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IndiFocus.com - Inexpensive Follow Focus, Rails, Matte Box & Slider

michael zaletel

michael zaletel

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Check out this company. Great products at great prices.

http://www.indifocus.com/products.htm

FROM THEIR SITE:

The all new indiFOCUSpro is based on the original universal universal follow focus, the one that started the accessories revolution. $299

The indiRAILSpro is a fully featured support unit that's rock solid, adjustable and adaptable. $99

When a full-sized camera dolly system is too much, there's always the indiSLIDERpro. $399

The indiMATTEpro is a fully featured Matte box with the simplest of swing-out mechanisms for ultra-quick lens changes. $349

The indiMATTEpro is a fully featured Matte box with the simplest of swing-out mechanisms for ultra-quick lens changes. Coming Soon.

-shooter
 
I wrote a mini review of the product some time back on another chat board.
If there is interest, I will post the review here.
But to cut to the chase, this product is not ready for prime time.
 
David W. Jones said:
I wrote a mini review of the product some time back on another chat board.
If there is interest, I will post the review here.
But to cut to the chase, this product is not ready for prime time.
Click to expand...

post it here
 
Brandon said:
here a DV magazine FF shootout:

http://www.dv.com/reviews/reviews_item.php?articleId=196603447
Click to expand...

Which sums it up as:

Pros:
Vertical riser adjustment. Single knob locks unit to rods. Can be reverse-mounted without removing the unit base from rods.

Cons:
Weak vertical riser nearly negates its own usefulness. Ships with non-standard focus gear and non-standard accessory port. Focus gear is fixed to one side of gearbox. Marker wheel and indicator cannot be rotated. Excessive amount of gearbox play.

Bottom Line:
A basic entry-level follow focus.​
 
...but I was quite intrigued by their IndieSlider Pro (http://www.indifocus.com/products_indisliderpro.htm), but a little Google showed that it can be tricky to operate. While other users are just plain happy with it. DVXuser has some helpful comments (http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=114841&page=4), where there is also mention of the Glideshot, which is basically a tiny skateboard dolly that runs on standard tubing, yours for only 120 bucks. (http://www.glideshot.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=55&products_id=491).

Disclaimer: I have not used any of these products; this post is just meant to save you a little time in case you are researching those options...
 
indiFOCUSpro

indiFOCUSpro

The freshdv review was based on an older version of the indiFOCUS.
We use a factory built low backlash gearbox, much beefier metal components, and indeed took some of the short-comings listed by the review(er) and made improvements.

Also, the indiFOCUSpro still ships with a friction wheel...in the case that you need to pull focus on a non-geared lens. But we have various pitched gears for the different lens. (Cine-pitch, Fuji-pitch) We also have various diameters available...knowing that one size does not fit all situations.

Our price is still $299 for the indiFOCUSpro with friction wheel and cine-pitch gear driver. I know that many feel that at that price it can't possibly be any good...
I feel that $1500 is too much for a follow focus. So I did something about the high cost of accessories.
Feel free to check out our web-site www.followfocus.com
 
indiFOCUS said:
The freshdv review was based on an older version of the indiFOCUS.
We use a factory built low backlash gearbox, much beefier metal components, and indeed took some of the short-comings listed by the review(er) and made improvements.

Also, the indiFOCUSpro still ships with a friction wheel...in the case that you need to pull focus on a non-geared lens. But we have various pitched gears for the different lens. (Cine-pitch, Fuji-pitch) We also have various diameters available...knowing that one size does not fit all situations.

Our price is still $299 for the indiFOCUSpro with friction wheel and cine-pitch gear driver. I know that many feel that at that price it can't possibly be any good...
I feel that $1500 is too much for a follow focus. So I did something about the high cost of accessories.
Feel free to check out our web-site www.followfocus.com
Click to expand...

Hey IndiFocus -

Ship me an eval unit and I'll be more than happy to "tell it like it is" here on REDUSER -
 
As asked... Here is the mini review I posted on another board.


IndiFOCUS PRO Geared Ultimate mini Review.

Taking delivery of the IndiFOCUS was not as easy as I expected.
As it took two emails, a phone call, and what I would consider a longer than normal wait for the product to arrive.
When it did finally arrive most of the parts were loose in the packing peanuts, and many of the screws for the lens focus gears had backed out and were loose in the bottom of the box.

The Geared Ultimate package ships with both Indi's proprietary pitched drive gears,
as well as Cinepitch 0.8 drive gears, which will work with standard cine focus gears.
I was not able to test all of the gears in the Geared Ultimate package, as a couple of them were missing from my order. A response from the company revealed they were on their workbench and would be sent out right away. After contacting the company multiple times and waiting for over a month they are still not here.

UPDATE....... (the unit was received on 11/17/07, and as of this posting on 5/11/08 the promised gears have never been shipped.)

The gears I did test worked fine.
The supplied lens focus gears ship with only one size mounting screw.
Which means if your lens is not the proper diameter you will need to either purchase new screws or possibly cut the screws to the proper size.
Fitting the lens gears requires measuring the inner screw area of each screw during the tightening process to make sure the lens is centered within the gear. This method of attaching lens gears can lead to scratching and or binding of the lens barrel, and I do not recommend using this type lens gear.

The lighted handle has a much larger diameter than any of the other follow focus units I have used over the years, making for an unnatural feel while trying to focus.
Because of it's larger than normal diameter, there is insufficient area for marking focus pulls on the ring, as well as insufficient area for mounting the supplied hard stops.
The light itself is rather dim and does a poor job of illuminating the focus ring.
Access to the battery is via two cover plate mounting screws, which have heads that extend past the outer diameter of the handle. Feeling them during a focus pull can get annoying. The battery itself is not held in place with a mount, meaning it rides loose and makes noise during a focus pull. So much for all quiet on the set.

The Hard Stops are made of lightweight aluminum and appear to be designed for the regular non-lighted handle, as they tend to fall off in use since there is insufficient mounting area due to the oversized lighted handle.

The Whip has a great handle, but that is where it ends.
The whip is shrink wrap coated, which does nothing to enhance it's good looks.

The large diameter of the whip makes it clumsy to focus with,
as it does not flex properly, wanting to hold the bend during focus.

The Speed Crank works just fine, but looks like it would be more at home in a mechanics tool chest rather than on a film set.

Something else to remember is that the whip/crank mount is non-standard.
The port looks to be made from mechanics socket set mount.
So any industry standard focus accessories will not work with the indiFocus Pro.

While the gearbox height is adjustable, the poorly designed riser holding the gearbox is not, sometimes forcing one to use a larger than necessary drive gear size, which will change your ratio during focus pull. The riser can also flex during a focus pull.

I was also disappointed by the workmanship of the product. For example, glue used to adhere some of the pieces was not cleaned off before it had dried, rough filing marks remained on the hard stops, a stamped code number was visible on the focus handle, and the use of socket wrench parts does nothing to enhance the look of the unit.

While I am not a professional reviewer, I do have 30 years of Film/TV industry experience, and in my professional opinion... This product is not ready for Prime Time!


Dave
 
David,
What are you missing? We sent two additional packages. If you did not get them...we will obviously take care of this. Please post/email me.
Thanks,
Tim
 
more reviews?..
 
You need more reviews?

I completely second what was said above by David. I recommended a few clients try the product a few months ago (almost a year ago now i guess) since they were looking for bottom dollar follow focus units. The unit is still the same now as it was a year ago. Those clients called me within a day of opening their packages and demanded a refund. I had to play "clean up" at that point and never once considered giving the recommendation again after seeing the goods myself.

For some reason they are held in higher regard on the DV sites because of the price, but I think they are hobbyists that simply don't need or understand the need for a nicer unit. Regardless, it is built with home depot hardware and does not function effectively enough as a follow focus. The whip, the gears, the tightening mechanism all of it warrant spending more on a redrock or even using the indian made units from ebay. Those are cheaper and function on a higher level (even with slight backlash) versus the indi stuff. Sorry to sound harsh with the review but I think its out of the question to consider the product for anything remotely close to a RED camera.
 
I have been using the Indie focus pro for a year now with the RED one and for the most part I have had no problem with it. Tim offered me great support several times. The only problem I have with it is with short Nikon lenses (such as a 50mm) as the gear box hits the side of the RED one (where you adjust back focus). I have had no problem with "play"...it's the same amount of play as other more expensive Follow focus such as the Red Rock and others in that category. I mean sure it's not an Arri...but then again it's only $299........ Honestly for the price, it's a great buy for every day use...on more critical and high budget projects we usually rent an Arri one though.
 
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