How do you guys pull focus ?

[Stefan Antonescu]

Thanks for all your comments guys... Much appreciated.

 

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Maybe I should specify a bit better... The RED setup I work with the most has a Birger mount and Canon AF lenses. A popular lens on the productions I work on has the following marking precision: Infinity, 10 feet, 3 feet, and then closer. Not much precision, and the throw on the focusing ring for those distances is quite short.

With a properly collimated Birger mount (parfocal lenses stay focused through their zoom range) the lens data is still quite a ways off - indicating 4 feet when the actual distance is 6-8 feet.

While you might have better luck with older manual focus lenses having more markings, and a different mount on the RED having less of a backfocus distance issue, and I can assure you that the accuracy in markings, and in backfocus, of stills lenses is nowhere near as good as a cine lens.
And that's by design - stills lenses are cheaper because they are tested and matched to appropriate focus scales, and they aren't designed to be shimmed.

Can you make your own marks for the still lenses? Sure, you can measure all sorts of distances for each still lens and make marks on your follow focus, but I can't imagine that being very practical on-set unless you keep a marking disc for each lens already pre-marked.

If, however, you are just measuring and marking a few points of focus for each scene, then I'm sure you are finding those points by focusing on the monitor by eye, not just measuring out a distance, dialing the lens there, and trusting it to be in focus.

Working with cine lenses that have been tested and shimmed recently is a whole lot faster and easier, and lends itself much more to a "measure, set it, go" way of working.

SLR autofocus lenses often have pitiful markings- and no you can't trust their lens data.

Like I said in my first post, you can establish a delta if you take the time to test and setup your lenses.

Autofocus SLR lenses do have some great features. First off, they have mounts that are reliable under a lot situations. You can't get as precise as a cine lens- but the whole system is designed for that.

Secondly- the lens data may be wrong, but its usually consistently wrong. If you have tested your lenses you can establish what that delta is.

Third- keeping separate marking rings for every lens is sometimes required. I have a Nikon 17-35 zoom which I abhor in one kit I use. It's marked just about as badly as you note above.

So, when I'm working with it, I make up a separate marking disk during prep just for that POS lens. I much prefer using a wireless system, because of the calibration

Finally I do believe you should check your measurements for focus with every camera. If your shooting 35 the operator should check through the finder. If you are working digitally, the AC should check using a pixel to pixel mode on an LCD.

With all that, the primary focus measurement should be the actual focal distance, not twiddle the wheel here.

 

[paul engstrom]

You can send in Canon lenses to have their backfocus adjusted.

Its very nice when the data is correct on the EVF/LCD when using the Birger mount!

 

[Stefan Antonescu]

Some very good news about EPIC & AF... Thanks Jon.

I have read all 46 pages and things aren't very clear to me... Sorry if this has been answered before.

With a DSLR I like using continuous AF with one or multiple AF points by pushing the button halfway to focus and than take the photo I want. This is very useful when the subject is moving.

Would such a thing be possible with EPIC in MOTION ?

Absolutely, yes! Focus Priority, Continuous Focus, Predictive Focus and Focus Tracking, with user selected AF cells, will all be possible in both still and motion modes.

That made some people very happy...

That's a fantastic confirmation for all of us hybrid, EFP, and stills shooters who will be using the new electronic mounts and Canon, Nikon, and Red Electronic lenses on Epic and Scarlet :thumbup1:

Thanks for spreading the word...

Thank you so much Jon !

This is incredible... This single feature is more important to me than HDRx...

IMHO, this is a game changer in focus pulling. Wow !!!

I have a feeling, this is going to Rock! BIG TIME!