What are the best Lens Gears?

benhuddleston

benhuddleston

Well-known member
I want to permanently outfit all of my Minolta lenses with lens gears to cut down on setup time on set. What are the opinions out there?

I have a few of the RedRock ones (about $60 each), and although they work well, I have two problems with them:

---You can't go 360. I know I know, you rarely need to do that for a shot, but what this means is that on some lenses you have to adjust the gear from one shot to the next to be in the required focal range.
---Being plastic, they can slip around on metal lenses. I deal with this issue with gaffers tape, which works fine, I guess. Minor complaint.

I am interested in the other options that can go 360. Cinevate's look great, but they're $120 ea. How about Indifocus'? I'm interested to see some pics of these in action, as they are only $22.

Anyone have comments, or photos?

Ben
 
keep in mind that indifocus only makes 1mm pitch rings, not the industry standard .8
so these will likely not be compatible with your current follow focus (unless it has a 1mm drive gear).

JBK makes custom fit rings for $90 a piece. You just send them your diameter. They are 360* and fit snugly around the barrel (with no gap) but they still use set screws to tighten which can ultimately damage the finish. They are a bit pricey though and can only be used on a lens with a matching barrel diameter. They look great as a permanent ring though.

I personally purchased the type 2 rings that Wayne mentioned above. They offer the best versatility, best finish, and 360 degree rotation. The only downside is the use of set screws for tightening. I plan to buy "feet" with matching thread count to thread on the bottom of each screw and give a clean (redrock type) of grip. I have used JBK, redrock, cinevate, shoot35, Zacuto, and Ebay zip cord types and I think the shoot35 are pretty good for the money.

I wonder if their type 1 "feet" screws would work on the Type 2 lenses.
 
I would prefer a zacuto style wrap around lens gear without any set screws if you are talking about design/functionality being the top priority. The JBK ones that avenger mentioned seem similar but with set screws. My problem with the more affordable lens gears from indifocus, sgpro, rr, etc... is that they all use the individually adjusted set screws and you have to center your lens perfectly in order to get a consistent and smooth connection to your gear driver. Even what might look centered to the eye you find out isnt exactly centered when mounted to the FF.

The zacuto, or similar style wrap-around-and-cut-to-size lens gear, is a great option for someone who wants to gear all their lenses permanently like you are talking about. Also, if you have zeiss primes with the metal focus ring, you wont scratch off the paint as you will with set screws.

As it turns out, money happened to rule all out in my choice of lens gear, so I have indifocus gears at $22. They work great.
 
benhuddleston said:
I want to permanently outfit all of my Minolta lenses with lens gears to cut down on setup time on set. What are the opinions out there?

I have a few of the RedRock ones (about $60 each), and although they work well, I have two problems with them:

---You can't go 360. I know I know, you rarely need to do that for a shot, but what this means is that on some lenses you have to adjust the gear from one shot to the next to be in the required focal range.
---Being plastic, they can slip around on metal lenses. I deal with this issue with gaffers tape, which works fine, I guess. Minor complaint.

I am interested in the other options that can go 360. Cinevate's look great, but they're $120 ea. How about Indifocus'? I'm interested to see some pics of these in action, as they are only $22.

Anyone have comments, or photos?

Ben
Click to expand...

I have both the Zacuto and the Redrock Gears. I find for small diameter lens, the Red Rock work better than the Zacutos since they increase the effective diameter considerably. This creates a longer focus draw - hence more precise focus pulling. On my wide barrel lenses (nikon 135 nikon 105) since the focus draw is adequately long I use the Zacuto rings.

The plastic with the redrock is not an issue. Absolutely no slippage and being plastic - no damage or scratches on the lens. Not sure why you'd ever need to go 360 degrees when most still lenses rarely have a focus draw more than 180 degrees. And if the ring joint does get in the way, adjusting the RRock's position takes a matter of seconds. It's not a big deal.

I had owned a cinevate gear and found it entirely impractical. The pegs cannot be tightened from the outside of the ring (there were no holes whatsoever in the ring to screw down the pegs via allen or screwdriver). As unbelievable as it sounds, I don't know how they expected anyone to be able to tighten the pegs short of jamming some needle nose plyers between the lens and ring to clamp and tighten the peg. Also, you must be quite precise in your tightening to make sure the length is equal or you run into issues of inconsistant contact / pressure with your FFocus gears.

The SG is a peg/ring system as well but they've seem to have the good sense to drill/tap holes in the ring thereby allowing adjustment with an Allen key from the outside. This is a huge advancement over the cinevate ring. Needless to say, I returned my Cinevate ring. Not sure if they improved upon it since.

In short, the RR rock rings are still king in my book. Ease of adjustment and no chance of unequal distance between gear and lens housing hence eliminating uneven gear pressure. And if you ever have to slide it to a different position, it's a two second operation. You can also use the gear joint as a "hard stop" if you like. Also, the RR rings have no comparision in terms of ease in taking on and off. I've found this incerdibly useful when I rent or borrow some oddball lenses that don't have gears. The Zacuto rings, once cut will only work with that particular diameter - that's it. The peg rings take longer to tighten and adjust.
 
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Arrik said:
I would prefer a zacuto style wrap around lens gear without any set screws if you are talking about design/functionality being the top priority. The JBK ones that avenger mentioned seem similar but with set screws. My problem with the more affordable lens gears from indifocus, sgpro, rr, etc...t.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on the SG and cinevate, but with the red rock there's just one collar tightening screw. Centering is insured by the non-adjustable plastic feet. Just tighten the screw and no centering issues whatsoever. I use mine with a Chrosziel and never once had a centering problem despite the fact I attach them in less than 10 seconds. And as I mentioned before, the Zacuto rings with small lenses are not as precise. I once had a Zacuto on the Nikon 50mm. I had to switch to the small gear on the Chrosziel to get a precise pull.
 
I agree with Tim. There is nothing faster than the RR rings. For the shoot35 rings, I like keeping them on my lenses permanently, thus they never need adjusting. I use gaff to keep the barrels clean, but would prefer something nicer.

I also carry a set of 3 RR rings for backup on set. I typically use my own prime set, so I know what lenses I am using but if you go with a macro or zoom that has an extending barrel, adding RR rings is a cinch.
 
So, any more comments on the SGPro gears? How about the Indifocus ones? Are either of these ones solid? Anyone have any pics of them?
 
The SGPro gears are nicely machined. They have a good feel and are properly drilled for the set screws. The indifocus are a similar design but smaller and lack the fit and finish of the SG gears. They also don't include 2 sizes of set screws like the SG does. You get what you pay for IMO.

I replaced my set screws in my SG rings to something more similar to their Type 1 gears. Then I just left those rings on the lenses. I think having a permanent ring on your primary lenses and then carrying a set of 3 or 4 redrock rings is the best setup. It allows me to quickly add a gear to any additional lenses brought on set or add one quickly to the iris and run a second follow focus (same applies to the zoom).
 
Tim Naylor said:
I agree with you on the SG and cinevate, but with the red rock there's just one collar tightening screw. Centering is insured by the non-adjustable plastic feet. Just tighten the screw and no centering issues whatsoever. I use mine with a Chrosziel and never once had a centering problem despite the fact I attach them in less than 10 seconds. And as I mentioned before, the Zacuto rings with small lenses are not as precise. I once had a Zacuto on the Nikon 50mm. I had to switch to the small gear on the Chrosziel to get a precise pull.
Click to expand...

I did not realize this. I've been holding off on getting the zacuto's because of the price. I don't mind the zacuto with small lenses as I'm using the ZF's and they have a long focus throw. I also like how the lenses take up less space in the bag without the lens gears.

The RR sound like the perfect alternative though. Easily set up and guaranteed even distance around the circumference of the lens. That is the most important to me.
 
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