Handizoom

[Lee Mullen]

I cannot find infomation here so will post this about a great innovation for DSLR's. I would buy this if the price was good and worthy.

VizTools to Introduce ENG-Style DSLR Control Handgrip at NAB2012

HandiZoom - YouTube

[Konstantin Kovalev]

Now that is cool! I really hope he manages to get this thing to market. Having a servo unit one can attach to anything would be incredibly useful.

[Zach Love]

I think this has become my #1 interest for NAB. I really want more details, see if it can work on any system (Nikon, Sony, Panasonic), adjustable to any lens & create really smooth ENG style zooms.

[Glen Vandermolen]

Leave it to an ex-TV news photog (like I am) to come up with this idea.
We do appreciate a good servo zoom.

[Chris Hurd]

According to the web site, the 1st gen is for only the Canon 5D Mk. II and parfocal twist-zoom lenses.

It's an awesome concept and DVi will be taking a close look at it next week at NAB.

[Zach Love]

Chris, please ask lots of questions & bring back any photos / demos of this if at all possible.

I really hope they make it a stand alone device that can interface with any camera, ideally in one universal model. But if there is a Canon DSLR specific model & the LANC specific model, that is better than nothing.

Also, it'd be great if it could be internally powered. How much power does a servo really use? I'd think Sony L series batteries would be best & a NP-F570 could last a good charge. But the LP-E6 is getting wide usage in 3rd party accessories, so that wouldn't be bad either.

I would love to see this attached to AF100 or FS100 / FS700. Would greatly make those cameras that much more ENG, run-n-gun, one man band friendly.

[Tom Bostick]

oh my goodness, do WANT

[Nigel Barker]

It's a neat idea but the only drawback is not all the zoom lenses one would want to use are parfocal & the zoom range of a stills lens is generally in the 2-3X range & not the 10-15X of a typical broadcast power zoom lens.

[Ted Ramasola]

hmm.. this thing got potential. :)

[Zach Love]

One thing I started thinking about is most servo / hand grips from ENG lenses can be taken off the lens. So wouldn't that mean that all the bits & pieces of the machinery already exist, you just have to rebuild it to work with SLR lenses?

I doubt that Canon would start selling their servo motors to work with their SLR lenses, but Fujinon doesn't have their own SLR glass. I wonder if Fuji would re-mod one of their servos to work on 15mm rods & with SLR lenses. (One can hope, right?)

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

It's a neat idea but the only drawback is not all the zoom lenses one would want to use are parfocal & the zoom range of a stills lens is generally in the 2-3X range & not the 10-15X of a typical broadcast power zoom lens.

I don't know about you, but for me if a zoom lens doesn't keep its focus through the zoom, I don't want to use it. I will use it if I have to, but I don't want to.

Even a 3x zoom can be significant & all that is needed if smooth. The majority of my zooms don't use the entire range of the lens, so while this wouldn't give me the flexibility of a 10x - 20x zoom range, I would still get a lot of use out of a servo.

[Evan Donn]

Interesting unit, although personally I couldn't care less about the zoom servo. I'd like something like this that just had the other functionality though - start/stop, focus assist, etc. Is there anything else out there like that?

[Brett Sherman]

Originally Posted by Zach Love

I don't know about you, but for me if a zoom lens doesn't keep its focus through the zoom, I don't want to use it. I will use it if I have to, but I don't want to.

Somewhat agree, but I could focus and zoom at the same time with a servo. So at least it's possible. Currently it is impossible to zoom and focus at the same time with SLR lenses.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

It's a neat idea but the only drawback is not all the zoom lenses one would want to use are parfocal & the zoom range of a stills lens is generally in the 2-3X range & not the 10-15X of a typical broadcast power zoom lens.

Just remembered the other drawback is being tempted to actually use the power zoom for cheesy 70s style video.

[Tim Polster]

Any more information about this from NAB? What catches my eye is what a great handle to hold the camera with! I also would not think of this as a zoom while filming too much but a device to allow shooting with DSLRs in faster paced environments because you can have one hand for focus and one for framing/zooming/holding the camera.

Right now, shooting with 5DMKII is basically like shooting with a prime lens once you hit record because any type of FL adjustment is so akward the camera is disrupted.

One would think there is a way to make these in the affordable price range. Think of the graveyard of SD broadcast lenses that exisits out there now. It would be great if their servos could be retrofitted cheap and easily.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Also an earlier thread on the 5D section:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eo...zoom-dslr.html