UPDATE - 5/8/10 wow the rest of my rig has finally arrived what a massive ball ache that was. Just to add a final irritation I got stung £20 on import tax. I contacted jag35 about this as obviously it was their fault so expected they would be happy enough to cove the charge....No was pretty much the answer I received which really completes this lovely transaction. The rig itself seems pretty decent and the counter weight works well. Hopefully at the weekend I'll get a chance to go and test it properly. The only issue I've been able to notice so far is that the gears for the follow focus really are shit. They slip off of the focal ring very easily and I can see this is something I'm going to have to replace before it drives me mad as getting them back on can be a little tricky. Anyway hopefully on the next update blog I'll be able to give you my impressions of the rig

UPDATE - Apparently the rest of the rig is now on the way. After emailing JAG35 for the 4th time they admitted they didn't even have what I'd ordered in stock at the current time and I'd have to wait till Friday then last night I got an email saying the stock had arrived early and the bits were on the way. Will they make it here before next Fridays shoot however?

ORIGINAL - So as you'll know if you read my blog that I recently decided to buy a Canon 550D and to go along with that I needed some sort of rig to support the camera. After looking around at variously stupidly priced companies (Zacuto I'm looking at you) I found a small American company called JAG35. They offer just what I was looking for and at a much more affordable price so after a few emails back and fourth with the company (which were very helpful) I decided to order quite a lot of equipment from them.

Fast Forward 6 weeks and my equipment still hasn't arrived meaning that I miss having the rig for a shoot making the whole thing that little bit more difficult. After chasing it up I was told the order was just about to dispatch (the same story I'd been given for 2 weeks) I'll be honest I was pretty pissed off. However nowhere near as pissed off as I now am. At the end of the 7th week finally my package arrived and damn was I excited to get it all put together so started straight away.

Of course expecting everything I ordered to be in the delivery was clearly to much to ask for as the actual shoulder mount was missing along with a counter weight and some mini ball heads all together probably worth about £130. This is when JAG35 suddenly became a whole lot less helpful. I emailed them to let them know about their mistake which they were very sorry about and promised that my missing pieces would be sent out the next day.......... Well it's now been another week and I haven't heard anything from them after sending multiple emails. Maybe I'll see the missing kit in another couple of months.

I know JAG35 are a small company but that doesnt excuse terrible customer service they should just hold their hands up and admit they have seriously fucked up. The kit i've recieved so far seems pretty good but obviously I ahven't really been able to test it. Once it actually all arrives (if ever) I'll let you know what I think of the equipment and not the company that have provided it.

Well that's my little rant over for now I suppose I should start constructing a shoulder mount out of sticks in prep for the 2 films I'm DOP-ing on and hoped to have the rig for.

All is good.....I am calm

Alan