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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 :)

Introducing the OConnor CFF-1

M

Mitch Gross

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Abel Cine Tech is now taking orders on the new OConnor CFF-1 follow focus. Check out a video I made for our blog, Cine Technica, here:

http://blog.abelcine.com/2010/03/31/introducing-oconnors-cff-1-studio-follow-focus/

Here's the Sales page on our website for the CFF-1. Please note that there are numerous accessories available for the CFF-1 and I show it in the blog with some of these accessories mounted (such as the second focus knob). The Sales webpage has links to these accessories under the "Related Products" tab.

http://www.abelcine.com/store/OConnor-CFF-1-Follow-Focus-One-Package/
 
I posted this in another link - we beat on one of the pre-production units - and this is a really GREAT piece of gear. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
 
So that's what Mitch looks like - great video.

Great Follow Focus unit - innovative and a worthy successor to the Willytech FF.

Wish I had the moolah.
 
Dustin Cross said:
How does it compare against FF4?


Dusty
Click to expand...

The short answer is that the unit is on par with ARRI quality while incorporating features not offered in any of their commercially available follow focus units. Specifically the OConnor CFF-1 can be used on both 15mm and 19mm studio rods using the same bridge (a 15mm LWS bridge is also an option), it has the largest lens barrel to main bridge clearance, and the main bridge is horizontally adjustable from the support bridge. The swing arm can be removed and mounted on either side and we have an upcoming direct drive gear which mounts without the need of the swing arm. The FF can also be mounted ABOVE the lens on the RED top mount rods.

So what does this mean? Getting around really BIG lenses is no longer an issue with this design; the same is true of smaller lenses such as scopes. It also means that for the first time the “hybridization” of 15mm and 19mm studio spacing is addressed specifically by a follow focus.

The CFF-1 will be at NAB and also the REDUSER 2010 NAB party…come on by if you can and check it out.
 
Great product, with several very innovative features!
Well... I bought an Arri FF-4 from Abel a couple of months ago... can I trade it for the O´Connor? (just kidding... but... may I?)
Guido
 
Being able to take the arm off is interesting. But it's not clear from the video whether the arm itself can be underslung below the lens, which I usually do with a FF4 or FF3. You can sort of do the same with a Chrosziel but the arm has a hard stop and doesn't swing down all the way. Just wondering what range of swing the arm has...from the photos it looks like it can swing down all the way?
 
I think I might have a like new, FF-4 up for sale soon (bought a few months ago). I gotta check one of these out at NAB, but they look great! Seriously, I don't see a reason to hastily sell the FF-4, but O'Connor seems to have done this right.
 
Kar Wai Ng said:
Being able to take the arm off is interesting. But it's not clear from the video whether the arm itself can be underslung below the lens, which I usually do with a FF4 or FF3. You can sort of do the same with a Chrosziel but the arm has a hard stop and doesn't swing down all the way. Just wondering what range of swing the arm has...from the photos it looks like it can swing down all the way?
Click to expand...

It can. Very Versatile.
 
This is really cool. Being able to adjust the knob and gear for clearance is bad ass. I'm kind of stunned though that ARRI seems to have not been able to adapt these new features. I never thought there was room for another FF until now.
 
Rick Darge said:
Cost? It's nice but I'm not selling my FF-4 anytime soon. I love that piece of kit, no matter how obsolete it may be up against the new guy..
Click to expand...
It will not be obsolete. FF-4 is great.
A follow focus is a tool if it is made right then it is a good tool, the rest is upon the focus puller.
I still use a FF-2 and it does the task.
The problem with the FF-2 that it only fits 15mm unless you change it. There was someone in Australia who offered that conversion but never heard back from him. The other problem is that it will not fit with big zoom like Cooke 25-250 MK3 and the Angenieux Optimo 24-290 and 17-80. Their housing is too big.

Mitch,
Does it works with the above zooms Cooke 25-250 MK3 and the Angenieux Optimo 24-290 and 17-80?
Does it clamp with no problem to both 15 and 19 system?
 
Ivan G said:
This is really cool. Being able to adjust the knob and gear for clearance is bad ass. I'm kind of stunned though that ARRI seems to have not been able to adapt these new features. I never thought there was room for another FF until now.
Click to expand...

There’s always room for new gear – the question is “how much room?” Sliding follow-focus units were already being built by Clairmont back as far back as the 1980s; the Willytec also had a very low profile with sliding capacity; and there was even a Mitchell (I think, but it might have been CP) eccentric handwheel – but such things could become obscure because they weren’t universally needed at a given time, or the need faded due to changes in the surrounding technology. Obviously, needs change, can fade and come back, with the market and the users. As little as two years ago, a combination 15mm/19mm bridge might very well have been a snicker-inducing curiosity, since almost everyone was strictly 15mm or strictly 19mm and that was it. Nowadays, being able to go either way at will looked to be a cost-saver and headache-avoider for a lot of potential customers, so we built it.

In any case, the most exciting thing for me and the guys about Camera Dynamics/OConnor is the opportunity to keep moving forward while maintaining price/performance balance. It’s pretty clear to see that in the future, price/performance will take over where price or performance alone were once decisive. That process has really only started and it's going to be fun to see where it takes us.
 
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