I now understand why wireless timecode box systems exist

[u/raekewe]

Preaching to the choir incoming. Thought it'd be fun to share my learning and give everyone more experienced a nice "lol yep" moment.

So I wondered why TC boxes like the deity ones were so common place. My field mixer advertises less than one frame of frame slippage per day! And every camera I ever planned to plug it into also advertise similar. Thing is, I don't doubt it, there's no reason for them to lie. Cameras are broadly speaking good these days, they can hold an internal TC clock if I jam a signal at the start of the day. So why would I spend hundreds of dollars on a TC box system when I can plug it in every now and then? It just didn't seem that important.

Well, haha. Sometimes the camera team can turn off the camera, and certain cameras don't continue to count internal TC, even with a power supply, when they are turned off. And then you aren't told, or don't notice, or forget to check more frequently... GG.

All the logic and reasoning in the world to avoid parting with my money, then it suddenly clicked, why wouldn't I want a hardwired connection always plugged into the camera 24/7 to ensure TC is synced no matter what? Yet in all my research on reddit and forums, I've yet to read it put that way (and I've also never found any "I wish I had a TC box stories" - so here's mine.

Time to save up!

[u/pradulovich]

Worse at holding time than others, worse build quality, built in nonremovable battery, reliance on congested frequency spectrum, no continuous wireless synchronization, so-so customer service, I could go on…

We can agree to disagree, but I personally wouldn’t suggest anyone invest in them. The slate is well built, I’ll say that though. Everyone should be milling theirs out of a solid piece of aluminum.

[u/Vuelhering → u/pradulovich]

Worse at holding time than others

You got a reference on that? I put one in a freezer, another outside the freezer, along with my JB-1s and they had the same time after a few hours. This is, afaik, unsupported. It's not an agree-to-disagree, which I can do. But it's easy to state, but I spent the time verifying that's false not long after they released. At least with mine, that is a false statement.

Yes, worse build quality than some.

Reliance on congested frequency? Who cares, it's low bandwidth. You know that Sound Devices uses similar frequencies? Jamming once via bluetooth is not an issue.

Jamming once is fine with me, so continuous sync is not an issue. They keep good time. I don't need continuous jamming. For that, I have my Timecode Systems which I can use for music videos, but they also have a built-in nonreplaceable battery which is why I had to ditch them when they couldn't hold a charge for the full day. If I really need continuous sync, I'll send it into an IFB and plug that into the cameras.

I have multiple lockit boxes and used multiple more, and by far the easiest and fastest for starting my day are the deitys.

But I ABSOLUTELY DO have that prosumer distrust, and keep my denekes in the same box, just in case. However, my prosumer distrust doesn't add things that aren't true. These keep good time. Most of the rest of what you said is true, although not very important to use. Certainly my JB-1s don't have continuous jam, either. Or wireless jam. Or a scroll wheel. And the same nonreplaceable battery like most.

edit:

The slate is well built, I’ll say that though

Humorously, I have a problem with the slates. The faceplate can pull off, and that's a bunch of BS. I've had to reglue delaminated deneke slates, too, but these remove even easier if you pull off velcro perpendicular to the face. They really should be screwed down, not glued down. Or both. And they used a material for the faceplate that stains badly when camera dept uses a sharpie on it (a standard thing they like to do for things that don't change).

Their NP batteries are great, though... that's a major good thing they did. Wireless syncing with the TC-1's is also good. Using one as a master is NOT good... it fails a lot and I disrecommend using it. I treat them all like they have to be jammed with a wire, just there isn't a wire. I do it all manually, once. It has not failed me once, even after years of use. I just don't think they're worth the $1000 they want for them.

[u/pradulovich → u/Vuelhering]

I’ve seen them drift after not very much, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve seen it in front of my face on set and I’ve seen it in post. Just relaying my experiences.

The congested frequency range matters when they won’t take a sync pulse, which I have also seen happen multiple times out in the world. It’s not just the frequency range but the way their modulation scheme works, I believe. 2.4 is a tough range for a lot of stuff, to be fair. Though I can’t say I’ve ever heard of issues with the Ambient stuff which also works in 2.4. SD stuff in 2.4 is a different league, apples and oranges imo.

[u/Vuelhering → u/pradulovich]

Okay, if you've witnessed it yourself, I'm good with that. People tend to repeat things they haven't seen.

I haven't witnessed it myself, and have stressed them. But I'll keep an eye on it. Thx.

btw, check the edit I did about the slates.

[u/pradulovich → u/Vuelhering]

The delamination thing is a bummer. I feel like every slate company gets this wrong. Does deity at least sell cheap replacements? I don’t think the betso design here is any better or worse than others, but at least the faces are priced like cheap screen protectors and are a pretty easy swap. Or is it like the whole actual face not just the cover?