Snap Focus – a new handheld follow focus idea

Kickstarter, the crowd funding platform, has some interesting product concepts for HDSLR filmmakers every now and then.

Here’s an intriguing idea by a fellow film student from NYU who teamed up with his neighbor Harry to produce a follow focus that uses the technology of bike brake systems. Cool and it seems to be a possible alternative to Zacuto’s Tornado hand-focus.

The price of $799 seemed high at first, but on a second thought this is a full handheld rig. What we don’t know is how good it is, how well and accurate focus can be controlled. I’m sure a review will come out sooner or later if you’d rather not gamble on the quality.
Go to their page to order a Snap Focus: LINK

NAB 2012 – Jag35′s affordable ultralight rig & follow focus

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Jag35‘s continues efforts to create useful HDSLR gear at extremely low prices continues with the new DvRunner rig, which is targeted at people with small camcorders, but looks like it wouldn’t mind to add extra stability to an HDSLR either.

They have also increased the quality of their low cost remote follow focus system.

You can find the $149 DvRunner rig at Jag35 here
and the $199 Sidekick Follow Focus here.

Check out all other Jag35 gear at www.jag35.com

NAB 2012 – Edelkrone: intriguing HDSLR rigs at the right price

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Here’s a company that really nailed it in terms of their designs.

They go a step further than the normal HDSLR rig designers and produce things like a camcorder shaped rig with a strap, a follow focus that is targeted at the shooter, rather than the puller also offering a handle extension and their famous pocket rig looks like a HDSLR must at a price of $299.

I’m sure you’ve seen this company before, but I haven’t had a chance to see their products up close yet. Their sales English isn’t perfect, but their rigs and innovative designs convinced me to follow their products more closely in the future.

You can only get the Edelkrone products at their website:

NAB 2012 – Zacuto’s recoil rig & tornado – focusing done right!

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What gear was used to record this video? Take a guess in the comments, we’ll reveal later.

It’s unfortunate that the experience of trying the new Zacuto Tornado remote focus cannot be shared online. I had a chance to test it on a Recoil rig at the Zacuto both and like some other news shooters I was quite impressed.

The Tornado is a really revolutionary device. Just like the also awesome new Redrock thumb focus it allows you adjust focus on your lens while resting your hand on the rig handle. This makes for much more control and long lasting and accurate handheld shooting. Add to that the well balanced Recoil rig setup and you have a really good setup for “large” cameras like the C300 or Scarlet-X.

Is it hard to focus with the Tornado remote focus, does it have play?
No. The translation from your hand movement to the lens is really a direct one. It works pretty good. It’s the device I’ve been asking other companies to produce for years and Zacuto has done it right.

There was one moment when I had an important question for Zacuto product designer Patrick Fee: “The Tornado works great on that Canon lens, but Canons focus ring only has very low resistance, what about focus rings from lenses like Zeiss’ that need to be worked stronger?.” His answer calmed all worries: You’re actually using a Zeiss with that Tornade right now.

Zacuto’s recoil rig is $1306:

The Tornado will be $??? and I also don’t have a price for the extremely useful C300 grip relocator yet.