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

Testing affordable accessories for RED from AllStar Taiwan

It’s important to realize that you have to spend a lot of money on accessories if you want to make your precious RED camera work. A burden many are willing to take for amazing image quality below $20K.

Now would you spend that money on products by a Taiwanese company that has a rather dubious web presence (as seen on the left). Me neither.
Lucky for you they sent us some of their stuff for testing and in conclusion I must say the company with the interesting name AllStar and a strange web address (http://allstar-cine.myweb.hinet.net) sells some good and useful gear.

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Scarlet-X – RIG madness all over again – C300 wins

Remember the time when the 5D was out and there was basically nothing compatible and affordable for it in terms of shoulder rigs and accessories? Good old days…
Well it looks like for some people this time has come all over again. With the RED Scarlet-X that has been announced just 3 weeks ago there’s a new tech revolution on the horizon. 4K cinema quality for $10k US dollars. That’s a huge leap forward for independent and low budget filmmakers, but there’s a catch!: MORE >>

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Practical, affordable shoulder pad solution by HIR

Sam Morgan Moore from Half Inch Rails presents a new shoulder pad solution for handheld rigs.
These rubber shaped elements are not only very affordable at £30 ($48), but as opposed to common shoulder pads they are also really small.

from the HIR website:
HIR_SP Shoulder Pads are super soft plastic pads to create a shouder pad for your 15mm camera support rods
Sold as a set of five or individually
The pads make for a cofortable shoulder mount while being super compact and low profile, especially when your rig is packed down. The pads are egonomically curved to fit your shoulder while maintaining a level horizon with your camera. The web design means they compress to your exact shape on the shoulder.

Get it for £30 ($48) over at Half Inch Rails