$400 USB Based Follow Focus System for Canon DSLRs

January 29, 2011

in Canon,Gear,News

SPECIAL DISCOUNT: There is a special Coupon Code to get $50 discount: “okii50″

I’ve never been a huge news aggregator (I leave it to the best), but I couldn’t let this one pass. The boys over at 5D Mark 2 Team have developed a USB follow focus. Yup, thats right, using the USB output on your camera you can now control several of you cameras functions such as:

  • Toggle Live View mode On/Off
  • Start/Stop video recording
  • Take pictures
  • Set focus / change focus before and whilst recording video using the knob or 2 dedicated Near/Far buttons
  • Save focus points and do Rack Focus operations before and whilst recording video (*)
  • Change camera settings: ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed and Exposure Compensation
  • Trigger camera’s light metering system in both Live View on and off modes
  • Trigger Auto Focus in Live View mode
  • Toggle between Zoom Levels x1, x5 and x10
  • Adjust Focus Zone (white rectangle) positioning with lens set to Manual or Auto Focus mode (the lens mode is automatically detected)
  • Reverse the direction of the knob to match your lens or preferences

So run over the the 5DMark2Team to check it out.

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Tagged as: Follow Focus, Gear

  • http://twitter.com/rabonour Rabi Abonour

    Wow. That’s enough to make me want to go Canon. I’ve been wondering why there was no such thing as a purely electronic follow focus since I started shooting DSLR video.

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    What are you shooting on?

  • http://mattthomasfilm.blogspot.com/ Matt Thomas

    It’s a really nice idea, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t work with Lens without Auto Focus, I have quite a few lenses that I can’t use Auto Focus with (M42 lenses).

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    True that. This is a great tool for Canon photogs who have moved to hybrid shooting. For the rest of us with different optics saving for the Redrock micro FF system would probably be wise (if it ever comes out).

  • http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/ 5D Mark II TEAM

    Hi,

    Thanks a lot for posting about this.

    Although, it is very important to clarify that we are NOT the developers nor manufacturers of this USB Follow Focus Controller.

    Actually, the designer and manufacturer is Okii Systems LLC. (www.okii.net), as explained in our Blog.article.

    We strongly suggest all Canon users interested to know more about this controller, its possibilities and potential, to carefully check this article for more details:
    http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/usb-follow-focus-controller-released/

    As mentioned above, this controller uses the lens’ auto focus motor to do the focusing operations such as rack focus or manual focus pull via the knob that this controller has (by the way, there is no latency at all). Because of this, the controller can be used with any lens with AF motor. It is NOT “Canon exclusive”. Although it needs the proper settings/configuration for each lens to get the best performance and advantages (please check the link to our Blog dedicated section, posted by Caleb above on this post).

    Furthermore, there is an option to reverse the knob direction, so the user can match it with the focus direction of the lens being used, or his/her own preference (as we all know 3rd party lenses use to move the focus ring in the opposite direction than Canon lenses, so this was also taken into account by the manufacturer of this controller).

    Of course, if a non-AF lens is mounted, focus features are not available, but the rest functionalities and features work without problems.

    Best regards,

    -5D2Team

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    Good to know. Thanks guys!