's an academic specialising in 3D and 360-degree cinema. While I was setting up the a7Siii for sound she told me a story about an accident she'd had with a 3D film camera years ago in... Syria? I don't remember. Somewhere a long way from technical help for a 3D film camera or the means to process the film. They carried on filming with it after a nasty fall and when they finally got some rushes back a week or so later, they discovered they'd been filming nothing at all since the camera took a dive. Something catastrophic with the shutter.
 
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I had a a camera take a nose dive from a loose VCT plate also once. Miraculously the camera seemed to survive fine and it was both the client company's camera and their VCT plate which upon inspection was not locking properly . Poorly maintained client company gear so I was exonerated. Scary moment though that's for sure.
 
Doug Jensen said:
This thread really hits home because I had my FX6 hit the ground twice this year.
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Brings back an old forgotten nightmare for me too, of when my Sony PMW-F3 on a tripod hit the ground on the very first shoot I did with it :-/ :-(
 
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Paul F said:
Whoa! Iron, you're back. Nice to see you again. I hope your 3-1/2 hiatus was refreshing.
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haha! Well, I was still posting on EOSHD/Facebook/MyYouTubeChannel/JWSound.

But yeah, the Sound subforum here at DVXuser is very quiet, and I am not working so much in the Camera / Lighting Dept so much in recent years, just focused on my work in the Sound Dept.
 
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