indiFocus Mini now shipping w/ NEW SNAP GEARS!

Oh, and the FF knob doesn't turn the gears when the witness post is on because it's not making proper contact with the gear box due to the witness post ring being too thick. Great...
 
Ben Haslup said:
Oh, and the FF knob doesn't turn the gears when the witness post is on because it's not making proper contact with the gear box due to the witness post ring being too thick. Great...
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Did you tighten the set-screw in the FF knob and the one in the gear attached to the gearbox?

As far as focusing with your 4/3 lens is concerned, is the snap gear tight on the focus ring? Do you need to use more squish? My snap gears barely come together when they're tight enough to turn the focus rings.
 
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Thanks Dalton. The problem wasn't tightening the screw though. It was the screw itself. I replaced it and also made the snap gear fit more snug. It's working now.

However, I have my camera mounted to a Zacuto DSLR Baseplate and the quick release screw prevents me from mounting the FF to the left of the camera, so I have to use it with my right hand which is a little awkward when on my shoulder mount. Just a heads up.
 
Glad to hear it's working anyway. Have you tried flipping the follow focus upside down? Of course, that would make the knob turn the opposite way that it does now, but might allow you to mount it on the left side of the camera.
 
Zissou said:
I know its not exactly the same products, but i have a brief review of some indisystem gear.

i got my indiRAILSpro XV sm and indiFOCUSpro thursday, after a small shipping delay, which was resolved with a quick 2 minute phone call. I had also received a DVcity mattebox (with adj std rail mounts and side flags) the day before, and only 2 days before a critical shoot, for my XH-A1.

I must say, for the cost, the quality is tops, and i absolutely LOVE the SNAP gears; so easy to use and interchange. I was given extra foam to ensure a snug fit of focus gear to lens, and i have all the focus rings on my lenses wrapped in color coded hockey tape (i use both Canon and Nikon gear as well as some Panasonic stuff, so i try to keep things easy for the laypersons and interns we use).

Frankly, for the money, i love em; i have no real complaints, and the follow focus works just fine with the D300s on the rails. I have yet to encounter any lash issues with the follow focus, i made sure its fairly snug against the lens gear, and ensure that the snap gear is aligned properly; its not hard to misalign it and get it to gyrate a bit, same with any follow focus gears.

the snap gears are a great feature, because i can swap lenses in seconds and reuse the same ring gear, meaning less stuff to haul around, and a quicker lens swap and therefor quicker shot to shot interchange.

i dont have the budget for expensive equipment, and everything thus far has been great quality. One of my cameramen has played around with the rails and follow focus attached to his 5D mkII, and absolutely loves it too.

I shot my first wedding and first 'big break' event these last 2 weekends, and the Indisystem gear allowed me to use my 35mm adapter with confidence, as well as look much more professional than i had felt just winging the XH-A1 around (it was all on tripod, im exaggerating but you get the idea), as well as achieve the look i wanted, and most importantly, the clients LOVED the pre-edited content.

In 3 weeks, i invested almost $5000 on equipment, some new, some used, some rented, some borrowed, and have managed to get my money back out of it, and now have begun building a bigger portfolio, as well as building the skills for this business.

Im not shooting an indie film, nor a big budget or even small budget feature, or even anything mildly close to what i intend to work with, but thus far, for the investment, the indisystem gear has paid off in spades, and its pretty damn sturdy.

I have a background in photography; ive had almost a dozen DSLR's, and dropped or bonked them all rather severely at different times, whether it be above the portcullis of some french fortress, running sideways to catch a drift car sliding in perfect form 5 feet from me inches from a wall, dangling over a sheer cliff drop in santorini, or rock climbing for that perfect sunset shot. I try to take care of my gear, but im no portrait shooter; and my bodies and lenses show the scars. The indisystem gear seems pretty damn solid; frankly i would be MUCH more afraid of damaging the XH-A1 itself, or crunching a lens; the indisystem stuff i doubt ill worry about much, beyond wrapping with some canvas or thin foam strips.

I also have quite a passion for automotive modifications, and very little faith in carbon fiber based brace components as ive had a few pieces give out on me, which when you are doing 85 on the tarmac skiding sideways, is NOT a very fun moment. I was actually rather wary of 'discount' carbon fiber rods; i even bought some aluminum ones to use instead of the carbon fiber in case they flexed to seemed stressed, but after checking them out, they seem pretty solid, so the aluminum ones stay at home. The DVcity mattebox i bought because it was cheaper than the indisystem mattebox, and because where i plan on using it, i guarantee it will not come back in anything near 'like new' shape, so its basically a 10-20 uses item.

I'm sure ill be buying some more indisystem stuff in the near future, because for the price, there really is no better deal. AT WORST its repleaceable for less than half the cost of other setups; and i HIGHLY doubt most the people on this forum take as many risks with their gear as i do. I used to make PVC components and rigs for photoshoots, by melting the plastic and 'welding' it together and bracing it with bolts etc; forget that.

I use my talents to fund my travels, and i am not a 'gear whore', whatever gets the job done with no need to worry is exactly what i need, and nothing more. I see no reason to pay hundreds for a tripod or monopod, or thousands for a lens or rail system that i would feel bad to marr or scrape up, and frankly i would feel foolish spending more on a support system than i did on a camera system. I could never justify spending thousands on a mattebox; and i wouldnt care if it were made my Enzo Ferrari himself; its still just a mattebox, rails are just rails, etc. Whats important is the shot and the sound; to me the rest is all excessive vainity.
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Thanks for the testimony.

I think I'll go with the IndiSystem's products as well.

:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the review.

Considering the FF set up from Indisystem. I already have a Zacuto Rapid fire, but I'm missing the DSLR Baseplate before I can commit to Indifocus mini.

What DSLR Baseplate would you recommend to use with my set up so I can fit the Indifocus mini with it? Alternatives to Zacuto will be great as I can't afford that for some time...

I'm 6"2 (185cm) tall and will be using mostly Canon Zoom lenses or Tokina 11-16mm for this.
 
we now have a pair of T2i's on rail systems (8" and 12") that we have a follow focus, focusing monitor (8.9" Manhattan LCD's), and sometimes a mattebox.

we have either an Indisystem indiRAILSpro XV sm (because one T2i has a battery grip and the other does not) or a DVcity rail rig (i forget which one, its basically a V mount riser with a videocamera style quickrelease baseplate and some aluminum rods, similar design to the above mentioned Indisystem rig)

frankly i think zacuto, redrock micro, etc are all WAAAY overpriced, for what is essentially aluminum lego's. even worse, they are all industry standard, so they are interchangeable. dont get me wrong; i have some redrock micro and zacuto gear, and it works great. so do the generic equivalents. im not in business to keep them in business.

a baseplate is a baseplate; i have a giottos, a few no name ones; i prefer v-mount (ie longer camcorder style) because they are a bit more stable and give me more balancing options, plus we use both camcorders with or without 35mm adapters as well as the HDSLR's.

any questions feel free to PM me or post em here.
 
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