my attempt to build a Follow Focus

Oops... sorry I missed this. Those boxes have a pretty high rate of failure and the backlash varies from unit to unit. It is measurable - in whole degrees.

I think the issue is primarily that the gears inside are not brass. I had two of them fail. One was due to increasing backlash over time, the other with the gears coming out of alignment, which resulted in what can best be described as noise or chatter.

Those who used to use these as their 1:1 ninety boxes have since upgraded for lack of reliability.

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That is what happened with the first batch of IndiFocus I believe. Those small gear boxes had too much play. It gets expensive the better gears you get and the more precision you need.
 
So we still need a good source for affordable but GOOD right angle gears. The search continues.

in the meantime, the Aquatica lenses at b&h have come down to $15. I'm ordering one as a replacement for my ikelite so see how it fits. th einner diameter is 72mm, vut it attaches with set screws, so there may be an option to attaching them to 35mm lenses, either with 3 longer screws, or just with a spongy material or something on the inside....

Updates to come, as the gears arrive....

Aquatica lens gears:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=cart&A=details&Q=&sku=800512694&is=USE
 
Nice find. I used a pull-teeth piece from one of those plastic race cars- You know the ones that you yank on the plastic piece with teeth that turn the wheel in the car? I jury-rigged a couple of those to fit snug around my lenses. For $1.00 a piece, it sure it a quick fix.
 
i tried one of those right after my printer experiment then I found the Ikelite and decided to get the real thing. I had actually been reconsidering rigging those up to drive the focus on my DVX so I could run the follow focus on the camera with and without the 35mm adapter
 
Yeah, it is cheap and quick for me. I am going to buy a couple more of those and make them work. I like the idea of the real thing too, but for 2 bucks, I get two that work well - that is until I can get to New York and buy the real thing!
 
at least B&H has reasonable and reliable shipping. I'm a little fed up with some of the really late shipping that you get from some sellers on Ebay. so much so that I first have to check retail prices + shipping to see if the item is even worth it. I'm about to do a new big order from B&H so think I'm gonna add a couple more of those Aquatica gears to my list...
 
any updates on the good fight?

Also, are there any items that might contact small 1:1 gear boxes that can be cannibalized? I am tempted to rip apart my VCR.
 
Since last year when I made my follow focus, I decided to go and buy one instead, since it is so cheap these days.

There is the Indifocus (thats what I have now)

and the indian ppl in ebay. its not even $400.. why not?

I spent about $200 making it and a lot of time on it. It was descent, but very ghetto looking, so forget it.
 
Same here... it finally came down to the point where I had spent over $100 and when I decided to get a First AC to pull focus... well, I didn't have the whip or a slot to put the whip in. So I ened up just buying a follow focus unit that came with the whip and I didn't have to fiddle with too much.

And yes you can pull focus yourself without a whip, but seriously, that's only good for hand held operation. If you want to use a dolly, jib or any other tools to add production value, you'll either need a whip or a remote focus.

This is definitely one where I can say I;ve built it, but in the end just go and save up the money and buy it. It's a worthy investment.
 
Okay, so I was fiddling with the Fisherman Follow Focus just the other day and made a few adjustments to it. I think I can find a way to fit a whip to it, but now we're going to move on to a DIY Whip for your FFF, so things may get a little complicated. I'm going to take a look at my own whip and see what I can come up with for all of us wicked DIYers.

After that I'll have to do yet another breakdown of parts for buildng your own DIY FFF... with pictures and lots of J-B Weld.

So far I can tell you that a lot depends on the gears you get. I got the Aquatica Gear Lenses from BHPhoto, and guess what: they;re 0.8 pitch.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800512694-USE/Aquatica_18663_Focus_Gear.html

the problem was finding the gear to fit it. i got lucky and got mine off an old piece of lighting equipment. My buddy knew I was always looking for gears and stuff and brought this thing over... but I'm sure you can find your own 0.8 pitch gears from ebay or a hobby store.

I'll post pictures tomorrow and work backward. My RedRock is going to haveto sit in its box for a bit.
 
I know,,,,that's what I was thinking too.
but they have different sizes from 28mm to 80mm diameter
so if it's that big, it does make scents that the gears are like that I guess...

has anyone tryed it ????anyone??? or does anyone know????
 
i think alot would depend on the actual gears around the lenses. if you get those first, then you could always match up the gears.
 
phew...

phew...

just read the whole thread from scratch...
recently picked up a mini35 system (was gonna build from scratch but ended up saving time and getting one of JJ's kits - http://jjdofadapter.com/ - anyway I toyed with the idea of getting rods and FF from india/ebay but ended up going with Indifocus.

Tim's an awesome guy and I'm glad I did it - but the problem now is the lens gears - tim ships his FF unit with two "drive" gears - cinepitch 0.8 and his stock one - which is 1.0

The gears that he provides (inside diameter approx 76-77mm) are way too big for my teeny el-chepo nikon series E's (I have a 50mm and a 28mm) - but they are only $22

so I was especially pleased to discover that the Aquatica gears mentioned here are

(a) 0.8 pitch
(b) 72mm inside diameter
(c) cost only $9.95

which means I can pick up 2 of those. (hey does anyone know how "thick" they are - one of my lenses has some travel)

However I do have a question - anyone know what pitch the other gears mentioned (the ikelite ones) were ?
Any chance they were cine pitch aswell ?

Nick
 
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