Okii USB "follow" focus

hgernhardtjrhgernhardtjr Registered Users Posts: 417 Major grins
edited April 25, 2011 in Video
I have been considering an Okii Systems USB Focus Controller for Canon EOS dSLRs (akin to a mechanical follow focus, but without all the rails and mechanical attachments). http://www.okii.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FF%2D001

The material on their site looks great, but I am just a duffer when it comes to shooting videos.

Does anyone here have any first hand knowledge about their Focus Controller and would they recommend it? I would definitely not want to waste four Franklins on something that may not be a good tool. It would be used on a 5dMkII.
— Henry —
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.

Comments

  • HeavyJHeavyJ Registered Users Posts: 95 Big grins
    edited April 20, 2011
    I don't have any experience with it but IMO if you aren't shooting pro video yet, learning to pull focus with your hands is much better. I have some of Cinevate's follow focus gears on my lenses and a focus lever. I don't have their follow focus because for that money I'd rather get a new lens.
  • InspiritorInspiritor Registered Users Posts: 39 Big grins
    edited April 20, 2011
    Cinevate's gears & lever are enough ...
    HeavyJ wrote: »
    I don't have any experience with it but IMO if you aren't shooting pro video yet, learning to pull focus with your hands is much better. I have some of Cinevate's follow focus gears on my lenses and a focus lever. I don't have their follow focus because for that money I'd rather get a new lens.

    ... as the gear/lever combination makes for quickly finding and pulling focus changes by hand without groping to find it -- it's much more easily found.

    That, and I do have a shoulder-rig of theirs that, along with the gears & levers, has made my video clips much smoother (especially with long lenses), and really brings out how striking shallow depth-of-field and the changing of near-subject to far-subject can be.

    I'm now debating whether to get their Cyclops lcd-viewer which let's one use both eyes (much easier) since shooting video with focus changes is much more demanding when one has bi-focals or contacts/reading-glasses. I'm trying to use my contacts without the reading-glasses, and the Cyclops looks way better than the Zacuto (which is a real pain to fit onto the 5DMkII - which I also have).

    Another possibility that I'll explore: I believe Sony has a hot-shoe type mount external monitor, much larger than the lcd, and hopefully at a sufficiently higher resolution so that I can make focus decisions without reading-glasses or the need for a lcd magnifier like the Zacuto or Cyclops, which, when actively using, eclipse everything else from view. A small, external monitor let's one more easily shift viewing from the subject to the monitor (but added weight may preclude this as an option).
  • HeavyJHeavyJ Registered Users Posts: 95 Big grins
    edited April 25, 2011
    If you are going to attach something to the LCD I would go by way of Cyclops by Cinevate. I'd much rather have 2 eyes working that squinting with 1 eye. That said, I have never used the Z-Finder or Cyclops. The new Zacuto EVF is an interesting step in the right direction.

    At the end of the day though, I would say using your lcd screen as is to pull focus (For amateurs anyways) is a good way to start.
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