Jimmy Jib and a JVC 111E

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Hi
I have a one day shoot coming up next week and I need to know how the focus works on a JVC 111E mounted on a Jimmy Jib. Using the same Fujinon lens and no other equipment.

Do I need to invest in some additional equipment or does the Jimmy Jib come with a standard wire/equipment/etc that can pull focus? Sorry for the really simple question, but I'm using a Jimmy Jib for the first time!

Also, if you have used this combination before, please let me know if there are any things I should watch out for. Thanks!

[Steve Oakley]

I've done this. the fujion zoom control setup will work perfect with the lens. OTH the focus won't work worth beans if its the one that screws directly into the lens. it will twist around. you have to do a rod based setup for focus. that said, focus is only really critical when doing longer lens shots. if you are keeping it wide, just preset based on iris & focal length and you'll be fine. use the cinematographers handbook to figure this out, but basically if you are irised at 5.6 and focus at around 15ft, you should be sharp from 5 ft or so to infinity. could probably preset a little closer towards 10ft and still be good.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Originally Posted by Steve Oakley

I've done this. the fujion zoom control setup will work perfect with the lens. OTH the focus won't work worth beans if its the one that screws directly into the lens. it will twist around. you have to do a rod based setup for focus. that said, focus is only really critical when doing longer lens shots. if you are keeping it wide, just preset based on iris & focal length and you'll be fine. use the cinematographers handbook to figure this out, but basically if you are irised at 5.6 and focus at around 15ft, you should be sharp from 5 ft or so to infinity. could probably preset a little closer towards 10ft and still be good.

Thanks Steve. I am unfortunately going to use the longer end of the Fujinon lens since I'm shooting a feature and I need to reduce the depth of field. It's a long shot which involves going around a room to 'capture' different objects in it.

How would a rod-based system work? I don't have the controller with me yet. Does the Jimmy Jib come with a controller that might work? How do I get the focus to work in this case? I won't be zooming at all probably. Thanks again...

[Steve Oakley]

standard 15mm X60mm OC rod setup. the guy with the jib had a chroziel rod holder with standard sony mount pattern. took the V plate off the camera, put his on, then mounted the focus controller onto the rods. if you have a standard rod setup, you're set. rental place or owner should also have this. the on lens setup won't work. you can't tighten the mount enough to prevent it from moving around (ok, maybe tape it if you don't care about zoom ) or you'll strip the lens threads out.

I'm not sure what kind of shot you are trying to do, but if you haven't really worked a jib before, its not as easy as it looks, especially with a long lens. might want to get an operator as long lens work on a jib isn't too far away from steadicam work. the jimmy jib remote head setup is junk. it takes a lot of finessing to get the controls to work right. and BTW you can reverse how the joysticks work because out of the box, they work backwards to me... oh and if you power it down, you have to reset the controls again. they really didn't think out the controls very well. also turn off the momentum or smoothing control, or turn it down to nearly off or you'll overshoot everytime.

if you are working with the short configuration, you could just do focus at the lens by hand. I've operated many small jibs this way with a head on the end. requires a delicate touch and careful adjustment of everything to make it smooth. its an art.

you could also pick a hyperfocal length at your given iris to hold both foreground and background together. thats how we did it in the film days. get a DoP chart or PDA calculator software.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Originally Posted by Steve Oakley

standard 15mm X60mm OC rod setup. the guy with the jib had a chroziel rod holder with standard sony mount pattern. took the V plate off the camera, put his on, then mounted the focus controller onto the rods. if you have a standard rod setup, you're set. rental place or owner should also have this. the on lens setup won't work. you can't tighten the mount enough to prevent it from moving around (ok, maybe tape it if you don't care about zoom ) or you'll strip the lens threads out.

I'm not sure what kind of shot you are trying to do, but if you haven't really worked a jib before, its not as easy as it looks, especially with a long lens. might want to get an operator as long lens work on a jib isn't too far away from steadicam work. the jimmy jib remote head setup is junk. it takes a lot of finessing to get the controls to work right. and BTW you can reverse how the joysticks work because out of the box, they work backwards to me... oh and if you power it down, you have to reset the controls again. they really didn't think out the controls very well. also turn off the momentum or smoothing control, or turn it down to nearly off or you'll overshoot everytime.

if you are working with the short configuration, you could just do focus at the lens by hand. I've operated many small jibs this way with a head on the end. requires a delicate touch and careful adjustment of everything to make it smooth. its an art.

you could also pick a hyperfocal length at your given iris to hold both foreground and background together. thats how we did it in the film days. get a DoP chart or PDA calculator software.

Thanks Steve!
This was really helpful. Maybe luckily for me, my DP convinced me the shot I had in mind could be accomplished by a dolly, and that's what we did. However, I don't think I could operate a Jimmy Jib anyway since it's really a helluva lot of work, and takes great skill to operate correctly. You're absolutely right! Thanks again!