Problems with jag35...

[MikeWilkinson]

I've heard mostly good things around these boards about Jag35, but have unfortunately experienced otherwise recently.

Ordered a field runner kit, FF, and a couple other odds and ends back on 8/4. i promptly received an email that stated orders on stocked items would ship in 1-2 days. (the FF was out of stock, I expected to wait about 2 weeks for that, as they stated on their website)

Several emails later, paying for Rush delivery a week ago, and still nothing. I found it a bit off putting that even though my order was in for 3 weeks already, I could PAY EXTRA for rush shipping to get it sooner, sooner being within a month of my order date... :huh:

Is it just me or is this kind of ridiculous? I understand they are a small outfit, but you take on a big responsibility when selling products like this. They have been OK at returning emails within a day or two, but I'm having to spend money on rentals in the meantime :kali:

Has anyone had similar issues?

 

[Michael Carter]

Ack. Jag 35.

Bought the DSLR baseplate. thought I'd add a focus gear to my order - instant $10 extra shipping - for a gear that weighs like, 1 ounce. Double checked with them, yep, everything you add is another ten bucks. So, they seem to be way into the "low prices, make it up on shipping" philosophy.

I now buy my gears from RedRock. I find them to work better, no fussy screws, etc.

The baseplate seems like a good form factor, just what I was looking for. But... it rocks and wobbles. Stick a camera, viewfinder, focus and matte box on it, and that 1/4" of rail clamp just can't handle it.

Posted a question on their comments/questions deal for that product - but guess what - that's only for POSITIVE comments... not a question like "is anyone else having rocking issues with this and is it normal".

I'm trying to sort out the right part with them to make it work - it just needs more overall support. Like I said, it could be a contender. Another $25 or so would be worth it. Thing is, they seem to have no idea of what part I need - and the whole thing is only TWO PARTS, they've sent me the wrong one already and thus they need me to send them a photo of the part I need (which is, umm, the OTHER part, the one they didn't send me...) Still, they've been responsive, but when all those kids buying the thing start adding accessories, I suspect they'll be in the same boat that I'm in.

I even sent them a diagram of what the issue with the DSLR plate is... don't know if they're thinking of a redesign.

 

[maranfilms]

I don't know much about their service, but I do know jag35 dof adapters have probably the ugliest aesthetic out of any dof adapter I have seen. Their gg's are hideous.

 

[bronxjragon]

Jag35 is an example of you get what you pay for, but in this case it doesn't even seem like you get even that much. My buddy bought one about a year ago from the guy whats his name jehu I think, I don't know how many revisions they've had since but his footage on the HV20 went from HD to sub-par SD real quick.

 

[6thirteen]

i think the jag35 stuff is rad for us who cant afford arri, if you want the best... pay for the best ... yea maybe there follow focus has some flaws... but for the price of 150 or whatever, thats pretty rad compared to a redrock around 600 or a arri at like 1600
you pay for what you get but for what they are giving you for 150 dollars its a pretty bad ass product i think and it defently helps alot of indie film makers


but Michael Carter i think its pretty shitty of them to not answer your question on the fourms, they should at least give the customer the respect they desereve

 

[MikeWilkinson]

**Update**

Got my Jag35 stuff, more than a month after my initial order. Shipping was USPS, and it arrived in OK condition.

I ordered the following;

Field runner kit
D|Crank
D|FF 3 + gear
Digi Finder Pro

Here are some images of it mostly put together (rear rail with shoulder pad and weight not shown)

First off, the look of black with the orange fasteners looks pretty slick. I like that it's not flashy like some of the Zacuto stuff.

If you plan to get any of their kits like this, PLEASE, get at least 8" rails for the main section. I've had to make room to fit on my 6" rails the offset plate (for the rails to the shoulder pad/weight), DSLR baseplate, tripod plate, follow focus, and handles. I can make them all fit, but it's pretty tight, tighter than I'd prefer.

Also, the orange fasteners can be tough to lock down when you don't have much room to fit them on in the first place. They can be hard to work with, and are certainly not as smooth as Zacuto stuff.

The follow focus is OK, my only issue with this goes back to the short rails; with a 18-135 lens, the focus ring is far down the barrel of the lens, so I have to spread the distance, which is tough with all of the things I have to attach to it.

The digi-finder pro works, but is pretty cheap in terms of build quality. Feels like it could easily break. Also, if I put a little bit of weight pushing it, it collapses. I can't see that I will use this very much, unless I'm shooting outside in bright daylight.

The handles are fine, just wish they extended a little bit off of the rails.

The weight was cracked on the underside right out of the box It's not a big deal, but for a new product this is pretty crappy. I've already hit myself with the weight once on accident– I think I'll take some old socks or something and wrap it so that it gets heavier and is softer.

Overall this rig just feels to compact for what I was wanting, and I need to get longer rails. I'd love to get some extended handles, like these from Zacuto - http://store.zacuto.com/Zgrips-V3.html But those cost more than the entire Jag kit I got!

Perfect example of "you get what you pay for". I've used Zacuto rigs, and they are NICE. But not $4,000 nice. This Jag stuff is the cheap alternative, and is just OK. I wish their customer service and manufacturing/shipping methods were a bit more reliable. I want to get some new rails and maybe a few more gears, but I don't feel confident I'll get them in a timely manner so I'm considering getting them elsewhere.

 

[MikeWilkinson]

Some more photos and noticing some more minor issues...


In the image below, note the tripod plate angle vs. the rails angle. It's not an optical illusion from the POV of the photo, it's actually slightly angled instead of being perfectly horizontal.

In the photo below, note the angle of the rail vs. the angle of shoulder pad. I think this is due to slightly different fastener sizes, one being slightly offset from the other, but it's hard to say. Either way this doesn't seem to be a huge issue, it just means the shoulder pad has slight angle to it.

Some other shots of the assembled rig (sans 7D)

 

[DigitalBard]

I bought a FF from them and it was broken when I opened it up. Returned it and it was gonna be two weeks for a replacement, ended up being 5 weeks. They got an order in after two weeks, but they all shipped to new customers. I finally got it and it works, but I'll never order from them again. Their customer service was horrible.

 

[Michael Carter]

In the image below, note the tripod plate angle vs. the rails angle. It's not an optical illusion from the POV of the photo, it's actually slightly angled instead of being perfectly horizontal.

The tripod plate and camera plate in your pic is their DSLR rail system. The "droop" in the rails is in part due to the amount of weight being put on the part that connects the rails to the tripod plate. if yours is like mine, you'll find the front of the rails rock up and down with the slightest touch - just too much weight cantilevered out there on a very small connecting point.

This was not an issue when people used video form factor gear with DSLRs, since video tripod plates seem to have 3 - 4" of tube for the rods to slide into. Problem with a video plate it getting your follow focus under a short prime (like, say, an SLR prime!)

I've been trying to get a second tripod plate - to-rails part. TWICE they've sent me the rails-to-camera part. I've sent diagrams, photos, and described it in every way I know how. I guess I need to make a video next.

Thing is, I doubt JAG wants me posting a video of how weak this system is, as-is...

 

[MikeWilkinson]

The "droop" in the rails is in part due to the amount of weight being put on the part that connects the rails to the tripod plate. if yours is like mine, you'll find the front of the rails rock up and down with the slightest touch - just too much weight cantilevered out there on a very small connecting point.

What I was noticing was the angle of the tripod plate seems to be less than 90 degrees... I should have taken the photos with the rails correctly horizontal so this could be better seen.

Thing is, I doubt JAG wants me posting a video of how weak this system is, as-is...

In any case, part of the reason of posting this here is for others to see and be able to make more well-informed decisions on purchases, so feel to talk about why you do/don't like it.

 

[Taky]

I have a similar experience with them. It's like they don't really care about customer service. Placed an order and takes a lot of guessing work not sure when it will be delivered. Another time I received an email from them a week after placing order. They said they are experiencing paypal issue they won't be able to ship out orders. I am surprised to find out some paypal issue will halt the entire company operation.

 

[designbydave]

I am surprised to find out some paypal issue will halt the entire company operation.

Yeah, it does/can/will

Paypal is great for starting out as its easy to setup and use, but JAG35 has grown to the point where it has become a burden. They are in the process of switching over to a proper merchant account which will probably be a messy / tricky transition but will be good in the long run.

 

[Taky]

It's just a matter if they are willing to do an extra step. It's not like they don't about my order or my payment. I received order confirmation and email from them to confirm. They can ship out the products but they choose not to.

I have another order with them that I placed a week ago. There is still no response even after 3 emails last week.

 

[designbydave]

It's just a matter if they are willing to do an extra step. It's not like they don't about my order or my payment. I received order confirmation and email from them to confirm. They can ship out the products but they choose not to.

Not true, since everything goes through Paypal. If, for what ever reason, Paypal decides to put a hold on their account (which they can do at any time for any arbitrary reason, read the TOS) they are totally locked out. Which is exactly what happened a couple weeks ago.

 

[jerryrain]

Some more photos and noticing some more minor issues...


In the image below, note the tripod plate angle vs. the rails angle. It's not an optical illusion from the POV of the photo, it's actually slightly angled instead of being perfectly horizontal.

In the photo below, note the angle of the rail vs. the angle of shoulder pad. I think this is due to slightly different fastener sizes, one being slightly offset from the other, but it's hard to say. Either way this doesn't seem to be a huge issue, it just means the shoulder pad has slight angle to it.

Some other shots of the assembled rig (sans 7D)

damn, american cine city quality

 

[Taky]

Not true, since everything goes through Paypal. If, for what ever reason, Paypal decides to put a hold on their account (which they can do at any time for any arbitrary reason, read the TOS) they are totally locked out. Which is exactly what happened a couple weeks ago.

I also run a online store and accept paypal payments. So I know how suckie Paypal is. The thing is, if Jag35 is willing to do an extra step. They have my money and they have my order info.

For whatever reason, I placed an order one week ago. After 2 emails and 1 contact us form submission, finally got an email back from them my order will be shipped soon. This is not an isolate incident. I ordered a few times from them already. Besides, I'm not the one who start this thread.

 

[Michael Carter]

Seems like they've got someone now handling emails - my parts situation has dragged on, but they've been responding within 24 hours.

I think they have the ability to manufacture quality gear; the big question now is, will they listen to the field experiences of their customers and improve their products?

I haven't found a DSLR rails solution that seems as good as theirs could be, for a reasonable price; my sense is they simply don't want to acknowledge a flaw in their design - but customers will have NO problem acknowledging failures.

I'll post a before/after look at what I end up with (I'm also going to cut a small chunk from the camera plate to allow the battery door to open - shouldn't have to disassemble your rig just to change a battery.)

 

[SimonB]

Seems like they've got someone now handling emails - my parts situation has dragged on, but they've been responding within 24 hours.

I think they have the ability to manufacture quality gear; the big question now is, will they listen to the field experiences of their customers and improve their products?

I haven't found a DSLR rails solution that seems as good as theirs could be, for a reasonable price; my sense is they simply don't want to acknowledge a flaw in their design - but customers will have NO problem acknowledging failures.

I'll post a before/after look at what I end up with (I'm also going to cut a small chunk from the camera plate to allow the battery door to open - shouldn't have to disassemble your rig just to change a battery.)

have you or are you able to take pictures of the problem you encountered?

 

[Michael Carter]

No, but here's the diagram I sent them, which is probably clearer than a photo (scroll down for text):

As you can see, it's really cantilevered out there. And I've tried it with just the camera - a 550d with no drive and an LCD hood (the Cavision which is very lightweight) - and it flexes badly.

It looks to me like a second tripod-to-rails clamp would stiffen things up, and still allow your FF to get in close to a stubby prime (I've got some Nikon wide primes that are about an inch or so long).

So far they've sent TWO rails-to-camera plate parts; man, I hope this is the right piece. (They did allow me to keep the parts they sent - you can never have enough rail clamps, right?) they do seem responsive, and curious about final verdict.

 

[MikeWilkinson]

No, but here's the diagram I sent them, which is probably clearer than a photo (scroll down for text):

As you can see, it's really cantilevered out there. And I've tried it with just the camera - a 550d with no drive and an LCD hood (the Cavision which is very lightweight) - and it flexes badly.

It looks to me like a second tripod-to-rails clamp would stiffen things up, and still allow your FF to get in close to a stubby prime (I've got some Nikon wide primes that are about an inch or so long).

So far they've sent TWO rails-to-camera plate parts; man, I hope this is the right piece. (They did allow me to keep the parts they sent - you can never have enough rail clamps, right?) they do seem responsive, and curious about final verdict.

I could see that happening with mine, as it's already a bit bent in, haven't tried to put the whole rig on sticks yet... let us know if this gets resolved!