After a brief look on their site - I got the idea that they're for the 'run&gun' style shooter who doesn't want a heap of extra gear hanging off the camera.
I like the idea - and am in the market - but an independent review would be good. cheers |
I was in Colorado, and did not have a lot of time to test it out. Here are my initial observations:
Positives Viewfinder - Very clear and adjustable to your tastes. Can be placed against your eye/glasses which allows for a little more stability for hand holding. Weight -total weight is minimal when attaching everything. However I was only using the Regular version and not the XL one (used for larger lenses). Follow Focus Wheel - Neat idea. For hand holding/tripod holding, the wheel is in a much more natural state than trying to use the focus on the lens. Usage - Seems to make hand held shooting with the 16-35 II and the 24-70 2.8 much more natural/easier than without. I don't have the 24-105 IS, but I bet that would be a dream lens for hand held shooting. Fitment - Everything fits together perfectly and tightly. No fear of parts falling off unless you don't tighten the screws. Negatives Installation - Not something that you would thrown together for a spontaneous video clip. The use of hex style screws means you have to carry around the hex head tool. The back portion which holds the hood on has a thumb tightening system which could have been implemented in the entire setup to make installation a lot faster. Wheel - Yes I put this in the positive, but there is a negative. Because it works on friction, if at any time the wheel is not in complete contact with the lens focus ring, it will not turn. If the focus wheel had grooves in it to match up with the lens ring, it might make for better/smoother focusing. Battery Grip - Most already pointed this out, but there isn't a way to use the battery grip with this follow focus setup. Considering the battery lasts a pretty good time, I don't think it's a major negative. General Negative - I'll be picky and just state the obvious that for a photographer (myself) this is just another thing I need to stuff into my already full bag. haha. Overall conclusions for the IDC Follow Focus. It's a very good system, which will make hand held and tripod shooting much easier. However the few drawbacks I mentioned seem like they could be remedied pretty easily. I won't comment on price. I'll leave that up to the reader to determine that. |
Hi, thanks for the review.
Does anyone know if it works with Rebel 2Ti EF-S? |
I attended the WPPI conference in Las Vegas last week, and attended Bruce Dorn's DSLR video class, sat front row, and got to check out a lot of his gear that he brought with him.
He had a very unique DIY dolly/track contraption that he said would be sold soon on the IDC web site, which was made up from skateboard wheels, so I'm sure the follow focus part you all discussed is a skateboard wheel as well. His DIY dolly/track was pretty sweet, and if sold cheap enough, would be a great little rig to own to get some great panning type shots. Once you see it though, you will probably say to yourself that you can build it, and he explained how he built it with great ease, using conduit which he buys for $10 at Ace Hardware. The skateboard wheels, and some plastic stuff. I didn't get a photo of it, but lots of people were taking them, so I'm sure one will surface somewhere. He also explained why his follow focus works the way it does, and his point was that when subjects move away from you, so does his follow focus, and when they are moving towards you so does the follow focus. I like how it doesn't have expensive gears too, but having never used a follow focus of any type, I don't have much to reference when discussing these. So maybe the gear'd FF work better, I don't know? |
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To me the IDC follow focus would be like driving a left hand stick shift. -- peer |
I toyed around with it at WPPI... that's what it felt like, a toy. I've owned quite a few follow focus' to date and to me what IDC shouldn't even be considered a follow focus. It slips, you can't mark it, your hand is basically on the lens anyway... so it really doesn't make much sense. It's usefulness does NOT justify any price tag in my opinion.
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http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/i...0_blkwheel.jpg Pretty sweet setup. |
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-- peer |
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