Does Blackmagic respect their customers?

It's a shame that my first post in this forum should be a negative one, but unfortunately my camera didn't last long enough for me to become an active part of this community. You see, I recently purchased the pocket camera (which I have rented before and loved), and the micro HDMI port snapped off in less than a month of use. I didn't drop the camera or bang it into anything; the port just broke from having a cable plugged into it multiple times.

After going online to see what I could do about this situation I discovered it was a common problem with the camera and that some companies now sell accessories to prevent this kind of damage. I found several cases where people sent the camera back and Blackmagic repaired or replaced the unit. Apparently this isn't policy any more. Here is the email correspondence I had with Blackmagic support:

Enquiry: Hello, I have had my pocket camera for a little over a month, pairing it with an Atomos Ninja. I haven't been rough on the camera but still my Micro HDMI port has snapped off and fallen inside of the thing from day to day use. I hope you folks can service the camera and return it to me since investing in dozens of SD cards is not an option. Thanks for reading.

Hello Dustin,

If the Mini HDMI connector on the Pocket Cinema Camera is no longer there, as in snapped off then that is something we unfortunately do not warranty, Physical Damage.

Thanks Marce

That's disappointing to hear, Marce. A thousand dollars for a camera that
breaks from less than a month of basic use? That's entirely a problem with
the build quality of the camera. I haven't violated any imaginable terms of
use by using the camera as a camera.

Why was there no warning from Blackmagic that third party accessories were
needed to keep the camera from breaking simply by having a cable plugged
into it multiple times? If things like this don't fall under warranty, what
does???

I'm happy to pay for this to be serviced, but I wanted to avoid cracking
the thing open because it might violate Blackmagic's vague, inexplicable
warranty. If you won't repair my bricked camera, can you recommend someone
who will?

Hello Dustin,

We unfortunately do not warranty physical damage.

We don't have any official or unofficial repair service providers that we recommend.

Marce

Is this an acceptable policy for ANY company??? I was disappointed to find that my camera would not be repaired cost-free for something that is a structural flaw of the product itself, but to not offer repair for a service fee, and to not even recommend a reputable service that can help me is outrageous. I can't think of a single manufacturer that has so much disregard for the consumer.

I get it. I'm not a high-end client, and I purchased an entry-level camera that would be considered a throwaway for plenty of DP's. But for me this was an expensive investment, and I spent a total of about $2,000 on top of the camera price for pocket-specific batteries, media, lenses, and other accessories needed to make it useable. Buying another $1,000 camera because a 10 cent part snapped off the pcb board isn't a solution for me. I don't even have the option of using the camera with SD cards now because there is a metal part rolling around in the body that could cause a circuit to short.

So the question now is... Does Blackmagic respect or value their customers? Can a company that won't so much as recommend a paid solution to problems with their product be considered to have any form of customer service at all??? Do YOU feel comfortable purchasing Blackmagic products knowing that their policy for physical damage is to not provide even the most basic sliver of help or advice?

I'm incredibly disappointed with my experience. For your own sake as a customer, beware.

Screen Shot 2014-04-22 at 11.16.04 PM.png (102.43 KiB) Viewed 3269 times

To be honest I wouldn't think that it is a build quality issue with BMD. The miniHDMI Port is a 3rd party OEM component so in theory BMD has no real influence over its build quality. The choice they have is the choice of supplier if you e.G. take a look at professional Audio equipment you will find that a lot of it uses Neutrik Connectors, however those are a lot more expensive then other connectors. It is important to remember that the end price of a product will increase by several times the price-difference of different quality components, on a competitively priced product this can make a big difference.

However what I also think is that BMD made a Design mistake, Hdmi and miniHdmi in particular is not at all suited for a device that is intended for semiprofessional use. I have had to use miniHdmi for Product Photography a while back inside of a studio an I would have to go trough at least one cable a month. The correctors are extremely weak and not at all suited for a non-stationary device in a professional Environment.

In this regard I think that they should fix your camera for free, If they put such a port on a camera they should have known that it would be physically stressed and might brake as a result from normal use. The bad news is that unlike you find a way to permanently distress the connection physically is very likely to fail again.

As the product is a 'Pocket' camera, it is reasonably to expect a small sized connector due to the small size of the camera itself. The GoPro uses a similar connector, so does the new Sony equivalent of the GoPro, and you will find every camera that features a HDMI port will be the same. Even the new GH4 has a micro-HDMI port.

So if it is a design mistake, then it is a mistake almost all camera manufacturers are making.

Just because several manufacturers do it doesn't mean that it isn't a bad design or a mistake. Actually having failing parts can be beneficial for a manufacturer, just think of the intentionally failing iPod batteries Sony made for Apple a while ago. Panasonic seems to be very aware of the problem just look at how they have designed their GH4 video interface. (It Features more sturdy SDI and XLR Connectors instead of using cheap consumer solutions and it takes stress away from the port.) The GoPro is often used as Standalone also unlike BMD they don't offer a external recording solution for it. It is true that a lot of professional productions use GoPro Cameras but you will also have to see that 300$ more or less will unlikely make a difference on a Production budget. If a GoPro fails it gets replaced, why should anybody bother fixing it.

Even ignoring this it is a very unprofessional behavior from BMD not to offer any repair at all (not even a paid one). Unfortunately it is easy to understand why they don't want to do it. Given the way the camera is designed it would probably be cheaper to replace the whole faulty camera with a new one rather then to have somebody replace a faulty connector by hand.

I think it is also important to remember how fast the camera business of BMD has emerged, such a fast growth comes at a cost. Obviously the service couldn't yet grow with it. Only time will tell if it was to fast for a company that was possibly not yet ready for the challenges it would bring.

Well to be honest I don't really get what is wrong with my reply, but well let's try it again.
All the Items you listed are not primarily designed for professional video applications. The GH4 for instance is a Stills Camera that also happens to output 4k Video. The GoPro is a Action Camera that happens to have a HDMI connector. This also accounts for other devices as e.G. the Sony A7 line they have Hdmi connectors but these are a way less crucial part of the intended application the Device was initially designed for.

Unlike the GH4 and the A7 Series the BMPCC happens only to shoot Video, its design is Centered around Video. Given how Small the Display is and that BMD also offers Devices such as the Hyperdeck Shuttle they should have known that the Connector would have to be robust. It is the main Video out of a Camera solely designed for Video applications, unlike the Cameras mentioned on top all Customers would use it for Video applications, while a lot of people owning one of the other Cameras might never use it to shoot Video. You also have to mention that all Cameras you listed were not intended for Professional Video applications. For instance some Sony Professional Devices do feature a HDMI port but it is not their primarily connector and all of them are Full sized, the same accounts for Panasonic.

Lets get back to the topic of the GH4. Panasonic was off course aware that people like to shoot video on their devices but they were also aware of the fact that this only applies to a part of their customers. For that reason they added professional Connections and Features but the deal you are basically making with them is to buy a second device to have the Camera fully enabled for Video applications. You sure can use the HDMI connector without the Interface but then you would have to argue that they offered you a dedicated solution for Video. The same does not account for the BMPCC, BMD does not offer any dedicated solution for people who want to Record the Video Out to an external system. I'm not sure for Panasonic but I know this from Sony that at least if something brakes they would offer you a paid repair, it is hard to understand why BMD is not doing this. The very least they could do is to offer you a serious discount on a replacement unit. After all consumer satisfaction does matter with time passing by they will see more competition and if people buy their devices only because of the price it is easy to imagine how fast they might switch brands once a competitive offering is available.

I think it might be best If we both end this discussion, I have already stated how I perceive the GH4 and I don't believe that it would add anything new to do it again. It is very well possible that I have a very particular (maybe also for some narrow minded) way of looking at this due to my close relation with Industrial design and I am fully aware that it isn't necessarily the same as yours. I respect your opinion of this topic but this doesn't mean that I have to share it, neither does it mean that you have to share mine.

Thanks for the discussion to you as well. Let's hope the the original poster will find a solution for his problem .