"Follow Focus" and 24p

[Hank Parker]

In my search for a good DV camera with which to shoot my second short film, I came across something called a "follow focus". I don't have much film experience, but am going to film school in a year or so and need a camera that's reliable and will get me through the time before film school. I'm probably getting a Canon XL1s, and was wondering if I should get a "follow focus". What are the advantages of this? What exactly does follow focus enable you to do that normal focus does not?

 

Also, I have been looking into buying a Panasonic dvx-100a, which has 24p shooting mode, unlike the Canon xl1s. How much of an advantage is that? I've worked with the panasonic before, with good results. I haven't worked with the canon, but seen shots taken with it that look great. Does a 24p shooting mode make or break a camera? Should I buy the more expensive panasonic so I can shoot in 24p or should I go for the canon which doesn't have that?

[Phil Rhodes]

Hi,

 

A follow focus, as an object rather than a technique, is a set of geared handwheels which bolt onto a camera that's fitted with a rod-mounted mattebox, and allow the focus to be altered without having to thread your hand through all the gubbins that's generally bolted onto the front of the camera. In many cases it doesn't actually give you any additional abilities, it just makes it easier to get at. You can't use one of these on a basic XL1 or DVX-100 anyway, because they don't have the necessary mounting hardware or gearing on the lenses - and the basic XL1 doesn't even have a decent mechanical interface to the lens, it's one of those infinitely-rotating things. You could theoretically put a follow focus on an XL1 if you bought the manual lens for it and a set of rods, but I don't think you've got any particularly good reason to do that, and it's a four-figure investment. Better spent on other things. By all means get a 4" mattebox for it and some filters instead!

 

And c'mon, you could have Googled for this.

 

Personally I'd get the DVX-100, not only for the 24p option, but by all accounts the images are better anyway, and it gives you more control. I believe the lens focus setup is somewhat more sensible, too.

 

Phil

[rpster]

You can't use one of these on a basic XL1 or DVX-100 anyway, because they don't have the necessary mounting hardware or gearing on the lenses

 

Century Optics does has a follow focus ring mount for the DVX-100. It adds the gear around the focus lens for attaching a follow focus mechanism to the camera.

http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/prod...anual_focus.htm