Zoom Grip for ENG B4 Mount 2/3" Lens

Q

questech

Active member
Hello Everyone :-)

I am continuing my research and would really appreciate your help.

I have been using Fujinon and Canon 2/3" lenses on my Pro video cameras and on my AF-100 and GH-2 Micro Four Thirds (M43) cameras for some time.

Through my preliminary research into adapting these lenses (I have several) to my M43 cameras, I read that many people attempting this for the first time were trying to power the servo zoom control in the grip and burned out the servos because they wired it incorrectly.

Now I used to own an electronics manufacturing firm, so I knew I could make adapters that would work correctly with no problem. What was revealing though was how little information was available for the older lenses that were being adapted regarding the grip itself, or even the entire lens for that matter.

So I did several things including using my past contacts and buying up lenses so that I had a healthy supply of parts.

My most recent research is still baffling me, in that, I can't find a source of parts out there, or any real solid information regarding the Servo Powered Grips (the ones that are attached to the lens barrel).

I am selling some lenses, power adapters (with and without batteries) and at least one 12 volt Servo Powered Zoom Control Grip on eBay, but here is where I could use your help...

Doing my market research (what keywords to use for my auctions and videos, what a competitive price would be, who might need them, etc.) I tried every search tactic I could think of and I can't find anything relevant to helping me with my needs.

I want to find people that either have a lens that they like but the power zoom stopped working for whatever reason, people that have a Fujinon (my grips may work on the older Canon lenses as well, but I'm not 100% sure) ENG lens without the zoom grip, or someone that may have burnt their servos out and want a way to get the power zoom working again.

BTW These grips also work on 1/2" lenses as well as the 2/3" lenses that have a 3 bolt pattern.

So any suggestions as to finding more information, or even better, how to get to the people that might need these Servo Controlled Power Zoom Grips would be greatly appreciated.

Please go to my YouTube video to see more detail, it will probably better help you understand my plight.

http://youtu.be/1gz84XDKxMM

Thanks in advance, I appreciate it!!
 
Now if you could add the necessary parts to make that rail-mountable with a gearless lens attachment, we could potentially use it with any zoom lens, even the Lumix lenses.
 
Hi James, Thanks for the reply!

We make the cables oueselves, do you think Mitch would know any info about the grips i.e. where to get more, wiring diagrams, etc. ?

Thanks Again!
 
Jim Simon said:
Now if you could add the necessary parts to make that rail-mountable with a gearless lens attachment, we could potentially use it with any zoom lens, even the Lumix lenses.
Click to expand...

Hi Jim, thanks for your interest!

That would be cool, but there are a lot of obstacles in the way of that. For one thing the grips are made to fit that lens and it would be hard to mate it to another. The rail system wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think you would be able to mate it to even 1% of the lenses out there.

Then the fact that these grips are hard to come by combined with all of the other issues wouldn't make it a viable option, especially when there are so many other systems available.

This guy is happy with the 3 bolt Fujinon and maybe Canon lenses, but I can't imagine that there aren't peopl out there than need it, I just don't know how to get to them???

Thanks Again!
 
Hello,
I tried to go to your eBay page, but was blocked! Could you tell me how I could get your cable and what would be the price of it? I have the lens and the grip and the battery and even a female Hirose 12 pins connector, but I am afraid to try to power the grip as I don't know which pins are to be used!
BTW, I am in Belgium.
Thanks for any help.
 
questech said:
the grips are made to fit that lens and it would be hard to mate it to another. The rail system wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think you would be able to mate it to even 1% of the lenses out there.!
Click to expand...

I saw in the video that where the grip normally attaches to the lens, there is a gear. The idea is that the grip itself doesn't make contact with the lens (hence the need for rail mounting), but make contact through a gear and wheel system, where the wheel that does make contact works on friction. That way it works with any lens.

Basically a gearless, motorized follow focus, but mounted on the right side of the lens and making contact with the zoom ring instead of the focus ring.

To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other motorized option out there from Jag, and it's very, very far from ideal. But, I do take your point about these grips not being a common commodity.
 
Hey Jim,

Because of the inside diameter of the grip, it would be hard to get it to fit a wide variety of lenses, especially because the grip is designed with a grove that the zoom ring fits into, therefore no other zoom ring (that isn't that exact diameter, height and width) would be able to mate. It isn't practical at all. You would have to modify a perfectly good grip to maybe work OK with a lens it wasn't intended for.

I made a radio control zoom control and I've seen others as well. In fact Fujinon sells a remote control setup with 3 external servo units.

So there might be other solutions out there for the general lens world, but this is proprietary... which is why I thought there would be a need. I'm just not getting my message out to the right people, and because it's so hard to pull up anything on Google, I think that most people with a bum servo unit have just given up hope :-(

Anyway, thanks for the continued interest!

Anthony
 
phde99 said:
Hello,
I tried to go to your eBay page, but was blocked! Could you tell me how I could get your cable and what would be the price of it? I have the lens and the grip and the battery and even a female Hirose 12 pins connector, but I am afraid to try to power the grip as I don't know which pins are to be used!
BTW, I am in Belgium.
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Hello,

I'm sorry that you can't access the page. I blocked my auctions from bidders outside of the US, but I didn't know that they would be blocked from seeing the listing, I thought they would just be blocked from bidding.

I sell the cables for $80 including shipping, but I only sell them on eBay because of the added security and protection against fraud. I run 2 businesses so I can't spend a lot of time in unfamiliar waters. So I have a policy of only selling on eBay or locally.

I can tell you that pin number 3 is ground and pin number 6 is 12V DC. Be very careful, connecting this wrong will destroy your servo. I build prototypes and test them before they ever get connected to a servo. It is real easy to get the pins wrong... so be careful!

I hope this helps... Anthony
 
Jim Simon said:
Now if you could add the necessary parts to make that rail-mountable with a gearless lens attachment, we could potentially use it with any zoom lens, even the Lumix lenses.
Click to expand...

questech said:
Hi Jim, thanks for your interest!

That would be cool, but there are a lot of obstacles in the way of that. For one thing the grips are made to fit that lens and it would be hard to mate it to another. The rail system wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think you would be able to mate it to even 1% of the lenses out there.

Then the fact that these grips are hard to come by combined with all of the other issues wouldn't make it a viable option, especially when there are so many other systems available.
Click to expand...

Jim, you're looking for something like this I think:
http://techcitement.com/hardware/viztools-wants-to-turn-your-dslr-into-a-camcorder/#.ULWzgoc0WSo
 
That is very cool. I bet it will be in the $450 - $850 range??

I did notice that you are still going to be dependedt on the lenses ability to provide a smooth zoom... most still lenses can't, even when driven by a cool unit like this. It's fighting their nature to be anything but a still lens. In fact, in the video you can see that the zoom has some sticking points even with what appears to be a very well made controller connected to it.


Also as mentioned, you still have to fiddle with the focus control if the lens doesn't have auto focus... and auto focus sucks, that's why you won't see it used in film making. What you need is a parfocal lens for professional video (if you are going to zoom) which maintains its focus throughout the zoom range.

And also, a lot of the DSLR lenses are not constant aperture, so they will change for no apparent reason, again not professional.

These are some of the reasons that many of us have moved to these ENG lenses (I'm going to be selling one soon).

Thanks for the link!
 
questech said:
Hello,

I'm sorry that you can't access the page. I blocked my auctions from bidders outside of the US, but I didn't know that they would be blocked from seeing the listing, I thought they would just be blocked from bidding.

I sell the cables for $80 including shipping, but I only sell them on eBay because of the added security and protection against fraud. I run 2 businesses so I can't spend a lot of time in unfamiliar waters. So I have a policy of only selling on eBay or locally.

I can tell you that pin number 3 is ground and pin number 6 is 12V DC. Be very careful, connecting this wrong will destroy your servo. I build prototypes and test them before they ever get connected to a servo. It is real easy to get the pins wrong... so be careful!

I hope this helps... Anthony
Click to expand...

Thanks for the answer. I'll try to correctly connect the pins... or find another buyer for this cable! :cheesy:
 
questech said:
That is very cool. I bet it will be in the $450 - $850 range??

I did notice that you are still going to be dependedt on the lenses ability to provide a smooth zoom... most still lenses can't, even when driven by a cool unit like this. It's fighting their nature to be anything but a still lens. In fact, in the video you can see that the zoom has some sticking points even with what appears to be a very well made controller connected to it.


Also as mentioned, you still have to fiddle with the focus control if the lens doesn't have auto focus... and auto focus sucks, that's why you won't see it used in film making. What you need is a parfocal lens for professional video (if you are going to zoom) which maintains its focus throughout the zoom range.

And also, a lot of the DSLR lenses are not constant aperture, so they will change for no apparent reason, again not professional.

These are some of the reasons that many of us have moved to these ENG lenses (I'm going to be selling one soon).

Thanks for the link!
Click to expand...

I have no idea what the price range of it is- I haven't heard anything since NAB. It also seems to be geared towards attaching to a Canon body, although I don't see why a version that works on rails similar to a follow focus gear couldn't be adapted.

As far as constant aperture goes- I think that's a given. I've been zooming with constant aperture lenses since before I owned a GH2. There's no shortage of Canon/Nikon constant f/stop zooms once you are looking at professional-grade glass, however it is admittedly rare when it comes to Lumix-native ones.
This is personal preference, but I actually like the jerking sudden zoom effect for documentary style shoots. There are definitely times I want something smooth for live events, though. That's where I still have a hard time justifying bringing along a DSLR. And these ENG lenses would be great in that situation for sure.
 
questech said:
therefore no other zoom ring (that isn't that exact diameter, height and width) would be able to mate.
Click to expand...

Hence my suggestion for a follow focus type connection between grip and lens. The grip gears would turn a connected wheel, that wheel sits up against the zoom ring and uses friction to turn it, and would work for any lens.
 
questech said:
What you need is a parfocal lens for professional video (if you are going to zoom) which maintains its focus throughout the zoom range.
Click to expand...

YES! Constant T2.8 (at a minimum, but faster is always welcome), parfocal, inner focus and zoom with OIS should be the design standard for ALL zoom lenses.
 
Jim Simon said:
YES! Constant T2.8 (at a minimum, but faster is always welcome), parfocal, inner focus and zoom with OIS should be the design standard for ALL zoom lenses.
Click to expand...

Yes, but these criteria will yield very expensive professional-grade cinema lenses. Unfortunately, the m4/3 mount has had a tough time leaving the consumer/prosumer demographic, so I wouldn't hold my breath for anything like that anytime soon.
 
Jim Simon said:
Hogwash. The Tamron 28-105, 2.8 meets much of that criteria for only $600. (And it has a proper aperture ring!) Add OIS and autofocus and we're there.
Click to expand...

Parfocal and inner focus? Those alone are hard to find in photography lenses. All that AND ois? Would LOVE to be proven wrong.
 
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