New Fuji Zoom demand for EX1/3
 

I have heard that there is a new zoom demand planned by Fuji for the EX1/3.
Most people report a poor performance from the existing products. I have two bebob devices and I have to say they are not that smooth at creeping the lens.

Anybody have any further news?

Do EX1's have interchangeable lenses now?

Hi Greg,

Do you mean "zoom controller"?

Fujionon Zoom Controller
 

Yes Zoom controller

According to Fuji in NJ, that is just a rumor.

Greg I had a Manfrotto zoom controller for my EX3. Wasn't very good. Would stutter a lot at slow speeds...

There was a promotion not that long ago that Tapeworks Texas had on the Libec zoom controller. A few people bought them and raved about them. I finally got one a few weeks ago. I've done a few shoots totally about 12 hours of shoot time with the Libec and I have to say it is amazing. Smooth, smooth and good control over slow zooming and ramping up or down.

Thanks for that Andrew.

Anybody else have some good or bad things to say about the Libec Zoom controller?

Andrew

Can you verify...when you changed from the Manfrotto to the Libec you were able to achieve better slow zooms with the same lens/camera?
You had jerky slow zooms with the Manfrotto but the Libec delivers smooth slow zooms?

I bought a VZ-Rock EX from VariZoom when I first got my EX1. Can anybody tell me if these other controllers are smoother than my VZ?

Absolutely, Ed. Of course when I got the Libec, the only thing I changed on my usual camera setup was the zoom controller. The change was dramatic. HUGE. Night and Day Ed. I was skeptical about it myself. I saw a thread here on DVinfo that was convincing but I waited for weeks and weeks before I took the plunge. It galls me to no end to buy a piece of gear and then go out and replace it supposedly because it's junk. I had no firm way of knowing whether the problem was with the controller or the lens. I hate wasting money. Anyway, I bought it and have used it on some really punishing event shoots where I am the only camera and pan/zooms from person to person are the order of the day. The Libec performed beautifully. Not just the smoothness but the way you could articulate during zooms. I have fallen in love with the EX all over again. I was ready to ditch it because of the crappy zoom control with most of the zoom controllers out there and IT does suck. The Libec fixes it through.

Here is the thread from a while back on the Libec promotion and the discussion about it:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...ex3-promo.html

I used the Bebob controller this evening and it worked pretty well.

I just want ot make sure...

The Manfrotto controller was giving jerky zooms. Ther Libec was substituted for the Manfrotto and all jerky zoom problems went away?

I'm forwarding this to Manfrotto...

Thanks

I too am looking into the zoom controllers, for the EX1-r
and i can tell exactally what my specs are.

i want to have it start at 3-4 , and end at <50 , meaning i want to be able to slow it down.
I want them to toss in a One Shot Auto Focus button.
I dont really need a record button, prefer that stopping a record is not possible.
i want 10 other things too :-), like manuel iris or AE exposure bumping , and manual focus
i really want it geared direct to the lens, but with no slop
and i want it all for less than $300 , so chances are i wont get anything i want, but i can dream :-)

I want a zoom controller item to selectivly trim the fast speeds OFF, so a camera person does not use them (most of the time). Still have within it a range of slow speeds, and still have a Ease or ramp from the lowest the camera can go, even if that has some wowowowowowow in it, so the zoom doesnt jerk at start or stop.
I do not want a 2nd roller required, to adjust the speed of on/off only rocker. just a re-ranged Rocker.

The bogen one has a zoom speed limiter, but from what i read the limiter isnt how it should be.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\-/////////////////////////////
assume this is the total range of the zoom in and out speeds

when they limit the range they can do 3 things
------------------snip-\\\\\\-//////-snip---------------
Clip the rocker so it starts the same but never goes high, the range is all shoved in the beginning, which is better than the end.

\\\\\\\<-------------------<->------------------>//////
shove the range off the end, so you have to move the zoom WAY far before it engages, this has got to be the worst way, you have to move the rocker way far from out to in, then find where it abruptly starts again.

\------\------\------\------\-/-----/-----/-----/-----/
use the Whole range of the rocker still, with only the first few low speeds across it. This is how ANY of them should be when limiting the total zoom speeds, anything else is dumb.

i know that it is electrically possible to do this, because we have made our own robotics motor controllers with limiters that did, although they were more analog than the new digital stuff.

Sony could have put a re-ranger on the rockers on the cams themselves, so people can have thier nice slow zooms too, depending on the setting, at least with the handle zoom locked to slow, and a good rocker you can do everything. Sony adding in a max speed limiter on the rocker would be usefull, that is a lot of the reason why i want a controller item. A menu item selecting the rocker range would have been nice. Min Rocker Zoom 3, Max Rocker Zoom 30

Do any of the controllers when limiting the max speed , still allow for the full throw of the controller zoom rocker, with the limited zoom speed spread across the whole throw of the rocker?

Hi Andrew,

It so happens that my own EX1 played some role in the first measurements and calibrations of the Manfrotto MN521ex prototype. Frankly I never considered the zooms, produced with this controller, jerky or stuttering with neither of my EX1 lenses (FYI, the original lens has been replaced by Sony in the meantime, for totally unrelated reasons).

However, I'd appreciate it very much (and I guess, so would the Manfrotto engineers), if you provided us with short clips (might be of any quality and resolution), comparing the ramp and creeping zooms by the MN521ex vs. the Libec...

Thanks,

Piotr