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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 :)

Remote follow focus

Jeffrey T. Morgan

Jeffrey T. Morgan

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Any recomendations on good REMOTE FOLLOW FOCUS units?

Maybe 1 affordable and one amazing recomendation?

Jeff
 
Hah. "We're not showing it here, we're talking a little bit about it...keep your fingers crossed that everything will come together"

Boy I've heard that before!

-michael zaletel
 
Thanks guys!
 
well, at least better than when companies just steal your idea and give you nothing.
 
These are of course expensive tools, and in my experience you truly get what you pay for. I've had the opportunity to use Preston, C-Motion, Arri LCS, Bartech, Viewfactor and a bunch of older units like the Genio and a few others I forget their names.

In the low cost area I guess we are currently speaking of the Viewfactor System and the Bartech. I have had difficulty with the Viewfactor system in wireless mode... not to dis or throw bombs, but recent experience left me pulling my hair out in frustration to the point where I just hooked it up hardwired and left it at that.

As for the Bartech BFD.... I DP'd a show in 07, shooting S16 and got my F-Puller a Bartech as the lower cost option to a Preston. I had done 3 shows with that fine gentleman, and I knew he was a damn good focus puller. Why then did we get back dailies that were consistently soft focus? Because - folks would be getting cell phone calls on set, and the RF interference would freak out the system and send it off into terra incognita. Ooof. Found this out 2 weeks in to a 3 week show, and I had been defending my guy to production that whole time. He nearly lost his job over it, and that is a big deal. Said to myself, "Never Again" and that was that

C-Motion's are awesome - very smartly put together, and ergonomically friendly. No issues with wireless, motors, cables or anything. The Integrated LCD that gives you a virtual lens along with depth of field tables was the best I had ever used. Used them 3 times as F-Puller on features - last one was a steadicam job that had me constantly running, grabbing sled from the op, running for marks and was very physically demanding. You tend to wear the handset on a lanyard around your neck, and this I did. The LCD add-on did not like this at all, and the electronic connections at the junction point became intermittent and ultimately failed. Perhaps they have beefed up the hardware and the connection strength since then. But it was damn nice up until then... could set electronic marks for the lens, do iris pulls with ease. Verrrry sexy.

Prestons. What can you say. They are bomber. Bulletproof. The industry standard, and worth every penny. Several career 1st AC's I have worked with have purchased their own systems and use them on every job, renting the units to productions. I still haven't learned all the secrets the current handset can offer, and when I have one on a job I breathe a sigh of relief.

Currently working as A camera 1st on a large budget film, with a famous director and A list talent. Can't go into too much detail because of NDD issues. But we are using the Arri LCS system - which may be my new favorite. Very simple, rugged and reliable.
The handset is small! The batteries last all day. 2 camera show, and I had to get at the frequency control to make sure A & B cameras were on separate channels - very easy. Got to admit, my favorite feature is this awesome little bracket that hangs off the rods right were your normal FF would sit, and you can dock the unit in there.
3 weeks in and I haven't pulled the FF out of the box once, just prefer to stay on the LCS - Very handy to do so to, as the director likes to be at camera working off the onboard monitor, so I just respectfully fade back and work the shot without getting in his way.

Just my experiences with these things... When it comes to focus - brothers and sisters, don't skimp... don't worry about how much it costs. Get the tools that will help you keep your job. As for purchase - the same applies - Gotta say I have been very envious to learn that some AC's pull in that extra $300/day for a 3 Axis system like a Preston, Arri or C-Motion as a tidy kit rental. My opinion is that the Preston's stand the test of time and would be the best choice for long term ownership and ROI.
 
Just for the record, I have never ever had cell phones screw with a Bartech. I did a commercial for Galudet university for the deaf. There is more text messaging on that campus than the whole island of Manhattan. Bartech worked flawlessly. I have used them for constantly for the past 6 years or so.

Nick
 
That is a rebadged M-One motor.
 
Hi Nick -

As I said, these are just my experiences with these things. Many variables to take into account - locality, different frequencies, carriers, specific phones etc. Very glad you
have never had the issues we did. It was bad, and I would never wish it on anybody.

We only stumbled across the reality of it by accident... the scripty's phone went off in between takes very close to camera - AD called for phones to be set to stun or something like that.... And then suddenly my 1st AC yells "look its doing it again!" which was the motor very quickly turning itself all the way to minimum focus and sticking there. Shortly thereafter returning to its originally set mark. BTW this happened in multiple locations shooting within the 30 mile zone in Los Angeles.

Weird. So we tried a test. We called that phone number again - and watched as the phone rang the motor repeated its crazy gyrations. We tried the same test with different phones and different carriers. Didn't happen all the time but if memory serves it was something like 4 times out of 10 we got the problem.

I was mostly busy lighting and working with our director, and not intimately involved with the setup and settings of the unit. But it was a tangible explanation for what had been going on.

Seeing projected dailies several times, even on wide shots with a healthy stop of like a 4-5.6 the shot would mid-take just go way soft, not like missing a mark, but like on the opposite side of the scale. As I said, I knew my guy and his skills. He would have to show up drunk, be on crack, and looking the other way to deliver something as awful as what we had... on multiple occasions. It really f'd with his confidence too - and it ate at him the whole job.

Anyways... perhaps we did something incorrectly, or not. But all I can do is refer to my favorite moment in MAGNOLIA

"......But it DID happen....."

Best wishes

Michael Hardwick
IATSE 600 1st AC

(and frequent non-union DP/Steadicam Op)
 
I believe we fixed that one

I believe we fixed that one

I believe the problem you saw was do to a weakness in the communication protocol error detection. We fixed it quite a while ago but not every unit has been sent in for an upgrade since it seemed to affect some units much more than others. I'd be willing to bet you had an older unit that had never been upgraded.

Jim Bartell
 
Jim Bartell said:
I believe the problem you saw was do to a weakness in the communication protocol error detection. We fixed it quite a while ago but not every unit has been sent in for an upgrade since it seemed to affect some units much more than others. I'd be willing to bet you had an older unit that had never been upgraded.

Jim Bartell
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

That's great to know. It was an older unit I'm sure, we rented it from Otto's in Winter 2007... and it was an (ahem) budgetary challenged production.

Just for future reference, is there anyway to identify which units have been upgraded and which ones still might need to be?

Many Thanks

Michael Hardwick
 
I thought it was fairly accepted practice to get mobile phones completely shut off on set, not just in standby, unless it was a non-sound shoot like a music video. But I guess this reiterates double checking all wireless kit on set doesn't interfere with each other, but on a public location that would be out of the shoot's control too. Good heads up!
 
Michael Hardwick said:
Hi Jim,

That's great to know. It was an older unit I'm sure, we rented it from Otto's in Winter 2007... and it was an (ahem) budgetary challenged production.

Just for future reference, is there anyway to identify which units have been upgraded and which ones still might need to be?

Many Thanks

Michael Hardwick
Click to expand...

Otto has several units, some with and some without the upgrade. Any units with serial number 0330 and up all have the upgrade. Units below that could be either one.

Also, if you are in the LA area and you have a problem like this, call me. I have gone into the field many times to solve problems like this. The two biggest bugs we had were discovered on set and fixed in a day in the shop. Believe me, it is in my best interest to get all the problems solved.

Always glad to help,
Jim Bartell
 
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