Indian-made follow focus...any opinions?

Don't do it. Run. My experience with their mattebox is that it's a complete failure. Filters don't fit, trays warped, metal bends, etc. No warranty. Bad workmanship. Can't imagine anything they make to be better. Stuff like that ends up costing you more.
 
I know it is not what some guys here like to hear, but I am pretty happy with mine.

Yes it has some tiny play but my AC has more sometimes ;-)

Frank
 
They are a rip off from REDROCK.

If you want paint coming off that cheap parts, go with them...

Go with the original and support your local company. OH... you are from the E.U.... anyway, the redrock are the originals....
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Come on. The matte box with a rigid sunshade and/or belly are patented by Roger C. Field in 1981 and manufactured by Chrosziel Filmtechnik (U.S. Patent 4,441,794 dated August 3, 1981). As you say that RedRock are the originals is absolute not true… you can also say that RedRock is a rip off Chrosziel, a Petroff, or a Arriflex or Vocas….

RedRock started with the idea to make cheaper matte boxes and used an another matte box as a starting point. If they say, they didn’t, sorry but each product development start with looking to the competition and how you can make it better and cheaper… Prevent you to make the same mistakes and to compete with them. Now is there an Indian brand who develops a cheaper matte box and everyone start to say that they are a rip off from RedRock… Why is RedRock allowed to make a cheaper version of Chrosziels/Petroff/Arriflex/Vocas matte boxes and not CineCity? Because they are from India???? They even don’t look the same….

I know the RedRock matte box, is a great technical engineered matte box with a lot of hours behind. No doubt about that! A friend of mine use one and he is very happy. CineCity matte boxes are from a cheaper grade of quality and will make a lot of film makers with a smaller budget very happy. We all understand with film equipment that when you a heavier user of equipment you better can rely on the higher professional grade…. A RedRock or Hyson can NEVER beat my Chrosziel… is much more solid build, higher technical engineered and more then 35 years of experience. With Chrosziel I know that they’ll still be in business over 10 years when I need a new French flag… companies as RedRock, Hyson and CineCity has still to proof themselves for the next 25 years....

If I didn’t need each day my matte box I would also to get a much cheaper one… if you need it each day for professional field work, then I suggest to get a very solid proven one… Personal I am very happy with my Chrosziels… they still for me the real stuff… use one of them for more then 10 years and still nothing happened with it after been used for documentaries in rough climates as Arctic Canada, Kenya, Iran, Nepal and the Amazon…

It depends where you stand as film maker and what is your budget. If you work in the top range, then you absolute don’t want to work with a CineCity or RedRock… the more expensive industry standards are then the only option… These days some actors demand from you to have state of the art equipment and when they see that you not confirm the industry standards, they don’t respect you anymore or in the worse case, they don’t want to work you anymore… ‘’strange folk those actors’’… Now I am lucky and they know me better, can use even simple black paper as matte box… hahahaha…
 
Stay away. Glass is not their strong side.

If you look for good afordable filters google for "Kood" (the Pro100 line) made in the UK.
I use them since a while and they hold up with my Tiffens pretty good for a much better price (actualy a fraction).

Frank
 
Staynuts

Creating a design that is better than the competition is one thing: flat out stealing a design is a whole different issue. This thread is a discussion on the follow focus. The redrock design, including the lens gears which have a very distinctive look and design, were copied directly from Redrock. In addition, you'll see replicas of redrock products from the same manufacture for our lens adapter as well.

Unfortunately for others, these are terrible quality and are ultimately a waste of money. We design for quality and a better price point that people can afford to own. These deplorable companies seek only to make a profit, and at your expense


Brian
 
I AC'd on a gig for a guy who had just gotten an indian FF. We were using a redrock adapter and standard nikon lenses. The follow focus had an unfortunate amount of play in the gears right from the start of the day and somewhere along the way something got loose and the problem became even worse. The lenses weren't in the least bit stiff but apparently they were too much for the little FF to handle. When pulling on SLR lenses any sort of play makes a big difference since the lenses have such a short rotation in the first place. We ended up taking it off and finishing the day just pulling from the lens. Stay away from the Indian FF. It is garbage. I've also seen posts about their RedRock adapter knockoff and it is really bad (GG made with belt sander). I do however own a cavision rails knockoff and it is decent, though all the alan bolts are metric so I have to carry a separate set of alans just for that.
 
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bvalente said:
Staynuts

We design for quality and a better price point that people can afford to own....


Brian
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Yes, but waiting for a shoulder mount kit for a 40 (working) days, is insane and unreasonoble, in my opinion..

:huh:


p.s Frank, thanks for valuable advice!!!!
 
agreed - way too long, and fortunately it's now much shorter (under 2 weeks)

though that was not the topic at hand :)


Brian
 
Attaching the JUmbo Matte Box" to the HVX200

Attaching the JUmbo Matte Box" to the HVX200

Hi I have purchased the "Jumbo Matte Box" along rod system, and it looks great, the only downfall I encounter so far was when I was shooting in the desert, since the Matte Box is a light weight, the force of the wind kept blowing the french flags out of it's way.
Than I had to remove the Matte box off and Finnish the shooting with out the matte box.
But if you are shooting inside door it's a great, it has all of the future of the expensive matte box out there, and for the price it's definitely worth.
I am still trying to find a way to attach my HVX200 straight to the "Quick-Lock System" but have not being able to do because of the size of my lenses. In their website they have a picture of the "Jumbo Matte Box" with a Canon XL1 and it looks like a perfect fit, I believe because of the size of the Canon lens. Does anyone have any advice in how I can attach the HVX200 in the same way, maybe through "Step-up or Step-down Ring or some other way?

As far as using their FF System, I agree with the majority of you guys, since we are dealing with focus here, I would stay away from purchasing that from them.

Any help on how can I attach the HVX200 using the "Quick-Lock System" would be greatly appreciate.

MarioDelC.
 
I bought a follow focus and it broke within weeks and the rods were covered in some paint that rubs off on your hands....saying that the matte boxes seem to look ok and having less parts to go wrong are a safer bet.
 
Buy local and support the people who support your group and industry. Cinevate and Cavision are my first choice because they make great products and I am Canadian. Redrock, Letus,SGPro, CoolLights,Kessler and the list goes on.Don't support them and we all loose if they close shop. Buy from these people and you will hear from them if there is a problem, probably in the same day and on the same thread. This is not about being protectionist, it is about excellent value for your dollar,pound,euro.
 
I bought a Follow Focus, Matte box, ND filters and other stuff from Cine-city and Iam content.
My next item will be the Flycam 6000 with magic arm for about 1200US$.
The quality of the procucts is acceptable to good. For the price I cannot have complains if everything is working as expected.
Companies that complain about these guys are right and and wrong.
I mean if you can manufacture something for less and sell for sell, why should the customer pay more? All the other stuff is imo well over-priced.
 
Kenny

Consider that it's less expensive because they don't pay any R&D costs. They usurp (read: steal) other people's designs. Competition is great, but it's unfortunate and hurts innovation (i.e., companies can afford to create and introduce new products with better features) when the only criteria is the price.


Brian
 
bvalente said:
Kenny

Consider that it's less expensive because they don't pay any R&D costs. They usurp (read: steal) other people's designs. Competition is great, but it's unfortunate and hurts innovation (i.e., companies can afford to create and introduce new products with better features) when the only criteria is the price.


Brian
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It may be true that they are "stealing", but what is stealing?
IMO everybody is stealing in one way or another.
Why does a man that works hard 16 hours a day on the field earns 500 us$ a month and another who works also 16 hours a day but is CEO gets 100000 US$ a month? IMO that is legally stealing because to get the 100,000 all the others have to work for him - a new form of slavery. We all want to keep it that way because we all hope to get that money some day, but that is the illusion where the whole system is build on. Those that can outsmart the others live in luxury, and those who can’t are poor. (Don't tell me that i am a Socialist, because I am not, I am a realist. On the otherhand I think that it is not right for one man to have more than say 5 million US$. IMO that's a criminal legally created by us.) The Indians have outsmarted you and you are calling it stealing, you live in relative luxury and the Indian is calling that "stealing" ....................
 
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Kenny

While I appreciate your existential points, there is a clear difference between your commentary on social injustice and the direct purposeful stealing of products. By your justification it's okay for anyone to copy software and distribute it illegally, or more poignantly, it's okay to copy movies and distribute illegally. Are you okay with that as well?

I can assure you we are not CEOs earning tons of money. We all took significant pay cuts to start a company that produces products that are far more affordable than what was previously available.

If the Indian company wants to come up with their own designs, that's fine. But they aren't, and it hurts everyone including you. Stealing is not "outsmarting", it's stealing. You can't spin it any other way.



B
 
Kenny_G said:
It may be true that they are "stealing", but what is stealing?
IMO everybody is stealing in one way or another.
Why does a man that works hard 16 hours a day on the field earns 500 us$ a month and another who works also 16 hours a day but is CEO gets 100000 US$ a month? IMO that is legally stealing because to get the 100,000 all the others have to work for him - a new form of slavery. We all want to keep it that way because we all hope to get that money some day, but that is the illusion where the whole system is build on. Those that can outsmart the others live in luxury, and those who can’t are poor. (Don't tell me that i am a Socialist, because I am not, I am a realist. On the otherhand I think that it is not right for one man to have more than say 5 million US$. IMO that's a criminal legally created by us.) The Indians have outsmarted you and you are calling it stealing, you live in relative luxury and the Indian is calling that "stealing" ....................
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What you've described my friend is capitalism. What a lot of people fail to realize is that a CEO in many cases may have brought significant cash or intellectual properties to the table to begin with, perhaps landed the job in the first place, and most certainly will have extraordinary pressures to negotiate outside of the "work-a-day" roles.

If people don't like their role - they can quit and do something else. Not everybody is the same. Compensation will vary accordingly.



dmc
 
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