The history of follow focus units

[Oron Cohen]

Hi Everyone,

So I've tried to google this quite a lot but didn't find any solid info.

Anyone knows, who invented the first follow focus? and when?

What people where doing before the invention of the follow focus, just pulling by hand or not pulling at all?

When were the first lenses with follow focus gears introduced? looking on some old cine lenses from the 50's it doesn't look like they had any gears...

This is just my thirst for knowledge

Any info and pictures or both will be great!

 

[Marcus Friedlander]

Bump for interest!

 

[Michael Lindsay]

interested!

 

[Dan Kanes]

My Bausch and Lomb Baltar anamorphics (original 20th century fox cinemascope) have integrated focus cranks built into the lens body... this is pretty unique and different and over 60 years later they still turn smoothely having not undergone any maintenance from what I can tell.

I think the original follow focus is more like a focus “lever” or “zoom stick “ style...

Great topic ! I’ll postal e pics of my vintage CinemaScope collection soon.

Best,

Dan

 

[ng smith]

Most 35mm cameras before the Arriflex BL1 came along were blimped for sound recording, either as an integral system or as an add on blimp (ie for Arri 2c). The blimps usually had a follow focus system built in which would attach to the lens, either using the 'ears' that you see on original Cooke panchros etc or by a using a rubber pressure wheel. If using MOS cameras, look at pictures of Stanley Kubrick shooting Clockwork Orange or Italian Neo realists: Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini etc.shooting with Arri 2c's , operators tended to pull focus on the lens. I imagine that the Arri FF1 was introduced around the same time as the BL1 (1973?) but I maybe wrong!

 

[Oron Cohen]

My Bausch and Lomb Baltar anamorphics (original 20th century fox cinemascope) have integrated focus cranks built into the lens body... this is pretty unique and different and over 60 years later they still turn smoothely having not undergone any maintenance from what I can tell.

I think the original follow focus is more like a focus “lever” or “zoom stick “ style...

Great topic ! I’ll postal e pics of my vintage CinemaScope collection soon.

Best,

Dan

Thank you so much for the info, will love to see photos!

 

[Oron Cohen]

Most 35mm cameras before the Arriflex BL1 came along were blimped for sound recording, either as an integral system or as an add on blimp (ie for Arri 2c). The blimps usually had a follow focus system built in which would attach to the lens, either using the 'ears' that you see on original Cooke panchros etc or by a using a rubber pressure wheel. If using MOS cameras, look at pictures of Stanley Kubrick shooting Clockwork Orange or Italian Neo realists: Fellini, Antonioni, Pasolini etc.shooting with Arri 2c's , operators tended to pull focus on the lens. I imagine that the Arri FF1 was introduced around the same time as the BL1 (1973?) but I maybe wrong!

I also used some old cooke panchro originals and remembers some of them have ears, very interested to know more about it. I've tried looking on the ARRI website but they have no claim about inventing the Follow focus and I think if they did they might have write about it and be very proud but I might be wrong. Extremely difficult to find any info on the subject, so any info is great.

 

[Les Hillis]

You might get some historical info from a patent search, though it seems like no-one made a sudden breakthrough that would have allowed them to own the market, even in name.

First noticed them myself in the early to mid-nineties (in their current form-factor), but that could just be because I wasn't really looking, not because they weren't around before that.

 

[ng smith]

Arriflex didn't invent the follow focus they refined it. Check out on set pictures from the 1950's and 60's and you can see Mitchell cameras with integral follow focus, I would imagine any camera made for the sound era had some kind of follow focus system so that the lenses could be blimped.

Cinema Technic has a good article on the history of Zeiss Superspeeds and the introduction of focus gears on them; http://cinematechnic.com/resources/zeiss_super_speed_f1-2_lenses

Introduction of lenses with focus gears would have started in the 1970's. The Cooke 20-100 was introduced in 1971, Canon K35s in 1975, Angenieux Zooms in early 1970's. Just search picture of these lenses being used at that time.

 

[ng smith]

Check out the follow focus in the Mitchell Blimp here: http://owyheesound.com/bolex.php

 

[Oron Cohen]

Check out the follow focus in the Mitchell Blimp here: http://owyheesound.com/bolex.php

Thank you so much for all the info. I've just made a google search for Mitchell cameras and noticed the follow focus gear on the side like you posted yourself. That's very interesting, still curious to know when did it start and who invented it? Maybe someone from Mitchell?

Slightly off topic: By chance I was talking today with a director about how I admire the Mitchell tripod mount (MOY) as it's rock solid! Mitchell are interesting company to explore.