Redrock FF with Brevis 35mm adapter?
 

Are these rigs compatible? The Brevis can use both 5/8" and 15mm rods (which are close in size). Will a Redrock FF fit on the same rods with the Brevis and it's support bracket?

If this is not a recommended pairing, can someone suggest a decent FF with no slop and little play? Budget is definitely an issue, but I would like to hear any good choices regardless. Thanks in advance.

I woudn't forsee any issues Marcus, unless the RR FF unit is not height adjustable. The Brevis is much smaller, so physical interference would not be an issue either.

I have the Brevis and the RR FF works just fine...

Thanks, Dennis and Moises. I'm still not sure how important a FF is, but i know the human hand isn't that good at manipulating the lens without. It seems that with a FF only the fingers need to rotate with the wrist. Without, the whole arm needs to move.

How do you like the Redrock FF, Moises? Can it work on either side of the camera? Are the gears smooth without a lot of play?

Dennis, will your FF be ready early next year? If so, will the internal gears be screw/worm type without slop and play? I'm sure the external lens gears are nice. I only wish Dan D. kept selling his for ~$500 a bit longer...

*************

It will be completely CNC'd aluminum, no plastic parts, and 100% designed to spec. In other words, we won't be using off the shelf right angle gear assemblies etc. and it will be very precise. 2-3 months would be a reasonable estimate. Our remote wired FF should be ready in half that time...already working with that prototype.

I was actually reading the Redrock forums today in great detail, it appears the FF has quite a bit of "play" when reversing direction...it uses a standard L-shaped gearbox from a hardware company (I forget the name at the moment...starts with a "B") that the Indifocus uses as well. I have the indifocus and can attest to the slop that occurs internally there. It's a shame that such a reputable company as redrockmicro (1) doesn't get such a crucial part like that custom-made for that purpose and (2) refuses to adequately reply to customer's concerns on their forum. Go over there and see for yourself.

I already did and didn't want to sound like I was slamming Redrock. I have concerns since they don't seem to want to divulge the gear type. I am not an engineer, but I know that some are smoother than others and a spiral-cut gear is going to flow more smoothly assuming it is of decent quality. If not a worm-type gear, the tolerances on a beveled gear would need to be astonishing. I'll happily use a beveled gear if it is truly smooth.

On a professional film-related forum, most people like an ARRI model, but don't like even the mid-range ($1500) models. I realize that I will probably never be able to afford a high-end FF, but there really is no excuse for something so simple to not contain a decent gearbox. Yes, it is custom equipment, but it is essentially just a knob, gearbox, and turning gear. There aren't many places to cut corners and it's not like expensive lenses and some electronics are needed like in a 35mm adapter.

I think I am going to shoot a few scenes before the holidays and hope a FF is available when it is time to start shooting again in January.

BTW, Dennis, how about a whip accessory?

If I was doing this, I would not use gears at all for a budget job.

Instead, I would use a shortened flexdrive engine throttle control cable with push-pull knob handle, centre release button and microadjust system which works by turning the knob. Think Cessna, Beech Musketeer, Piper PA25, some portable generators throttle controls and you should have the picture.

Attachment of the centre cable to the lens barrel via a two turn wrapstrap on velcro to enable zero setting for each lens. Outer sleeve attached to the rods support.

A coil spring or even an elastic end to the wrapstrap from the lens barrel to the rod support for one direction of travel and preload of the lens barrel to eliminate backlash. That's all the geared designs need to do to eliminate their backlash problem.

This would not yield enough throw for genuine motion picture lenses, but for still-camera lenses would be adequate - no custom gears needed yet all the precision movement you would want.

I must say, I was a little surprised at the amount of play in the Redrock follow focus gears. Everything is so nicely machined it's a shame that they didn't get the gears right.