EFP Arm!

[optonica]

Hi

Richard I believe your getting your arm soon! Give me a shout when it turns up I'd love to have a look at it and we'll (me you and jason )give it a test!

Ant

[Richard Lewis]

Yes indeed, I shall be hopefully getting it delivered on Monday.

The shipping has been bloody expensive, £150. But I guess it is coming from Australia.



If any of you guys are thinking of getting something EFP/3a style in the near future, take a look at Steady Rig (http://www.steadyrig.com/)



Their service is tip top and I’ve gotten that arm at a pretty good price, and its in great nick, only £2700 with 12 month warranty.



I’ll let you guys know more when I get it.



-Rick.



LETS GET SOME POSTS GOING…KEEP THIS FORUM ALIVE!!!

[Jason]

Would love to see the EFP arm when it arrives, at least you'll be able to test it out ... it should fit neatly on my Provid, it should fit the socket block and gimbal.

[Richard Lewis]

Ohh, ohh, wanna test the Pro Gear gimbal too, and I'll bring along the docking stand.

That's if you'll let Ant take the gimbal off your provid...:)

[Andreas]

2700 pounds is around 4000 Euros - that's a very good price I guess...

I'm really looking forward to your reviews (progear vs provid gimbal) and of course would love to see pics, pics, pics :)

Andreas

[Richard Lewis]

You see Jase, the public wants it...

[Jason]

You never know I might just swap you my Provid arm for the EFP one :p

[Richard Lewis]

OK, I'm bringing a cosh...you and Ant try owt...:ninja:

[Jon_collins]

Will there be any duty and / or VAT to pay?

[Richard Lewis]

Jon, you always have to pop my bubble with the "VAT" word ;)

I’m just going to blindly trust that everything shall go well, and I will get it on Monday.

There shouldn’t however. It’s a second hand item. I thought that they didn’t incur VAT.

We shall see...

[optonica]

Hi

Yes you do have to pay duty/vat on used items when bringing them into the country! you may not get deleyed at the time (depending on shipping agent)but get a bill later from the carrier! I get a rather nice surprise 2 months later from fedex for my rig!

Ant

[Richard Lewis]

crap......

[Jon_collins]

Yeh, about another £500 or so. I also got a Fedex bill when I bought my Basson. It was considerably less than it should have been as he sent a lower value invoice with the item. A while ago I bought a gimbal bearing from the states, and the postman demanded the duty, about £22, on the door step, or I had to go to the post office and pay before recept of the goods! I haven't had to pay an more for the Progear vest yet though!

Rick - You will have to charge Ant and Jason to have a go - £250 ea.!!!!!!!!!

[optonica]

Hi

I don't think you would have to pay anything on the progear as it's from europe, your supposed to have paid the Danish vat! But we'll say no more about that.......

But yup your gonna get a nice bill for vat/duty for the arm Rick.

Have you made any more bits yet Jon? or any mods in the pipeline?

Ant

[Jon_collins]

Hi Ant,

I was going to make an arm as per Andreas, but can't summons up the enthusiasm. Its going to cost a few hundred for the ally, and a few hundred for all the bearings, then I have to make it, and more importantly make it work!!!!!! I was interested in the Progear arm, but the service is so poor, and am interested in what Rick is doing with the used EFP? so am holding fire there at the moment. I am however building a new sled with a 1.5" post. I have got as far as cutting 2 lengths of ally tube to 500m long and have started to machine the top, middle and bottom bits.

It is still my plan to mod around the Basson, and then sell it on ebay. Maybe used the cash to pay for an arm?

Have you modded your Basson arm yet?

Jon

[Jason]

Rick - You will have to charge Ant and Jason to have a go - £250 ea.!!!!!!!!!

That's fine, with my wet hire charge .... he'll end up owing me!

When I bought my Basson rig I got a £700 bill from customs, didn't expect it in all honesty, had to sell my car to cover it :mad:

[optonica]

Hi

I'm not sure if I will to be honest as I'm considering getting a pro arm! either a progear (depending on what I hear and see at IBC) or a used efp!

I'd love to able to change out my post and gimble but without a lathe it's awkward.

Ant

[Jon_collins]

Ant,

You could get a Progear Post 150 euro?


Jon

[Jon_collins]

So guys, whats this arm like then?????????????????????????

Jon

[Richard Lewis]

Ermmm, it kicks major Provid ass:p . It's very smooth, in fantastic working and cosmetic order.

There are pictures floating around somewhere...the nice ones..:ninja:
The Progear gimbal isn't half bad either, in fact, it's bloody amazing for the price, and even for something double or triple!

Sorry about not updating, but I'm having motivational issues of late and couldn't be arsed:ohmy: .

*Awaits the forums Provid owners response...*:D (you know I jest, I owe you a lot..)

I'm sure Ant will have something to say too.

Ohh yeah, and I only had to pay £300 import tax, due to a fortunate payment agreement with Rig

[Jason]

It is a sweet arm, very nice to operate with, a LOT easier to set up than the Provid arm .... all round much better, plus more boom range and easier to find the sweet spot!!

The gimbal is extremely nice too, very easy to keep hold of, the grip is a lot chunkier than the provid, and the fact it's 'scored' makes it a lot easier to keep hold of when you're getting sweaty!!

Jay

[Jon_collins]

Hi Jason,

What about the action? The Provid is obviously true isoelastic, stay where you put it. How does the EFP feel?

Jon

[Jason]

Much smoother than the Provid arm, but that's likely because it's not iso-elastic, did feel a little strange it springing back to level!!

[Jon_collins]

Rick,

Just to recap, what was the final cost of EFP arm all done?

I have almost got my sled finished, and I have the progrear vest. I just need a half decent arm, otherwise I am going to have to use the Basson arm :B

Any suggestions?

Jon

[Richard Lewis]

Jon,

I did get a great deal from Rig, they reduced the price quite a bit.

Total price, including a bodged import tax = £3000 ish

You really would have to get in touch with them to get a list of their current stock.

I’m still adamant that you won’t get an arm in as good condition as I got mine, I was well chuffed. It looked almost new!:D

Good luck,

-Rick.

[Jon_collins]

Hi Rick

I contacted Rig, and dropped your name, they said to pass on their thanks for the recommendation!

Unfortunatly, they have no used Steadicam arm available at the moment :( but can put me on the list. They offered me one of their new silver spring copy arms, $6000 down, plus easy payments for the rest.

Jon

[Richard Lewis]

Jon,

What are you going to do about the silver spring option then?

-Rick.

[Jon_collins]

Hi Rick,

I dont know.... There is also an offer on at the moment. The silver spring arm should be $12K, but its $9,9950USD at the moment, $6k down......

Any suggestions :D

Jon

[Richard Lewis]

Jon,

That offer has been on for a while now.

I don't know how much you know about the Silver Spring, but all the information is out there if you read the other forums.

I've only seen one in person once, at Howards, however we didn't have time to try it. So I can’t say anything definitive performance wise.

I guess at the end of the day, it boils down to what weight range of camera and what budget you are working with.
I would say from much research that it is the best new arm in that price range.

I did contemplate the purchase of a Silver Spring, but I decided in the end that for the price, I could purchase the EFP, and still have enough money left to put towards the rest of my rig. The EFP is doing fine for my needs. As I ultimately see myself working more in a TV line of work, I don’t need to have anything that will hold more that 46lb in total at the moment.
I've found myself mainly working with 570's and various betacams. Even the rig shown in the previous pictures of me with my new harness, only had the arm set just below half way, and this was a fairly heavy rig for me. This was the same when I flew the Alien for a short time.
The only arm I can envisage myself upgrading to would be a Pro, but that won't be for a while yet.

I would suggest sticking out for an EFP or 3a in good nick, again depending on the lift range you need.
However if you can see that you would make use of the Silver Spring, and you can afford it, be my guest. You won’t be disappointed. Rig Engineering always has my vote.

-Rick

[optonica]

agreed wait and sniff round for an EFP or 3a as for the price of a silver springs you could pick up a whole rig!

If you had the customers right now to make it worth it the fair enough get a silver springs!

I would go for a used rig for now you can always trade in at a later date.

Ant

[Erik Brul]

Just dropping in.., have also sent Jase a few days ago below link.
Only the Tax will be painful, a complete EFP system for 12500 US ? Seems a nice price :

http://www.whitehouseav.com/EFPpkg.htm

Erik