My film gear FAIL: How a $10 part cost us $15,000

[@tobiasreckinger2212]

The fact that the gimbal protected the camera so well and was still in one piece after that drop, even moving, is really an advertisement for the Ronin.

[@sterlingswildwest]

After this, we were 100% DJI people

[@TallManMedia]

360 Views on the story behind THAT clip?? I just struck literal KZbin gold

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? The whole world of film has seen that clip! 🙌

[@justinlawrence6790]

You must have struck early. It's got 11,000 now

[@chrisw443]

well now your at 16k lol

[@ian_lewono]

I've always wondered what happened after seeing the viral clip, I assume the whole thing was totaled. Good to hear the body wasn't destroyed. F in the chat for the lens.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha the lense is still in orbit 😂😂 thanks for the comment!

[@ian_lewono]

@@sterlingswildwest it sure went places didn't it

[@silentrice7399]

So glad to finally see a BTS of this clip that was absolutely insane

[@sterlingswildwest]

It was an emotional day 🙌

[@mowenurbano4677]

I remember watching this while making a face, glad this was a blessing in disguise

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? Thanks man!

[@NPC_averagemale003]

Saw this video two years ago and instantly developed a phobia for vehicle mount arms. Had vivid dreams that it was a Phantom 4K with a Cooke Anamorphic. What if the second hand Black Arm was defective? What if a screw was loose? Why did the safety cable not catch it? What if that Ronin arm broke instead? These dark thoughts have eaten me up from the inside like cancer. TL;DR This video cured cancer.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Especially if they were the Cook anamorphic/i set.... 🤯 I'm glad we could release you from the spell!

[@Marquess271]

Haha thanks for the behind the scenes. So many of my “non-photography/camera” friends sent me this clip telling me to take care of my Sony A6400. I never fought I would drop it or something. Until I did nearly the same mistake. I did a panorama photo with my tripod stand like 20cm deep in the lake. The light was amazing and very rapidly changing. I was so thrilled, that I didn’t lose the friction for the panorama head, but for the Arca-Swiss plate. I didn’t realize it and the camera somehow didn’t fell and somehow I did lose the friction for the panorama head. So I did like 7 photos and on the last photo my camera dropped in the lake. It was a pretty famous photo spot. Lots of photographers were there this morning. It was a nightmare. Everyone heard the sound of something dense dropping in the water. I immediately turned it of, got the battery out. The lens was full of water, like bottle of water. I left it a couple of days in a sealed bag full of silica gel packs. Everything still worked and I got one of the best looking photos I’ve ever made haha. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. I will never ever do the same mistake again. Cheers from Germany

[@sterlingswildwest]

Oh my! Doesn’t those kinds of sounds make you sick? Man thanks for the comment and I hope your camera dries out and your lens is ok!

[@Marquess271]

@@sterlingswildwest Everything turned out well! No problems it all. I guess the key was just letting it dry long enough and that the lake was a crystal clear mountain lake with no pollution in it!

[@jens2443]

@@Marquess271 Glad it turned out ok! I really want to see the pic! Do you have a insta or something?

[@mitchib1440]

@@Marquess271 This is on a much smaller scale but I have a similar memory. This time, the camera wasn't being used. It was a Sony PJ240E. And I was young, like 14-15. This camera was one I had saved up for for a long time. It's a handycam, but for me it might as well have been a cinema camera. It was that special and that valuable to me. I had an ingrown-toenail and had to treat it in a bowl of warm salty water every night to help with the infection. It was also a summer day. My bedroom window was open, and my door was open to let the air flow. My Sony camera was sitting next to me, as well as 2 others. a Vivitar DVR783HD (which wasn't in its waterproof case), and a Veho Muvi. The wind blew through the window, and moved my door. The door had a laundry bag on it, which swung out slightly and knocked over a small chair which I had these cameras placed on temporarily as I had used them recently. All three cameras fell into the bowl of water. I immediately pulled them out, and did the classic rice-bag trick. After a week or so, the Vivitar worked for a bit but died shortly after. The Veho Muvi was dead and unresponsive, and the Sony wouldn't turn on anymore. All 3 had died. That was a painful painful week. I still have the photo of the cameras in the rice bag I took. I then had a similar incident, though I saved it in time many years later when I was using my GoPro HERO4 Black in the sea. I was trying to get some cool underwater shots of the sea using the GoPro (in its waterproof case of course) and it was only a few inches under the water, filming the water splashing onto the rocks on the beach. While admiring it and thinking something like "13-year-old me would be so jealous of this", I noticed that the back door on the case was slightly open on one side. Immediately pulling the camera out and drying it with my shirt, I saw that the black clasp that holds the door shut had cracked on one side and was no longer holding the door shut. Luckily I spotted the problem before the camera took on water, but the back of the camera itself was wet. So water had gotten in, and if I had left it any longer, it would have drowned. That HERO4 was my favourite belonging at the time, so I'm still very happy it survived. It's still around. I now have 19 other GoPros at this point. So I have plenty of backups lol

[@theslowmoguys]

So great to see the BTS of this. My worst nightmare is something like this happening with a phantom 😭

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@theslowmoguys oh man! The phantom would be 5x as heartbreaking 😂 I’m just stoked that you guys saw this! Been following you on my personal channel for years! Thanks for the love!

[@curtisartsoap8878]

Nice, thanks for that open talk an wrap up of the situation, so we can learn a lot of it. 20$ insurance is worth it

[@sterlingswildwest]

Pretty much 😂😂🙌

[@lensonwheel]

That was some scary stuff. But its nice to see you smiling. I have crashed my drone once it still gives me nightmares.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Oh man don’t even get me started on drones 😂

[@chidisimo23]

I just recently crashed my drone from like 1 mtr of the ground and I almost had an anxiety attack 😂

[@TheLNERSeries]

I rent from the rental house in question quite a bit. I remember seeing that go viral and talking to the manager about this video. Interesting to see your side of this story.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Oh that’s funny. I’m just glad we were able to get a new one quick until we got the one fixed.

[@brianhawkins]

Thank you for posting this. I will return to it every time I break something from my kit. It will make me feel better by comparison LOL.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@brianhawkins haha, right? Thanks man!

[@bamcameback]

Even with my shitty rig of a Rsc 2 suction mounted to the side of my car, i setup a safety strap XD. I guess there's always a lesson to be learned.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@bamcameback right? Isn’t that life in general? We all learn from our experiences. There were so many comments from people who never make mistakes and they all make me smile! I’m so glad you are always being safe! I’m not that smart 😂

[@meskahmusic]

My g I always have a strap and sometimes zip ties stuck onto my rig. The only moments when paranoia feels right

[@fenf777]

"Coax safety cable"

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂😂

[@poti732]

The komodo would be totally fine even if the ronin didnt protect it, as long as nothing hits through sensor , the komodos are CRAZY DURABLE. When we went to a shoot in romania , my buddy took out his komodo. But it was packed in my bag and as soon as he opened the bag, the komodo rolled out , down the hill into a small forest . It had a kippertie and the cap for it on. Everything was totally fine, no damage at all , still working like a champ.

[@sterlingswildwest]

It’s crazy how durable they are!

[@derekprospero]

I’ve been using an osmo pocket 3 attached to the side of the car with a strong magnet. I know it’s not quite the same quality footage, but it’s pretty darn close especially in daytime. It’s tiny, remote phone control gimbal, and the magnet costs $20. Used it on all kinds of rough terrain without a problem. If you’re just doing this for a hobby I’d recommend checking it out!

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right?

[@funsession9002]

Algorithm will go after this one

[@sterlingswildwest]

That would be awesome!

[@northcoaststudios]

No kidding...while I was on a set last night I told the Producer about this exact event....then I came home after midnight and wanted to relax maybe with some funny videos on KZbin, and THIS video showed up in my recommendeds. Yeah, our phones aren't listening. Anyway, I felt every impact of that set-up when it hit the internet. Amazing that the body was ok. As a Journeyman Toolmaker, I could not tell what failed for this to happen. I thought it had to be a screw that broke, or just the integrity of the design was not strong enough to take the jouncing. It's wonderful to finally know! Thank you. I find myself saying "This will make a great story" when things like this happen. The problem is that it takes a while to be a good story. That usually happens a short time after the pain is finished. Us being human is always a factor on every shoot. It will never stop. Good luck in all your future endeavors!!

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@northcoaststudios dude thank you for the kind comment! And yes the phones are listening 😂

[@mtmccornack]

Although I shoot mainly on sony now, I love my L mount 17-40... it pretty much has lived on the front end of my canon 70d/80d for almost a decade....

[@sterlingswildwest]

That’s awesome. It was a decent lens. It was strong right up until the last minute 😂

[@Titin5123]

When I saw the video, I almost put off buying a car rig, now hearing the backstory, im gonna buy it but gonna double check 3 times lol

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right? Check it multiple times and use not one but 2 safety cables 😂 Thanks man!

[@myroadtours6147]

That hurt watching it lol I don't use anything near this level of camera gear for my quick road trip videos but I always tether my cameras to my vehicle in case something happens. I've been doing this idk, 10 years and only had one camera fail off and thankfully it was tethered. I don't run gimbals that often but I was running one that day.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right? It hurt living! But the coax counted as a cable right? 😂

[@logemedia]

Fiat money mindset. Rent it-break it-“go viral”-make money- buy gear. That’s aweful

[@Eyex97]

You guys are awesome!

[@sterlingswildwest]

🙌🙌

[@YoungBlaze]

never knew this was your clip, its been floating around the internet for a while, i remember i tried to post the clip on facebook and it was removed because it said some company wouldnt allow it lol

[@sterlingswildwest]

Yeah a big company had rights to it for 2 years that’s how we made $10k but you could have snagged it from my Instagram for nothing! 🙌

[@Cinegavo]

wow, so cool to see behind this clip. I remember seeing this 1000 tines lol

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right? 🙌

[@ScottyGibsonn]

Haha amazing video! Question, when you say you made money from that viral clip, do you mean it brought in new clients or you made money from AdSense? Curious how much haha

[@sterlingswildwest]

Sold the rights to Fail army and it made over $10k to date. This was 3 years ago before we were doing YT 🙌

[@sponching]

I remember seeing this! It was INSANE 😂

[@sterlingswildwest]

It was memorable for sure 😂

[@greybeard4034]

"I don't work in the film industry" Well, i am not a carpenter, but by following a manual I can assemble an Ikea..

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@greybeard4034 I’ve never been able to read ikea instructions. They are seldom in English 😂

[@orfeaskalafatis]

@4:50 i thought you were going to provide CPR lol

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha, right?

[@orfeaskalafatis]

@@sterlingswildwest i know the feeling. Good to see the camera survive too, i would assume the sensor has shifted or broke. Kudos to RED! Sorry i meant Nikon :P

[@Loftikaz]

Disappointing it's a small production, I was feeling good that a big production did this so I feel better about myself as a solo shooter XD

[@sterlingswildwest]

Oh there’s plenty of big productions that have errors like this, they just aren’t allowed to be seen to protect the client and production houses reps 🙌😂

[@KennyLenny0]

any chance you can do a short video on safety for car rigs? i have an rs4 pro with the pro aim suspension arm but I am not sure what is the best way to rig it up for safety

[@sterlingswildwest]

We plan on doing just that! 🙌

[@martinchebaia]

The vehicle mounting arm doesn't seem to be helping with camera stabilization, I would try a solid mount to the car chassis.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@martinchebaia 🙌🙌

[@DanielJohnFPV]

I mean, I literally know guys that make their living by buying popular stuff and purposefully wrecking it 😅 Great vid, guys

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right? Glad I’m not one of those 🙌

[@mediaworxllc]

I had just gotten a Tilta Hydra Alien car mount when I saw that video and it immediately made me go out and build a safety cable that attaches directly to my camera cage. That way, even if something completely freak like a gimbal motor breaks the camera is saved. Still fear this happening!

[@sterlingswildwest]

That’s a solid idea!

[@wearenoisemx]

Dope guys!

[@sterlingswildwest]

🙌🙌

[@PinotNoir_]

did the lens mount on the camera got ripped apart or not? because there's no way the camera still got it's lens mount after the lens got launched into the space

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@PinotNoir_ lens broke in half basically. Didn’t tear mount off camera like was explained in the video 🙌

[@PinotNoir_]

@@sterlingswildwest damn, that's pure luck!

[@mitchib1440]

What was the purpose of the camera this was filmed from? Is it common to have a camera filming the camera? Also, you say the camera was okay physically. But was it actually functional afterwards? Surely dust got on the lens when it fell, right?

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@mitchib1440 we always film BTS footage. Camera was used for the next 2 days and had no issues and has been in service for the last 2 years with no issues. The lens basically broke in half and left the mount on the camera. The camera also had a cage around it. No dust got on the sensor. It was truly amazing that it came out unscathed 🙌

[@nazhif1]

We lost an Osmo pocket + movmax arm and it hurt. Can't imagine how this felt in the moment

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂😂

[@dadubruce]

I pretty much assumed that the setup was totaled after watching that reel 😂

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@dadubruce haha, right?

[@henni_d]

Great story. I woundering how you earned money with the viral clip? Did you get the money from Instagram and tiktok?

[@sterlingswildwest]

Sold the rights to Fail Army 🙌

[@mitchib1440]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is why GoPros were invented :D (or, you know, just more secure methods of attaching heavy cameras)

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@mitchib1440 haha exactly!

[@Nyashel]

this one vid gonna blow up soon

[@sterlingswildwest]

🙌

[@ALASKANBULLWORMMM]

lol cool to see the story behind this

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@ALASKANBULLWORMMM it was a wild ride for sure 😂

[@SkyPathProductions]

Did the rental company charge you for this? Just curious

[@sterlingswildwest]

Watch the full episode to see 🙌

[@Simat_0]

that one way to learn to alway check the safety in the future

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@Simat_0 since then we alway check our safety. Lesson learned 🙌

[@stuartswindellcampoy8483]

One question, isn't it mean to not bounce like that? So either it wasn't properly weighted or the terrain was bumpier than the actual travel? Is that right or ?

[@sterlingswildwest]

It was a cheap tilta rental. It wasn’t up to the task clearly 😂

[@stuartswindellcampoy8483]

@@sterlingswildwest 🤣

[@Cinegavo]

so the cameras fine, but how was that sensor? Dusty at least?

[@sterlingswildwest]

The lens broke off itself so the opening was small. Filmed with it all the next day and it was golden!

[@directed_by_steve]

I cried for you. No safety wire no nothing? That Ronin 2 is tuff

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@directed_by_steve honestly, we couldn’t believe it was able to be repaired 😅

[@poti732]

@@sterlingswildwesteven w a safety wire it would have hit the ground because of the arm’s suspension bouncing up and down. Probably would have been less damage and save some on the repair cost.

[@worscaq]

With the 19 drones that have perished in pursuit of epic videos…. Insurance is now required on all equipment moving forward… but incidentally, I need a new gimbal, wanna use mine so I can get a new one lol 😂

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@worscaq 🤣🤣🤣 I got you covered dude!

[@DroseMr]

Ready for the next wreck😂🎉Thank You

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂🙌🙌

[@cameramaker]

I hoped for the actual footage out of the camera. Do not tell me you forgot to hit the REC button! :D

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha we got most of the footage but most was lost due to the battery coming off on impact.

[@sammorganmoore]

two thoughts. Camera lenses are designed to break at the bayonet more than rip the camera apart. Not PL lenses) - so the soft fail happened. He clicked in the the safety. This shold be enough for basic moves. We see the arm 'bottoming out' and really that is the major error, the arm is not designed for such undulations and not well designed to fail in a safe manner. tilta - nul points?

[@sterlingswildwest]

Yeah the rental tilta arm was very poor indeed.

[@sammorganmoore]

@@sterlingswildwest aha it was tilta - post edited - but taking any arm until it bottoms out is basically gonna end in hurt? You have a complex set of doings here. Fail to secure, Fail to avoid bottoming out. Without both I think you would have been good?

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@sammorganmoore did you even watch the full video?

[@sammorganmoore]

@@sterlingswildwest pretty much.

[@Herfinnur]

Oh dear God, that hurts!

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂

[@economossotiris2622]

So, was a bracket not attached to it? Causing it to slip off?

[@sterlingswildwest]

Did you watch?

[@bimmerfan2126]

where was the braided steel safety cable....

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@bimmerfan2126 watch the episode to find out 🙌😂

[@NagyMedia]

I CAN't BELIEVE I'M WATCHING THIS VIDEO UNDER 10K VIEWS RN. THANK YOU ALGORITHM GODS

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha right? It took a minute 😂

[@SamureyeVlogs]

what about the footage on the camera!?

[@sterlingswildwest]

Lost it as the battery shook loose

[@TewaAya]

Fafo should mean fund out. Every decision is a content/lore to be made.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@TewaAya awesome.

[@cinobro6393]

Two words, SAFETY WIRES!!!!!!

[@sterlingswildwest]

We mentioned that in the video 😂

[@cinobro6393]

@@sterlingswildwest SAFETY WIRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@foxyvisionsvideographer]

How viral did it actually go? I don't know how to find the insta reel again

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@foxyvisionsvideographer it didn’t necessarily go viral on our social the rights were sold to a third party and it was all over cable tv

[@an_o_ia]

but what about the footage on the Red?

[@sterlingswildwest]

Lost most of it!

[@cinebenjamin]

I had no idea this was you! Haha

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂

[@typhfanuwu7526]

Wow so the main channel only gets 100k views but the repost of the fail get over 3 million wow 😢

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? But it was reposted by 100s of other channels and it was on a cable channel too.

[@basicallyedward]

Didn't the camera shoot the whole time? Where is the video footage when the camera dropped from the camera itself.

[@sterlingswildwest]

The trauma caused the battery to disconnect and most of the footage was lost as we had just started filming

[@basicallyedward]

Okay, so the footage from falling never got saved cause the camera itself was "OFF" on the fall. The battery is the cord what is coming from the truck? You were talking about the safety wire and the cord looked like one but wasn't. That's the power cable?

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@basicallyedward the cord was the video feed to the monitor inside the cab

[@Askaly]

You didnt consider even showing us the camera after the crash did you? I wanna see the damn thing!!

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha we didn’t take any more footage after the crash but the camera was perfect 🙌

[@Happymali10]

So from now on, each year, rent the new ronin-gen, trash it, and earn several times its value off the footage.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@Happymali10 exactly! Do it! 🙌

[@rivronjoker3]

You guys look like you are giving aid to a car crash victim!

[@sterlingswildwest]

Exactly! 😂😂😂

[@thrillscapevlogs6850]

GOLD

[@sterlingswildwest]

🙌🙌🙌

[@the.marylander]

How did you make money from the video going viral?

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@the.marylander sold the rights to fail army and they send us a check every 6 months

[@mrrexy4151]

This is really hard to watch 😮

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@mrrexy4151 right? It was hard to live 😂😂🙌

[@mrrexy4151]

@@sterlingswildwest 😂😂🙋

[@jimr879]

Gold

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@jimr879 🙌🙌

[@MTKnockOut]

film with retailers

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@MTKnockOut 🙌🙌

[@simonrabeder1599]

I've been doing this in small teams (2-3) for years with no incident. Cringing all the way through the video.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? The whole incident is full of cringe! Anytime there’s an “accident” it’s usually cringe worthy 😂 hope your 3 year lucky streak continues forever man 🙌

[@simonrabeder1599]

@@sterlingswildwest I#ve flown ronin 2s on small planes. I can't even stomach the thought of not triple checking and redundant safeties.

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@simonrabeder1599 right? You should be able to keep up your good track record indefinitely 🙌

[@DaMeng3000]

@@simonrabeder1599Every dog has their day bud, don’t gloat too much.

[@simonrabeder1599]

@@DaMeng3000 nah, I get how mistakes happen. Not gloating, just managing fears.

[@challengedollar2880]

Noceee

[@sterlingswildwest]

🙌🙌

[@uroszuraj3122]

thats no Black Arm

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? Tilta is not a great arm maker 😂 it’s just what the rental house had

[@uroszuraj3122]

@@sterlingswildwest its not about if its good or not... its just like if you called Ronin a Movi Pro.... its a different thing even if its used for the same thing in this situation

[@ArmanSentina-q9r]

Its like w 20k pc

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂 right?

[@mikydubYT]

upss

[@sterlingswildwest]

Right? 😂

[@lendersbagels01]

Copium

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@lendersbagels01 right? And in ungodly amounts 😂

[@Murmeldyrful]

Amateurs gonna amateur

[@sterlingswildwest]

👍

[@itwasme2435]

Lmfao

[@sterlingswildwest]

😂😂🙌🙌

[@BTFilmz]

I remember seeing this and to this day it hurts my soul 🥲

[@sterlingswildwest]

@@BTFilmz haha it’s been almost 4 years now and it still hurts mine 😂😂

[@rickfinnstrom6376]

In the Bomb squads there is a old saying...you are allowed one ooops!.

[@sterlingswildwest]

Haha! Oh that’s funny! But you’re right. We’ve burned up our only whooops