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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

which wireless follow focus to buy?

I have seen a Service Vision Scorpio Remote Focus system - same folks make the Scorpio stabilised head - works okay except if there's lots of WiFi around. No idea on price.

My standing on lens remotes is to buy whatever there's a lot of in your area, in case you need spares. I have seen Bartechs fail for no reason, I have seen Prestons fail for no reason, everything has a few bad experiences. That said, the Preston gear seems a lot hardier than most anything but Arri and Cmotion.
 
Apart of good reputation that some units have or not have there is a ton of other things like, for instance On what is ACs like,do they like brands? will they call it a units feallure if the picture is soft and blame it on the unit?
As far as I know from experience in the old days you could do a ptrety good job with analog signal devices and motors with no problem.
Now its all this hundreds of features, gadgets, and if you havent got them everyone moans.
I thinks its the days of evolution and people should be open minded.
Everything fails sooner or later, that doesnt mean a thing.
your red can fail anytime, is thiat making it a bad camera?
 
Preston FIZ Three will print you money. You can connect the brain the to Cinetape and it will display Cinetape data - super slick. You can add a single channel controller and let the DP ride the Iris if you like. Expensive ... YES. Worth every penny and extremely high in demand.
 
more products, pricing and information added/amended in initial post. keep the feedback coming... I have a feeling this thread will be very helpful for anyone looking into wireless follow focus units
 
Cliff - where did you pick up the Scorpio unit? and what was the approximate pricing? I couldn't find any pricing or distributor info on their website... any specific thoughts on using the unit, quality, etc?
 
Ketch - this thread started out really small. so it can definitely be expanded to include multi-channel units... not everyone wants or needs or can afford a 3 motor wireless ff kit.

feel free to pitch in links, pricing, thoughts and information and we'll add it to the list. once everyone's info is up, we can sort it and organize all the information into one channel, two channel, and three channel kits.

I'd love to see a specific thread just for wireless monitoring options (keeping this one focused on the wireless ff units). I think it's a great idea.
 
I was in LA last week visiting ARRI, Preston and c-Motion. c-Motion no stock, made on order only. Preston has a new RF filter in their system, which is a big deal now--talk to the sound guys about set interference. ARRI's demo unit was out. Big issue with me was ergonomics. I just didn't find the Preston that comfortable to hold. All seem well built. I played around with the c-Motion variatons at Cinegear and liked the feel of that the best. Also, the monitor attachment and auto focus were great bells and whistles--Hello $50,000+

c-Motion prices are going up due to dollar valuation issues I was told.
 
How does the Arri gear compare to Preston? Any preferences among folks that have tried both?
 
...I'll sell someone a very low VF Impero + 3 Inclino motors reservation.

:emote_couch:
 
I've had the opportunity to play the Preston. It's incredible! On the other hand I have a very long list of bad experiences with the Bartech. It's not impossible the all the Bartechs I've used in town were badly maintained, but still. Preston? Any day.

On the other hand, I'd be EXTREMELY interested to hear about comparisons with the WCU-3. Arri wireless FFs are pretty rare in town.
 
I've been in several situations were Bartechs would have either poor range, wouldn't work if you were too close, would jump back and forth. I've seen all kinds of undesirable behaviour from those units. Add to that manual calibration which is really annoying.

For their defence, I'll note that the units I used were dubiously maintained rental units... but still. All of them?

I mean, it's okay, it gets sort of passing grade... but it's still the worst you can get in town. It's just a question of perspective I guess.

On the other hand the Preston FIZ is just absolutely wonderful. It works every time, auto calibration's great, the controller rocks. I'm not sure about what Mark said about printing money, but the one I've seen in town has a microwave receiver big enough to make coffee, maybe it can also print.
 
Alexis, not disputing your claims, just offering another point of view.

I have been on more jobs were the Preston went bad and the bartech saved the day rather than vice versa. I own 2 bartechs, and have used them for years with no problems. One soot we shot for 120 days, in all forms of precipitation known to man, the transmitter was dropped, rained on etc. No problems. I did three feature films back to back in the Caribbean, salt air, sand high temps. no problems. The bartech is also lighter than the Preston for steadicam.

They are two different units that do two different things. You could buy a lot of Bartechs for the price of a preston.

What type of trouble shooting did you do to fix the problems? did you change channels, swap out motor and power cables? Particularly with rental units, bad cables can cause a lot of issues.

At any rate, The bartech is a great unit, and don't judge it on one persons bad experiences.

Nick
 
Just stopped by Element Technica yesterday and was shown their upcoming wireless FIZ system. Looks like it will be very, very nice - solidly built and competitively priced. Apparently, will be offered in a 3 as well as a 6 channel version for 3d rigs.
 
Alexis Vanier said:
On the other hand, I'd be EXTREMELY interested to hear about comparisons with the WCU-3. Arri wireless FFs are pretty rare in town.
Click to expand...

We really like the Arri WCU-3 and the new motors.. we use if for both 2d and 3d work and it seems a very easy robust system.

M
 
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