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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 :)

Birger Lens Mount & Follow Focus

can't wait to hear back from the LART about how this works! i hope they can do a full illustrated report--what i'd really love is a web video clip about how it works. that would really be a big help. it's a little tough to picture it in action just from the stills.

thanks, erik.
 
chuck colburn said:
Isn't the main thing to get control over the aperture function?
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it have been posted with an Aperture focus rather than a Follow Focus though?

Everything I've written is my take on it. I could be way off base but this is what I assumed it would be capable of. I presume that Aperture control would be one of the features of it too.
 
PaulClements said:
In this way you can set it to autofocus and simply point the camera at what you are wanting to shoot.
Paul
Click to expand...

Not Autofocus!

The mount that lets you take manual control of Iris and the Focus motors of the lens. Or in the case of AF lenses that are mechanically driven by the camera body it simulates that.

A very good and use full thing in my opinion if you are shooting with newer stills lenses, many of which have iris's that can only be set electronically. It will also probably allow you to electronically expand the focus scale.



A few questions:

1. How do you set the iris on the birger mount ? It would be nice if it was on the mount itself, but could be over-ruled by the remote.

2. How does it get it's power from the camera, are there contacts or an internal cable in the camera body. ?

3. If two units are used near eachother in bluetooth mode is there a way we can distinguish which remote controls which lens.


Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
 
Also Eos stabilizer lenses are supported and you can control iris on Eos lenses and Nikon lenses which do not have external iris rings. I think this also allows iris changes during the shot. right Eric...... What a day off!!!!!
 
Matt Uhry said:
Not Autofocus!

The mount that lets you take manual control of Iris and the Focus motors of the lens. Or in the case of AF lenses that are mechanically driven by the camera body it simulates that.
Click to expand...

My bad then. Seems a shame that an adapter can't be built that does the autofocus on these lenses though, I suppose it requires the nikons sensor in order to refocus in such a way.
 
Autofocus would be a great addition, especially for ENG applications. But I don't see that happening unless there's some way to pull live data from the camera that could then be fed into these mounts to control AF lenses or in turn drive something like a RED Motor for cine-lenses. I suppose if Graeme's magic focus assist deal (whatever it turns out to be) could provide sufficient data to an external device (via USB or other interface), then there might be a chance.. Maybe. Interesting to think about though.
 
Canon lens have the focus motors in the lens, Nikon ones have a mechanical drive from the body, some physical differences in what the mount has to do as well as just the different "systems", but I have read they plan to have the Nikon mount providing the mechanical connection too.

Birger have also talked in the past about an external mechanical drive to have remote control of zoom, by driving the external zoom ring on the lens directly.
 
Matt Uhry said:
2. How does it get it's power from the camera, are there contacts or an internal cable in the camera body. ?
Click to expand...

One of the LEMO connectors on the bottom.

Matt Uhry said:
3. If two units are used near each other in bluetooth mode is there a way we can distinguish which remote controls which lens.
Click to expand...

Yes. Each will have a unique ID, based on its serial number that is laser engraved on the front of the unit.
 
Usage Model

Usage Model

There were some questions on the usage model...

The camera and/or supergrip can talk to, and provide power to, the unit over one of the LEMOs. This is how lens meta data will be recorded with the image stream. The Cooke and Fuji protocols can be used for querying data, the Fuji protocol for moving the lens. So camera menu and/or supergrip are potential ways to control the lens, if and when RED integrates this into the camera.

The second LEMO will source power, and is intended for an accessory bus. This will be used for a zoom motor, one or more knobs, etc.

A computer, PDA or wireless remote control can talk to it over bluetooth. This will allow full control over the unit, including software upgrades. This will also be how various control surfaces (i.e. the big knob) will be assigned to a specific control axis - i.e. iris or focus.

From a protocol perspective each port is the same, and can be assigned a specific personality. The physical differences are: one is wireless, one can provide power, and one must be provided power. When initially setting up the system, these personalities can be selected.

As time goes on, the protocols, and the available accessories, are subject to improvement, and additional offerings; as well as third party options, such as CVB's really cool looking remote.

Matt Uhry said:
1. How do you set the iris on the birger mount ? It would be nice if it was on the mount itself, but could be over-ruled by the remote.
Click to expand...

This is a really good idea. Prior to full integration by REDm this would allow the thing to be used out of the box without adding an extra knob or having any other control available.

I think it would make sense to have three buttons on the unit:
  • HOME
  • IRIS+
  • IRIS-

HOME would open the iris all the way, and would find the zoom and focus limits, and then return the lens to the current knob positions. Which side of the mount should the buttons be on?

Anybody want to comment?

Unfortunately, this means I am going to delay pricing and final feature announcement another day or two.
 
After all, will there be auto focus feature or not?

Please, simple answer for dummies: yes or no?
 
Evin Grant said:
Erik, can the iris control be a wheel, preferably a stepless analog control?
Click to expand...

The big knob mounted on the camera could be assigned to this. The wireless unit will have two knobs. The supergrip will have a joystick.

Evin Grant said:
And how will we know the set aperture? Only through a PDA or Laptop?
Click to expand...

Through the viewfinder. The lens mount will report it to the camera, using either the Cooke or Fuji lens protocols. The RED camera supports these protocols.
 
Hi Eric nice unit. Looks really rugged and professional...

I'm hoping the iris can be rolled seperately from the focus possibly using a second control (Big Knob) so we can pull focus as we dolly thru a change in light.

The Asst. I showed it to last night thought that the "big knob" should have a hinge on the clamp so it can drop directly off the rod without needing to remove matte box, lens support etc. when moving to the Dummy side.

Will the Big Knob support remote hard wired operation for cranes etc? how far?

Does the Big Know allow us to use our standard Arri whips?

Can you talk a little about how much the control stretches parts of the lens travel or moves the whole lens travel to a full circle of the control, About reversing the direction of the control travel re the lens, about repeating the marks when remounting on a lens previously marked, about your idea of ready made marked disks????
 
Evin Grant said:
Erik, can the iris control be a wheel, preferably a stepless analog control?
Click to expand...


Yes a wheel - on the operator side - camera left.

Buttons are a poor solution. Imagine you walk out of the spooky barn into bright daylight and need to pull the iris on the fly. tap tap tap ugh.

I saw somewhere that it was in 1/2 stops... Is that right ? that sounds like big increments to me. Is there a choice for this? or is it just how the canon lenses works?.

I'm very stoked about this adapter / controller. It's gonna give lots of creative options to lots of people for minimal costs.

Matt Uhry
www.mattuhry.com
 
1. Please add the standard whip connector to your FF. (see images)

2. I would love to see a two sided follow focus. As I like to put the assistant on the "dumb" side of the camera for a lot of moves. Either I have personal space issues or it's from years of shooting video without an eyepiece extension.

Cinetech does a nice job of connecting their two FF discs with a flexible aircraft cable. Is something like their implementation a possibility? Of course, eventually you'll have to support the three most common rod setups.

1. Arri 19mm studio
2. Arri 15mm studio
3. Arri 15mm LWS

Nice work, you've given me the excuse I needed to buy the Canon 85mm L.
 
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