Cinevate Reveals New Focus Gear Design!

Dennis Wood

Dennis Wood

DVXuser Sponsor
icon1.gif
Cinevate Announces New Focus Ring Design




Cinevate's new focus gears will be debuting this week. The original design has been completely re-worked after 3 years of field feedback and use of our focus gears with ENG lenses, still lenses etc.

The cost per gear will be in the $30 US range, or approx £15 for comparison. Like Cinevate's Durus Follow Focus, the gears carry a lifetime warranty. Being that our designs have been "borrowed" in the past, we're not letting this one out until our patent-pending status is in place.

Changes from our older design other than the drastic reduction in cost (we've made a very large quantity), are as follows:

1. They offer over twice the lens travel distance of the current design. Btw, the zip gear mentioned here would be useless (or require very frequent repositioning) with any SLR lens with typical focus ring physical "breathing".
2. The gears are fiber-reinforced composite and use brass thread inserts.
3. Our "spokes" (stainless steel) now feature custom integrated nylon tips.
4. Enlarged inner diameter for easier use with ENG lenses, larger cine lenses and video camera stock lenses. They now fit the Fujinon lenses used with the HPX500, LOMO cine lenses and anything else we could dig up to test them on. They're shown here on the 24-70 Canon f2.8D lens.
5. About 50% lighter with a 40% reduction in profile.
6. Because they are matched (we're talking gear thrust surfaces) precisely with our FF drive gears, they have what I'd call perfect engagement that is silent, with lash near zero measurable. What this means is super smooth, self-lubricating and silent performance that we would be completely comfortable holding up against systems four times the cost.
7. Installation is now much, much quicker. About 2 minutes per lens.
8. We don't and never will use zip gears. Flexible gears cannot guarantee consistent tooth profiles (tooth distance at tip varies as you flex them), nor can they ever handle full 360 degree rotation. They're cheap and can be made in one mold (very cheap to make) however we pretty much rejected the concept from day one.

Finally, they're just a lot sexier :-) We're expecting to be shipping them this week. It sounds strange to be excited about something little like this but this addition raises the performance of our Durus Follow Focus to a new level of excellence in terms of its function and design. Those who know what we do here will agree that we're always pushing incredibly hard to improve our gear...and I don't get excited too often.

Later this week...an SI-2K camera with our full 2/3" relay setup as well as a straight 2/3" B4 lens. Both will feature the Durus Follow Focus on the rig.

Cheers,
Dennis.
 
damm....I was looking around for new gears today and was surfing your site....... hours later you deliver what I need. Cheers, Denis and looking good.

ps...like the price
 
Thek, thanks for your kind words. The gears themselves are a small item but what they reflect is Cinevate's committment to responding to our customer's needs. Ultimately my goal is to have the coolest home movies in the world of my 1 and 6 year old daughters. Weekends are often an opportunity to "play" with new stuff we're experimenting with. The SI-2K system was used to film Slum Dog Millionaire....and last weekend, my kids. :-)
 
Last edited:
The gears will fit any FD lens with an outside diameter under 100mm...we've got about eight of them in our test set. On Monday you'll see the fitment guide in the catalog so you can specify the best "spoke" length for your application. We stock 5 different lengths ... mostly to provide the cleanest look possible. Aesthetics are important to us, just as they are to you :-)

You may want to look over my posts here as I've answered a few questions in that thread too. Post #22 and onward are most relevant.
 
Thanks Robert. A lot of time was spent redesigning the gears, so your feedback is much appreciated :-)

Cheers,
Dennis.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top