I've still not written the long-missing follow focus section of the DSLR Cinematography Guide, mainly because I don't own a follow focus. I've had my eye on the forthcoming Redrock microRemote for a while, but since that unit has yet to see the light of day -- and since I haven't been in production on anything necessitating a follow focus in the meantime -- the section has remained neglected. Here's word of an innovative approach to a follow focus, however, one that uses the USB port on your DSLR to control your lenses (note that you must have the right electronic Canon lenses for this to function). Check out Okii's new Follow Focus in action:
And the view through the lens:
While this looks interesting, personally I'm interested in a follow focus unit that I will be able to use with whatever camera I shoot on after my current 5D Mark II -- one of the latest cameras from RED, maybe? Because the Okii is limited to Canon DSLRs using Canon lenses (as opposed to manual adapted lenses from another manufacturer), it's unlikely I'd spring for this. But that's just me -- what do you think of this USB-based approach?
Finally, there's a feature list for Okii unit below.
Link: Okii USB Follow Focus Controller
Okii USB Follow Focus Features
- Turn Live View mode On/Off
- Start/Stop Video recording
- Take pictures
- Change/Pull focus using the knob or 2 dedicated buttons (Near/Far smooth focus buttons) even whilst recording video
- Capability to save 4 focus points (2 “hard stop” points + 2 focus points) and do a Rack Focus by just pressing any of those buttons
- Toggle Zoom level x1, x5 and x10
- Change camera settings
- and much more… (full details will be available after the official release)
Compatibility
- Canon 1D Mark IV
- Canon 5D Mark II
- Canon 7D
- Canon 60D
- Canon T2i
[via Robin Schmidt, DSLR Video Shooter]
