Friday, January 20, 2012

Mailbox: Gini Cage

GINI CAGE WITH EXTRA RODS TO ACCOMDATE 550D WITH BATTERYGRIP
Got my Gini Cage in today after the postman attempted to deliver it yesterday but realized he needed to charge import duties and didn't have the paperwork with him. So today he came back and after I forked over 28 euro's he handed over the little box with Korean stamps. (Gini is a Korean supplier)
The Gini stuff doesn't disappoint: it looks and feels awesome, as always. Now I need to figure out how to configure this thing into a workable unit.
This cage is a bargain compared to the competition: $175 shipped vs $435 for the TrusMT cage, for instance... albeit that the TrusMT is much better thought-through product and includes a HDMI-clamp, for instance. I would really like the HDMI clamp but for the price difference I can live withouut it and the simpler design of the Gini cage.
I will write more about this cage once I have used it in a few different setups.

THE TOTAL PACKAGE

17 comments:

  1. Een mooie uitbreiding op je bestaande set. Ik moet maar niet te veel kijken. Ieder x bekruipt mij het gevoel van "dat wil ik ook hebben" :-)

    Maar vraag mij af of je het allemaal nodig hebt om te kunnen draaien. Ik zelf draai af en toe met de 550d en opnamen voor ieders plezier, geen opdrachten dus. Vindt het te veel gedoe om met n dslr te draaien. Alleen om het shotje met beperkte scherptediepte. Maar het is wel mooi natuurlijk. Ik begrijp dat n CAGE n kapstok is waaraan je van alles kunt ophangen.
    Misschien n x kijken naar n schouderstatief constructie. Echter bij velen (lees: alles) is de prijs buiten proporties en... je staat nog met het gehele gewicht in je handen. De balans ontbreekt. Mocht je hier n mooi tip hebben...

    Veel plezier met de cage.

    Mv, ton

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  2. Het blijft steeds een kwestie van testen en uitproberen, afhankelijk van de klus en jouw manier van draaien. Onhandig is het zeker, vandaar dat ik dit soort spullen koop.
    Het is natuurlijk niet alleen scherpte-diepte waar je mee speelt maar ook de sfeer die elke lens overbrengt. Het is nooit eenheidsworst. Dat is ook het spel en de lol: ik draai nu een documentaire over iemand wiens leven bepaald is in de jaren zestig/zeventig, met lenzen uit die periode en iets daarna- dat is toch mooi..?! (Ik heb bij dit project overigens wel de tijd om van lens te verwisselen; niet elke documentaire leent zich daarvoor)
    Je kunt het spul mooi uitbalanceren met contragewichten, accuhouders. De shoulderpad van mijn Gini rig vind ik niet fijn, daar zijn betere oplossingen voor.(ook van hemzelf, inmiddels)

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  3. Hi - do you know the exact size of the screw holes in the top & bottom plates?

    I know that the majority of them are not standard 1/4"- 20 pitch BSW - presumably they are metric, but do you know the exact size.

    I see photo's of Gini cages with accessories mounted - but I don't quite see how they're doing it if the holes are a non-standard size.

    Do you have to buy specially made Gini extension arms & brackets (etc) with one end a standard 1/4-20 thread and the other end (the end that screws into the cage) made to whatever size thread Gini is using?

    Many thanks for your help.

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    Replies
    1. Answering my own question here -;)

      I can see from a closer look at your photos that your plates have two sizes of holes - the standard 1/4-20, and the smaller 10-24.

      That's how Gini made the cage plates until very recently, so mounting accessories with a 1/4-20 thread was no problem.

      Now, however, Gini is producing the cheese plates with only the smaller 10-24 holes drilled.

      I asked him why, and his response was that he will soon be producing accessory adaptors to allow standard thread items to be attached to the cage.

      That's good for Gini's profits - but a needless expense for his customers!

      Delete
    2. Seems like an adverse marketing strategy...

      Thanks for posting your discoveries!

      Delete
    3. Hi, yes I was a bit disappointed - the cage is really nice quality, but the absence of standard 1/4-20 holes makes it fairly useless.

      I've asked Gini if he will send one 'old' plate - but no reply so far.

      Frankly, it seems a rip-off - produce an item with non-standard thtreads and force people to buy (probably expensive) adapters that will just add weight and make the thing more cumbersome.

      It must have been a very recent change because the ebay listing still shows the plate with both size holes - as I pointed out to Gini.

      Delete
    4. Did you actually buy one with the non-standard holes?
      I can't imagine him going this route because everyone's making stuff that you can build upon freely with other manufacturer's parts...

      He never replied to my email about a tracking #: communication is not one of his greatest assets...

      Delete
    5. Hi, yes - I bought a cage from him a few days ago.

      The ebay listing showed the usual mix of 1/4 & 1--24 holes but the delivered cage has ony 10-24 threads - 16 down each long side, and 10 in the centre. There is only one 1/4-20 hole in each plate (for the camera mounting screw)

      I actually feel a bit swindled. His email response to my query about mounting accessories was that he was shortly producing an adapter.

      As I said, it's a nice product at a good price - but without standard accessory threads it's a bit of a non-starter.

      Delete
    6. Sounds like a clear case of misleading advertising: if the picture of the cage didn't correspond to what you received, you should be able to reverse your purchase. Simply stated: you didn't get what you ordered.

      Delete
    7. Yes, I know, I could return it by raising an ebay dispute - but it's a lot of hassle to send it back to Korea and, besides, I do like it, and the problem could easily be solved if Gini just popped a top plate in the post.

      It would cost him next to nothing to sort this out.

      Perhaps he will (I'm still waiting for a reply ;)

      However, if he's going to make his stuff far more proprietry, then I can see him losing a lot of sales.

      Frankly, there's no excuse for not providing standard threads. He might have hit on the idea as a money spinner, but I'm fairly sure that it will turn around and bite him.

      Delete
    8. Just an update - I have opened an Ebay dispute in the hope of persuading him to send a replacement plate.

      If not, he can have it back.

      I'm not convinced by the general assumption that Gini cannot understand English. His listing descriptions are well written - and he definitely understand Western currencies -;)

      Anyway, whatever Gini's linguistic abilities, selling a cage with non-standard screw threads was a sly move on his part.

      He now has a choice - replacement plate, or refund.

      Delete
    9. Good luck. I'm curious to hear how this works out- keep us posted!

      Delete
    10. I can email you a pic, to show what I'm moaning about, if you want.

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    11. Sure! Send it to jeroen@imaginevideo.nl Thanks.

      Delete
  4. Update:

    Gini didn't reply, even after I began an Ebay 'not as described' claim.

    All I wanted was the top plate with the correct holes, so I escalated it to a full blown dispute in the hope that Ebay would persuade him to settle the matter by posting a plate.

    A few hours after opening the dispute (and long before ebay had time to consider the matter) a full refund appeared in my Paypal account!

    I had never once mentioned a refund (I just wanted the plate) and Ebay had nothing to do with it at that early stage in the dispute - so why Gini chose to refund $180 instead of popping a plate in the post is a complete mystery.

    There is obviously a facet of Korean economics that I don't understand....

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  5. The prospect of having to solve a dispute in English probably freaked him out so much, he'd rather fork over a wad of cash...

    Does he buy himself out of a bad rating this way?

    Crazy... you got your money back but still don't have a proper plate...

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  6. I hope he wasn't freaked out by an Ebay dispute - my intention was never to get my money back, just a top plate as advertised.

    Not that I'm complaining.

    According to posts on Cheesycam, others have had the same problem (but not the same generous response)

    One posts says that Gini confirmed that he would no longer be supplying plates with the standard 1/4 holes - the actual threads he's using are, apparently 5M .8 pitch (rather than the 10-24 threads I assumed them to be.

    Whatever the size, they ain't standard, and won't accept standard 1/4 fittings. It seems that he's pushing ahead with his 'adaptor' nonsense regardless of adverse publicity.

    Seems crazy to me - why not give people what they actually want?

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