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Save $

Rethmeier

New member
How to save yourself almost $1400 USD,by purchasing the Multiflex from Photoclam,instead of the overpriced Cube from ArcaSwiss.:wtf:

I haven't received it yet from Korea,however I can't see much difference.
It cost me $1014 USD shipped to my door in Sydney.

http://www.tripodballhead.com/searc...d-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=8

I know the snobs will say,it can't be that good,however the Koreans are very well know for their tooling and craftsmanship.

It should go well with my Induro 313.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
while it looks very promising, I would hold off your full enthusiasm until you have it in your hands and can confirm it is 1) smooth and 2) has no slop or play in any of the tilt or pan axes or either rack and pinion mechanism...
 

Rethmeier

New member
Jack,
I'll let you know,when I receive it.
However I can't compare it with the "real" thing.
Still,I can't imagine the Arca to be two and a half times better.
Maybe you can send me yours?LOL
Best,
Willem.
 

georgl

New member
You're joking, right?

Paying 1000$ for a COPY? I wouldn't even pay 10$ for a Rolex-copy, just because the Chinese "are very well know for their tooling and craftsmanship"... Okay, that was a bit unfair, South-Korea is not China, but it's not Switzerland, either... And this company has clearly copied 1:1 just to damage Arca-Swiss. Do we really need more (not so) cheap stuff? When I would work for Arca, I would be outrageous! The company I work for also has trouble with these copies, it lost the Swiss (and German and...) many thousand jobs of high-quality!
Do you think that you pay 1400$ extra for the name, they invest into their huge marketing-campaigns (and website... ;-) and building up their brand name... No, Arca is not Adidas, it's pure Swiss-quality with employees who work for generations in the precision industry.

Sorry, I work too hard for my money to spend 1000$ for a copy.
 

PeterA

Well-known member
@ over $1000 if there is any slop or play - unless the basic cad engineering is bad - it may be worth just replacing all screws. Simple test may just be the quality of the anodising of the body. Still I have some sympathy for the comments above re a clear example of flagrant rip-off.

let us know Willem!
 

Graham Mitchell

New member
as I wrote in the 'other' forum... "Willem, I hope or your sake that it is good but there are a lot of Asian operators specialising is making goods which look great but are poorly engineered. You can't tell from the photo whether they used the most durable materials, or the tightest tolerances, or the smoothness of any action, etc. Warranties can also be hard or impossible to enforce. As I said I hope you get lucky but there are reasons to avoid these products unless perhaps you have a trusted review of one particular product."
 
S

smei_ch

Guest
The only thing Swiss is the word in the name and that the owners are from Switzerland. Arca moved to France 10 years ago. It might be time for a name change?
 

Rethmeier

New member
I will let you guys know about the outcome.
In the the meanwhile I'm very happy with my 8x Carbon Fibre Induro tripod(Asia)
that's about half the price compared to the Gitzo and does the same job.
What's wrong with Korean?
All the mountain bike frames(high-end) are made in Korea,only they do a better job then the Yanks.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
speaking as a manufactuturer in the US, and more specifically, a human in NYC, I do not support knock-offs, whether they are books, CK jeans, cosmetics, DVD's or cameras.
Asian governments seem to not enforce this opinion.
I would urge forum members to boycott such an egregiouss rip-off on moral principle alone.
Let the Koreans use their technical skill to develop their own cube-like alternative, but an exact copy is un-ethical and in many cases criminal
 

Lars

Active member
Still, AS' business strategists have hardly impressed over the last 20 years - it seems that the company is run by its engineering team with little or no business instinct.

Instead of building on the success of the B1 with more sizes (a smaller head would have been a no-brainer) and extending the dovetail system, they leave that market open to others and come up with the cube which is probably a masterpiece in engineering but priced to just invite competition. Seriously, $2500 for a tripod head??? As pretty and smooth as it may be, anyone buying a Cube has lost touch with reality (sorry Jack).

I say AS had it coming.
 
speaking as a manufactuturer in the US, and more specifically, a human in NYC, I do not support knock-offs, whether they are books, CK jeans, cosmetics, DVD's or cameras.

I would urge forum members to boycott such an egregiouss rip-off on moral principle alone.
I think that getting a pair of jeans made in a third-world country for $2, sticking a brand-name on them, and selling them kosher for $100 is just as much of a rip-off. High-end hi-fi that costs $10000 and has $500 worth of parts in it.

I don't mind paying a FAIR amount of profit to hard-working types, or paying a FAIR amount to cover some R&D costs, but any company that expects me to subsidize a guy to stick a pencil up his nose for a couple of years while he comes up with an idea can forget it.

If the extra quality is worth the extra money, people will pay it. If the same can be achieved for a lot less, they only have themselves to blame.
 

stephengilbert

Active member
Shake,

If something is patented or copyrighted, the patent or copyright holder has a legal right to protection from infringement. The people who sat around with "pencils up their noses" apparently developed a product whose design has a value (a quite significant value to some). The idea that they charge "too much" is irrelevant. If you support theft of people's ideas, presumably you have no problem with copying photographs taken by others and selling them?

I think the Cube may be overpriced (at least for me), but that doesn't mean I think it would be okay for me to steal one. For the same reason, I have problems with buying what appear to be rip-offs. Maybe the Clam does not violate Arca Swiss's legal rights, but it sure seems suspicious.

Steve
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Instead of building on the success of the B1 with more sizes (a smaller head would have been a no-brainer) and extending the dovetail system, they leave that market open to others and come up with the cube which is probably a masterpiece in engineering but priced to just invite competition. Seriously, $2500 for a tripod head??? As pretty and smooth as it may be, anyone buying a Cube has lost touch with reality (sorry Jack).

I say AS had it coming.
No offense taken Lars, but I need to point out I purchased my Cube a few years ago when they first came out and paid $1300 (IIRC) for it at that time; a price I thought was outrageous then, but now makes me look like a genius. My only regret is I did not buy 10 of them :D

However, I do not think any company "has it coming" when a design gets blatantly ripped off...
 
If you support theft of people's ideas, presumably you have no problem with copying photographs taken by others and selling them?

Steve
I agree that an 'exact' copy is pushing the realms of fair play.

But say someone reproduces a classic photograph as closely as possible, but using their own kit, then tries to sell it.
As long as it isn't sold as an original, is this so bad?

Surely it happens all the time, sometimes with an added personal twist, sometimes not?
 
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Lars

Active member
No offense taken Lars, but I need to point out I purchased my Cube a few years ago when they first came out and paid $1300 (IIRC) for it at that time; a price I thought was outrageous then, but now makes me look like a genius. My only regret is I did not buy 10 of them :D

However, I do not think any company "has it coming" when a design gets blatantly ripped off...
And I was going to say the Cube should be priced in the $1000-1500 range... Jack, my respect for you has been restored. :thumbs:

My comments re AS management were more general and not specifically re IP protection. Still, protecting your IP is part of the game, and the the higher you price your products the harder you have to work to defend your IP. Overpricing means asking for trouble, AS gets several of their products cloned not just the Cube. More aggressive pricing might have fended off some of the clones by way of pricing instead of legal challenges, and likely created higher product volumes and the economy of scale that follows with that.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Personally love to have one and used it several times and it is a wonder. I just can't justify the costs at the end of the day. Simple math for me 2400 buys glass instead
 
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