Karl writes in and shares a new video camera slider from Gini Rigs. It's a double rail system that looks like it runs on linear motion bearings, and comes with a stop clamp so you don't overrun your slide. [Thanks Karl]
Of all the current slider systems on the market, i'm not really impressed with this design, or the almost $500 dollar price tag. I sort of feel Gini has lost focus on what made the rigs popular with DSLR Video and is now mainly focusing more on Red Scarlet and Epic cages with high prices. If you care to see more about the slider or the other products in the lineup, you can check it out at the Gini eBay store (click here).
Gini Slider, Rigs, Cages
Pim
I have to come to Gini's defense. I needed more parts for my rig and wanted to build a smaller second rig with leftover parts from the first rig and considering they had to be shipped from Korea I got them quickly. Were the parts cheap? No. Was the shipping expensive? Probably. Is the quality good? Definitely. Could I have gotten that quality elsewhere for less? No freaking way. I got a huge first rig for less money than some of the other companies charge for merely a Follow-Focus, and my rig INCLUDED the Follow-Focus. Could Gini do better? Of course. Most companies could do better, but it's unfair to compare Gini to the major DSLR rig companies, because you'll pay 4-5 times more for their products, not even including the shipping. In the meantime Gini's quality challenges the other companies by being almost as good, if not as good. I think everyone needs to remain realistic about pricing and quality of DSLR rigs. Gini's machining is very good and they don't resort to cheap plastic. I'll continue to consider Gini for future purchases.
Stuart
I must say I am very happy about my purchase of an extreme 17" under the summer sale.
Tom
I think it is cool that there seems to be better communication from Gini going forward.
The prices on rigs on the site are not bad either, but the "modules" page, really seem to have some very highly priced parts. I think the focus cost about the same as when I bought an entire rig with it included. (again, thanks to Emm promoting the Gini stuff!)
I am still puzzled by why even bother spending resources on creating rigs for RED cameras etc? There are so few out there, and the people that own them, probably for the most part prefer name-brand (no offense) rigs, even if they cost more.
I also think the slider seems awfully expensive with the competition right now. Maybe this will be priced more appropriately on the site, and with some information that shows how (if any) it differentiates itself from the competition.
marcus warner
@Joel
Our shipping is not price gauging, We ship out of South Korea and if you do a check on DHL you would find we are not up selling. We just simply are not loosing the same amount on our shipping. For a Extreme 17 it can cost us as much as 150 to ship.
We do know our customer service relations have been poor and through the site we are working to address this issue and we have been trying to spread the word about the site to let people know we not only will have our full catalog available but we try to answer emails through the site asap which at times we get 100's of emails a day.
Gone are the days of reaching out and not receiving a response from us, if you contact us via our page.
We greatly value Emm and Cheesycam and his coverage has greatly made an impact on our company and we are listening.
Finally I would like to point out we are not turning our back on the dslr market and our Ex 17 is still extremely affordable and getting an entire rig with FF counter weights and a cage at our price point and quality we believe is un matched in the marketplace.
The ebay pricing will continue to vary but our direct site will always be low.
Joel
@Marcus ~ As an early Gini customer, I can tell you that all of the comments on this post are justified and accurate, including Emm's remarks concerning the fact that your new slider brings nothing new to the marketplace in function or (especially) price.
There are more affordable sliders that fill this product space -- such as Konova, Glidetrack, Opteka, the new Rhino etc etc. I am fairly certain the new P&C slider will match if not exceed the quality of these with more flexibility at a lower cost (just as they have done with their table dollies, Cage, handles, Palo Alto etc. etc.).
Gini is fast developing a reputation for:
1 - Poor Customer Service ... I tried to contact Gini multiple times over the past month and did not get a response. I was interested in the monitor arm, until I heard about the new P&C arm coming out soon -- which, BTW, looks like it will kick Gini's product to the curb on both price point and function.
2 - Overly Priced Shipping ... I believe it is fair to say HDSLR gear buyers are tired of being gouged on outrageous shipping charges by companies such as Gini. Whether this ploy is to reduce your ebay fees or lower your tax burden, it is a joke. Oh, by the way, P&C has FREE shipping anywhere in the lower 48.
3 - Unstable Inventory ... your ebay page seems to vary greatly with its product line. Your inconsistency in your catalog,in addition to your recent predilection to serving the Epic and Scarlett markets,makes your company less viable to your core customers -- the cost conscious HDSLR gear buyer.
Finally, I would hope you realize cheesycam.com has sold more Gini product than probably the rest of the HDSLR blogshpere combined. If anything, you owe Emm a tremendous amount for following and posting your company's products and you would be wise to listen to his comments.
billybob
I have one of the gini rigs and think it is perfectly fine but agree that they seem to have lost their way. The products were affordable and well made. And now they are creating products for higher end camera or over pricing the things they do put out. $600 for a slider of this type is a bit to much. $200 with $50 shipping would be worth looking at. For $600 bucks there are much better options on the market.
VictorD
@emm... can't wait to see more products.
@Rob S and @apostolos... at $600... i'd rather go Kessler Pocket Dolly. 🙂
Emm
Post author@Ron Temc - Yes P&C will be making an affordable slider. The goal pf P&C is to not over engineer products, but to make high quality affordable equipment. There are other products that will be announced in the coming weeks.
David Choi
The only thing holding me back from buying a gini rig is the high shipping price. ~$75 for shipping.
Rob S.
Yeah, with the high shipping charges, there are plenty of domestic companies that make pretty comparable for the price, if not better in many cases, DSLR rig gear. Plus, I know first hand that the service by local companies is far better and certainly quicker to respond.
apostolos
Make that $600 because he generally charges substantial shipping fees, so this one would be $600 shipped to the US.
marcus warner
Im Sorry you feel our prices are hight, I would ask compared to who on value and dollar? We still offer extremely affordable DSLR rigs. And we are still introducing new products for the DSLR not just items for Epic/Scarlet.
Ron Temc
Was I hallucinating, or did I read here some time ago that P&C has plans for coming out with a slider? I sure hope so... because I buy pretty much everything P&C makes - can't beat the value (quality/price).