iPhone and select focus

[Puven Pather]

to all those smart enough.

Think any one of you out there could utilize the select focus on the iphone as a remote so you could pull focus using a digital follow focus on the camera/lens by just tapping on the screen or dragging your finger across the screen to your subject to alter focus. I'm sure this could be done without the iphone as a stand alone dedicated system.

You would need a transmitter for the video from the camera to the iphone/screen some how, and a transmitter from the iphone to the digital follow focus. And the software to drive it all in realtime. Maybe something that can be plugged into the iphone port.

I always wondered why nobody has done something like this before, maybe they have. I personally lack the brain power or finances to create it.

If anybody does come up with something, I would gladly test it for you.

 

[Andrew Gentle]

How would the software know how far away what you tapped was? The iPhone can do it because it can evaluate an edge detection function as it varies the focus in the region which you tapped. In order to get critical focus on something like the RED One, you'd have to analyse the image at full resolution. As far as I know there's no way to get the full resolution image out of the One so it would have to be performed in camera. It's turned into a feature request for RED!

The real problem is retrofitting autofocus on a cinema lens at all. For artistic purposes and at 24 fps, it could never be fast enough.

 

[A. Bastaki]

hylen does it. from panavision.. but thats a different story.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

hylen does it. from panavision.. but thats a different story.

That looks pretty cool.

If I'm understanding the info on the website, however, you still need to manually focus the shooting lens. Hylen basically just moves around a center-spot filter to selectively blur parts of the frame while keeping the selected area sharp on wherever the front lens is focused.

It actually looks like it would require a third person to operate the Hylen. (Camera operator, focus-puller, Hylen operator).

It looks like a very well-built and designed system. I will have to check it out the next time PVN Toronto has it in.

 

[Jeremy Neish]

I've dreamed of a system like this only even more futuristic. I imagine one day we'll be able to pull focus by having a gaze detection system that analyzes what the focus puller is looking at and and focuses on that instantly.

 

[William Robinette]

How would you pull focus on something like a person walking toward the camera with a longer lens with this system? Your finger would be on the same "spot" on the screen because there is no way to tell the iPhone (or any other device) the z-depth of the focus point has changed.

 

[Brent J. Craig]

I've dreamed of a system like this only even more futuristic. I imagine one day we'll be able to pull focus by having a gaze detection system that analyzes what the focus puller is looking at and and focuses on that instantly.

Why would you always want the focus to be on the craft girl?

 

[Charles Angus]

There is an art to focus pulling, as well as the nuts 'n' bolts of keeping the shot sharp. You have to have a sense of when to pull, and how fast. I certainly don't have it, but good 1st AC's do.

 

[JosephArthur]

I am looking at this iphone and I love it. And the relative applications of it. I would love to attach it to a dragonflyer we are spec'ing out.

http://www.draganfly.com/uav-helicopter/draganflyer-x6/gallery/videos

I personally got one RED Camera but yeah im not going to put a RED camera for now just cause of the weight.