Grisnjam
Well-known member
I do a lot of live event work including weddings and I needed a follow focus for my GH2. I only have native Micro Four Third lenses (14-140mm and 20mm Panasonic, 12mm and 45mm Olympus) as I shoot a lot of stills too and need the fast AF and AE.
This presents a problem as the small size of these lenses can make them incompatible with a lot of Follow Focus systems. Most geared follow focus systems are impossible to use with electronic focus controlled lenses since the focus ring spins freely and the gears have a joint.
Another consideration when doing weddings is the need for fast lens swaps so a follow focus with rails, matte box and gears will not work well. Live event shooting does not require focus marking as is needed for narrative based focus pulls.
So with all these considerations my search lead me to the iDC System ZERO friction based follow focus for the GH2 (http://www.idcphotovideo.com/store/system-zero-follow-focus-standard-panasonic-gh2). The only issue is that my prime lenses where to close to the body to work. Enter some silicone wristbands:
Wrapping them around the focus ring allows the IDC follow focus to work properly. The 12mm and 45mm will work with just one band while the 20mm takes three bands to reach (you need to trim the inner most band some). Best of all if I use three bands on the 12mm and 45mm and with System Zero set all the way back I can use it on all my lenses without adjusting the System Zeros under-plate. This allows for 10 second lens swaps. The iDC system also allows access to the battery without removing the camera from your rig.
Anyway I hope this helps others looking for a follow focus to work with the short native Micro Four Thirds prime lenses.
Also my silicone band supplier is planning on selling packs of bands for this purpose on his web site (http://www.design-a-band.com/) for $12.50 shipped.
Here is a quick and dirty how-to video I made on this subject:
Thanks,
This presents a problem as the small size of these lenses can make them incompatible with a lot of Follow Focus systems. Most geared follow focus systems are impossible to use with electronic focus controlled lenses since the focus ring spins freely and the gears have a joint.
Another consideration when doing weddings is the need for fast lens swaps so a follow focus with rails, matte box and gears will not work well. Live event shooting does not require focus marking as is needed for narrative based focus pulls.
So with all these considerations my search lead me to the iDC System ZERO friction based follow focus for the GH2 (http://www.idcphotovideo.com/store/system-zero-follow-focus-standard-panasonic-gh2). The only issue is that my prime lenses where to close to the body to work. Enter some silicone wristbands:
Wrapping them around the focus ring allows the IDC follow focus to work properly. The 12mm and 45mm will work with just one band while the 20mm takes three bands to reach (you need to trim the inner most band some). Best of all if I use three bands on the 12mm and 45mm and with System Zero set all the way back I can use it on all my lenses without adjusting the System Zeros under-plate. This allows for 10 second lens swaps. The iDC system also allows access to the battery without removing the camera from your rig.
Anyway I hope this helps others looking for a follow focus to work with the short native Micro Four Thirds prime lenses.
Also my silicone band supplier is planning on selling packs of bands for this purpose on his web site (http://www.design-a-band.com/) for $12.50 shipped.
Here is a quick and dirty how-to video I made on this subject:
Thanks,
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