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- Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:47 pm
- Location: Argentina
Darkfable wrote:DanAbrams wrote:Darkfable, most of us who have a BMCC or BMPCC don't seem to have had the reliability issues you've had. I really for bad for you. But for the rest of us, could you explain the situation. I'd love to hear your story of trying to get it repaired, because if it's truly bad, then I'll have to cease using the BMPCC on certain projects until I have a backup. Please, let us know.
I run my own production company with between 3-5 filming + vfx projects a month.
I pre ordered the BMCC back in Feb, I was told I was 4th in line and it would be delivered within 2-3 weeks
3 weeks later I phoned and they said I was 12th in line and had another 5 -10 weeks wait. Not long after this NAB came so I canceled my BMCC and pre ordered the pocket as it was promised to be on time and not have the same delays as before. Then July came and went and only the elect were receiving the cameras, I thought oh here we go again! When I did start to see the reviews I was seeing that the pocket was plagued with troubles. At this point BMD dropped the price of the BMCC. So I decided to go back to to change back to the BMCC. I drove to pick it up and it worked fine, I did my first shoot on it and it worked fine. Just before my second booking with this camera I tried turning it on but it wouldn't turn on, so I thought the battery had run out, left it on to charge over night. The next day nothing! The battery was dead! I needed to get it fixed for my shoot, people are paying me for filming with this camera. I phoned blackmagic and they said to send it to them and it would be repaired in a week or 2.
I told them I can't wait that long as I have 2 shoots lined up.
I asked if I took it back to the shop whether I could pick a new one up? I was told that it wasn't recommended. I ended up ringing the shop anyway who told me they would have to send it to blackmagic to confirm it was broken anyway, so would take even longer!
So now I'm in the position of having to either cancel clients or tell them that their work won't be at the same quality that I had previously stated. Making my business look unprofessional. When the camera comes back from repair, should I have to worry whether more problems occur, that seem to be common place by the looks of the forum, before every shoot?
Some people seem to think it strange wanting a reliable camera for £1500! This is odd to me. My £600 canon DSLR has never skipped a beat, by the standards on here I shouldn't expect anything less than it to fall to bits for that price!
I have to say none of that, in my opinion, makes me feel your vitriolic response is justified.
I've had $1500 canon dslrs crap out and need to be repaired. Ditto $1000 panasonics and $1200 olympus's. I've also had $4000 panasonics crap out on me and need to be sent in for repair. I've even been on set when multi-hundred thousand dollar Sony hdcam cameras broke (it was a rental). It's unfortunate, but it happens.
Pro-level repair programs can usually return the camera within a week, but they cost plenty and you have to pay for fedex. Sometimes they'll give you a loaner. Not every company has a pro-level repair program. It would be great if BMD added one.
For a regular, in-warranty repair, 1-2 weeks is pretty good. It's still good to have a backup for this purpose. The delays in the supply chain make it hard to obtain a backup, so I bring my gh2 to set. In a few months I expect I'll buy another bmpcc and bmpc4k when they're more widely available.
I think all of us understand your frustrations, but you're tone is over the top. They are not liars, they are not criminals, they are a company unused to making cameras that's delivering a product with some incredible benefits and an amazing price...with some frustrating downsides. You can see from reading my previous posts that I have my own frustrations over these cameras and I'm not afraid to share them: the supply chain could be improved, features that should be there are missing, etc. But I recognize that the price and image quality are well worth the compromises and I hope that by adding my feedback on forums such as this in a civil tone that blackmagic will listen and respond or use my feedback to improve the product. In my experience they have listened. A little but more transparency would be nice of course, but that's always the case.
I've personally had far more frustrating experiences with Canon, including a brand new canon dslr that cost more than my bmpcc which needed to be sent back right out of the box. Six weeks and $25 in shipping fees later, it was fixed, only to break again shortly after. These things happen. What matters is how the company responds. And getting you repaired camera in 2 weeks is a bit long but certainly not egregious in the meantime. If you have a shoot for which you absolutely NEED a bmcc might I suggest renting one? It's just two shoots and I suspect if you explain the situation calmly to BMD they'll do what they can to keep you happy (just as you do to keep your clients happy).
If they don't, then sell the camera and buy a 5DIII or something. The compromises involved in dealing with BMD may not be acceptable for you. That's fine. But dealing with any product is going to have compromises and that doesn't make BMD or Red or Canon or anyone liars and criminals. Every company mentioned makes some great products, each of which have their own set of downsides.
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