Zacuto FF ring

M

Mac

Well-known member
Has anyone had extensive experience with this product... I did a search here and found that PUNCH received one, but there was no follow up.

I primarily use an HPX500, so, needless to say, I'm not happy with the focus of the HVX, (my backup camera). I'm currently using a Foxy, but don't like it much - I want hard stops.

And, look, I know Zacuto stuff is expensive, but all serious well-made professional gear is costly, so I don't want to start one of those pathetic penny-pinching discussions here...

What I do want to know is - Does the Zacuto work as well as the old Century unit for the DVX? (On the DVX you could set the gear at infinity, quickly hit the camera's auto-infinity switch to calibrate it and you were good to go.)
 
Thanx for the response.

Foul up the lens in what way? Actually damage the mechanism of the focus ring? Or create blemishes on the finish?

I'd prefer something that allows me to use the camera without the matte box base & mini-rods attached, to keep it more inconspicuous... besides, I already have 3 FF units, 2 Chrosziels and an old Petroff.

But if this is the only viable solution, I'll certainly consider it...
 
I have both a set of zipgears and the repeatable focus ring for the HVX. The Vocas solution looks inexpensive, but consider the fact that the Vocas ring does not tightly secure to the focus ring of the HVX. The website says it just slides onto the HVX focus ring... meaning there could be a lot of play with it. I may be wrong.

The Zacuto setup allows you to tightly fasten the ring to the HVX focus ring and to adapt it to use with your follow focus system. It's easily and quickly removable. I played with several of these setups with HVX focus rings and it worked like a charm at NAB.

On the matter of not having mini-rods... I don't think there is any solution out there that allows you to pull focus with more control besides a follow focus system like this one. There are obviously focus controllers like the Vocas and like the Varizoom, but I'm unsure if that's what you're looking for.
 
As I said, I've been using the Foxy on the 200... But I prefer working with the lens ring hand held on these small cameras, resting it in my left palm like a still camera...

I do use the Chrosziel DV FF on my HPX500 because I can see the scale (which I've marked with distance in feet) from the viewfinder so I can guess focus while working fast

But my primary use of the 200 is in situations where I don't want to attract a lot of attention (I make documentaries), so the smaller I keep the camera, the better.. otherwise I'd just stay with the 500...

The problem I've found with the HVX is that it is difficult to manually rack to infinity and back. The Zacuto with a hard stop would simplify that - I hope.
 
You are exactly right. I think the Zacuto with a hard stop would do the trick. Zacuto's new follow focus is really nice IMHO. Best of luck with your focusing troubles.
 
I've been using the Zacuto red FF ring for going on two years now with my HVX200. It's a breeze to install and provides good performance. I don't ever work with my camera with out it.
Jim
 
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