Bebob Foxi Impressions

bena said:
Opcode, is there any chance you could open up your foxy and take some pics? I would really like to know how it works so us DIY guys can make ourselves one. ;')

Thanks
Ben
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Hello,

as you see in the account name, we are the manufacturer of Foxi. I guess that you enjoy that different manufacturers put efforts, money and time in developping innovative products. They will do it only as long as they can hope to come back on their investment.

I respect that you would like to make such a controller on your own.

Don´t you think it would be a much better way to ask panasonic about the informations you need, than trying to copy what other people made?

Regards,

pierre
 
Opcode said:
You mean open up the guts and let you reverse engineer it? It's got screws so it looks like it can be safely opened but I don't know how ethical that would be of me. I can't do it at this time anyways because I've got jobs that are dependent on a fully functioning foxi.

From an engineering perspective though you'll need to find out what the camera expects signal wise going in through the LANC imput. My guess the rotary dial is a simple pot/variable resistor and not some fancy digital encoder. If you are EE saavy you may be able to make your own.
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Hello,

Many thanks for your very fair and correct reaction,

Pierre
 
evinsky said:
I would be willing to conduct and publish a shootout here if Varizoom and Bebop will supply some examples for me to use. Tom, any chance your Follow Focus prototype is working yet?
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Hello,

don´t hesitate to contact me (pierre@bebob.de) or our distributor in the US (jeff@16x9inc.com) to get some units for tests. I´m at your disposal for any more technical information you could need.

Pierre
 
I emailed beebob and he says the foxi ff wont work on my dvc80 so now I need to know which one will? does anyone know?
 
That's cool of both. Great that varizoom listens and builds according to customer requests.. and same for bebob. Good for us all!
 
bilgami said:
I emailed beebob and he says the foxi ff wont work on my dvc80 so now I need to know which one will? does anyone know?
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The Foxi is a Focus and Iris control. The DVC80 doesn't allow for remote focus or iris control.
 
I currently own the Varizoom and finally got the chance to use the Foxi. Honestly, the Varizoom is way too sensitive for spot on focusing. The nice thing about the Varizoom though is the all-in-one functionality of it. Zoom/Focus/Iris and record button all on the same unit. Once I pick up a 35 adapter I see the VZ as being the perfect tool for quick and easy iris and recording functions.

But if you're looking for a follow focus unit for the stock HVX lens, the Foxi is the one for you. After using the Foxi for a shoot, both my AC and I love it!. I swear to you that unless using a 35 adapter with the HVX, all you'd need for focus pulling is the Bebob Foxi, forget a mechanical follow focus unit. On a recent music video we used the Foxi for multiple stationary and steadicam rack shots and the Foxi was spot on in every shot!

The large white marking band hugging the focus knob is marked with 3 protruding black arrows that allow for precise markings everytime. My only complaint about the Foxi is the lack of a record button and the Iris belt is a bit too stiff.

While the focus is controlled via the nice and large 270 degree knob, the iris is controlled by a belt system that feels too stiff. So if you plan on iris pulling, it may be a bit difficult to do so.

P.S. Tom, any chance I can get a hold of one those new VZ units for review as well?
 
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VariZoom

VariZoom

Mr. Blonde,

Thanks for the kind comments. The big knob is more forgiving for sure and when our large knob focus puller version is in production I will put you on the list as a tester but it will be after NAB. Please PM me with your contact info.

You can most likely however see one at NAB. We actually have quite a few new products at NAB. It is very hard on manufuacturers like myself preparing for NAB and there are so many things you want to show etc. but there is not enough space and time to do it all.

It really is great seeing users with constructive, helpful points of view.

That's why I am a fan of DVXUSER.

Also, VariZoom has a new catalog. As hard as we worked on it we still had a few mistakes with text, photos, and some other stuff too.

We are also going to have a contest to see who can find the most mistakes within the VariZoom catalog and give away 10 controls to the the top ten finders of these mistakes.

I will likely make announcement later this week. There is a form on the site linking from the front page if you would like one mailed to you. You can also download the pdf catalog now and and start the search.

http://www.varizoom.com/catalog.html



http://www.varizoom.com


Tom








Mr. Blonde said:
I currently own the Varizoom and finally got the chance to use the Foxi. Honestly, the Varizoom is way too sensitive for spot on focusing. The nice thing about the Varizoom though is the all-in-one functionality of it. Zoom/Focus/Iris and record button all on the same unit. Once I pick up a 35 adapter I see the VZ as being the perfect tool for quick and easy iris and recording functions.

But if you're looking for a follow focus unit for the stock HVX lens, the Foxi is the one for you. After using the Foxi for a shoot, both my AC and I love it!. I swear to you that unless using a 35 adapter with the HVX, all you'd need for focus pulling is the Bebob Foxi, forget a mechanical follow focus unit. On a recent music video we used the Foxi for multiple stationary and steadicam rack shots and the Foxi was spot on in every shot!

The large white marking band hugging the focus knob is marked with 3 protruding black arrows that allow for precise markings everytime. My only complaint about the Foxi is the lack of a record button and the Iris belt is a bit too stiff.

While the focus is controlled via the nice and large 270 degree knob, the iris is controlled by a belt system that feels too stiff. So if you plan on iris pulling, it may be a bit difficult to do so.

P.S. Tom, any chance I can get a hold of one those new VZ units for review as well?
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Had a chance to use the shipping version of the Foxi today. As an "electronic follow focus", it's really quite nice.

I had tested a prerelease version and wasn't too impressed, but this release version feels great -- solid, nicely dampened movement, and easy to do precise moves. It makes a strong case for forgetting about a conventional follow focus, especially because the Foxi can be used with a cable extender when the camera is mounted on a jib arm (or otherwise inaccessible).

Don't know that I'm too impressed with the iris conveyer-belt design, but the focus system on the shipping unit was very pleasant.
 
Barry_Green said:
Had a chance to use the shipping version of the Foxi today. As an "electronic follow focus", it's really quite nice.
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I agree, I'm going to do the first half of the shootout with the Foxi and the available Varizoom this week. Hopefully I'll have it done by next weekend. When Tom getts me his new FF style controller I'll add a part 2.
E.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Barry_Green said:
Had a chance to use the shipping version of the Foxi today. As an "electronic follow focus", it's really quite nice.
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Hey Barry,

Being an electronic focus, how fast can you pull focus? Do the servos keep up to normal manual focus speeds?
 
I got a chance to play with both units today at the bootcamp, and there were things I liked about both. I liked the price of the Varizoom, but... the focus apparatus is quite small and I'm not sure how good I could get at precision repeatability with the unit. Still, having the focus, iris, and zoom all in one place that can be attached to the tripod is pretty cool --- particularly for under $300. I will probably buy one.

The Foxi was fantastic, and we were able to repeat focus with marks on the unit. However, I agree with Barry about the iris "treadmill/conveyor belt." It feels really funky when you have to go from full open all the way to the f16. I don't know how often anyone needs to do that, but it kinda felt cheezy. If I weren't set on getting an M2, I'd buy one in a second, but it would be useless with a 35mm adapter.
 
bgundu said:
Being an electronic focus, how fast can you pull focus? Do the servos keep up to normal manual focus speeds?
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You can go from one extreme to the other in about a second. It's really quite fast; not absolutely instantaneous, but it only takes it about a second to go from macro to infinity.
 
My company is using the HVX-200 in more documentary style environments for our current set of products, and the stock focus ring gave us some concern once we saw that it took 2.5 revolutions to go from macro to infinity. Much of our footage is captured run and gun style, and being able to quickly and accurately focus on a subject that we don't have distances for is a necessary requirement. To make things worse, these environments often have multiple layers of activity, so auto-focus is usually unreliable even as a last resort.

We've just received our first Foxi a few days ago, and it makes a world of difference for this kind of work. Focus is much faster, and just as accurate without having to jerk the camera around trying to work the focus ring for a quick realignment. Very nice piece of equipment to invest in for the HVX.
 
Opcode said:
First I'd like to say that this is just an initial impression and I have not had time to really put it to test. I have not verified the accuracy of the focus repeatability. I'm only commenting on my initial impressions and opinions.
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It works. I had an engineering prototype to test for several weeks, and have had two release versions from the first day of availability. I just finished up a music video shoot with four different locations using them. I really couldn't have done all the dolly tracking shots and rack focus work without them. Nice job Pierre, and thanks to Jeff G. at 16x9 for getting them in the U.S. so quickly.


Opcode said:
The unit comes with an offset block that allows you to attach it to the controller and helps separate it from the camera when attached to support rods. The kit also comes with an extra marking strip to replace the one that is included stock.
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We found using the block on the tripod handles is a good idea... keeps the long rods from sticking out and is more secure.


Opcode said:
The foxi attaches to the LANC input via a coiled cable and allows manual control of both iris and focus. One of the nice things about it that the focus knob uses a 270 degree hard stop and allows you roll through the full focus range of the camera in single twist.
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Actually, it isn't LANC, but a proprietary Panasonic port.


Opcode said:
The focus knob uses a friction based resistance which gives a bit more fine control, however, I found that the resistance is bit too much for my liking and as far as I know, not adjustable. If you are pulling focus while panning or tilting by yourself, it is possible that turning could affect the smoothness of the shot depending on how fast you need to rack.

The question is whether the foxi is a replacement for a well engineered manual follow focus and the simple answer is that it is not. The Foxi uses an electronic system that drives the internal focusing servos. As such, it is limited by the speed and resolution of the analog input. A manually geared follow focus will give you finer control and provides more sensitivity to allow minor adjustments.
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I'd have to disagree. I actually find mechanical systems less useful. Many of the things we did couldn't have been done with a system requiring two people. FWIW, I never had a problem with what your concern is, and as I said... used it in grueling long days (10-16 hours) for four days in a row. Like everything, operator skill is a factor, but trust me it works fine, even in difficult shooting environments.


Opcode said:
I haven't really played with the varizoom but I believe the foxi is a significant step up over it given the aforementioned features. Having a 270 degree throw just gives you more control.
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It is... but then it costs more.

Opcode said:
At a price point of 465.00, it offers a good low cost alternative to a full follow focus system for the budget minded but I would definitely say it's not a replacement for a well made geared follow focus system by the professional manufacturers.
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Again, I disagree... having used it for quite some time now.
 
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