C200: Bad lens shifting using Tilta Nucleus Nano

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peter917

Active member
Not sure if anyone can help as I am new to wireless FF systems. I have the nucleus nano and am using the c200 and a slr magic 50mm apo cine lens with their pl to ef adapter. I also have a lens support at the front of the barrel of the lens.

I am getting some lens shifting when pulling focus, less noticable with small pulls but any fast racking its really bad. Is this normal? Do I need a cage to help eliminate this? Figured lens support would do the trick.
 
Sounds like you have play in the lens mount or in the lens mount adapter. You can probably tell by grabbing the lens with your hand and moving it around where the looseness is. Don’t know how much you’ll be able to do about it though.
 
Will do when I have some time tonight. Maybe getting the wooden camera PL mount adapter would fix the issue?
 
I have the same problem on certain lenses Leitax mounted contax zeiss. Above 85mm it get noticeably bad. 0 issues with PL mount. I wish more camera manufactures did a twist lock mount for EF.
 
I believe the Wooden Camera solution is a retrofit to the camera. So yes, that should be a rock solid solution. Be aware that changing back & forth from PL to EF is not something to be done quickly in the field with this mod.
 
Okay, I also notice I sometimes am getting a shaking sensation as well. Not to sure what is going on with that. I have a Benro H10 tripod and head so I know it supports the weight. Works great when using A to B stops, only a issue when trying to pull with the full lens rotation. Maybe there is a torque setting I can adjust.
 
I've noticed an unacceptable amount of motor vibration (could be called "shaking sensation") in bench testing my Nucleus-N. This would definitely show up in long lens work. Considering returning it due to this potentially showstopping flaw. Will have to test it more, but unsure I will have time to do so before my return window is expired.

Not ready for prime time IMHO.
 
That sucks, I have had it for 3 months and am just now doing extensive testing..Not sure if they offer warranty that long. Maybe I should go with the M
 
I know sometimes people are busy and don't have time to "play" with their new gear, but I recommend always opening it up and at the very least giving it a good once over in as close to real world conditions as possible, so that if you discover something you don't like about it, flaws, damage, etc., you can report it/return it to the dealer/manufacturer immediately before it's too late. I have a friend who waited three months to open up and take his 17" Sony monitor out of the box and it was damaged(cracked screen, I believe). Fortunately our dealer stepped up and took care of him, but if it had been a lot of other places, he would have probably been stuck waiting that long to report a problem.

I'm sure it's still under warranty, but you probably have passed any sort of return period.
 
Mitch Gross said:
I believe the Wooden Camera solution is a retrofit to the camera. So yes, that should be a rock solid solution. Be aware that changing back & forth from PL to EF is not something to be done quickly in the field with this mod.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I own this mod and it's quite sturdy and well made, changing from EF to PL isn't that bad either, but back the other way can be quite difficult because of many pieces the EF breaks into. Definitely not recommended to change in the field, but 20 mins in a good space (or even camera truck) is enough.
 
IanTheM said:
Yeah, I own this mod and it's quite sturdy and well made, changing from EF to PL isn't that bad either, but back the other way can be quite difficult because of many pieces the EF breaks into. Definitely not recommended to change in the field, but 20 mins in a good space (or even camera truck) is enough.
Click to expand...

Thread hijack alert - Is there a video or instructions on how to go back from PL to EF? I know Wooden Camera has an EF to PL instructional video but I haven't found one that goes the other way

Signed, the one sucker that paid Canon for the C200 PL mod before Wooden Camera came out with a solution for half the cost.
 
Dustin Svehlak said:
Thread hijack alert - Is there a video or instructions on how to go back from PL to EF? I know Wooden Camera has an EF to PL instructional video but I haven't found one that goes the other way

Signed, the one sucker that paid Canon for the C200 PL mod before Wooden Camera came out with a solution for half the cost.
Click to expand...

I'm really not sure, my business partner is really mechanically minded so he figured it out pretty easily, but I think that if you look at a tutorial of putting a regular EF mount back on a DSLR it's quite similar, the tough part is knowing where the spring goes, and keeping it from popping out.
 
peter917 said:
Not sure if anyone can help as I am new to wireless FF systems. I have the nucleus nano and am using the c200 and a slr magic 50mm apo cine lens with their pl to ef adapter. I also have a lens support at the front of the barrel of the lens.

I am getting some lens shifting when pulling focus, less noticable with small pulls but any fast racking its really bad. Is this normal? Do I need a cage to help eliminate this? Figured lens support would do the trick.
Click to expand...

Mitch Gross said:
Sounds like you have play in the lens mount or in the lens mount adapter. You can probably tell by grabbing the lens with your hand and moving it around where the looseness is. Don’t know how much you’ll be able to do about it though.
Click to expand...

Owning a mechanical follow focus pretty much changes everything. (not just the lens mount as mitch says.. but everything)

Not only does the lens mount need to be good.. the whole 'route' from the lens to the rod needs to be perfect.

This mechanical journey is typically a big U which is always an engineering challenge.

Not only will flex in the lens mount need to be perfect but also the whole 'mechanical route' that the torque travels..

Typically..
Lens itstelf -many lenses have loose front elements leading to flex
lens adapter
lens mount
(camera - most are almost rigid)
Camera baseplate
Baseplate to rod
rod
focus motor grip on the rod

check all of these points - become a complete rigging geek check the fit of everything.

The C200 is a tall and short camera - thats a challenge to start with because you have a long machanical journey

The mechanical journey can be hurgely shortened by using ..
lens supports attached to rods
or more ideally
a hard matte box clamped onto the front element of the lens and clamped to the rods - hard matte box - no nuns nickers.

Then you have a new problem.. once you have a really hard and short journey everything needs to line up perfectly and lens changes become fiddly.

You then want to throw everything away and buy a full arri system because thier lenses, lens mounts cameras, baseplates and matte boxes are hard and properly alligned.

And yes if the motor is jittering.. it is junk.. I had the HoFo 1 some years ago and it used to jitter.. owning it ended up being a pure waste of money.. I literally threw it away after a couple of goes at getting it serviced.

As it happens Ive had good experience with the DJI focus motor
 
You might be interested to see how my motor is rigged on my FS7.

The rod is attached to the side rosette on the camera.. this makes for a short mechanical route as the camera baseplate and any rig is excluded from the mechanical route.

You may also note that I have replace the knob on the focus motor.. mine has a small hole so it can be really tightened onto the rod with an allen key.
The smallHD rod clamp is well designed to exert a good clamping force on the rod,
The rod clamp is connected to the plate with 2 threads and a gunmetal pin to hold it in location
The aluminium plate that I cut is roughly finished but, I can assure you, is absolutely rigid on to the rosette with the 4 M3 bolts

In the background you can see a little fork I made to clamp certain telephoto lenses to the shoe on the camera.

Yes its super nerdy but I have considered the rigidity of every joint in the mechanical route.

View attachment 135422
 
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morgan_moore said:
You might be interested to see how my motor is rigged on my FS7.

The rod is attached to the side rosette on the camera.. this makes for a short mechanical route as the camera baseplate and any rig is excluded from the mechanical route.

You may also note that I have replace the knob on the focus motor.. mine has a small hole so it can be really tightened onto the rod with an allen key.
The smallHD rod clamp is well designed to exert a good clamping force on the rod,
The rod clamp is connected to the plate with 2 threads and a gunmetal pin to hold it in location
The aluminium plate that I cut is roughly finished but, I can assure you, is absolutely rigid on to the rosette with the 4 M3 bolts

In the background you can see a little fork I made to clamp certain telephoto lenses to the shoe on the camera.

Yes its super nerdy but I have considered the rigidity of every joint in the mechanical route.

View attachment 135422
Click to expand...

Link wont work.
 
Before you go crazy with buying parts or fabricating mounts, take a close look at the rig. Does the rod on which the motor is mounted flex? Does the motor turn smoothly when adjusted slowly, or is there a jump or jitter? Grab the focus ring of the lens - does it have mechanical play front/back or rotationally (meaning that the ring shifts a bit before moving glass or otherwise meeting any tension or resistance). If you grab the lens in one hand and the mount adapter in another, can you get any movement between them? What about movement between the adapter and the camera?

There’s a lot of points where looseness can be introduced. Most likely it’s between the lens and the camera with those adapters and the spring-clip design of the EF mount. But you should check before you commit to any purchase.

Swapping the mounts is not impossible, but if you’re really not comfortable then you need to consider this. More mechanically minded people dive right in but if it’s not your thing then you should decide if you really want to do this. As far as switching back to the EF mount, carefully watching the EF-to-PL video should make it clear how to reverse the process. Take notes, work at a controlled and well lit table and take your time.
 
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