Manfrotto 521 Remote for HMC150?

Peter Wayne

Peter Wayne

Member
Hi,

1. Do Manfrotto 521 Remote work with HMC150?
2. Which other remotes compatible with HMC150? :Drogar-Thinking(DBG

Thanks!
 
I just got VZ Rock PZFI that works with HMC150. Varizoom has more functions than Manfrotto but apparantly the latter one, due to a larger knob, allows for finer focus control. I just tried my VZ Rock today and I don't think you would be able to do a rack focus with it.
 
I've had some trouble with the 521p and HMC (and this has been reported elsewhere on 'User)... basically, while the 521p works fine with my DVX, it seems that there is an imbalance between zoom-in and zoom-out points on the HMC... that is, it exhibits the following problems:

1) It tends to zoom OUT faster than zooming in, and it's hard to achieve the slowest zoom-out speed
2) The it sometimes gets stuttery when zooming in; it will often start zooming out when I barely touch the knob in preparation for the zoom in; and on a few occasions it started spontaneously zooming.

I like the Manfrotto controllers with the DVX because there is very little "dead zone" (between zoom in and zoom out); but with the HMC this is a problem... some slight difference in the HMC seems to cause the "center" position to be a little off-center. The Varizoom controllers have a much larger "dead zone", which makes them more robust to camera differences, it seems...
 
Don't know about the 521p, but I do use the 522p, and like it a lot. Smooth operation, dependable, too.
 
ullanta said:
I've had some trouble with the 521p and HMC (and this has been reported elsewhere on 'User)... basically, while the 521p works fine with my DVX, it seems that there is an imbalance between zoom-in and zoom-out points on the HMC... that is, it exhibits the following problems:

1) It tends to zoom OUT faster than zooming in, and it's hard to achieve the slowest zoom-out speed
2) The it sometimes gets stuttery when zooming in; it will often start zooming out when I barely touch the knob in preparation for the zoom in; and on a few occasions it started spontaneously zooming.

I like the Manfrotto controllers with the DVX because there is very little "dead zone" (between zoom in and zoom out); but with the HMC this is a problem... some slight difference in the HMC seems to cause the "center" position to be a little off-center. The Varizoom controllers have a much larger "dead zone", which makes them more robust to camera differences, it seems...
Click to expand...
I just picked up a 521P for my DVX and it has that "off-center" zoom points that you mentioned with your HMC. The zoom-out is much quicker than the zoom-in (3 seconds vs. 5 seconds at the controller's limits). On mine it seems like the "dead zone" is too far to the zoom-in side of the controller. I haven't seen any spontaneous zooming or erratic zooming.
It's a lot better than having nothing which is what I had before, but it would be a lot better if the zoom range were "centered" on the controller.
Any ideas (short of replacement) would be appreciated.
 
8string said:
I'm using Varizoom and it works just fine. Well worth the price.
Click to expand...
Yes, those are very good controllers too. Not sure if it would have worked any better for my purposes (or for ullanta's) or not.
I did break out the VOM yesterday. My Manfrotto 521P has a resistance of 2.2k ohms at full zoom out and about 17k ohms at full zoom in (measured ring to shield on the connector). The camera seems to want 8-12k ohms as the "center" deadband range, and about 2k ohms for full zoom-out speed and 18k ohms for full zoom-in speed. My controller measures 7.7k ohms at center, just "off center" with most of the deadband being in the zoom-in side of the controller. (I think there was an article on DVXuser about a DIY zoom controller.... can't find the link right now, but it was very helpful.) Without another unit to compare it to, it's hard to tell whether it's a problem with my controller or whether our cameras (the HMC in particular) are being too "tight" in the range they are looking for on that port.
The electronics tech in me wants to open it up on the bench and do some further testing, which I can't rule out at some point in the near future....
 
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