Stedicam Flyer/REdrock Follow foucus review

Vincent Pascoe · August 11, 2006

Been very busy. a few weeks ago i did some test Shooting with the HVX/M2/Stedy cam flyer. Now wile shooting time-lapse in Sedona I have some time to report. Since the first Test shooting I've done 3 more shoots with the Flyer/m2/HVX combo and 5 more shoots with the Follow focus.

The test spec footage montage is here

http://files.filefront.com/test_footage_72...;/fileinfo.html

or

streaming Flash here

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...9061900&n=2

Red Rock Follow focus Review

PROS::

Cheap Amazing for under $600 smooth and Acurate

Works with any Still/hvx lens

arri Style hole fits Whips

CONS

Lag in Gear to Focus knob

the Worst is the Lag, a moment after you move the Knob but before the gear moves. My AC (Amish Jim) would have to ?set? the Direction the rack was going to be in. The Lag in the Gear can be a real big Pain expressly on small racks back and forth and on Auto focus lenses or Macro Lenses. I talked with the Red rock guys and they Said there lag is better than the competition witch may be true but it still really hurts. I think the problem is in the gearing to the Lens. The ratio makes it very noticeable on Some lenses. if the ratio between the Follow focus and lens where changes so it would be a smaller movement the Lag wouldn't be as much of an issue. Racking on the still lenses worked great except on my Auto focus lens the Direction was changed so on the LA side of Camera forward went backward. It takes a sec for you to make sure you don't over tighten the Gear up into the lens making it harder to rack. But after testing that all the lenses moved really smooth. I also didn't get 2 screws shipped to me to tighten up the FF on to the Rods so I Home depoted some?The fact that the ring doesn?t come off is not really a problem, just not what I?m used to.

Conclusion

I always Say

?Sometimes you get what you paid for? but the rest of the time you get a great Deal.?

Having the FF instead of racking on the Lenses yourself can be a god send. The red rock follow focus is an Amazing deal at a 3rd of the cost of the only competitor that I know of. It would be perfect if not for the Lag. But with the Lag there is room for improvement.

Steadicam Flyer Review

I was Directing/DP not operator, but from my point of view here is my review

PROS:

Its Only 6 GRand!

works well with M2/Hvx combo handled the weight great

great movement Professional Arm

good LCD

CONS:

Its 6 ****ing Grand!

Can't run SD and HD out of HVX sucks

takes a wile to re balance after every lens change

Focus is hard to impossible with out a whip or Bartek/fiz solution

It took a long time the first time to get Balanced with the M2/FF/HVX and even just a small 50mm prime. But Eventually even with my 14mm Sigma (witch is huge). it balanced out great. my Steady cam guy Michael sSy recommends getting the Longer base plate its an additional $490 he doesn?t have it but if he did changing lenses would be quicker re balance. Focus is really hard even with a whip the Ac can ruin the balance of the Shot, we did it on one shoot it was better than just man handling the lens. The lag in the FF aculy helps because of a liitle buffer between you moving and the Lens moving. I made my own Wireless Follow focus unit and we tested it on my 14mm and it worked great but I custom made it just for that lens and have to keep re working it so it will work with all lenses. and I designed it so that it would better balance the camera By putting the Weight of the Battery/controler/Reciver to balance out the Lens and the Follow focus knob.

Conclusion

Compared to the Glide cam 4000 it?s a huge improvement and really the First Cheap (under 30,000) solution to HVX/M2. But I wish the Price tag was even remotely in the same ballpark ie under $2500. If you plan on doing Steady with the M2 you have to get a Remote Follow focus unit.