Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
  • 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 :)

Optitron 2 - experiences

I've been interested in this product for a very long time and will be very interested to read a good beefy review
 
Yep i think a lot of people feel the same way, we need a good long hard in depth review, Im sure it will help sell a lot of units
 
Gunleik Groven said:
That fits the 2-6 frame thing I see in the videos.

Did you try it on different lenses?
Click to expand...

Yes, I tried it on the Sigma Art series (35, 50, 18-35) and a Canon (can't remember which - 50, 85, or 70-200). I did lots of tests, I'll get them up Thursday.

Jacek Zakowicz said:
Thank you Jack, I'd really appreciate it. I see about 3-5 frame delay in RED video output. Is that what you mean ?
Click to expand...
No, I mean latency from (A) adjusting the optitron focus knob, to (B) the lens adjusting focus. It has nothing to do with video output. I tested latency from reviewing the footage, which always had the Optitron hand control unit in frame. From what I remember, it wasn't a consistent number of frames in delay; it varied per instance. I also noted that initiating a focus change, and halting/stoping focal change action, did not have a congruent or consistent delay; for example, it may have been 3 frames delay to initiate the focus rack from turning the handheld device, but ending the rack action may have had a 5 frame delay from the handheld unit halted.

I did a handful of tests, including slow/long, fast/long, fast/short, slow/short racking actions - not just testing for delay, but testing for perceived steps. I believe I could perceive steps ever so slightly in a minority of situations, but it seemed to me that a casual observer would never consciously notice any stepping, unless they were looking for it.

Words. Words. Words. I'll post those tests soon.
 
Jack Allred said:
Yes, I tried it on the Sigma Art series (35, 50, 18-35) and a Canon (can't remember which - 50, 85, or 70-200). I did lots of tests, I'll get them up Thursday.


No, I mean latency from (A) adjusting the optitron focus knob, to (B) the lens adjusting focus. It has nothing to do with video output. I tested latency from reviewing the footage, which always had the Optitron hand control unit in frame. From what I remember, it wasn't a consistent number of frames in delay; it varied per instance. I also noted that initiating a focus change, and halting/stoping focal change action, did not have a congruent or consistent delay; for example, it may have been 3 frames delay to initiate the focus rack from turning the handheld device, but ending the rack action may have had a 5 frame delay from the handheld unit halted.

I did a handful of tests, including slow/long, fast/long, fast/short, slow/short racking actions - not just testing for delay, but testing for perceived steps. I believe I could perceive steps ever so slightly in a minority of situations, but it seemed to me that a casual observer would never consciously notice any stepping, unless they were looking for it.

Words. Words. Words. I'll post those tests soon.
Click to expand...
Thank you Jack- lets see those.
BTW the optitron would also work on your Amira with our Canon mount ;-)
 
I would love to see some tests with Nikon lenses as well.

My experience with AF on my Epic with Nikkors is that it is slow. Too slow to be useful. And uncertain in most cases. BUT, if I set two focus points and use the rack function, it is quite smooth and accurate and repeatable. That gives me hope that the lens motors ar up to the task, and that if they were controlled by a reliable controller they would be pretty good, and Optitron looks like it could be that controller. But alas, I live in Maine -- not quite as far from Optitek as Guenleik, but too far to drop by and test.
 
D Fuller said:
I would love to see some tests with Nikon lenses as well.

My experience with AF on my Epic with Nikkors is that it is slow. Too slow to be useful. And uncertain in most cases. BUT, if I set two focus points and use the rack function, it is quite smooth and accurate and repeatable. That gives me hope that the lens motors ar up to the task, and that if they were controlled by a reliable controller they would be pretty good, and Optitron looks like it could be that controller. But alas, I live in Maine -- not quite as far from Optitek as Guenleik, but too far to drop by and test.
Click to expand...

I think the Nikons use an external motor (REDs in this case) and the Canons an internal per lens based motor, which could lead to different results.
 
Vance Colvig is the Nikon guy here. He owns Optitron2.
In my experience AF-S lenses work great.
I emailed him to chime in here.
 
Gunleik Groven said:
I think the Nikons use an external motor (REDs in this case) and the Canons an internal per lens based motor, which could lead to different results.
Click to expand...

External motor? Huh? Both Nikon's and Canon's use internal motors. Our Red Epics don't have motors for the lenses to use, its a BYOM type of party.
 
After giving it a moment, I understand the thinking behind the idea of using an old Nikon lens that relied on certain power from old Nikon bodies to run the autofocus. Not a crazy theory, just not something I think the Optitron would work with. Maybe I'm wrong.
 
No RED is not compatible with AF lenses (these are the ones with mechanical coupling that drives the auto focus) the AF-S lenses have motors built in much like Canon EF lenses.
Red is only compatible with Nikon AF-s lenses for through camera focus control- auto focus from camera or manual drive by wire focus from OptiTron2
 
Yeah, the Nikon AF-S lenses have an internal focussing motor, sometimes called SWM - Silent Wave Motor.

But there is an external motor somewhere! There is a small motor inside the RED Nikon Mount that mechanically drives the aperture.


Using autofocus on Nikon lenses with my Scarlet is, unfortunately, unreliable and unpredictable. I've never been able to really use it. The rack focus is working ok.
 
that's right there is the iris actuator.
It is necessary for all Nikon lenses as none have iris motors built in- unlike Canon ef lenses
 
Just bought an Optitron 2 wireless set up. Should be here in a few days. If I have a chance, I'll write up a little review.

HOWEVER, it should be noted that, in many respects, the Optitron 2 is based upon the earlier Canon Birger mount that many of us had on our RED Ones. We also own that system and absolutely LOVE it. Focusing is perfectly smooth to my eyes with the Birger/Impero combination, and I'm hoping for more of the same with the Optitron. All in all, we purchased the Optitron because of our great experiences with the Birger.

Stephen
 
Steven OptiTron was originally designed to work with our adapters. But last years NAB and RED opening its protocols presented opportunity for the lens control via Red camera system.
The algorithms for RED and our adapters are different- they just happen to be installed on one device. OptiTron2 senses the camera system it's plugged in and picks the correct algorithm.
 
Jacek Zakowicz said:
Steven OptiTron was originally designed to work with our adapters. But last years NAB and RED opening its protocols presented opportunity for the lens control via Red camera system.

The algorithms for RED and our adapters are different- they just happen to be installed on one device. OptiTron2 senses the camera system it's plugged in and picks the correct algorithm.
Click to expand...

Really looking forward to test this!
 
Gunleik Groven said:
Really looking forward to test this!
Click to expand...

Gunleik, thanks for doing this, i'm officially waiting for your review before i pull the trigger essentially for gimbal use or go for a classic lightweight cinegear like WFF. (both around the same price)
Jack told me you should get it in a few days, can't wait.
 
Gunleik Groven said:
It landed in Norway today. I'll probably be able to start to check it out in the weekend.
Click to expand...

Cool! did you had any experiences with the Birger mount in the Red one days? i would love to get your feeling comparing both system performance.

thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top