Biggest waste of film gear money?
Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 4:23 pm
OK, I like to have good things. I paid extra for my TVs because they have like quantum dots or whatever so they must be noticeably better (right??) I didn't pay 10 times as much though because that would be silly. Why is film gear so much different? A few examples:
Tiffen is selling a Glidecam arm. Just the arm. No vest. No Glidecam. The arm. Two springs and some fulcrum points. They are advertising it for $14,225.00 (aka an ursa 12k fully rigged with a lens.) I bought one with a vest for about $150. Two springs and some fulcrum points. Paid 95 times less.
B&H has a Matthews sand bag for $34. For a bag. Of sand. Its sole purpose is to be heavy. I bought 4 bags on Amazon for $22.99 then grabbed a bag of sand at Home Depot for a few bucks. They are heavy. I toss them around and they're still in perfect condition. Paid about 4 times less. I don't hang my head in shame because they don't have a Matthews logo on the side. They're bags of sand.
Of course lights and lenses and things can justify their cost differences. But are we being willingly ripped off with certain things?
Tiffen is selling a Glidecam arm. Just the arm. No vest. No Glidecam. The arm. Two springs and some fulcrum points. They are advertising it for $14,225.00 (aka an ursa 12k fully rigged with a lens.) I bought one with a vest for about $150. Two springs and some fulcrum points. Paid 95 times less.
B&H has a Matthews sand bag for $34. For a bag. Of sand. Its sole purpose is to be heavy. I bought 4 bags on Amazon for $22.99 then grabbed a bag of sand at Home Depot for a few bucks. They are heavy. I toss them around and they're still in perfect condition. Paid about 4 times less. I don't hang my head in shame because they don't have a Matthews logo on the side. They're bags of sand.
Of course lights and lenses and things can justify their cost differences. But are we being willingly ripped off with certain things?