Best Sub-500 Dollar Follow Focus Choice

T

Thomas Church

Active member
I'm looking for a follow focus to use with the AF100, but I want something that's pretty versatile and I can keep for a few years even after I upgrade to Scarlet S35.

One thing I don't understand is the difference between rod width and the size of the barrel of the lens.

Ideally the best would be to get a follow focus with which you could also use rented cine-glass.

Is there a quality option under 500?
 
SGpro. Much better than Redrockmicro (used to have both. And used to rent Arri also). Little downside it's not lightweight as the smaller Chrosziel (but then you're looking at double the price)
 
I've been looking at those two as well. The RR has a reversible gear option for Nikon glass, kinda nice. Anything like that for the SGPro?
 
+1 for SGPro - best bang for the buck.

So good, it´s almost constantly sold out.
New stock will arrive between approx 1st - 8th December, they say.

Frank
 
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A used Cinevate. They're too expensive new, but very well-built, no detectable play, quiet...it just works.
 
One vote for Redrock's FF. Keep your eyes open for a used V2. It's built well and you'll probably come in under $500
 
Zero play.

Smart, simple construction.

3D Marking Disc.

Reversible, adjustable on both X and Y axis.

The $140 D|Focus.

Is it the world's best follow focus? No. It's the world's cheapest. Yes, it's a little stiff compared to a Chrosziel, but still very easy to feather out your rack and hitting a mark is never a problem. I'd rather it be a little stiff with no play and cost almost $400 less.
 
I love my redrock v2. Got one used for 340. I run it with a redrock speed crank and it is butter. I have a dfocus as well for my bcam. Not a big fan, but it is the lowest price out there.
 
I have used the D|Focus as well...I have not commented on it much because the unit I used was a rental. But, it did have a mm or two of play in the first stage gear. Perhaps some tweaking could have tightened it up. But, it was reversible, and easy to adjust.

I've not used a FF that I thought was stiff enough!
 
811productions said:
Not a big fan, but it is the lowest price out there.
Click to expand...

Do you know how old it was? Because the V3 version has absolutely no play whatsoever. The trade off is remarkable stiffness. I've used a friend's original DFocus, the play is unbelievable compared to the newest one. Much improved gear mechanism too, I think.

Every time I get to use a proper Arri follow focus, the difference becomes very apparent. But that's $2,000 I'd rather spend on a great lens.
 
I'd also like to get an inexpensive follow focus for my B-cam, but it's hard to tell if the DFocus is the one to order. You can't order it from the DFocus website. They send you to Jag35, which says it's a pre-order and not shipping until July, but that appears to be from 6 months ago, which means they don't update their website with current info (something I don't like to see). And the other site, Express35.com, says it's sold out. Why can't these companies update their websites? I'm even apprehensive to order from IndiSystem because he doesn't have decent pictures of his products.
 
RyanDeFranco said:
Do you know how old it was? Because the V3 version has absolutely no play whatsoever. The trade off is remarkable stiffness. I've used a friend's original DFocus, the play is unbelievable compared to the newest one. Much improved gear mechanism too, I think.

Every time I get to use a proper Arri follow focus, the difference becomes very apparent. But that's $2,000 I'd rather spend on a great lens.
Click to expand...


I think I have version 2? I got it about 5 months ago... I don't mind that it's stiff, it just isn't consistently stiff, if that makes any sense. It seems to have more drag on one half of the turn compared to the other.
 
I see what you mean. Maybe I got lucky with my version 3, it's stiff in both directions. D|Focus is designed by a single guy, who passed the selling rights off to a small company Jag35, which is staffed by literally 2 or 3 customer service people and the rest is all engineers.... so forgive them for having a junky website. They tend to move on to the next product and forget to update the image for the last one. If you scroll down, you'll see in the comments section that it is shipping, but with a 2-week wait, as they can only afford to produce the units in small batches.

I cannot tell you how many people I have heard bad things about re: Indisystem... the rods break, everything scratches easily, problems go unaddressed for months, people don't receive their gear 5 weeks after they ordered it... meanwhile the Jag35 people are very nice to deal with, quick to respond to questions and happy to make last minute changes to your order. If you want a follow focus that gets the job done nicely, I would definitely recommend the DFocus V3.

Oh, and they accept returns no questions asked.
 
I have the D|Focus V3 and it is awesome for the price. I currently have it rigged to my T2i but as soon as my AF100 ships it is going on that.
 
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