Buy a new Wireless Follow Focus

Kyriacos Mosfiliotis · November 12, 2015

Hey guys. Im a 1st AC based in Cyprus. The last 2 months i'm on the search for the most suitable wireless follow focus kit and I'm trying to find the best for my needs. I don't have the chance here to rent one and try it so i'm looking for online reviews of the following 3 kits:

1. Hocus Axis 1

2. RT Motion MK3.1

3. Chrosziel Magnum

Anybody that can help me in any way? Pros/Cons? Lag? Anybody that owns any the systems to give me some more details?

Experiences while working with any of the above systems?

Any comment is very welcome.

Thanks guys.

Gregory Irwin · November 12, 2015

Hey there. You didn't mention our industry standard, at least here in the US, the Preston FIZ. It's absolutely the most efficient and the best technology available. You can see the FIZ at http://www.prestoncinema.com/. Good luck.

G

Phil Rhodes · November 12, 2015

I'll see your Preston and raise you a Hocus Focus, built in Blighty by the estimable Peter Hoare.

P

Miguel Angel · November 12, 2015

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

If it is under €5000 I would suggest a digital Bartech, reliable, precise, no play on the motors and super light.

Other than that, either a Preston or a Scorpio as a second option.

Have a good day!

Kyriacos Mosfiliotis · November 13, 2015

What's your budget if you don't mind me asking?

If it is under €5000 I would suggest a digital Bartech, reliable, precise, no play on the motors and super light.

Other than that, either a Preston or a Scorpio as a second option.

Have a good day!

don't have the budget for a preston.my budget is around €7000-€8000.i have read some interesting things for all 3 of the systems but i'm trying to discover more.the axis1 though has the most positives until now.i have worked with the bartech for 3 feature films and i didn't like it so much.

Gregory Irwin · November 13, 2015

I'll see your Preston and raise you a Hocus Focus, built in Blighty by the estimable Peter Hoare.

P

Hi Phil, how many channels is the hocus focus? Is it digital or analog? Thanks...

G

Sam Windell · November 25, 2015

I own and operate the Axis 1 follow focus from Hocus Products. It's a single channel at the moment, but Peter the owner of Hocus Products is adding a 2nd channel to the unit soon. The response time is incredible, it runs off of one canon LP-E6 battery for an entire day on set, fast as hell and feels great in the hands. He's coming out of with some new motors soon as well that others in the FF industry told him was impossible spec wise and he managed to fulfill. Keep your eyes peeled. For the money it's really hard to beat.

Kyriacos Mosfiliotis · November 28, 2015

I own and operate the Axis 1 follow focus from Hocus Products. It's a single channel at the moment, but Peter the owner of Hocus Products is adding a 2nd channel to the unit soon. The response time is incredible, it runs off of one canon LP-E6 battery for an entire day on set, fast as hell and feels great in the hands. He's coming out of with some new motors soon as well that others in the FF industry told him was impossible spec wise and he managed to fulfill. Keep your eyes peeled. For the money it's really hard to beat.

This is one of the cons of the Axis 1...you can't add another channel if you want and its not compatible with other brand motors like heden or arri...

Gregory Irwin · November 29, 2015

This is one of the cons of the Axis 1...you can't add another channel if you want and its not compatible with other brand motors like heden or arri...

I may be wrong but the whole thing looks incredibly limited to me. I realize the Preston is very expensive but the technology delivers. And it rents amazingly well!

G

Kyriacos Mosfiliotis · December 24, 2015

Anybody used recently Chrosziel Magnum? any comments to share?

brett mayfield · April 7, 2016

Hey Kyriacos

Of the three that you mentioned, I like the Chrosziel MagNum for a lot of different reasons. I own two FIZ systems, and I like the MagNum more than my Preston because of both ergonomics and features.

hand unit

the hand unit of really is ergonomic, lightweight, and durable and can be adjusted for left and right handed pullers. there are two hand units, both the same style, one is more advanced and offers adjustable tension on the wheel along with a variety of other features. there are a handful of accessories available like a lemo connector light and belt clip which I have found to be helpful as I have had several different FIZ units dropped by ACs slinging the hand unit on to a c-stand knob, but the belt clip makes things convenient. there are a host of user buttons that are assignable to things like light on/off, zoom positions, focus ranges, etc.

can work on GHz or MHz and even displays the ongoing activity on each of the channels so that you can choose your channel accordingly.

receiver (MN-200R)

expandable to 3 motors (maybe 4 for 3D?) and can even run a serial connection to cabrio lenses that will run the servos which means that motors are not required on the camera build (this is useful for zoom and iris but focus is limited to the speed of the servo which is a little slow). has a cold shoe mount that allows a variety of mounting positions and even mounts in the T-bracket for GPI Pro rigs natively. The kit also comes with combined lightweight-studio mount that attaches to your 15mm and/or 19mm rods and lives on the camera like an FF4. The MN is thinner than a Preston 3 MDR, lighter weight, and easier to mount.

reverse polarity protection, electronic and mechanical fuse

other

you can use pretty much any motor on this system. i have one of the chrosziel cdm motors which is perfect for gimbal work and great on lenses like the cabrio 19-90, andgeniuex zooms, and any lens that isnt too tight. i have 3 heden motors that work seamlessly with the receiver. i have attached my DM1 motors without a problem. the MagNum is sold with or without Heden and Betz motors.

cinetape readout is large and easy to integrate.

cons

i havent had any negative experiences with the system. it is a little bit techy and I have been confused about motor setup in the handset, but Timm at Chrosziel quickly explained it out to me.

portability in a small case is very easy with this system. the hand unit is just one piece rather than a hand unit, plus transmitter, plus zoom handle, no cables connecting parts. the components are lightweight, robust and i think that this fits well with large and small hands. if you really like to get into the system, there are a lot of custom options for pulling, setting stops and limits, etc. lens mapping is not currently offered but Chrosziel has been progressive about firmware updates and I am told they are working something up. I also remain in continuous contact with their team and if ever there is a question they promptly and personally respond, and Im in the USA, 6 hours ahead of them.

the only disclaimer to all of this is that i am a steadicam operator and not a focus puller. i have owned several follow focus and FIZ systems and so far this has been the most efficient. i have had a lot of ACs in New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta really enjoy the experience of using it and I am happy to have it as a part of my kit.

please feel free to ask me any further questions. i am not on this forum much, but i am always on steadicamforum.com feel free to reach out to 12@brettmayfield.com

brett.

Phil Rhodes · April 7, 2016

To answer Mr. Irwin's earlier question, which I completely overlooked, the Hocus Focus Axis 1 is a single channel system and it's digital (anything of even the slightest quality developed in the last twenty years would be, surely?)

The reason I mention it is that it has some quite nice torque-sensitive calibration facilities which avoid putting excessive pressure on the mount.

At £3750 for transmitter, receiver and servo, it's reasonably affordable for the high end, but at the end of the day affordability and requirements are based on what sort of work is being done. I could never justify anything that fancy. Other people need a Preston and all the toys. It's not really a matter of opinion, you need what you need and the client will pay what the client will pay. Select accordingly.

P

Adam Frisch FSF · April 11, 2016

Preston is industry standard for a reason. Every other system I've worked with has had problems - Preston almost never.

That said, I understand $20K is a lot of money. But, all my AC's who have them say they're able to pay them off in about a year of steady work. So if you can borrow from a bank the difference, I think you're taking a very low risk. You could always sell it and get back most of your money.

Phil Rhodes · April 11, 2016

But, all my AC's who have them say they're able to pay them off in about a year of steady work

Again, this is a US thing.

If you're not working on Hollywood movies, I'd suggest that this is likely to be very rare.

P

Satsuki Murashige · April 11, 2016

If you're working regularly on narrative tv or commercials, there's almost always a Preston on the job anyway. Might as well rent it from the AC.

Mark Kenfield · April 12, 2016

How do people find the Arri WCU-4 paired with the CLM-4 motors and Alexa Plus/Studio?

Is the performance up there with the other big boys? I really like the idea of only having to add the lens motor and cable to the camera, and keeping things streamlined.

Gregory Irwin · April 12, 2016

If you're working regularly on narrative tv or commercials, there's almost always a Preston on the job anyway. Might as well rent it from the AC.

Primarily in the USA Sat... different abroad.

G

Gregory Irwin · April 12, 2016

I'm leaving to shoot in Havana, Cuba on Monday. All of my cameras (19 of them) are being operated and focused wirelessly. I hope the digital, microwave frequencies that we have act the same way as in most other countries. The Cuban government wasn't exactly cooperative with our inquiries regarding this. Mostly Alexa XTs and Prestons.

G