FS7: stepless electronic iris on Fs7...or on any camera.

JPNola

Veteran
I am rapidly reaching the conclusion that stepless iris is not possible with electronic iris. The fact that the Sony Fs7's control wheel on the grip is clicked means that it will never be capable of stepless, infinitely variable control of iris. Maybe such is possible with the user wheel on the side of the camera since that wheel is not clicked.

Is there any iris control outside of manual control such as the Nikon adapters that will yield truly step less iris changes? As far as I know, even the RED camera has stepped iris when using lenses with no iris ring.

Not sure if you have seen this but the Arri prototype top handle is designed to eliminate VF "flop" on the Fs7. With the original Sony design the VF lock controls both fore / aft and left / right movement. The problem with that is when you loosen the lock to adjust fore / aft positioning of the VF the VF can slip on it's horizontal plane. The Arri prototype design prevents the VF from being able to skew horizontally-

http://cinescopophilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/ARRI-PCA-accessories-for-sonyfs7-3.png

Note how the LCD / VF is on a fixed L-rod that does not allow the VF to move horizontally.

Impressive that Arri has already recognized this design dilemma and addressed it. The Arri design does limit the range of positioning of the VF / LCD but the positions it negates are not positions I was likely to use anyway. For example, the VF / LCD centered over the top handle.

Since it's ARRI the price of both their top handle and shoulder plate is likely to be steep.

Now, if only someone would design a way for the loupe to be flipped up without it detaching from the LCD, like the system on the EX3's loupe. When shooting Run & Gun I am having to wear a lens pouch for storing the loupe when I want to operate strictly from the LCD, sans loupe. Another Fs7 niggle of mine is that the bottom of the control grip is not rubberized. It often ends up being placed against the ground or table surface when setting the camera down. The design team HAD to know that the bottom of the grip was going to see a lot of wear and tear.

I know, I know....never purchase the first model of anything. And there is no "perfect" camera. Although the HDX 900 and the Sony 600 Betacam came damn close to being perfect.

( my apologies o F3 / F5 / F55 users for another Fs7 post. If there is a Fs7 forum please direct me to it. This post pertains to all cameras in general so show me some forgiveness if you would! )
 
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Optitron 2 by Optitek manage to get stepless iris AND repeatable focus on RED and F55. They have a wired and a wireless unit. Not cheap, but it literally turns all your L glass into cine lenses. It´s the next piece of gear I will buy for my RED EPIC.
It´s a very small operation, so not too easy to find on the net. I talked to him directly and others that have used it.
I´m not sure he has a FS7 unit yet, or if he will make one or if you can use same unit on different cameras

Look it up on youtube
 
I keep seeing people talk about the EVF rods and the horizontal alignment... My rod on the FS7 is grooved and the 90-degree rod block has spring-loaded pins in it, so when I loosen the block to adjust, my EVF stays horizontal. I think Sony's quality control has issues (I've read that this camera was made in China, not Japan.) and some rod blocks have issues with the pins not popping out/fitting into the grooves of the rod. Mine works fine, but you may want to check yours.

As for the underside of the grip... a little gaff tape!
 
For the underside I recommend this amazing stuff called "sugru" which is a moldable adhere able rubber like putty with a thousand uses. This sounds like a new one. I love this stuff.

http://sugru.com

Re the steppy iris which bedevils me also, Juan Martinez mentioned on the Sony community FS7 forum that the E Mt lenses are designed with 100 steps per stop which is pretty close to step less. In fact he said that's why the dial was so slow . Juan said Sony was going to make the dial faster and I am serious whether it will make native E mt lenses smooth and useable. I have the 18- 105 and it looked pretty smooth to me ( haven't looked carefully though) but of course the dial was god awful slow.
 
Red now have Foolcontrol for iPad/ iPhone . Cannot comment on other manufacturers but EOS lens control is a reality with step less and repeatable focus control ( doesn't solve everything ....like breathing ) from a iPhone or IPad . So it must be possible for other camera systems.
 
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