Which follow focus?

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EirikNereng

Member
Hello boys and girls.

Im looking to buy a follow focus, and been reading a lot of reviews and stuff around different manufacturers.

Ive boiled it down to two different options: The redrock micro follow focus, and the indiefocus.

Im building my rig and need lots of things, so I have to save money, and need gear that gives a lot of value for the money.

Can someone tell me what would be the best buy of these two?

speaking of indieSYSTEM, any who have tried the indieSLIDERpro? looking good
 
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They are both good values (I have owned both). But different price points, so difficult to truly compare. If you have the $650 for the RR, get it, it's better. If you don't, the indifocus is a good value at $300.
 
Please don't support those Ebay guys. They copy the designs of Redrock, Cinevate, Zacuto, and the gang and resell them as their own. Not a very cool thing to do in my opinion!
 
Joseph Stunzi said:
Please don't support those Ebay guys. They copy the designs of Redrock, Cinevate, Zacuto, and the gang and resell them as their own. Not a very cool thing to do in my opinion!
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"Resell them as their own?"

That's pretty funny, seeing as how there are really only 2 different major lens adapter designs in use made by more than 2 companies. And, whose follow focus, mattebox, etc., do you think came first? We're not talking about patentable stuff here and I'm guessing there's a quality difference with the less expensive accessories anyway, right?

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I'm just saying his lens gears look like exact replicas of Redrock's as does his 35mm adapter and the basic structure of his follow focus. His baseplate reminded me of cinevates. This stuff is patentable though... Cinevate has several patents on their new stellar follow focus system. I'm sure the big boys at ARRI and co. have patents too.

Anyway... buy from whomever you want... I guess when you buy from Redrock and them you do get the customer service that is worth the extra price especially on some items. That might not be the case buying things on eBay like that.
 
Yes, there is a substantial quality difference, and unfortunately those who purchase from eBay India resellers usually end up being cautionary tales. India knockoffs are really only interested in creating enough of a facsimile of a product to get your money, and that's about it (granted it's only our experience, but plenty of customers have reported similar results). Most folks find the build quality to be essentially unusable. I have had some of these units sent to us just so we can see what is going on, and I have to admit they are atrocious by even microfilmmaker DIY standards.

Stunzi makes a good ethical point as well - the designs for the gears are stolen (yes, stolen) directly from Redrock. And they are more than happy to steal other manufacturers designs as well. And by stolen I don't mean copied or influenced by, I mean direct replicas. There's a line in there, and they definitely cross it.


Brian
 
Joseph Stunzi said:
I'm just saying his lens gears look like exact replicas of Redrock's as does his 35mm adapter and the basic structure of his follow focus. His baseplate reminded me of cinevates. This stuff is patentable though... Cinevate has several patents on their new stellar follow focus system. I'm sure the big boys at ARRI and co. have patents too.

Anyway... buy from whomever you want... I guess when you buy from Redrock and them you do get the customer service that is worth the extra price especially on some items. That might not be the case buying things on eBay like that.
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I'm not aware of any patent infringement taking place on the part of the Indian company.

The lens gears are exact copies of the Redrock gears, but again, these are not patentable, nor is the follow focus or anything else they sell as far as I can tell.

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What do you mean... check out google.com/patents. There are plenty of patents on follow focus systems and camera equipment. Redrock has just chosen not to patent them.
 
Chris

Building better products that are informed by what's available is one thing. Ordering products from Redrock and then copying them is a totally different issue. And yes while lens gears in general are not patentable, our specific design of lens gears is patented.

Legalities aside, supporting companies that engage in this means less innovation for customers.

Brian
 
bvalente said:
Chris

Building better products that are informed by what's available is one thing. Ordering products from Redrock and then copying them is a totally different issue. And yes while lens gears in general are not patentable, our specific design of lens gears is patented.

Legalities aside, supporting companies that engage in this means less innovation for customers.

Brian
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Redrock has a patent on their lens gears? Seriously? Wow.

Anyway, I doubt very much that the makers of Redrock knock-off stuff are going to put much of a dent in Redrock sales as long as they are unable to provide the same quality and support.

If the knock-offs are junk, unlike Redrock stuff, who will buy the stuff? I could see sales of lesser quality knock-offs being better in poorer countries where customers can't afford the better gear anyway.

By the way, where are Redrock products manufactured?

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Yes seriously. Like a lot of cinema gear, the basic concept is public domain, but a specific implementation is patentable. The benefits of Redrock gears is that they fit a wide range of lenses, are adjustable, they are easy to put on and take off, and perhaps most importantly they do not damage the lenses, unlike a lot of the metal designs out there.

What's unfortunate is they don't advertise them as lesser quality, and there are filmmakers here who buy them assuming they will work well.

We design and manufacture here in Texas.

Thanks

Brian
 
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