Okii USB "follow" focus

hgernhardtjr

I have been considering an Okii Systems USB Focus Controller for Canon EOS dSLRs (akin to a mechanical follow focus, but without all the rails and mechanical attachments). http://www.okii.net/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FF%2D001

The material on their site looks great, but I am just a duffer when it comes to shooting videos.

Does anyone here have any first hand knowledge about their Focus Controller and would they recommend it? I would definitely not want to waste four Franklins on something that may not be a good tool. It would be used on a 5dMkII.

HeavyJ

I don't have any experience with it but IMO if you aren't shooting pro video yet, learning to pull focus with your hands is much better. I have some of Cinevate's follow focus gears on my lenses and a focus lever. I don't have their follow focus because for that money I'd rather get a new lens.

Inspiritor

Cinevate's gears & lever are enough ...

HeavyJ wrote: »

I don't have any experience with it but IMO if you aren't shooting pro video yet, learning to pull focus with your hands is much better. I have some of Cinevate's follow focus gears on my lenses and a focus lever. I don't have their follow focus because for that money I'd rather get a new lens.

... as the gear/lever combination makes for quickly finding and pulling focus changes by hand without groping to find it -- it's much more easily found.

That, and I do have a shoulder-rig of theirs that, along with the gears & levers, has made my video clips much smoother (especially with long lenses), and really brings out how striking shallow depth-of-field and the changing of near-subject to far-subject can be.

I'm now debating whether to get their Cyclops lcd-viewer which let's one use both eyes (much easier) since shooting video with focus changes is much more demanding when one has bi-focals or contacts/reading-glasses. I'm trying to use my contacts without the reading-glasses, and the Cyclops looks way better than the Zacuto (which is a real pain to fit onto the 5DMkII - which I also have).

Another possibility that I'll explore: I believe Sony has a hot-shoe type mount external monitor, much larger than the lcd, and hopefully at a sufficiently higher resolution so that I can make focus decisions without reading-glasses or the need for a lcd magnifier like the Zacuto or Cyclops, which, when actively using, eclipse everything else from view. A small, external monitor let's one more easily shift viewing from the subject to the monitor (but added weight may preclude this as an option).

HeavyJ

If you are going to attach something to the LCD I would go by way of Cyclops by Cinevate. I'd much rather have 2 eyes working that squinting with 1 eye. That said, I have never used the Z-Finder or Cyclops. The new Zacuto EVF is an interesting step in the right direction.

At the end of the day though, I would say using your lcd screen as is to pull focus (For amateurs anyways) is a good way to start.