Good cheap follow focus for DSLRs?

C

ChainHeavy

New member
Hi guys,

I'm in the market for a follow focus but as my gear is fairly limited at this stage (Canon 60D with kit 18-55mm, 50mm 1.8 and a Samyang 35mm 1.4) I'm not sure if I should splurge on something expensive.

Does anyone have any experience using a product like this, reviews are positive but also limited so if anyone has any recommendations that'd be great.

Thanks.
 
without a marking wheel or hard stops, there really isnt a big reason to use a follow focus - unless for some reason you cant easily put your hand on your lens.

i would also fear that since dslrs dont have locating pins, that the down and sideward torque might slightly move the camera when the arm is moved.

so, no. i wouldnt suggest it.
 
I bought a fotga dp500II with hard stops recently and It's really nice!

It's beefy and super well made actually.

I'm very impressed with it to be honest, there is no play in mine at all.

Maybe I just got a really good one?
 
homestar_kevin said:
I bought a fotga dp500II with hard stops recently and It's really nice!

It's beefy and super well made actually.

I'm very impressed with it to be honest, there is no play in mine at all.

Maybe I just got a really good one?
Click to expand...

Picked one of these up a few weeks ago for $130 on eBay (with A/B hard stops but not the quick release version) - also very impressed with the quality.
 
I have a couple follow focuses I want to get rid of, the first, original redrock follow focus, looking to get rid of. 85.00, works fine, the second is a proaim, original (60.00) also works fine, has more backlash than redrock, but not a huge deal.
 
The fotga is a GREAT follow focus, only issue is the damn focus indicator should have a way to rotate so that the hard stops don't hit it when you want to pull on the fly.
 
Cool to know it's not a fluke! haha

I really like the quick release, it's a pretty nice feature. It also has dampening adjustment and removable marking disk, reversible gear box, all that follow focus jargen.

I've only had it a little while, so I'm sure if there are flaws in this guy, time will reveal them.

But so far, I'm very content.

Also, just a general follow focus side note.

I'm using the FF mainly with Nikkor primes, do people set up follow focuses different to accommodate for Nikon lenses reverse direction, or just let it ride?

I actually think I'm more used to it than the Canon direction now, but I just wanted to know.
 
maranfilms said:
Im not sure there's anything you can do to change the direction on nikkor
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Some follow focus units have the ability to reverse the gear, others provide an add-on gear to reverse the focus pull direction of Nikon lenses. And many wireless follow focus systems have a focus reverse switch taking care of this problem.
 
That's what I thought David. I need to look into reversing the gear, and decide if I even want to.

I'm still very much enjoying having more control and hard stops of a follow focus at all.

This could be nice though, I'll have to look into it

I also need good lens gears, even though it's been brief, my time with the follow focus has taught me the value in high quality gears
 
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