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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 :)

RTmotion mk3 wireless follow focus

Kris from RTmotion emailed me yesterday a new firmware for the controller and the motor. HUGE improvement. The jumpiness is gone and the noise level is much lower. Could still be better, but I guess it's already quieter than an M-One (don't have one to directly compare them).
 
stephanus_ino said:
David, is the mk3 able to show distance and t-stop as shown on the website?
Click to expand...

No, right now, it shows the focus on a range between 0-999. I guess features like showing the distance or the T-stop are supposed to come with a future firmware.
 
keep us updated on this beauty, I'm on the wait list and looking forward to these challenges being solved before our purchase.
 
Curious as well about RTMotion Mk3!

Curious as well about RTMotion Mk3!

Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum. I do operate Red cameras quite often, but I actually registered on the forum specifically for this conversation. I've been following the progress of the RT Motion Mk3 system for many months now. Their website is crude and not very well updated.

I am very eager to know (I'm guessing, as are many others) as much as possible about this WFF system. From what I've read in all the above submissions, it does sound very promising. In fact, almost too good to be true at what it claims to do, and the price point at which it does it.

The website does not publish a user manual (at least, not for non-customers) - though I read above that the firmware is still being refined, so a user manual would not yet be finalised. Going by the multi-channel functionality, it would in theory blow the BFD digital system right out of the water, and Hocus Products are going to have a lot of thinking to do, considering that their (apparently) competing Axis1 system is just that - A single channel system, for the price of a dual channel RTMotion.
So my ultimate curiosity at the moment is how it compares, both in functionality, and in quality to these two other brands.

I've also been highly intrigued by the OLED display on the controller unit. I wonder how useful the data display on that really is. I've read above that the focus distance is linearly quantified on a 0-999 scale. Do the manufacturers hint, or imply that this could be an accurate logarithmic distance reading with a future update? (alla Preston's lens mapping). Same for the T-stop, as Berringer asked...

Apart from this, most obviously, I'd love to know how the motor really performs - speed, accuracy, noise etc. David Kellerman above claims that it's quieter than the M-One. I have to say, though I'm not very familiar with how much noise an M-One makes, that that's a very high standard to be comparing to. So that already sounds promising.

Judging as well from the few photos of the receiver unit - irrespective of whether it performs well or not (though, again, the above submissions sound very promising), I'm very impressed by how small they've managed to make it. It makes me question now what necessitates the substantially larger sizes of the BDR and the Axis1 receiver units.

So, to Mr Kellerman, and to Mr Baumber (warm regards from Sydney, Australia!), I'd like to pass my congratulations for buying one of these systems, and being among the first owners. You are both lucky, and very brave. Along with all others who've written in this thread, I would deeply appreciate, and eagerly await an in-depth review of the system (with pics, and/or videos hopefully...), once you've gained enough experience with it to comment, and perhaps to draw some preliminary comparisons with it and the other competing systems.

Also, despite my efforts in searching, I have found very little conversation about this WFF system elsewhere online. If anyone can link me to another source (if there happens to be one), I'd be most obliged.

Thanks guys! All the very best.
 
I can comment on the motor noise, I own a Mk3 motor, Mk3 receiver and Mk2.5 controller.

It's very quiet. Yes, you'll hear it if you rack from close focus to infinity, but during normal operation it is effectively silent.

It's also quite torquey, it'll turn still lenses. However, the current calibration algorithm can have issues with these stiffer lenses.

The receiver is insane. It's my favorite part of the system. It's built super tough, and tiny. It has a 1/4-20 on the back too!




Zoltan Jonas said:
Hi Guys, I'm new to the forum. I do operate Red cameras quite often, but I actually registered on the forum specifically for this conversation. I've been following the progress of the RT Motion Mk3 system for many months now. Their website is crude and not very well updated.

I am very eager to know (I'm guessing, as are many others) as much as possible about this WFF system. From what I've read in all the above submissions, it does sound very promising. In fact, almost too good to be true at what it claims to do, and the price point at which it does it.

The website does not publish a user manual (at least, not for non-customers) - though I read above that the firmware is still being refined, so a user manual would not yet be finalised. Going by the multi-channel functionality, it would in theory blow the BFD digital system right out of the water, and Hocus Products are going to have a lot of thinking to do, considering that their (apparently) competing Axis1 system is just that - A single channel system, for the price of a dual channel RTMotion.
So my ultimate curiosity at the moment is how it compares, both in functionality, and in quality to these two other brands.

I've also been highly intrigued by the OLED display on the controller unit. I wonder how useful the data display on that really is. I've read above that the focus distance is linearly quantified on a 0-999 scale. Do the manufacturers hint, or imply that this could be an accurate logarithmic distance reading with a future update? (alla Preston's lens mapping). Same for the T-stop, as Berringer asked...

Apart from this, most obviously, I'd love to know how the motor really performs - speed, accuracy, noise etc. David Kellerman above claims that it's quieter than the M-One. I have to say, though I'm not very familiar with how much noise an M-One makes, that that's a very high standard to be comparing to. So that already sounds promising.

Judging as well from the few photos of the receiver unit - irrespective of whether it performs well or not (though, again, the above submissions sound very promising), I'm very impressed by how small they've managed to make it. It makes me question now what necessitates the substantially larger sizes of the BDR and the Axis1 receiver units.

So, to Mr Kellerman, and to Mr Baumber (warm regards from Sydney, Australia!), I'd like to pass my congratulations for buying one of these systems, and being among the first owners. You are both lucky, and very brave. Along with all others who've written in this thread, I would deeply appreciate, and eagerly await an in-depth review of the system (with pics, and/or videos hopefully...), once you've gained enough experience with it to comment, and perhaps to draw some preliminary comparisons with it and the other competing systems.

Also, despite my efforts in searching, I have found very little conversation about this WFF system elsewhere online. If anyone can link me to another source (if there happens to be one), I'd be most obliged.

Thanks guys! All the very best.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your helpful feed back Andy!

I'm also curious if with the experience you have with the hardware so far, if there are any small (even trivial) annoyances you've had with it, or any irritating design flaws. I'm referring to things such as a 1/4-20 that could be better placed, or Lemo cables that you wish were right-angled instead of straight. Just things that you wish were slightly different to make it easier or more pleasurable to use....

You mention you're using the mk2.5 hand unit. To me it looks like it would function similar to a Bartech hand unit (in case you've ever used one of those). What's you're experience with the hand unit? If/when I buy my own system, it will definitely be a mk3 all around - but if you're able to say anything positive about both the design, build and function quality of the mk2.5 unit, then it's good place to be hopeful about the mk3 hand unit as well.

All the best!
 
Hi Zoltan,

since the firmware isn't really finished (for all components), I wanted to to wait with my review. Is it usable on set? Yes, but again I would wait for the next firmware update, since the motor is still sometimes a little bit jumpy. According to Kris from RTmotion there should be an update soon.

The hardware is simply awesome, especially for the price. The receiver is tiny and I hadn't any problems with it. The motor is not tiny, but absolutely on par with other way more expansive units out there. I haven't tested it on anything else than my AI-s still lenses, but I can't imagine it having problems with cine lenses, since the torque is pretty strong. But again... haven't really tried it. The controller does lie good in the hand and you shouldn't have any problems operating it all day. The display is bright and good readable even at bright daylight. The build quality is superb... none of the components feels breakable or cheap.
 
Thanks heaps for the comments David. Much appreciated.

The obvious thing then is to wait for the verdict on the next firmware update.

I know all the waiting-list buyers were very eager to get their hands on the system, and that the recent release of the mk3 system was very wolcome to those people, but it is unfortunate that the trade-off in that scenario was a half-baked firmware package.

Still, to have the physical hardware in hand is good assurance of money well spent.

Cheers.
 
I applied the new firmware today. Makes a big difference. The motors turn all my optics. Cooke panchro.century Cookes, Lomos. K35's . RED 50-150 anything i have put it on so far With relative ease. The motors are very quiet. If you're considering buying this unit but haven't because you are waiting for a review. Let me tell you, don't wait or you could end up waiting longer than we did for the VF unit. you won't be sorry, it's a very solid bit if kit. I think I'll have this for a few more years to come.
 
I have been checking on the website for about 3 months now waiting for the MK3 to come back into stock to order it. When did you all order yours?
 
22nd feb here too.
 
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