Finner Reviews the Switronix GP-TSRED2. A V-mount, dual battery, hotswap adapter plate for the RED One. Plus the Element Technica Aluminum Battery Interface plate.
I love all the stuff Stephen and Hector design and build. Element Technica accessories are ARRI quality at a fraction of the price. The best way to look at ET products is to equate them to the foundation of a home. ET gear becomes the foundation or platform of the camera that you will build everything else needed on. Often a camera is placed in precarious set ups to get the shot. From extreme heights to low mode on stabilizers or even crazy car mounts, we all push the limits. LetÂ’s face it, we all spend a lot of $ on our cameras and accessories so a person would have to be off their rocker not to make sure that their investment is well protected. Element Technica gear provides me with the peace of mind that my camera is safe even in the wildest of set ups. the Top
This thing rocks! All adjustments are tool-less and it mounts solidly and simply to the camera. It has a rugged clutch system that lets users tilt their viewfinder to any angle, can be configured into an almost unimaginable contortion of positions and telescopes out to allow comfortable EVF use for both right or left eye operators. Hands down this is the best EVF mounting system on the market, not to mention that it also looks really damn cool.
ET’s Break-out is compact, well built, rugged and fits so flawlessly on the red that it is next to impossible to tell that it is a break-out product. BNC video connectors are industry standard for a reason. They are the toughest, longest lasting connectors and cables on the market and above any other camera product, BNC cables/connectors are by far the most abused camera item on set. HDMI cables and connectors will not stand up over time so for me a good BNC break-out is a must. ET uses very high quality connectors that will give users years of use. A big advantage of this system is if, unfortunately, a cable is yanked so hard that the BNC connector is damaged or a connector wears out you have not actually damaged the camera. All you need to do is replace the break out box and you are back in business.
This plate comes in 19mm ARRI and 15mm ARRI offset sizes. It is a solidly designed bridge plate that has nicely sized user knobs on it. It works like an ARRI bridge plate and has been machined to precision tolerances that fit perfectly with ARRI dovetails or Element Technica dovetails. The working parts of this plate are stainless steel and machined beautifully.There is a useful rosette on the dummy side of the plate that will work with current rosette cine gear.
I recently took apart as much of this plate as I could and the inner workings are robust and should last and work flawlessly for many years of tough use.
The working parts are simple to get at and in the worst case scenario of this plate having issues in the field, a crack AC would be able to make repairs on the truck quite easily. I have cold tested it at -32C and the plate worked as good at that temperature as it does at room temp with no stickiness or catching with any of the parts. In my opinion the red/Element Technica bridge plate is as good as or better then any ARRI bridge plate I have used with the added bonus of being quite a bit cheaper then an ARRI plate. Element Technica did a lot of precision CAD work to build the RED/ARRI bridge plate so that it will centre the lens and allow the red camera to seamlessly fit within an ARRI system. Take note, an ARRI bridge plate does not properly adjust the red camera to work with ARRI accessories. This plate is a must for the camera and will keep owners happy for many years.
Wow… are these rods light. I picked up an 18" set for my cooke zoom and they are easily 3 times lighter then my steel rods. For those that are thinking of Carbon Fibre rods I personally think you are crazy. These aluminum rods are right around the same weight and are a tough, safe, light and very well priced option.
ET makes a 2575/2060 and 1030 dovetail plate models. The ET dovetail works like a standard ARRI dovetail plate with one huge advantage, instead of running straight down at the bottom it flares out to mesh perfectly with an OConnor 2575 or 2060 head or a 1030 head if you purchase that dovetail model. The advantage of this is you can eliminate the need for the OConnor euro quick release sliding plate saving yourself not only a decent amount of cash but it lowers the camera by about an inch, which is sometimes needed on a low-hat (Without the euro plate you will lose the touch and go quick plate option which is very nice but if money is tight you can work around it). The dovetail is very well built, again par or better than the ARRI version. All the screw in taps and the release button are stainless steel. The Element Technica dovetail plate is extremely well built and if it were the same price or more than an ARRI dovetail the ET dovetail would still be a better value. Lucky for us the ET dovetail is cheaper then the ARRI version. Another must for every red system as far as I am concerned.
These products come in a cheaper combined “Topside Combo” which is what I am getting. The topside cheese plate allows easy low mode set up on stabilizers and many other low mode setups you can think of. It is very light and gives many position options with its multiple tapped holes. The 15mm top mount is also extremely light and allows us to incorporate our 15mm rods into the mix on the top of the camera giving us the ability to add all our favorite 15mm accessories.
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