my EOS "smart" mount...

[Thor Wixom]

while I wait for "dumb" mounts manufacture.. i figured i'd share something I've been working on. :shifty:

so here it is... finally had some time to make a little "teaser" for you all..

http://www.vimeo.com/1501055

now before I get slammed with questions, I am going to be working on putting
together a small FAQ in the next few days, (pending commercial work..)
I would like to hear suggestions, requests, ect. since It's not to late to change
things, and I want the community's feedback and ideas to make it as good
as possible and you as happy as possible. in the spirit of red I want to keep
this as open as I can.

p.s I will be attending Siggraph 2008 in L.A. most of this up-coming week, if
anyone is at the show and would like to meet up, I'll bring a few prototypes with me to show.
Just shoot me a pm I'll try to check it at least once or twice a day.

-Andy

Andy,

Any chance your smart EOS mount will be compatible with the IMS mount?

Maybe that will be covered in the FAQ? :innocent:

-Thor

 

[Roberto B]

Andy,

Any chance your smart EOS mount will be compatible with the IMS mount?

Maybe that will be covered in the FAQ? :innocent:

-Thor

good one.. seconding that..

edit
that is, if mr jukic will be in accordance..

 

[BASSAM MSSALATIE]

I WANT ONE please ...

 

[Ivan Cortazar]

When and how much?

 

[Andy Lesniak]

my FAQ is slightly delayed, due to clients on a fast delivering job, (thats the problem with designing/building things on the side I suppose..) thanks for all your comments, I'll address everyone's questions in the faq. Gotta say it's been
fun getting to this point, so many possibilities yet to implement.

-Andy

 

[C.H.Haskell]

Holly hell.

 

[Andy Lesniak]

my EOS mount line for RED ONE
(yes I need to figure out a name for this thing..)

got something new for everyone...

• EOS “dumb” Mount
o Simple mount to attach canon eos lenses to red one, aperature must be set on a canon body prior to attaching lens.
o Replaces first element of PL mount, simple 3min swap procedure.

• EOS “smart basic” Mount
o NEW! For the budget conscious with functionality of full smart mount but slightly less convenient
o Utilizes existing canon camera body as “smart” controller, camera thinks it still has a lens, and functions normally.
o Includes f/stop lock switch, to lock the lens f/stop once exposure is set.
o Allows full lens control thru Canon SDK, see our new updated software for remote lens control.
o 3rd parties can integrate control into motion control rigs, cranes, ect… just by using existing canon sdk
o We will provide a free windows .dll to access lens control from applications such as visual c++ and visual basic.
o Same quick 3min mount change procedure.

• EOS “smart pro” Mount
o All the features of the “smart basic” Mount
o No camera body required, small compact lens controller, wireless interface.
o Open protocol to allow 3rd parties to add external controller options, pulling focus, motion control ect..
o Uses the same "smart basic" mount, so it's just an add-on



So there is the new lineup, ok, so the BAD news, there had to be a delay, I was not happy with how the lens locking pin was behaving. After using the mount on a couple of shoots, I realized it needed improvment. due to the tight fit on everything, So had to stop the dumb mount run, and re-design, re-prototype, not something I wanted to have happen but for my first lap around the manufacturing ring, I guess I have a few things along the way, (one being keeping the coffee maker always full.) hence my radio silence on the forum, but all is full steam ahead now, hurdle crossed, moving on.. wish there were 48hrs in a day, and I didn’t have a day job. Hopefully someday.. ☺

So now to answer a few questions…


Q: iPhone WTF?
A: yes iPhone is gonna happen, right now it’s just a concept, it’s not directly talking to the hardware but thru the laptop thru wifi, that’s going to change as soon as everything else is done and working, right now it was just a fun example of the direction I want to go. Having a iPhone based focus pulling setup is just cool damit… with record/playback of focus marks… but patience that’s down the list…


Q: WHEN!!!!?
A: couple things I want to address, 1st I want everything out as soon as possible, I’ve designed and build everything out-of-pocket, no company nothing, so I want to see it out there. Not to mention I use it every day and I’ve built it out of necessity. But… 1. I want to get it in the hands of the gods at RED 1st… If I was them I would want to know what unscrupulous characters my baby was hanging out with. I don’t want to miss anything that I haven’t done to ensure the safe operation and use. 2nd I’ve begun using a new manufacturing tech on this. No details yet, but it will speed up everything 1000%, I can go from design to final in about a week, instead of the 30+ days it takes for traditional methods.. I don’t like to wait anymore than anyone else. But have to cross the t’s and dot the I’s at the moment. That said, I expect “basic smart” and “dumb” to be fully available with the above features at the same time.
We need a couple of months to finish the microcontroller electronics for the pro smart mount, I have a friend helping now get finished up with microcontroller code, we will go as fast as our day jobs allow…

Q: PRICE!!!!?
A: You will be shocked. Shocked I tell you… Not giving exact numbers yet, but very soon, need to figure out how the latest changes are going to factor in, and get numbers from the manufacturer. But let’s just say things will be starting smart around a dumb price… speculate away. But it will be extremely reasonable.


More answers when I get some more time, keep suggestions coming, I’m thinking the philosophy is going to keep it as open as possible so people can Taylor the functionally to their needs first. So people don’t have to wait for me to put something in, then continue adding features a time allows. Next update when I have more news. but things are going full steam.

now back to your regularly scheduled thread....


-Andy

 

[RyanKunkleman]

external aperture ring would be really nice

 

[Martin Weiss]

You will be shocked. Shocked I tell you…

See that you've been to the Jim school of modern advertising

Any chance to see you at the IBC?

 

[Priyesh P.]

wow. great work!!!

 

[Rocco Schult]

go ahead, keep up the good karma. great work so far, respect!

 

[N_Villers]

re warranty

re warranty

* edited

woops wrong forum

 

[AIO Films]

Andy,

What about Nikon mount? Is it doable? Are you going to make one?

 

[Andy Lesniak]

Ok here goes, another update...
Once again a bit later than I had wished. I have UPS to thank this time. (2nd day air... turns into 10 day ground...) fair enough.
But 1st batch of mounts are here. this first batch is for stress testing and for hopefully positive red review . After that it's a 5 day turnaround (if ups doesn't screw up) for a mass order. so things are about to get rolling.
oh..
pricing...
Yah, thought you might want to know that... it's not 100% yet, but I have enough confidence to say here's how it breaks down... if you want a plain le "dumb" mount... just to attach canon glass to red... <300$.. and your done.

For the "smart" mount... <600$, so for roughly around what a nikon dumb mount costs, you get a smart capable mount.... now just to be clear that is what technically is a "smart ready" mount, since it's the mount and electronic interface for the lens... now the "smart" controller is going to be seperate depending on what options you want it to do.... the super simple basic "cable" that attaches to a canon body for lens control is going to be pretty cheap. 100 ish or so.... (damn connectors are frickin pricy.. as you all know from the lemo cables)
Then we are going to have a "basic" control box, that gives you just the necessities, fstop, and rudimentry focus..
Followed by the super smart version, that has wireless, record playback of focus ect....

eta's and price on the smart controllers is still a little up in the air. but roughly 2-3months timeframe seeing how my experience has been this far. but hopefully should speed up as I get more in the groove with this manufacturing thing. learning along the way. so untill my next update... I leave you with some pictures of the first completed assemblies. 1st picture is a closeup of the complete assembly, the 2nd thru 4th are mounts in various stages of completion, the first 2 are done, the others are awainting a shipment of connectors tomorrow.

oh, you can get my latest updates on my red-blog... www.andylesniak.com/red
I update that more frequently, since I don't like to make much clutter on the forums.

-Andy

 

[jaadgy akanni]

Good job, Andy. I'm impressed at how fast you get things rolling...KUDOS!
I presume you made sure there'll be no issues with the i-cable. Andy, any chance you'll be making a Nikon version sometime after you're done with this one?

 

[M Hsu]

good stuff dude. let us know how we order.

 

[Joe Vinson]

Great work, Andy! I've been waiting on the Birger but need a mount ASAP. Please PM me you think you could have something ready to ship within a week, otherwise I gotta get the Nikon mount.

 

[M Hsu]

I'm with akabaka,
throw me on the list.

 

[Steve Sanacore]

Looks great! Put me on your list.

 

[ericyoung]

Put me on the list if there is a list! Still hoping Birger comes through, but need a backup plan!