cine city proaim pan tilt head??

[Bill Hamell]

I shot with it most of today however the footage is not mine and is now in the editors hands. :(

[D.J. Ammons]

I purchased the Jr. version of the Proaim pan tilt head for use with my Sony V1U. I have had it for a few weeks now but have only had time to play with it a few minutes a couple of times.

I can tell you that it mounted perfectly on my Kessler crane and seems to have no problem handling my Sony V1U with a wireless microphone receiver mounted on it and with LANC, headphone, and HDMI cables running out of the camera down the crane.

This weekend, weather permitting, will be the first chance I get to really play with it some. If things go well I will post some footage on VIMEO with a link on here to it.

I do think I am going to have to order the weight extension / rear control center from Kessler so I can mount the joystick control and LANC camera controls in a logical manner.

Right now I think the hard part is where I am having to mount the joystick and LANC control and trying to control both of those while also controlling the movement of the crane itself. Talk about multitasking!

[Lorne Golman]

Hi, I am new to this forum.

I own the Cine City 14ft jib arm and I am looking at purchasing the Pan Tilt Jr. Head. My one concern with it is the unit is powered off of a 3 pin XLR. Has anyone modded theirs to 4 pin XLR (12V DC) so that they could power their jib off of Anton Bauer batteries or something other than AC.

Thanks

[Bill Hamell]

Lorne,

Cine City provides you with a pigtail that you can adapt to your 12 volt power source.

Bill

[Neil Goodwill]

I am looking into buying either the Senior or Gold versions. I'm annoyed that I cannot buy one in the UK other than going through CameraKings.co.uk who seem to just forward the order to CineCity. They claim to pay the import duty, but I suspect that CC enter a low value on the customs declaration. IndiKit used to import the items then sell them on, but they have disappeared. Does anyone know what has happened to them?
Other annoyances are:-
1. No 3/8" wide camera/QR plate fixing hole, just 1/4".
2. The large gearwheels are made of aluminium on the Junior and Senior models, and brass on the Gold. Instead of stainless steel (please see Andy Lockwood's posts).
I would love to hear from others as regards to UK availabilty of Proaim or any other type of PT head.

[Dave Allen]

I bought one of their matte boxes. They advertised it for the Sony FX1. It didn't fit unless you are ok with the stages tearing up your camera. The rails were not straight, so the blocks didn't want to slide. They heavily shot peen the rails to hide their crappy machining and abusive handling.

The swing away system was looser than a West Hollywood type on intravenous laxatives. It had more slop than a pig pen. The documentation was just about non-existent.

And when it all didn't work or fit, they said they would refund all the money plus shipping, but first to send photos...so I had to get it brought back from another country, pics sent, they said they would send half upon receipt of a shipping receipt, and balance upon its arrival. They never sent the first half, kept moaning about how they didn't have any $ in their paypal account, then when they got the unit in, they said it had taken too long, they would not be sending the balance.

They are first class liars and scammers, and their products are total junk. You've been warned.

Try the Vinten Blu as recommended here, or the Manfrotto 504HD and the likes.

[Leon Kolenda]

Does anyone know if this is the same company and product, sure is tempting, the joystick control looks pretty robust. Great price. Pan Tilt Power Remote Head Fr Steady Film Movie Camera Photographer Tripod Mount | eBay

[Dave Allen]

Yes, the price is excellent, if you like buying junk from an unaccountable, disreputable company.

[Karl Walter Keirstead]

I bought a Gliders Grey shoulder mount from TheCineCity. The product was of good quality, the service was excellent and the shipment arrived two days after I placed my order.

[Dave Allen]

Well, the documentation that came with my ProAim junk matte box was a photocopy joke stapled in the corner. It was useless.

"Customer service" with ProAim/Cine City-(insert each new shell company name here) consists of emailing India. When I did that, they expressed shock their product advertised to work with my specific camera didn't work. The photos showed they must have never bothered to actually check it on the advertised camera before they engaged in either gross incompetence or fraud and misrepresentation.

The matte box rails were heavily shot peened. manufacturers do this for the same reason rough stucco in places on the exteriors of houses- it hides surface imperfections. I noted dings all over the various aluminum components. My Chrosziel rails are a work of art, smooth and straight.

The rails must be perfectly straight or sliding products on angles rails causes them to bind up, just like my ProAim junk did.

I talked to a Chrosziel rep and they complained that PromAim/Cine city rips off everyones designs. Sure enough, they are now making something that looks identical to a Movcam rig. The Movcam products are really nice as is Lanparte.

Now what kind of company like ProAim would promise a full refund for their incompatible, sloppy junk, then wait till you shipped it back, then claim they were low on Paypal funds, then stiff one for half the cost?!

Deal with reputable companies with reps in your country who are accountable and honest and have great products, like many of the sponsors here who support the film making communities and innovate quality products rather than produce junk products ripped off from others. I mean, look at ProAim prices! You really think you will get a quality product?!

[Dave Polcino]

I've been real happy with my many Cine City purchases. But I need HELP! After buying it a year ago, I finally got around to trying to set up my ProAim 8ft Jib with the Pan Tilt Head Jr. I see no way to hook the two together! And CineCity isn't being responsive to my support requests unfortunately (usually I've had good communication with them).

If anybody has this setup, can you please advise me on what I'm doing wrong, or what part is missing? The step that falls apart in the manual is Step XI. The crane/jib has a round flat plate, the Tilt Head has a four screw-hole square plate. The two don't connect at all.

Also, if I just want to attach the head to a tripod, is that plate made to work with a video monitor attachment? If so, can anyone recommend what part I need (or whole tripod) to mount this thing?!

I'll see if I can attach some photos here:
http://www.davidpolcino.com/files/tiltplate.jpg
http://www.davidpolcino.com/files/jibplate.jpg

[Dave Allen]

Did Cine City ProAim Camtree or any of the other shell company names from India ever solve your problem with their pan/tilt head product?

They have a Facebook page...if only they were as responsive to people who have paid good $ for their junk as they are in removing video criticism by victims from their page.

Would you say the following taken from their website was truthful, or just worthy of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea?

Our Commitment to Customers

• Honor our customer's needs in a caring, responsive and respectful manner.
• Work with you in a spirit of trust.
• Provide prompt, courteous, and thorough after-sales service to our customers.
• Provide fair and expedient response to claims and settlements.

[Dave Polcino]

Here's a late reply on this, but wanted to follow up.
It took a little while for them to understand what the problem was, but once they did, they shipped me the right plate (for free) and everything is great.
So I've only had this one issue with them, and I've shopped with them a lot. Bottom line, great equipment, good company, excellent prices.