List Price: $299.99
Sale Price: $173.99
Today's Bonus: 42% Off
Now... this is the way to design and build a follow focus! Especially for those without Hollywood budgets.
They did their homework on this one, keeping both the independent filmmaker and the larger crew in mind with features to make life easier.
I am an instrument designer and machinist by trade and I will give this an A+ for workmanship and functionality.
The build quality and form/fit/function/finish are excellent, rivaling units costing an order of magnitude higher.
$ave the extra bucks for new glass instead!
My favorite feature is the two-point hard stops for focus. I tested them with my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens, focusing on two different subjects, one about a foot away and the other at 30 ft. With the aperture wide open and viewing at 10X live-view zoom on an external monitor, I found they provide imperceptible error in focus repeatability with every rack focus attempt. I checked it at least a dozen times and there was no shift. You can't be heavy handed with this, though you have to be gentle as with any precision instrument. Speed cranks can be a problem for some.
Even if you prefer not to use the hard stops, they are great for setting rotational limits for your lens if you are using the typical still type AF lenses (not the cine primes) that will normally cause the focus range to slip when you exceed the end-point friction limits. Setting these limits in advance will keep your witness marks in sync with the lens focus. Of course, setting your two focus points as above will also accomplish the same thing.
(Always switch the lens to manual focus if you are going to be rotating the focus ring at all).
Also, I would suggest using china marking pencils rather than whiteboard markers for your marks. They are much more durable and wipe off easily enough when you want to make a change. Whiteboard marks are no good and will disappear with the slightest brush of a finger or clothing.
My second most favorite feature is the ability to rotate and lock the witness index (pointer) to any position around the circumference of the marking ring. This is really handy if you're working without a focus puller and need to see the marks from another vantage point, such as directly behind the camera.
I also found nearly no backlash in the gearing (all gear systems have some, otherwise they would bind and wear), also with very smooth and free motion. Better in all respects than my $500 FF.
Also, the drive gear is easily movable without tools from one side of the gearbox to the other, allowing right or left hand use, or for short lenses. The drive gear has a wider face than usual, allowing for some unintentional misalignment of the lens gear forward or back on the focus ring. Nice touch.
I also like the clamping system where you don't have to slide it onto the rods from one end. You can just clip it onto the rods at any position and tighten. Great for when you have another accessory already on the rails that would be in the way. The locking knob for the horizontal sliding motion (to adjust gear mesh) is on the bottom, where it is easy to reach.
Cons:
The only one I can think of Supplied lens gear is too soft to provide accurate focus. It feels spongy in use. I think they were trying to give smoother motion and compensate for less than perfect gear mesh when setting up. Not an ideal situation.
I am using the standard harder plastic ones from another FF unit. They are 0.8 mod, standard cine pitch. These work much better, and if you are careful with setup (as you should be anyway), there is no problem with smoothness and backlash. You can get these at very reasonable cost from many makers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment