iDC Follow Focus

Peter Berg · December 8th, 2009, 05:01 AM

After a brief look on their site - I got the idea that they're for the 'run&gun' style shooter who doesn't want a heap of extra gear hanging off the camera.
I like the idea - and am in the market - but an independent review would be good.
cheers

Brant Gajda · December 15th, 2009, 10:50 AM

I was in Colorado, and did not have a lot of time to test it out. Here are my initial observations:

Positives
Viewfinder - Very clear and adjustable to your tastes. Can be placed against your eye/glasses which allows for a little more stability for hand holding.

Weight -total weight is minimal when attaching everything. However I was only using the Regular version and not the XL one (used for larger lenses).

Follow Focus Wheel - Neat idea. For hand holding/tripod holding, the wheel is in a much more natural state than trying to use the focus on the lens.

Usage - Seems to make hand held shooting with the 16-35 II and the 24-70 2.8 much more natural/easier than without. I don't have the 24-105 IS, but I bet that would be a dream lens for hand held shooting.

Fitment - Everything fits together perfectly and tightly. No fear of parts falling off unless you don't tighten the screws.

Negatives
Installation - Not something that you would thrown together for a spontaneous video clip. The use of hex style screws means you have to carry around the hex head tool. The back portion which holds the hood on has a thumb tightening system which could have been implemented in the entire setup to make installation a lot faster.

Wheel - Yes I put this in the positive, but there is a negative. Because it works on friction, if at any time the wheel is not in complete contact with the lens focus ring, it will not turn. If the focus wheel had grooves in it to match up with the lens ring, it might make for better/smoother focusing.

Battery Grip - Most already pointed this out, but there isn't a way to use the battery grip with this follow focus setup. Considering the battery lasts a pretty good time, I don't think it's a major negative.

General Negative - I'll be picky and just state the obvious that for a photographer (myself) this is just another thing I need to stuff into my already full bag. haha.

Overall conclusions for the IDC Follow Focus. It's a very good system, which will make hand held and tripod shooting much easier. However the few drawbacks I mentioned seem like they could be remedied pretty easily. I won't comment on price. I'll leave that up to the reader to determine that.

Kaku Ito · March 14th, 2010, 09:15 AM

Hi, thanks for the review.

Does anyone know if it works with Rebel 2Ti EF-S?

Christopher McCord · March 17th, 2010, 08:12 AM

I attended the WPPI conference in Las Vegas last week, and attended Bruce Dorn's DSLR video class, sat front row, and got to check out a lot of his gear that he brought with him.

He had a very unique DIY dolly/track contraption that he said would be sold soon on the IDC web site, which was made up from skateboard wheels, so I'm sure the follow focus part you all discussed is a skateboard wheel as well. His DIY dolly/track was pretty sweet, and if sold cheap enough, would be a great little rig to own to get some great panning type shots. Once you see it though, you will probably say to yourself that you can build it, and he explained how he built it with great ease, using conduit which he buys for $10 at Ace Hardware. The skateboard wheels, and some plastic stuff. I didn't get a photo of it, but lots of people were taking them, so I'm sure one will surface somewhere.

He also explained why his follow focus works the way it does, and his point was that when subjects move away from you, so does his follow focus, and when they are moving towards you so does the follow focus.

I like how it doesn't have expensive gears too, but having never used a follow focus of any type, I don't have much to reference when discussing these. So maybe the gear'd FF work better, I don't know?

Peer Landa · March 17th, 2010, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher McCord

He also explained why his follow focus works the way it does, and his point was that when subjects move away from you, so does his follow focus, and when they are moving towards you so does the follow focus.

As I mentioned earlier, this is the complaint I have -- not only is it completely opposite to any other follow focus, but the way I think of pulling focus it is that if you focus in on something, you'll crank it towards the object.

To me the IDC follow focus would be like driving a left hand stick shift.

-- peer

Andrew Waite · March 17th, 2010, 09:58 AM

I toyed around with it at WPPI... that's what it felt like, a toy. I've owned quite a few follow focus' to date and to me what IDC shouldn't even be considered a follow focus. It slips, you can't mark it, your hand is basically on the lens anyway... so it really doesn't make much sense. It's usefulness does NOT justify any price tag in my opinion.

Christopher McCord · March 17th, 2010, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Waite

I toyed around with it at WPPI... that's what it felt like, a toy. I've owned quite a few follow focus' to date and to me what IDC shouldn't even be considered a follow focus. It slips, you can't mark it, your hand is basically on the lens anyway... so it really doesn't make much sense. It's usefulness does NOT justify any price tag in my opinion.

Did you get to hold/play with the rig that JVS had? I emailed JVS and he showed me his rig, its the IDC Run N' Gun with a magic wand handle.

http://www.idcphotography.com/kart/i...0_blkwheel.jpg

Pretty sweet setup.

Christopher McCord · March 17th, 2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

As I mentioned earlier, this is the complaint I have -- not only is it completely opposite to any other follow focus, but the way I think of pulling focus it is that if you focus in on something, you'll crank it towards the object.

To me the IDC follow focus would be like driving a left hand stick shift.

-- peer

I know you mentioned this earlier, thats why I brought up what he explained as to why he designed his FF the way he did. So you'd understand his thinking and logic, even if you don't agree with it or are used to it. It makes sense to me, and I don't see me having any issue with it.

Andrew Waite · March 18th, 2010, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher McCord

Did you get to hold/play with the rig that JVS had? I emailed JVS and he showed me his rig, its the IDC Run N' Gun with a magic wand handle.
Pretty sweet setup.

I did... didn't like it. To me it's a waist.... the way the 'skateboard wheel' is angled makes it almost worthless to me. Not to mention that it slips and wont work with ALL lenses. Also, it was awkward to hold and I feel I could get a better, steadier hold on it if I just held the lens instead of trying to grip a skateboard wheel for support... it's a novelty to me. The only thing I did like what they way they attach the hoodman viewfinder. That was the only solid thing about their product, but that's not enough for me.... I've since switched to the Zacuto Z-Finder..... WAY better... I'm talking night and day difference.

Peer Landa · April 6th, 2010, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peer Landa

As I mentioned earlier, this is the complaint I have -- not only is it completely opposite to any other follow focus, but the way I think of pulling focus it is that if you focus in on something, you'll crank it towards the object.
To me the IDC follow focus would be like driving a left hand stick shift.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christopher McCord

I know you mentioned this earlier, thats why I brought up what he explained as to why he designed his FF the way he did. So you'd understand his thinking and logic, even if you don't agree with it or are used to it. It makes sense to me, and I don't see me having any issue with it.

Perhaps you'll having issues with it when you discover that the entire film industry has it "backwards" compared to the IDC follow focus ;^)

-- peer

December 8th, 2009, 05:01 AM	#16
Peter Berg Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Melbourne Australia Posts: 31	After a brief look on their site - I got the idea that they're for the 'run&gun' style shooter who doesn't want a heap of extra gear hanging off the camera. I like the idea - and am in the market - but an independent review would be good. cheers __________________ ------- peter berg

March 17th, 2010, 09:58 AM	#21
Andrew Waite Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bakersfield, CA Posts: 307	I toyed around with it at WPPI... that's what it felt like, a toy. I've owned quite a few follow focus' to date and to me what IDC shouldn't even be considered a follow focus. It slips, you can't mark it, your hand is basically on the lens anyway... so it really doesn't make much sense. It's usefulness does NOT justify any price tag in my opinion. __________________ http://www.higherdefinitionmedia.com RED One #6135 "Spartacus"

December 15th, 2009, 10:50 AM	#17
Brant Gajda Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 113	I was in Colorado, and did not have a lot of time to test it out. Here are my initial observations: Positives Viewfinder - Very clear and adjustable to your tastes. Can be placed against your eye/glasses which allows for a little more stability for hand holding. Weight -total weight is minimal when attaching everything. However I was only using the Regular version and not the XL one (used for larger lenses). Follow Focus Wheel - Neat idea. For hand holding/tripod holding, the wheel is in a much more natural state than trying to use the focus on the lens. Usage - Seems to make hand held shooting with the 16-35 II and the 24-70 2.8 much more natural/easier than without. I don't have the 24-105 IS, but I bet that would be a dream lens for hand held shooting. Fitment - Everything fits together perfectly and tightly. No fear of parts falling off unless you don't tighten the screws. Negatives Installation - Not something that you would thrown together for a spontaneous video clip. The use of hex style screws means you have to carry around the hex head tool. The back portion which holds the hood on has a thumb tightening system which could have been implemented in the entire setup to make installation a lot faster. Wheel - Yes I put this in the positive, but there is a negative. Because it works on friction, if at any time the wheel is not in complete contact with the lens focus ring, it will not turn. If the focus wheel had grooves in it to match up with the lens ring, it might make for better/smoother focusing. Battery Grip - Most already pointed this out, but there isn't a way to use the battery grip with this follow focus setup. Considering the battery lasts a pretty good time, I don't think it's a major negative. General Negative - I'll be picky and just state the obvious that for a photographer (myself) this is just another thing I need to stuff into my already full bag. haha. Overall conclusions for the IDC Follow Focus. It's a very good system, which will make hand held and tripod shooting much easier. However the few drawbacks I mentioned seem like they could be remedied pretty easily. I won't comment on price. I'll leave that up to the reader to determine that.

March 14th, 2010, 09:15 AM	#18
Kaku Ito Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Posts: 1,382	Hi, thanks for the review. Does anyone know if it works with Rebel 2Ti EF-S?

March 17th, 2010, 08:12 AM	#19
Christopher McCord Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 48	I attended the WPPI conference in Las Vegas last week, and attended Bruce Dorn's DSLR video class, sat front row, and got to check out a lot of his gear that he brought with him. He had a very unique DIY dolly/track contraption that he said would be sold soon on the IDC web site, which was made up from skateboard wheels, so I'm sure the follow focus part you all discussed is a skateboard wheel as well. His DIY dolly/track was pretty sweet, and if sold cheap enough, would be a great little rig to own to get some great panning type shots. Once you see it though, you will probably say to yourself that you can build it, and he explained how he built it with great ease, using conduit which he buys for $10 at Ace Hardware. The skateboard wheels, and some plastic stuff. I didn't get a photo of it, but lots of people were taking them, so I'm sure one will surface somewhere. He also explained why his follow focus works the way it does, and his point was that when subjects move away from you, so does his follow focus, and when they are moving towards you so does the follow focus. I like how it doesn't have expensive gears too, but having never used a follow focus of any type, I don't have much to reference when discussing these. So maybe the gear'd FF work better, I don't know?