1 Quickie Question: is there any lens c/w auto-focus?

[Happy Hopping]

For lens like RED 50 - 150 mm, does it has auto-focus? If not, what auto-focus lens would you use for outdoor wildlife animals running in high speed?

 

[Gunleik Groven]

There are no autofocus RED lenses. Maybe the Birger mount with Canon glass works like that...

 

[ericyoung]

There are no autofocus RED lenses. Maybe the Birger mount with Canon glass works like that...

Not yet, but Birger/Viewfactor has something in the works I believe - just don't make any plans around them. They will be some time in the making!

 

[Pawel Achtel]

For lens like RED 50 - 150 mm, does it has auto-focus? If not, what auto-focus lens would you use for outdoor wildlife animals running in high speed?

There are some "auto focus" options for cine lenses. Try C-motion. They are not cheap (more then the camera).

 

[Happy Hopping]

For those of you who uses this camera to film say, a moving car speeding towards the camera, is cine lenses the choice of most users? I assume noone can manual focus that fast, so for quick moving object, there must already be a solution

 

[jimhare]

Yes. A good and dedicated focus puller is mandatory.

 

[Happy Hopping]

Yes. A good and dedicated focus puller is mandatory.

Since I run a 1 man show, a focus puller is not an option. What other choices do I have? How much auto-focus power does cine lens have? Are they 100% auto-focus?

 

[Brandon Fraley]

For those of you who uses this camera to film say, a moving car speeding towards the camera, is cine lenses the choice of most users? I assume noone can manual focus that fast, so for quick moving object, there must already be a solution

the solution is you mark the focus where the car starts at the beginning of the shot and again at the end, then you pull focus from one mark to the other during the shot. This is the way everyone's done it for over 100 years. Auto focus rigs for these large format lenses are very impractical, which is why they are only used in very limited circumstances.

 

[Bob Gruen]

I had a prototype ultrasound autofocus that drove the first generation Birger mount on a test rig. It worked pretty well, having a resolution of around 1/4". The trickyest part with a tool like this is to understand that the sensor picks up the first large echo that passes a threshold value. I was planning on limiting the recieve side to try to make it more directional as well as mounting it on a servo that could repoint it mid shot.

A true infrared laser range finder would be far better, but they are pretty expensive (laser distance finders that you can find in Home Depot are actually ultrasound devices with a red laser for pointing). When I was doing research most of the components I found were military in nature and a bit oversized and under toleranced for our needs.

Bob

 

[Pawel Achtel]

I use Leica Disto laser distance meter, which is accurate to 2mm and has long range. You can point it exactly where you want. It is relatively inexpensive, about $1000