Gear Porn of the Year

Remote Follow Focus. Standard tools for Steadicam shots for example.

Preston is a big name in this area. Their FI+Z (Focus Iris + Zoom) system costs tens of thousands of dollars. With good reason.


- Mikko
 
mikkowilson said:
Remote Follow Focus. Standard tools for Steadicam shots for example.

Preston is a big name in this area. Their FI+Z (Focus Iris + Zoom) system costs tens of thousands of dollars. With good reason.


- Mikko
Click to expand...

Hmmm ... sounds like we need to get teddybear to make us a DIY version for $100. :grin:
 
redrock micro has promised their new remote FF be be reasonably priced for us poor indie filmmakers. I cant wait to put my order in.
 
It's been fun reading about the lenses the Preston's either have trouble moving (read the American Cinematographer article on "The Dark Knight" where they talk about the Hasselblad lenses on the IMAX camera), or where it just overpowers the lenses. I think Hurlbut talked about this while discussing shooting on the 5D.

Remote iris control is another biggie and I've seen that talked about a lot. Especially for outside to inside shots or vice versa.
 
my stab at the remote focus...all hand made.
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I AGREE
 
Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dcFLtcFj5AU?fs
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I AGREE
 
mcgeedigital said:
I have the viewfactor powered cage and for the way I work it is fantastic.
Click to expand...


I built a very small distro box with 3 outs that I feed an onboard NP1 to. It can power a 7" and amp/splitter pretty much all day. I get the willies thinking about putting the body in a "cage" like that. Does it hamper access at all?

.
 
Chris Santucci said:
I built a very small distro box with 3 outs that I feed an onboard NP1 to. It can power a 7" and amp/splitter pretty much all day. I get the willies thinking about putting the body in a "cage" like that. Does it hamper access at all?

.
Click to expand...

Good point. It doesn't.

The camera slides onto a power module before you secure it, and is powered by an Anton Bauer or other power like your NP-1. Both sides of the cage are open for hdmi and cf card access.

The cage also provides 3 12-14v powered outputs, so I power my monitor and BM HDMI-SDI converter from it as well.

The best part of the cage is all of the 1/4-20 and 3/8 threaded holes you can use to mount things like a monitor.

I have had one monitor hit the ground twice in one shoot because I tried to mount it to the hot shoe.

That is a recipe for disaster, IMO.

I will be doing a video review of it soon.

Best,
 
Interesting. I saw V.Laforet's gear video in which he touted the merits of the cage. I can see where I could use it to good effect in studio shoots for most of the commercials I do. But I'm pretty unresolved about committing to that large of a form factor for location work and narrative. One of the things I love about working with the 5D is the small form factor. Being able to quickly separate the cam from all the "stuff" and jump on a ladder and arm the camera over a bed, for example, is really cool. Also small works when guerrilla gunning on the streets around SF. It looks like the move from caged 5D to sleek 5D is a lengthy reconfig.

hmmm. Still pondering that...and I'm starting to lean towards S.Hurlbut's strategy: the cams are cheap, so have enough on set to pre-config one for each type of use. For me that would mean Caged-beast 5D, Freebird-5D, and Steadi-5D.

EDIT: Oh I forgot to add that I'm pretty warry of purchasing anything from Viewfactor that they don't have in stock after their FF fiasco. Its good to hear that you didn't have any problems getting one.
 
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I hear you.

That is why I only bought one for the 7d.

My other camera, a 5dmkii, is stripped down to the basics for just such an occasion.
 
Hi Everyone, Pete the HoFo guy here.

The current Hocus Focus is really made for DSLR/SLR and Broadcast lenses. The motor is pretty strong, but the rotation on the motor is not always enough to turn the lens the whole way (eg, you might set one end on infinite focus, and then when you turn towards close, the motor stops before the lens hits close focus)

We do have an entirely new system which will be released at IBC next week. This new system is a real 'big boy's follow focus' and is capable of focusing any lens, no matter how stiff or how far it turns (infinite rotation)

IBC starts on Friday, keep an eye on www.HocusProducts.com and our twitter (@HocusProducts) or our Facebook (search pete@hocusproducts.com and add Hocus Focus as a friend) for updates.

Thanks a lot,

Pete.
 
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