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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 :)

Zacuto Z-Focus

I like the idea of it being an adjustable worm drive to adjust for lash in the system. To bad it's not reversable in rotation direction.
 
I bought an Arri F4 and again Arri is a class of its own. ET is getting close to Arri, their EVF Mount for instance is very high quality and moderately priced, which Arri is not. Unfortunately they don't build a FF yet.

I haven't seen the Donan FF yet but it looks promising.

Hans
 
The main thing that I wonder about is how compatible this FF is with smaller primes. Judging from the picture, the gear appears to only be adjustable going horizontally. The chrosziel and arri gears have more adjustability in that they can tilt/rotate into position. I remember having to ditch the redrock FF because the gear was unable to reach the focus gear on the Zeiss standard prime. For the majority of lenses, however, Ithis FF would probably work fine.

I am waiting on a 1,000 dollar range FF unit with tilt/rotateable gear positioning. In the meantime, I am also eagerly awaiting the Viewfactor wireless FF that will come in under 2 grand.
 
marcb said:
Zak, look at this: http://www.donancamera.com/
Single sided $ 1900.-, double sided $ 2100.-
cheers
Marc
Click to expand...

Yeah, but has donan started shipping any units yet? I was eagerly awaiting these to see what they're all about, but they were taking forever last time I checked.
 
We've had the Zacuto for three weeks now and it's works extremely well - no play and well made. We've been using it on 15mm rods (from a 19mm adapter) - we're waiting on delivery of the Zacuto 19mm mount. I highly recommend the unit and company is a pleasure to deal with.

Nick.
 
marcb said:
Zak, look at this: http://www.donancamera.com/
Single sided $ 1900.-, double sided $ 2100.-
cheers
Marc
Click to expand...

I read on another post that they would be showing it at Cinegear?
Did anyone see it? I went today, but never saw it.

I have an older Cinetech light weight follow focus. Even with the exposed belt, it works really well and I'm considering getting the studio dual sided version.

Phan
 
Suede said:
We've had the Zacuto for three weeks now and it's works extremely well - no play and well made. We've been using it on 15mm rods (from a 19mm adapter) - we're waiting on delivery of the Zacuto 19mm mount. I highly recommend the unit and company is a pleasure to deal with.

Nick.
Click to expand...

What lenses have you used it with? Does it work with the Red Zoom or Zeiss Superspeeds?
 
What application do you intend to use it for? If you are using it yourself it will most likely be OK, but if you intend to rent your package and include it as a follow focus, not so much. Any real AC would demand a real follow focus, and rightly so. The fact that there is no swing arm means that you cant put the gear under the lens, it's much more of a pain in the ass to adjust after changing lenses, it's single sided, etc. I'm not knocking the product, it just isn't a professional follow focus, and the price reflects that.

Nick
 
I've used it with Red lenses and zeiss - no problems. I suppose the swing arm feature would be useful - though I've had no need with the twenty-or-so lenses I've used thus far. I believe calling it "non professional" and not a "real follow focus" is a somewhat harsh indictment of a product not made by Arri - a company with a long history of over-pricing they're products - world-class though they may be. If Red is any indication, "professional" and price are not always synonymous. That being said, $2800 more for a swing arm may be worth it depending on your application. I hope this helps.
 
I have sent out an email to Donan to see what the status of their follow focus is. I'll report back if I hear anything. They may in fact be on this forum somewhere. I inquired about shipping dates and pricing.
 
yeah.......i emailed Donan a few weeks ago and no response......!
I've been holding out for their FF, it looks like a great piece of kit....!!
what's going on Donan.....!?
Paul
 
This Donan is sure getting a lot of attention, being a company no one has ever heard of before, that has never made a product, only 1 rendered pic of a tentative follow focus unit.
 
This discussion of the Redrock follow focus not working with certain smaller lenses is just nonsense. It works perfectly with even the smallest lenses, because that's all we've got (I doubt if there too many lenses physically smaller than the Nikon 50mm f1.4. Of our 11 Nikons, it is, by far, the smallest one.). It is true that it is not adjustable vertically, but it is adjustable horizontally. Using the RED 15mm adapter, this follow focus works very, very well.

I had ordered the View Factor, and remain very excited about it, but I just got a refund from them yesterday because it is now highly unlikely it will be shipping in volume before August. I am really, really bummed about that one.

Stephen
 
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