making Raven wireless FF ready

[jordan levy]

anticipating outfitting my Raven i/o vlock package to be wireless follow focus ready. i dont need a whole system as i work with many different AC's in many different cities that have their own units, pretty standard for AC's these days. but i would love my body to be ready for whatever comes about.
i hope to throw it on steadicams and other rigs.
ive been looking into systems and what they use for power and control. so what would be more universal? a 2 pin lemo, just the already included dtap, both? if a lemo is needed what is the most practical, inexpensive, keeps the body small, not like a whole top plate thing.
should i build rods off the back? what exactly do i need? i love the latitude behind the sidekick situation but maybe it's overkill for me, and does it work universally or just with RTmotion handsets?
sorry ive been out of the AC game for decades and just going back to square one with camera ownership, my last professional camera was an Arri 3!
thanks in advance!

 

[Levi Arnold]

I've only used the bartech system and the newer RedRock wireless focus system. The RedRock is great, but not the smoothest I've ever used. I heard the new firmware helped with that though. The DJI follow focus looks promising as well.

For power I got the smallest 15mm baseplate I could find and built a small rod system off the back to hold the brain of the system and then ran the power from off the RED battery.

 

[Stephen Pruitt]

If you are using a Raven, you're probably going to be using Nikon or Canon lenses. In that case, the no-brainer of the decade is the Optitron 2 from Optitek.

Stephen

 

[Matthew Quinn]

hey jordan. for wireless feed to a directors monitor i would recommend something like this http://www.innocinema.com/actionproducts-eclipse-500-hdmi-sdi-hd-wireless-video-system.html

I normally use a teradek bolt 600. but i hear these are much better and WAY cheaper (we power the teradek with d-tap)

we have always used Bartech, however, My AC recently got the DJI follow focus and it works great! (we power with D-tap)

you will deff need some mounting points and some rail options.

http://woodencamera.com/RED/RED-Weapon-Raven-Accessory-Kits/Easy-Riser-Weapon-Scarlet-W-Raven.html

Best main piece you can get to start would have to be the WC raven riser with the LW 15mm Rail bracket with 6" 15mm rails. (great for mounting the follow focus, mattebox, with even room for a small handgrip set up)

next step would be to grab a 19mm bridgeplate like this http://woodencamera.com/NAB-2016/Unified-Bridgeplate-19mm.html

this allow for bigger set ups, and also lets you run 19mm rails front and back. I use this to support my hand held configuration and also go from handheld to trip pod with a dovetail

 

[jordan levy]

Oh yeah right, I'll have to be rigging and powering a video transmitter as well I guess.
I might use my sigma but I'll also be using cine lenses like optmo light weights with ef adapters.
I have the wc base plate with front rod adapter, but I'm assuming I might have to get the rear one as well, I think they showed me one that attaches to the back too. Again, I won't be buying my own video or focus units for now but just want to be ready for whatever 3rd party systems the Ac or camera house gives us. So I guess I need 2 lemos or one lemo and one dtap?
thanks guys!

 

[James Miller 72]

I was playing with the Fool Color IOS app today on a friends Weapon and must say how fast the focus control is and how well it works, very impressed. Of course that fine on that type of lens.
I use the DJI Focus on my Epic Dragon and its a solid bit of kit.

 

[jordan levy]

I was playing with the Fool Color IOS app today on a friends Weapon and must say how fast the focus control is and how well it works, very impressed. Of course that fine on that type of lens.
I use the DJI Focus on my Epic Dragon and its a solid bit of kit.

i love fool control but on most applications my AC's dont love pulling focus on it for steadicam and bigger production rigs.
it would be great if someone came up with a real focus wheel like that new ikan one that attaches to the iphone, but all that aside, i want to be able to power and rig any video transmitter along with any wireless focus that may pop up on a job,
i guess i do need to be able to rig the accessories and i need to be able to power them, so need two lemo ports?
now the red lemo adapter that attaches to the side pogo, that doesnt give me power right for something like this right? its for a red monitor?

 

[Matthew Quinn]

unless you are running more red displays/evf you only need one lemo port if you plan on running the display away from the brain. All you should need is about 2 D-Taps which you will have with the V-lock expander (1) and the d-tap on your switronix batts (1)

a d-tap splitter is always handy http://woodencamera.com/1-to-4-D-Tap-Splitter-Cable.html

i dont see them in the store anymore but offhollywood made an excellent one http://www.redgrabs.com/up/1410415936.png

 

[jordan levy]

unless you are running more red displays/evf you only need one lemo port if you plan on running the display away from the brain. All you should need is about 2 D-Taps which you will have with the V-lock expander (1) and the d-tap on your switronix batts (1)

a d-tap splitter is always handy http://woodencamera.com/1-to-4-D-Tap-Splitter-Cable.html

i dont see them in the store anymore but offhollywood made an excellent one http://www.redgrabs.com/up/1410415936.png

So all wireless systems, focus and video will power off dtaps?

 

[Matthew Quinn]

all the ones ive seen, paralinx uses usb sometimes. but every follow focus ive used has dtap

 

[jordan levy]

all the ones ive seen, paralinx uses usb sometimes. but every follow focus ive used has dtap

oh that's great, thank you!

 

[Jake Wilganowski]

For general power use having both dtap and 2-pin Lemo is the way to go for sure

 

[jordan levy]

For general power use having both dtap and 2-pin Lemo is the way to go for sure

Thanks, so what's the easiest way to add one to a Raven I/o vlock pkg?