Favorite Lens Gears

PaulGriffith

PaulGriffith

Hey guys. I'm picking up a RedRock follow focus but before I buy RedRock gears I wanted to see what you guys thought about other manufacturer's gears. The ProAim ones are 5 for the price of a RedRock haha.

What do you use, how do you like it? Thanks!
 
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Well, I have Redrock gears and have no complaints, but I've never had another brand of gears to compare them with.

The follow focus itself is pretty clever with it's quick release from the rails design.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
Yeah I love the RR focus unit. Some of the camera guys thy work on our projects have one and they're stellar. I picked up a used one in great shape for $350, pretty happy :).
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Even used, doesn't this stuff just blow your mind on how much it costs? I had a good fall last year and got the DSLR Cinema Bundle and now times are a little tighter and I look at the thing and shake my head. :no::hmm:

Still, I'm glad I have it and it's paid for. The next thing to go on there is a NEX FS100 whenever the money gods allow. :cool:
 
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There's an issue with redrock gears on vintage lenses. The focus throw on old lenses is so long (360 degrees in some cases) that the bolt used to tighten down the gear interferes and makes it impossible to use the full focus throw of the lens. Well, not "impossible", you have to position the gear in the exact right spot, usually as far forward as it will go and still contact the focus ring of the lens. I'm looking at some zip gears right now. the RR gears are usable, but you don't want to pull them off and on very often because putting them back on is several seconds of fiddling to get them in the right spot.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
There's an issue with redrock gears on vintage lenses. The focus throw on old lenses is so long (360 degrees in some cases) that the bolt used to tighten down the gear interferes and makes it impossible to use the full focus throw of the lens. Well, not "impossible", you have to position the gear in the exact right spot, usually as far forward as it will go and still contact the focus ring of the lens. I'm looking at some zip gears right now. the RR gears are usable, but you don't want to pull them off and on very often because putting them back on is several seconds of fiddling to get them in the right spot.
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I experience this as well. On an Angenieux.
 
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confirm issues with red rock STYLE gears. I have some india knock offs that work very well long throw issue not withstanding. I got six for the price of one redrock.

I have a set of those "snap gears" which I generally hate, but they do work for the one lens I have that is indeed 360 deg. focus throw.

Gonzo, Im curious how the snap gear trial goes, return and report please.
 
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I was looking at the snap gears as well. They look great, except it's a set diameter where on the RR style you have a few mm to work with on each size.

@wheatgrinder- those India ones are good then huh, how's the quality feel on it, do you have to baby them?

I saw one guy bought the Zacuto zip gear replacements for $18 a pop, then taped/glued them to a zip tie to make a semi-permanent gear for his lenses. You'd still run into the stop though.
http://lukefrater.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-your-own-lens-gears-on-cheap.html

Not the solution for me though. I need to be able to interchange them, I rent a lot of lenses and the guys I work with all have their own lens arsenal too, want to be able to mount those.
 
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The india knock offs are ok, they do feel "brittle" but Iv not broken one yet and I have tweaked em pretty hard...

The snap gears come with self adhesive foam "spacers" that you can use to get a pretty good fit on any lens, but its locks you into one or two lenses. The end result... sure they promise and are potentially awesomely portable between lenses, but you can only use the foam spacers once so your sorta stuck. What I found is that keeping a bag of thick rubber bands handy to put on the LENS gives you flexibility with other lenses...

the other problem I have with MY snap gears is that the magnets are iron based. RUST. Every time they snap together a bit of rust comes out of some cranny and gets in the gears..
 
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I've learned a lot from this thread. One question, do gears from other manufacturers have the same radius as RR gears? If you don't have a 5DMII, a smaller gear ratio would be so sweet.
 
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wheatgrinder said:
what is it you speak of? Post links! I wouldn't do it for EVERY lens, but there are a couple that would benefit.
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thread in "another forum". I'll try to find it. If you think about it, could probably DIY with super glue or gorilla glue. Cut to fit and glue the two ends together. I'm sure he does the same thing just with a very clean "professional" looking seam.
 
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CamVader said:
I've learned a lot from this thread. One question, do gears from other manufacturers have the same radius as RR gears? If you don't have a 5DMII, a smaller gear ratio would be so sweet.
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There are bunch of different pitches and sizes. The gear on lens just has to mate gear on FF, and they make different gears for FF side as well to alter the ratio.
 
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CamVader said:
I've learned a lot from this thread. One question, do gears from other manufacturers have the same radius as RR gears? If you don't have a 5DMII, a smaller gear ratio would be so sweet.
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Seems the RR gears (and indian knockoffs) try for a lose approximation of maintaining a outer diameter by using shorter or longer "legs" to stand off from the lens. This is also true for the Jag35 gears, and the Snap gears.

Id like to have gears that are CLOSER to the OD of the lens barrel for a more compact fitment. The pro lens conversion shops seem to be using gears with a much shorter standoff.
 
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There is a benefit to the standoff and longer travel, you get a lot less sensitive of a follow focus. If the lens gear get's too small, a quarter turn will go a lot father than the larger gear.

Maybe that's a benefit in some cases, still, accuracy is nice.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
There is a benefit to the standoff and longer travel, you get a lot less sensitive of a follow focus. If the lens gear get's too small, a quarter turn will go a lot father than the larger gear.

Maybe that's a benefit in some cases, still, accuracy is nice.
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Modern lenses, especially Canon, have a ridiculously short focus throw (for AF purposes) where 30 or 45 degrees might go from close to infinity so those folks want a lot of FF turn for a tiny bit of lens turn.
 
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Gonzo_Entertainment said:
Modern lenses, especially Canon, have a ridiculously short focus throw (for AF purposes) where 30 or 45 degrees might go from close to infinity so those folks want a lot of FF turn for a tiny bit of lens turn.
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Interesting. My personal thought is there is too much throw in Canon lenses with an RR gear ratio. I tend to be more accurate with micro adjustments as opposed to log throw adjustments on a moving target. I'm more likely to go past focus if sharp is 3 gear teeth long on the barrel.

Maybe it's just an individual preference. I think on a 5DMII with razor thin depth of field you'd want large gear ratios for obvious reasons. But for normal sized sensors...

Yes, let's talk about normal, or common sized sensors. Super 35 or super 35-ish like RED, Arri Alexa, the 7D and T2i, and GH1/2 or any 4/3rd's camera - depth of field changes happen much slower, err, depending on the lens, err, you know what I mean. ;)
 
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