I recently received the new Lift-n-Lock thumbscrews from RedrockMicro as well as some of their newer Microhandles, and for something so small the difference is profound.
I make no secret of the fact that I found the previous thumbscrews to be a frustrating experience. Having to always carry a hex key with me (and thus constantly losing it or even several in the course of often chaotic professional circumstances - assistants love to keep things) was becoming a real pain. Tightening things down like all heck and finding the two thumbscrew elements constantly seperating from each other because they in fact tighten in opposition to each other, I often had slippage on some of my components like the Redrock Microhandles and other key pressure points. Then occasionally too a thumbscrew would pop in the course of tightening because there were not enough threads engaged and the fear that would form in the eyes of my AC's was a beautful thing to behold. It always gave me the opportunity to treat them charitably and reassure them that nothing was broken. I found too, that often since the knobs were coming up against each other when combining pieces, I needed to calculate the optimal way to tighten them down before they blocked each other's paths. This resulted in a special kind of dance when pre-configuring rigs which was a bit like trying to predict an uncertain future on the deck of a warship actively engaged in battle. "God no, not a new setup in the middle of shooting!"
Turns out I was doing things a bit wrong.
Speaking with Brian Valente of RedrockMicro recently about all of this I learned a lot.
First off Brian is a great guy. Courageously ahead of the game by at least a full year regarding the DSLR revolution, he and RedrockMicro remind me of something I have long felt - that good entrepreneurs are a lot like artists, they need to be able to take risks, think creatively and have a strong vision in order to succeed. Additionally, I have often seen Brian do superbly in one place where artist's don't often fare quite as well. In the face of withering criticism. On a couple of forums recently I have seen some incredibly rude behavior towards him (especially about the recent price increases), and he always responds gracefully, with an eye to learning something but also treating others with respect - even when it is obvious to everyone, including myself that these unpleasant assailants have been eating a few too many Fruity Pebbles for far too long. Additionally, Brian was very careful to stress that RedrockMicro is a team effort and that while he is the most visible face of the company, there are a lot of other individuals behind who have an important hand in the decision making process.
Ok, so getting back to basics, here is what the old thumbscrews look like:
Thumbscrews 1.jpg (93.01 KiB) Viewed 168 times
As you can see the blue metal piece operates independently of the actual hex screw. Why? Very simply put Redrock wanted to allow you to be able to choose the color you wanted for the detailing. I believe at the onset the choices were blue, red and black.
Thumbscrew 3.jpg (111.71 KiB) Viewed 166 times
This meant of course that the actual thumb pieces could be pimped out with the rest of your rig, which is no small thing when you consider that some rigs may have upwards of 15-20 of them. Lest you think this a terribly west coast Hot Rod phenomenon (I believe there is even a camoflage -" special ops" look available now) the truth is likely that Redrock's brand identity is definitely connected to that blue black color scheme, making it instantly identifiably to rig geeks everywhere. However some folks might have a preference for instance for a more sober all black rig. Having come of age in the 80's I certainly appreciate that. So part of the reasoning for these cosmetic alternatives may also have been to be able to pimp" down" rather than "up" your rig. This is indeed In contrast with a brand like Zacuto, which always let's you know it is coming because it is screaming red and black "Z" thingy's everywhere. Good brand identity for them, not so great in situations where discretion is needed for you.
The problem was that screwing the thumbpiece up the post in order to align it, is going in exactly the opposite direction as when you tighten down the whole piece, so frequently the two would become seperated like this:
Thumbscrew 2.jpg (119.62 KiB) Viewed 166 times
Brian provided some answers which also give us some insight into the problems.
He said actually the design of the thumbscrews does not differ that much from other manufacturer's, except those products are fused. His goal was actually to give greater flexibility and choice as with the handgrips, but the reality they learned is that the number one issue people had was that the thumbscrews indeed became unthreaded. On most pieces like their micromounts, it never has been an issue, but on some of the larger more visible pieces it has been a concern. He also said that their is a simple solution, if you don't mind losing the flexibility of the two seperate pieces and that is:
Thumbscrew 4 (loctite).jpg (102.4 KiB) Viewed 166 times
You simply put a drop near the head of the screw and tighten down. It will become fused, however you will lose the flexibility of two pieces in certain situations.
The other hidden advantage of having two seperate pieces may have been (at least in theory) that in a tight space on the rig with two thumbscrews close to each other, loosening the thumbpiece and then tightening the center bolt down with an Allen wrench as an alternative was sometimes the only other way to turn the knob. This occasionally led of course to overtightening and a lot of effort as to calculating the right amount of extra play to give things. Hmmm if I go here, and do this one and then that one, in order to tighten perfectly within the limited radius left on two adjoining pieces...hmm maybe I'll go have a sandwich instead. Not only could this become a rather tedious and time consuming exercise, but also a potential source of hairloss, especially with a number of rigs constantly circulating on a hot set.
Here is an example of an abuttment like the ones I am speaking about:
Thumbscrew 5.jpg (135.95 KiB) Viewed 166 times
The obvious question is one of hindsight. (Hindsight being 100% perfect) Why not offset the screws in potential abutting areas so that they don't conflict? (I am not sure that structurally this might have been optimal for applying equal pressure in the right places, but one could imagine it as a solution).
The first thing Brian said is that at the time no one at Redrock actually considered how many potential variations people were going to come up with to put these these rigs together and that it has become even clearer over time that the real philosophy was still to give people a set of pieces with multiple uses and possibilities. It has also become apparent that there is a movement towards smaller, lighter rigs (many female users actually prefer these rigs). This is why the Nano rigs were created and have become so important, not only in terms of ease of use and simplicity, but also price point. Which has created a different set of technical needs and requirements. Further, this kind of evolution is not something they would have predicted and one of the hidden consequences is that there is even less room for space between the knobs than on the larger more "cinema" style rigs. So practically speaking there is often not even enough real estate to create an offset thumbscrew system. So much for my feeble attempts at being a master designer.
Which is where the Lock-n-Lift thumbscrews come in. Rather than redesigning old pieces and thus creating potential conflicts where people would have a REAL problems with compatibility, this new thumbscrew provides a very elegant solution which even works with old pieces going forward.
It is apparently something that no one else offers and much expensive to produce than people might believe, (which was the primary source of price increases earlier this year on many products). As a stand alone product according to Redrock, it will still be cheaper than inferior replacement knobs being offered elsewhere on some other manufacturer's websites. They has so much confidence in this little piece that I believe it may even be patented. These new knobs have been shipping since earlier this year and anyone who orders any of their pieces now will get them automatically. For those who already own Redrock pieces, they can upgrade just the pieces they want on an item per item basis. This means that practically speaking in the field, the speed with which a new rig can be put together more than doubles (in my experience).
So for a very small product it plays a very big role in the evolution of their products going forward and ease of use for the enduser.
Thumbscrew 9 (Lift-n-Lock).jpg (101.74 KiB) Viewed 167 times
In the case of abutting screws like the ones I showed previously not only is it convenient to lift these new knobs up and over the other screw in order to keep tightening, but I have found that virtually no pressure is needed to tighten anything down now. No strain or over-tightening required at all. A godsend!
So my recommendation would be that on most pieces which are stand-alone like the thumbscrews on the Redrock shoulder mount....
Thumbscrew 6 (shoulder mount).jpg (105.65 KiB) Viewed 167 times
.....you can go with the loctite solution and on the pieces like the support arms which are in my illustration above (Thumbscrew 5.jpg) or pieces which are often grouped closely together and difficult to access (for instance on the underside of a rig near the front), the Lift-n-Lock knobs are really a good alternative. That is of course if you have not already purchased the newer versions of these items which already have these later knobs integrated.
Speaking further with Brian we talked about how the solutions needed for RedrockMicro, have to hit a certain sweetspot. There are easy solutions to all the technical problems out there he said, but they are meaningless if a DSLR customer cannot afford them. Further he said, "it's easy to build what one person wants, it's much more difficult to make something which works for many other people."
Ahh, this is part of the artistry of being an entrepeneurial startup company (though they have been around for a while now) and it's tricky. You sure have to be clever in my opinion to be creative in this arena, and not lose your shirt either.
This used to be an industry where a mattebox might cost $5000 - $10000 and no one would bat an eyelash, because the production budget might be in the millions. We all love that high end Arri gear made for Hollywood, but when you need to buy a third stage for your mattebox and the only way to do it, is to remove your 2 stage piece and spend another $2000 for a three stage one, we understand and appreciate why Redrock decided to create a mattebox which you can be build stage by stage.
I have noted that there are now many manufacturer's out there who have begun to provide cheap alternatives often based around designs which Redrock created (imitation is the greatest form of flattery), but often the tolerances of these products is nowhere up to pro standards. They are often built for one purpose and one purpose only, but could not function in a system like Redrock's where the enduser is putting them through permutations they were never designed for. The stresses are often too great and they will break easily along these alternative fault lines. So the challenge is to create something that is really robust but not at a price point like the products which have been typically coming out of Germany and Austria for years in the Cinema industry.
How then to make something cost effective then, but really, really strong with higher tolerances?
An example within Redrock of upgrading towards these higher tolerances are their new handgrips, the Redrock Microhandles.
Here are the old ones, and here are the new ones:
Thumbscrew 7 (Microhandle comparison).jpg (136.35 KiB) Viewed 167 times
So what is different between these two? Why would the one with larger surface area around the rod be less efficient than the other? The reason is tolerances.
Tolerances are a result of processes. Many products, like carbon fiber are made by injection molding, just like plastics. A mold is made and a liquid is poured in which will solidify. This is a process which can have fairly decent tolerances and is in actuality quite inexpensive from a production point of view. Many, many of the new rig companies out there are working this way. However, when you want to have very precise measurements to within .0001 of an inch, and for it to be supremely strong, machined metal is the only way to go, and guess what? It costs a lot more.
So what you are paying for in a higher performing piece like the metal handgrip on the right is a much more expensive process, made to exact industry standards. The difficulty is that what you are paying more for sometimes is actually not visible to the eye. If you have ever wondered why the rods from one manufacturer do not fit in the rod grips of another, it is because someone's work is not within industry tolerances. A 15mm rod is 15mm right? Not always and not exactly!
In any case their new grips just simply hold a lot better.
Thumbscrew 8 (Microhandles+black detail).jpg (112.74 KiB) Viewed 167 times
The move towards even tighter tolerances is the way Redrock appear to be going. I applaud them for that. That is an investment for the future. Not only for the manufacturer, but also for the buyer.
Not only does this mean that the quality is going up, but it also means that you have a product which is completely interchangeable with other manufacturers who care about meeting higher level industry standards. Inter-operability not only within RedrockMicro's line of products, but also outside of it. Which is more than I can say for a few other manufacturer's out there recently.
Lastly, at one point Brian said he didn't like to disparage other competitor's, because he felt that the client should be free to arrive at his own opinions and make his own choices. That is practically my definition of a class act.
As the fictional Ann Lander's once said (yes, even she was sadly a mere fabrication of clever entrepeneurs and the yellow press):
Thanks Brian.
I make no secret of the fact that I found the previous thumbscrews to be a frustrating experience. Having to always carry a hex key with me (and thus constantly losing it or even several in the course of often chaotic professional circumstances - assistants love to keep things) was becoming a real pain. Tightening things down like all heck and finding the two thumbscrew elements constantly seperating from each other because they in fact tighten in opposition to each other, I often had slippage on some of my components like the Redrock Microhandles and other key pressure points. Then occasionally too a thumbscrew would pop in the course of tightening because there were not enough threads engaged and the fear that would form in the eyes of my AC's was a beautful thing to behold. It always gave me the opportunity to treat them charitably and reassure them that nothing was broken. I found too, that often since the knobs were coming up against each other when combining pieces, I needed to calculate the optimal way to tighten them down before they blocked each other's paths. This resulted in a special kind of dance when pre-configuring rigs which was a bit like trying to predict an uncertain future on the deck of a warship actively engaged in battle. "God no, not a new setup in the middle of shooting!"
Turns out I was doing things a bit wrong.
Speaking with Brian Valente of RedrockMicro recently about all of this I learned a lot.
First off Brian is a great guy. Courageously ahead of the game by at least a full year regarding the DSLR revolution, he and RedrockMicro remind me of something I have long felt - that good entrepreneurs are a lot like artists, they need to be able to take risks, think creatively and have a strong vision in order to succeed. Additionally, I have often seen Brian do superbly in one place where artist's don't often fare quite as well. In the face of withering criticism. On a couple of forums recently I have seen some incredibly rude behavior towards him (especially about the recent price increases), and he always responds gracefully, with an eye to learning something but also treating others with respect - even when it is obvious to everyone, including myself that these unpleasant assailants have been eating a few too many Fruity Pebbles for far too long. Additionally, Brian was very careful to stress that RedrockMicro is a team effort and that while he is the most visible face of the company, there are a lot of other individuals behind who have an important hand in the decision making process.
Ok, so getting back to basics, here is what the old thumbscrews look like:
As you can see the blue metal piece operates independently of the actual hex screw. Why? Very simply put Redrock wanted to allow you to be able to choose the color you wanted for the detailing. I believe at the onset the choices were blue, red and black.
This meant of course that the actual thumb pieces could be pimped out with the rest of your rig, which is no small thing when you consider that some rigs may have upwards of 15-20 of them. Lest you think this a terribly west coast Hot Rod phenomenon (I believe there is even a camoflage -" special ops" look available now) the truth is likely that Redrock's brand identity is definitely connected to that blue black color scheme, making it instantly identifiably to rig geeks everywhere. However some folks might have a preference for instance for a more sober all black rig. Having come of age in the 80's I certainly appreciate that. So part of the reasoning for these cosmetic alternatives may also have been to be able to pimp" down" rather than "up" your rig. This is indeed In contrast with a brand like Zacuto, which always let's you know it is coming because it is screaming red and black "Z" thingy's everywhere. Good brand identity for them, not so great in situations where discretion is needed for you.
The problem was that screwing the thumbpiece up the post in order to align it, is going in exactly the opposite direction as when you tighten down the whole piece, so frequently the two would become seperated like this:
Brian provided some answers which also give us some insight into the problems.
He said actually the design of the thumbscrews does not differ that much from other manufacturer's, except those products are fused. His goal was actually to give greater flexibility and choice as with the handgrips, but the reality they learned is that the number one issue people had was that the thumbscrews indeed became unthreaded. On most pieces like their micromounts, it never has been an issue, but on some of the larger more visible pieces it has been a concern. He also said that their is a simple solution, if you don't mind losing the flexibility of the two seperate pieces and that is:
You simply put a drop near the head of the screw and tighten down. It will become fused, however you will lose the flexibility of two pieces in certain situations.
The other hidden advantage of having two seperate pieces may have been (at least in theory) that in a tight space on the rig with two thumbscrews close to each other, loosening the thumbpiece and then tightening the center bolt down with an Allen wrench as an alternative was sometimes the only other way to turn the knob. This occasionally led of course to overtightening and a lot of effort as to calculating the right amount of extra play to give things. Hmmm if I go here, and do this one and then that one, in order to tighten perfectly within the limited radius left on two adjoining pieces...hmm maybe I'll go have a sandwich instead. Not only could this become a rather tedious and time consuming exercise, but also a potential source of hairloss, especially with a number of rigs constantly circulating on a hot set.
Here is an example of an abuttment like the ones I am speaking about:
The obvious question is one of hindsight. (Hindsight being 100% perfect) Why not offset the screws in potential abutting areas so that they don't conflict? (I am not sure that structurally this might have been optimal for applying equal pressure in the right places, but one could imagine it as a solution).
The first thing Brian said is that at the time no one at Redrock actually considered how many potential variations people were going to come up with to put these these rigs together and that it has become even clearer over time that the real philosophy was still to give people a set of pieces with multiple uses and possibilities. It has also become apparent that there is a movement towards smaller, lighter rigs (many female users actually prefer these rigs). This is why the Nano rigs were created and have become so important, not only in terms of ease of use and simplicity, but also price point. Which has created a different set of technical needs and requirements. Further, this kind of evolution is not something they would have predicted and one of the hidden consequences is that there is even less room for space between the knobs than on the larger more "cinema" style rigs. So practically speaking there is often not even enough real estate to create an offset thumbscrew system. So much for my feeble attempts at being a master designer.
Which is where the Lock-n-Lift thumbscrews come in. Rather than redesigning old pieces and thus creating potential conflicts where people would have a REAL problems with compatibility, this new thumbscrew provides a very elegant solution which even works with old pieces going forward.
It is apparently something that no one else offers and much expensive to produce than people might believe, (which was the primary source of price increases earlier this year on many products). As a stand alone product according to Redrock, it will still be cheaper than inferior replacement knobs being offered elsewhere on some other manufacturer's websites. They has so much confidence in this little piece that I believe it may even be patented. These new knobs have been shipping since earlier this year and anyone who orders any of their pieces now will get them automatically. For those who already own Redrock pieces, they can upgrade just the pieces they want on an item per item basis. This means that practically speaking in the field, the speed with which a new rig can be put together more than doubles (in my experience).
So for a very small product it plays a very big role in the evolution of their products going forward and ease of use for the enduser.
In the case of abutting screws like the ones I showed previously not only is it convenient to lift these new knobs up and over the other screw in order to keep tightening, but I have found that virtually no pressure is needed to tighten anything down now. No strain or over-tightening required at all. A godsend!
So my recommendation would be that on most pieces which are stand-alone like the thumbscrews on the Redrock shoulder mount....
.....you can go with the loctite solution and on the pieces like the support arms which are in my illustration above (Thumbscrew 5.jpg) or pieces which are often grouped closely together and difficult to access (for instance on the underside of a rig near the front), the Lift-n-Lock knobs are really a good alternative. That is of course if you have not already purchased the newer versions of these items which already have these later knobs integrated.
Speaking further with Brian we talked about how the solutions needed for RedrockMicro, have to hit a certain sweetspot. There are easy solutions to all the technical problems out there he said, but they are meaningless if a DSLR customer cannot afford them. Further he said, "it's easy to build what one person wants, it's much more difficult to make something which works for many other people."
Ahh, this is part of the artistry of being an entrepeneurial startup company (though they have been around for a while now) and it's tricky. You sure have to be clever in my opinion to be creative in this arena, and not lose your shirt either.
This used to be an industry where a mattebox might cost $5000 - $10000 and no one would bat an eyelash, because the production budget might be in the millions. We all love that high end Arri gear made for Hollywood, but when you need to buy a third stage for your mattebox and the only way to do it, is to remove your 2 stage piece and spend another $2000 for a three stage one, we understand and appreciate why Redrock decided to create a mattebox which you can be build stage by stage.
I have noted that there are now many manufacturer's out there who have begun to provide cheap alternatives often based around designs which Redrock created (imitation is the greatest form of flattery), but often the tolerances of these products is nowhere up to pro standards. They are often built for one purpose and one purpose only, but could not function in a system like Redrock's where the enduser is putting them through permutations they were never designed for. The stresses are often too great and they will break easily along these alternative fault lines. So the challenge is to create something that is really robust but not at a price point like the products which have been typically coming out of Germany and Austria for years in the Cinema industry.
How then to make something cost effective then, but really, really strong with higher tolerances?
An example within Redrock of upgrading towards these higher tolerances are their new handgrips, the Redrock Microhandles.
Here are the old ones, and here are the new ones:
So what is different between these two? Why would the one with larger surface area around the rod be less efficient than the other? The reason is tolerances.
Tolerances are a result of processes. Many products, like carbon fiber are made by injection molding, just like plastics. A mold is made and a liquid is poured in which will solidify. This is a process which can have fairly decent tolerances and is in actuality quite inexpensive from a production point of view. Many, many of the new rig companies out there are working this way. However, when you want to have very precise measurements to within .0001 of an inch, and for it to be supremely strong, machined metal is the only way to go, and guess what? It costs a lot more.
So what you are paying for in a higher performing piece like the metal handgrip on the right is a much more expensive process, made to exact industry standards. The difficulty is that what you are paying more for sometimes is actually not visible to the eye. If you have ever wondered why the rods from one manufacturer do not fit in the rod grips of another, it is because someone's work is not within industry tolerances. A 15mm rod is 15mm right? Not always and not exactly!
In any case their new grips just simply hold a lot better.
The move towards even tighter tolerances is the way Redrock appear to be going. I applaud them for that. That is an investment for the future. Not only for the manufacturer, but also for the buyer.
Not only does this mean that the quality is going up, but it also means that you have a product which is completely interchangeable with other manufacturers who care about meeting higher level industry standards. Inter-operability not only within RedrockMicro's line of products, but also outside of it. Which is more than I can say for a few other manufacturer's out there recently.
Lastly, at one point Brian said he didn't like to disparage other competitor's, because he felt that the client should be free to arrive at his own opinions and make his own choices. That is practically my definition of a class act.
As the fictional Ann Lander's once said (yes, even she was sadly a mere fabrication of clever entrepeneurs and the yellow press):
"Class never tries to build itself up by tearing others down. Class is already up and need not strive to look better by making others look worse.
Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself."
Respect where respect is due.Class can "walk with kings and keep its virtue and talk with crowds and keep the common touch." Everyone is comfortable with the person who has class because he is comfortable with himself."
Thanks Brian.
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