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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 :)

A follow focus with $1000-$1500 to blow?

Simon Knight

Simon Knight

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Ok another "what's the best..." Thread but I'm truly out of my depth here...
was about to get a $500 Lanparte ff but read many reports about waiting until I can afford the right one.... So I will have no more than £1000 or $1500 to blow...
im thinking along the lines of the Zacuto or the base model Arri.. Many good write ups but any definitive results would be much appreciated..

regards

Simon Knight
 
I've not used the base model O'Connor but I own the cff-1 and if they are anything close to the same quality then buy that. The cff-1 is nicer then any of the Arri models I have used. I've had it for two years and use it all the time and it's never given me a moments trouble. ACs are usually skeptical until they use is and it wins them over every time.
 
Build quality is killer on anything oconner makes
 
A used Bartech wireless FF.
 
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Thanks guys..
Alain, that's a beautiful piece of equipment there and about $1000 out of my budget unfortunately... I've picked up a nasty habit of buying Zeiss glass that is effecting my bank balance!!

Is it me or does the Cinevate one look exactly like the GiniRigs one?
regards

Simon
 
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I have the Laparte V2 £250 - I wasn't expecting much from it, but its a rock-solid piece of kit
 
Gary,
Where did you get it from? There are so few dealers here in the UK..

Regards

Simon
 
I had the chrosziel studio follow focus, lasted a year then the gear box went while on a job. Will never buy from them again. Luckily, someone was selling a brand new, O'Focus at the time. Which was the follow focus I wanted to get, but was out of stock a year ago. Now that I have one, my all O'Connor RED package feels complete.


About the O'Connor ofocus, it's the creamiest follow focus on the market today. Besides the ff-5 of course. The transmission ratio for the photo stills finally makes is easier for the AC. 1.75 I believe. If your a cinema glass person, that's fine. Just put the cinema hand wheel (same one as the cff-1) and your get the same transmission ratio as the ff-5 for cinema lenses. Another great thing about the ofocus, is the gear is a fixed under slung which might sound bad, but it's almost impossible for it to jump the track. My chrosziel studio follow focus jumped all the time with RPP, and old super speeds. I hated it so much, my AC asked me if we could do a office space remake of the printer/fax smash scene. Which we did.

Now the down sides of the O'Focus. Not many AC's know of it. So you will have to let the follow focus win them over. If you work with the AC's I work with, first thing they will say "if it not a FF-4/5 then it's shit" Which until I and them got our hands on the Ofocus, believed. Now we say, "if it's not a ff-4/5 or OFocus, it's shit." The other down side is the placement of the locking for the bridge. It can get in the way after you just placed the gear into position. It doesn't stop you from using it or locking it down, it's just a odd placement for it when it comes to small lenses.

I would advise from Zacuto or any dslr 3rd party for a follow focus. Your not gonna get smooth and accurate marks with them, the amount of play I get when I use my friends red with Zacuto, and an others friends red with red rock. It's horrible when your used to a FF-5 or now the OFocus. Don't make the same mistake I did. Get a follow focus that's built to last. O'Connor or ARRI is the only way to go.
 
Thanks Jon,
Inciteful and great advice... I was advised today from CVP, a company i'd usually trust, that to go with Chrosziel or Arri at the bottom end of their scales would be silly.. They advised on the Tilta unit at just under $800.. I can understand the thinking about not buying bottom of the range and your Chrosziel story backs that up.... But do Arri make bad FF's? Is the FF1 really bad? at £1000 or $1500 I'd hope not...But then what do others say?? Perhaps it is better to wait... Continue my Zeiss glass fettish until I can afford the Oconnor.

Thanks again for everyones help.. I really want to get this right so i don't need to buy again in a year or so..

Steve, thanks for the heads up but I'm not really ready for a wireless system.. Are they really the dogs doodah's??

Cheers


Simon
 
Now Johnny, that is the other one the chap at CVP mentioned. The one I looked at was an exact copy of the Arri FF-1 with the double articulated arm. I was a bit put off when he said he thought it was mostly plastic, though. But you reckon its ok, yes?

Simon
 
Ryan Nichols said:
I've not used the base model O'Connor but I own the cff-1 and if they are anything close to the same quality then buy that. The cff-1 is nicer then any of the Arri models I have used. I've had it for two years and use it all the time and it's never given me a moments trouble. ACs are usually skeptical until they use is and it wins them over every time.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree, the Obox, and the Oconnor follow focuses are terrible. Poor machining and lousy tolerances masked with 'universal compatibility'.

They also do not like to answer any technical questions, nor do they provide technical diagrams for any of those products.

Save up for an FF4. Buy something once.
 
Would you say there is a massive difference in the build quality in Arri products? Do they take less care in building a MFF-1 over a MFF-4? Might sound a silly question but then who'd buy a camera made from parts that failed the QC for its bigger brother??? (Hang on.......) grin.

regards

Simon
 
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