terra1
Well-known member
ok i hope this is understandable :smile:
i was worried before i bought my Shoot35 follow focus that it might not work on the tiny pancake lens... it does work!
(photos are fliped because i took them on my imac webcam)
i found that you have to keep the flexi gear pretty loose fitting as if its too tight it pinches the plastic focus ring on the lens and stops it turning.
because it doesnt take much effort to rotate the focus ring i dont think it will slip, if it does a put a flat rubber band around the focus ring and then install the flexi gear.
plastic on plastic = more likely to slip.
plastic on rubber on plastic = less likely to slip.
and rubber compresses slightly :smile:
as you can see above when the follow focus is on the rails the gear cog is way off meshing with the flexi gear on the lens... no problem!
front mounted gear cog
bag of shims and tools for all the bolts on the follow focus and instructions/case.
rear mounted gear cog (10 seconds to swap it about)
as you can see in the pix above the gear teeth mesh neatly with the flexi gear on the lens.
i did have to mount the tripod baseplate a little further back as the turn screw that secures the follow focus on the rails was hitting it.
because of the infinite focus ring on the pancake lens it would be easy to turn the follow focus and the flexi gear red housing might hit the gear cog.
i would say that i could get the ff gear cog about 6mm closer to the cameras body without it hitting the dslr mount but i dont think any lens has a focus ring any closer to the body than this lens so iam happy.
my workflow for getting it to focus!
1. set it all up as above.
2. before turning on the camera i would turn the ff so the red housing on the flexi gear is pointing down to 6 oclock.
3. turn on the camera and set it to auto focus, focus on the object that will be nearest you in your shoot with the shutter button, then switch to manual focus.
this will give the red housing on the flexi gear the most travel for manually focusing into the distance.
this isnt a rock solid workflow but its how i got it to work for me.
also if you turn the camera off you will have to go through steps 2 and 3 every time you wanna shoot.
just now iam having too much fun using the follow focus on my cheap canon fd lenses.
thats where i know il use the follow focus most because they have a true manual focus.
the pancake lens has a wire focus i think so its a focus ring that the lens to focus, works ok but doesnt feel as natural as a real manual lens.
i hope this helps mate!
if anyone wants to comment or add info please do.
i was worried before i bought my Shoot35 follow focus that it might not work on the tiny pancake lens... it does work!
(photos are fliped because i took them on my imac webcam)
i found that you have to keep the flexi gear pretty loose fitting as if its too tight it pinches the plastic focus ring on the lens and stops it turning.
because it doesnt take much effort to rotate the focus ring i dont think it will slip, if it does a put a flat rubber band around the focus ring and then install the flexi gear.
plastic on plastic = more likely to slip.
plastic on rubber on plastic = less likely to slip.
and rubber compresses slightly :smile:
as you can see above when the follow focus is on the rails the gear cog is way off meshing with the flexi gear on the lens... no problem!
front mounted gear cog
bag of shims and tools for all the bolts on the follow focus and instructions/case.
rear mounted gear cog (10 seconds to swap it about)
as you can see in the pix above the gear teeth mesh neatly with the flexi gear on the lens.
i did have to mount the tripod baseplate a little further back as the turn screw that secures the follow focus on the rails was hitting it.
because of the infinite focus ring on the pancake lens it would be easy to turn the follow focus and the flexi gear red housing might hit the gear cog.
i would say that i could get the ff gear cog about 6mm closer to the cameras body without it hitting the dslr mount but i dont think any lens has a focus ring any closer to the body than this lens so iam happy.
my workflow for getting it to focus!
1. set it all up as above.
2. before turning on the camera i would turn the ff so the red housing on the flexi gear is pointing down to 6 oclock.
3. turn on the camera and set it to auto focus, focus on the object that will be nearest you in your shoot with the shutter button, then switch to manual focus.
this will give the red housing on the flexi gear the most travel for manually focusing into the distance.
this isnt a rock solid workflow but its how i got it to work for me.
also if you turn the camera off you will have to go through steps 2 and 3 every time you wanna shoot.
just now iam having too much fun using the follow focus on my cheap canon fd lenses.
thats where i know il use the follow focus most because they have a true manual focus.
the pancake lens has a wire focus i think so its a focus ring that the lens to focus, works ok but doesnt feel as natural as a real manual lens.
i hope this helps mate!
if anyone wants to comment or add info please do.
Last edited:
its a quality item tho.
