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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 :)

DJI Wireless Follow Focus - 1st Impression

Willis Chung said:
Hey Tyler,
I've tested the DJI Focus with my old set of Contax Zeiss, Leica-R, even Sim Digital's Angénieux Optimo 24-290's focus and zoom rings, the motor handled it like a champ.
The right angle lemo cable as well as remote start/stop is on its way.

If you guys have any requests for lenses to be tested on the DJI Focus, let me know. I'll head over to a local rental house on Monday or Tuesday, if you're in the LA area, feel free to come hangout.
Click to expand...

Hi Willis

Spoke with one one your staff at InterBee last week regarding a future Finger Weel (or thumb controller) in the likes of RedRock micro.
Told me DJI was gauging the market, checking the feed backs on this unit prior to make any decision, which is obviously smart .

For many people (including me) that would be a very important feature, widening the potential of the system and justifiying the investment in this already crowed market.
Can you spill some info ion that ? Thank you ;)
 
Sorry for the dumb question but I'm having a hard time getting any help from DJI on this. I just received my DJI Focus and it seems that the motor doesn't power up at all when I plug it into a battery via the supplied PTap cables. I'm assuming it should power on and the LED lights should blink but nada...

I also tried plugging in the supplied data cable to the handset and that doesn't seem to do anything. Not sure if I need to supply power via PTap at the same time as the data cable or not (instructions weren't clear).

Anyway - just hoping I can confirm some assumptions while I wait for DJI's support to kick in.
 
Dan -

Yep - tried both ports. And as far as I can tell the polarity is correct (I don't have a way to check polarity with me right now but the connection that's labeled positive is connected to the correct side of the female port on the battery).

I'll screw around with it some more and see if I can get it to do anything. Really frustrating that DJI hasn't responded to any support tickets at all.
 
I verified that the PTap polarity was correct... but there is definitely something wrong with the Motor... it smells like burnt electronics. Also - it looks like the data cable has a couple of pins bent (badly enough that the connector actually seats into the female connection without feeling any resistance if that makes sense). I was pretty careful when I plugged everything in initially... wonder if this is just bad quality control?
 
Ptap

Ptap

How is everyone powering these off their epic? If not using them on a ronin... I can't get either of the p-tap cables to plug in to the port, or a couple of other battery plates as well. Am I looking at this wrong?

I ended up calling support and they said I needed a special cable, but that they don't sell it. So I ended up hacking another ptap and laid the pins in and closed it up and it works. Not super impressed with their "included powering ptap cables".
 
Kyle are you saying plastic on the P-tap end of the 2 pin to P tap cable is just junky? Have you tried going into a p tap splitter? I've found that some of the splitters sometimes have looser ports. What special cable were they talking about? I'm interested to know how you make out, mine should be here tomorrow and I definitely plan to use it off the gimbal a lot.
 
Luke Rihl said:
Kyle are you saying plastic on the P-tap end of the 2 pin to P tap cable is just junky? Have you tried going into a p tap splitter? I've found that some of the splitters sometimes have looser ports. What special cable were they talking about? I'm interested to know how you make out, mine should be here tomorrow and I definitely plan to use it off the gimbal a lot.
Click to expand...

I have not tried a ptap splitter. I don't think they understood exactly what a ptap even is... Their support seemed incredibly lack luster.
 
kylebainter said:
How is everyone powering these off their epic? If not using them on a ronin... I can't get either of the p-tap cables to plug in to the port, or a couple of other battery plates as well. Am I looking at this wrong?

I ended up calling support and they said I needed a special cable, but that they don't sell it. So I ended up hacking another ptap and laid the pins in and closed it up and it works. Not super impressed with their "included powering ptap cables".
Click to expand...

There is a "key-way" dimple on the P-tap supplied by DJI with FF for power that needs modifying before it will plug into anything but a DJI product like the Ronin. its relatively easy to open the connector and shave off the key-way. I used a box cutter blade.
 
It was a little vague on whether it works independent of the DJI framework, but sounds like it does for ground work. As a MOVI and ALTA owner, I'm interested but it sounds like for long range it piggybacks on the remote signal so I wouldn't benefit from the long-range aerial use.
 
Richard Gazzo said:
Hi Willis

Spoke with one one your staff at InterBee last week regarding a future Finger Weel (or thumb controller) in the likes of RedRock micro.
Told me DJI was gauging the market, checking the feed backs on this unit prior to make any decision, which is obviously smart .

For many people (including me) that would be a very important feature, widening the potential of the system and justifiying the investment in this already crowed market.
Can you spill some info ion that ? Thank you ;)
Click to expand...


I second that - would love to see a finger wheel...
 
Erich Roland said:
There is a "key-way" dimple on the P-tap supplied by DJI with FF for power that needs modifying before it will plug into anything but a DJI product like the Ronin. its relatively easy to open the connector and shave off the key-way. I used a box cutter blade.
Click to expand...

Hey Erich, I totally did that, but it was still to big overall to fit into the ptap on two camera plates I had. Both were IDX v-mount if that matters... They just seemed "fatter" than the regular ptap.
 
Beyond happy with the quality and features for the price. ACs love it, wich is all i care about in the end. I keep telling them there are run/stop cables coming up down the line, hope I am not just kidding myself. I do worry about DJI s ability to keep the units working. I wrote them asking to buy more focus rings, spare batteries and a spare rod bracket (it s a clever design, but a bit flimsy and it will get lost at some point), and their response was just "nope". Does anyone know if there is any third party alternatives?
 
meteorango said:
Beyond happy with the quality and features for the price. ACs love it, wich is all i care about in the end. I keep telling them there are run/stop cables coming up down the line, hope I am not just kidding myself. I do worry about DJI s ability to keep the units working. I wrote them asking to buy more focus rings, spare batteries and a spare rod bracket (it s a clever design, but a bit flimsy and it will get lost at some point), and their response was just "nope". Does anyone know if there is any third party alternatives?
Click to expand...

I love the unit but the rod bracket needs a redesign. My AC's loved everything about it except this. Anyone know of a third party bracket?
 
Thanks Daniel. For whoever is looking, here is the link http://store.dji.com/handheld-gimbals/focus
I see they sell the right angle power cable, that s great.
Ned, there is an extended version of the rod bracket that looks nice.
Guess I have to learn to shop on gimbal / drone sites.
 
Ned Wilson said:
I love the unit but the rod bracket needs a redesign. My AC's loved everything about it except this. Anyone know of a third party bracket?
Click to expand...

Finally got a chance to use this wireless follow focus for a few days and you are absolutely right. The hand unit is fantastic but the bracket that holds the motor to the rod slips as you tighten it.

It's the same design as the ET/RED motors, but instead of the screw holding the bracket together completely, on the DJI motor, the screw only holds the bracket once it's close to being tightened. So, if you aren't careful, it will jump the threads and you'll have to start over.
 
Marcus Friedlander said:
Finally got a chance to use this wireless follow focus for a few days and you are absolutely right. The hand unit is fantastic but the bracket that holds the motor to the rod slips as you tighten it.

It's the same design as the ET/RED motors, but instead of the screw holding the bracket together completely, on the DJI motor, the screw only holds the bracket once it's close to being tightened. So, if you aren't careful, it will jump the threads and you'll have to start over.
Click to expand...

This might do the trick.

http://store.dji.com/product/focus-motor-quick-release-mount-extended-by-40mm
 
Has anyone updated their focus to the latest firmware?

http://www.dji.com/product/focus/info#downloads

Per the release notes the hand remote will now remember the last calibration setting:

"Added a function to record motor calibration so that the motor can use the previous settings prior to powering off"

I have quite a bit of experience with dji's aerial products, and unfortunately firmware updates often mess up other previous features that worked without issue.

Anyone willing to be the 1st to try it?
 
I have 2. So I went ahead and upgraded one. The upgrade process itself was fairly painless. Not as simple as a camera firmware update but doable. 4 pieces of firmware to update. 2 for the controller and 2 for the motor.
When I finished updating I realized that the motor and the controller were disconnected. Looked up on the new manual how to reconnect them. Followed the instructions and the controller said "failed". Tried again and again and again and the same result. Not until I power cycled both the remote and the motor that they suddenly connected.
Set up the motor on the camera and calibrated and everything seems to be working fine. Just don't forget to go back in the menu and reset all the speed and torque settings to maximum. The calibrations seem to be holding up fine.
I have a job on Tuesday and will report back on how it goes. If everything proves successful, I'll be upgrading my second setup.
Besides the pickup on the motor-controller reconnection, everything seems good.
 
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