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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 :)

Follow Focus For Red Camera

It does look high, but it also looks like you can convert it to single sided and save some clearance on the bottom.

_mike
 
They got back to me too RE reversing focus direction. Waiting for permission from them to repost their email.

EDIT: got permisison-

"Dear Mr Allen,

Thank you for your interest in our MH-FF Pro follow focus. The MH-FF Pro Reverses by allowing the user to mount just the drive unit upside down, not the whole system. You do this by unlocking the dovetail clamp on the quick release bracket, then flipping the drive unit over, and then rotating the drive arm 180 degrees, and then remounting the system on the dovetail.We are currently in the process of designing our product brochure, we should have have the brochure completed by early next week. We will also have our website up and running by early next week as well, the website will contain full pricing details, additional pictures, and a full technical breakdown on our products. Just, to give you an idea of the price. Our Studio configuration of the MH-FF Pro retails for $2200.00 USD, We also have a light weight, single sided configuration that will retail for $1900.00 USD. We will email you a brochure early next week when it becomes available, please feal free to email us with any other questions you may have.

Best Regards,

Spencer Duncan

Sales Coordinator
DONAN CAMERA CORP"

...and then he sent me a follow up email in response to me asking if I can post on reduser:

"Yes, of course you can. I can also provide you with a few more details about the system, to share with others.

The connecting rod in the center of the system, and the other side of the studio configuration are both removable, this will allow you additional clearance when using large diameter lenses.

Also, if you remove the Focus Knob OR the connecting shaft in the center of the system, you can plug-in a standard size speed crank or a whip, for a very light weight configuration.

The Gears that we use inside our Drive system, are precision anti-backlash gears that cost us $300 USD per set to manufactuer, so gear play has been minimized to provide a very secure feel when pulling focus.

The Drive unit Reverses the same way that the ARRI LFF-1 and the Willytec system Reverse, and is set up with the same type dovetail clamping mechanism.
"

Sounds promising! Can anyone who is smarter than me in this field (okay everyone ;) tell me why it is better than this system:
http://www.cavision.com/followfocus/singlewheelnew.htm
...adapted to dual wheels like this:
http://www.cavision.com/followfocus/dualwheel.htm

Donan one seems easier to reverse, no?

I agree with Chuck that a simple gearbox would be coolest, but unlike you guys I'm all Nikon for now, so I'll probably just put my FF in reverse and leave it there ;)

Bruce Allen
www.boacinema.com
 
Thats Great news!

As far as this compared to the Cavision stuff, I haven't played with the Donan so I don't know. But I do know the Cavision stuff I've used, and seen all looks like it was built by a highschool shop class. Not very tight, lots of backlash and play, doesn't feel rugged or well engineered.

_mike
 
The Donan is looking pretty good. Who's going to be the adventurous one to buy it first?
 
"Who's going to be the adventurous one to buy it first?"

that should be who's going to test it first ... seems with all the interest here that Donan would let somebody with a RED test out the FF ?
may be LART group ?? or RedNinja's ??
 
Timage said:
Cooke also tries to catch the REDtrain by bringen out "old" lenses with new RED logos on them.
Tim
Click to expand...

Hi Tim,

It's not as if you can buy a new Cooke lens set tomorrow, there has always been a long wait for S4's. Cooke can only produce a certain no of lenses a year so I don't think they will make any additional sales because of Red.

Stephen
 
donatello said:
"Who's going to be the adventurous one to buy it first?"

that should be who's going to test it first ... seems with all the interest here that Donan would let somebody with a RED test out the FF ?
may be LART group ?? or RedNinja's ??
Click to expand...

We're on it...hopefully we'll get a few to test at LART (12/1 and 12/2). One more toy to play with will be very cool...
 
Hi Stephen, sorry I didn't mean to bash cooke. I love them as you do. I think it's just funny, that they put RED Logos on lenses that are not new designs. For me that's jumping on the bandwagon. Not in a negative way. They are clever.

But some how people could think cooke designed these lenses specialy for the RED camera. It's just fun to see that a lot of well known companys are adjusting to the RED camera.

Cheers
Tim
 
most sellers of PL /cine lens now know about RED and have raised prices on used lens ... i keep seeing "works with RED " on lens for sale on ebay & at used lens sellers web sites - they know it a sellers market and there is very little supply of used older PL lens and just about no supply of zeiss hi speeds , ultra speeds and no used supply of master primes & cookes S4's ...

so we have RED primes coming up ?? ..... optar illumina primes maybe coming up in march ? ... and we have elite 35 digital prime lens maybe next march/april too ( these are same as their S35 lens but they have a smaller lens barrel - i think they are 85mm vs 110mm ) and of course the elite S35 lens are available now ...
 
Saw this on ebay. Don't know the company or the unit but it looks nicely done and probally is light weight. The mini-mag keychain light is clever. Before everyone starts up about belt drives being no good it's just not true. The "No-Slip" one used on this unit will work perefectly fine in this application. And if you don't like it, you could replaced it with a "Posi-drive" belt system which has zero backlash. Anyhow thought it might be of intrest to someone.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cinetech-Follow...oryZ3319QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
The Cinetech unit got a good review in the dv.com shootout (but they hold the rubber belt against it).

FreshDV has a video version of the test here.

BTW, I'm very happy with my Vocas MFC-1 follow focus.
 
Nils J. Nesse said:
The Cinetech unit got a good review in the dv.com shootout (but they hold the rubber belt against it).

FreshDV has a video version of the test here.

BTW, I'm very happy with my Vocas MFC-1 follow focus.
Click to expand...

Yeah he's also the guy who said the swivel arm was very unique. Comon that's how every serious unit is built. He also said he didn't know if the lash was in the gear box or the belt. If he had just grabbed the lower belt drive gear he could have figured that out in a heart beat. I don't think he knows very much about mechanical devices and would not trust what he has to say.
 
chuck colburn said:
If he had just grabbed the lower belt drive gear he could have figured that out in a heart beat. I don't think he knows very much about mechanical devices and would not trust what he has to say.
Click to expand...

And also he did seem to put an awful lot of pressure on the units to measure the amount of play. Not sure that's a great real world way to do it. Also I'd have to look more closely but the millimeter measurement thing he used appeared to be at different distances from the center of the rod... so wouldn't units that were measured further away from the center be unfairly judged vs. those that were measured near the center?

Overall it was nice to see the units in action. The Cinetech and Cavision looked nice. Watching the video made me take apart my RedRock and reverse the gear so my Nikons now focus the correct direction. Yay. The RR works well for the money and the wide gear is nice. That indiefocus looked like a disaster.
 
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