my attempt to build a Follow Focus

we've built ours with sliders so that the distance from the lens can be changed. some of the 35mm lenses arent the same diameter so that's neccessary.
 
hey David, which side of the fishing reel did you use for the knob? was that the one at the side where the winder went? Looks like I got a different model from Walmart so i definitely do not have that thing sticking up at the side...
 
Puck, the inside of the reel's gears is greased up nicely, so I didn't want to expose the parts - which is why I did it that way. I am still looking for another FF that is a little smaller and different.
I am on a slider as well. Works good, but it is a little cock-eyed and tilted because of the tension I need against the lens gear. Not as pro as I would like it.
Puck, I was also thinking about the slider and another way around it - if you had interchangeable gear sizes for the FF, it would make things a little easier.

Chuck, this one is not interchangeable.
 
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David, your mounting bracket for the FF.. doesn't that go across to both rails?
I solved the cockeye problem by taking it across both rails and then adding tightener screws (actually computer screws with the nice big thumb fasteners) so that the mounting bracket stayed exactly where I wanted it to.

of course I went and kinda screwed that up and now I have to rebuild it, but it worked great before i tried to drill that extra hole...
 
Extra holes is the bane of my existence. Yeah, I got lots of them. I will take some more detailed pic's tonight and show you my setup, maybe there is room for change in it.
 
I know what you mean. I bought duplicates of a few items just becasue of the "hole" problem,but I didn't count on a few *ahem*... mistakes on my part...
 
I always count on mistakes. It seems to be my middle name. In fact, I don't get a lot of my projects finished because of too many failures...but I guess I am suppose to learn from them...still learning...
Here are some new shots. You can see the angle in which my reel is turned to make good and solid contact :

ff3.jpg

ff4.jpg

ff5.jpg
 
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my beta testing of the follow focus..

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Thoughts:

- I added a bracket that goes over the whiteboard ring.
- If you noticed I used clips so I can do my FF from A to B. If there is more than A to B, then the dry erase will do it.
- I still need to make a adapter support..
- all in all, it works, and it works well.. did a good few follow focus shots..
- I probably have to buy more of the gears so I don't have to keep changing..
- brevis adapter is nice..

i'll post pics of the actual movie stills in another posting.
 
painting.. making the adapter support.. and i don't know what else..

im going to build a glidecam arm and vest very soon.. i guess that's about it.

I will be shooting another movie I say in 2 weeks,.. this movie will be more stylish. The movie I just shot is a comedy, which doesnt require much effective lighting. I'll post clips of that soon..
 
alright, this is probably one of the final touches before my paintover..

the solution of my adapter support:

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Thoughts:

- it works,.. doesnt slide, stays in tight.
- all in one package.. Follow Focus and Adapter support, why didn't anyone ever thought of that before?
 
The all in one package, support and follow focus doesnt work in th elong termas you;re adding more and more lenses. You really should get an additional support for the adapter so that when you switch lenses out with say a 70mm or a 200mm, your adapteris still support since you now have to move the entire unit forward tothe focus ring.

That was the main prohibition on my unit and the main reason I'm doing a new build.. wellthat plus the fact that I'm adding/building a quick release plate onto my rod support syststem...

Anyway my point is: go ahead andd build the additionalsupport. You won't regret it.
 
so far, I placed a 20mm up to a 135mm. I don't think I would go more than that. If I do it should hold.. My FF system is pretty big and long, Hopefully it will hold.. =oo
 
cool. I got a variety of lensesso i had to make allowances for them, hence my slide bar for the follow focus and the need to push forward on the rails to the focus wheel of the lens.

Good work on building the follow focus.

We've shown that it can be done.. now we just need to put together a full tutorial on how to build it using only common household materials, a rubber chicken and a jar of pickles....
 
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