Follow Focus and front support for an HM700

[Daniel Trout]

Howdy folks.

I'm currently shooting a feature-length documentary on my HM700. There is a good amount of this thing that's going to be shot hand-held, for both practical and aesthetic reasons.

(My co-producer and I both unrepentant Sci Fi geeks, and her description of what SHE wanted it to look like back when we started planning this beast a couple years ago was, "Like Joss Whedon's 'Firefly.' Enough handheld "jostle" to make you feel like you're right THERE, but not shakey in a Cops/Reality Show kind of way.)

I was going to try to shoot it with just the ENG setup, but I'm just not getting the specific handheld LOOK I want. It's just a little too jittery for the look I want.

So, I'm going to try to alleviate some of this by adding support rails, handgrips, and a follow focus system to get my hands off the lens barrel, (or at least minimizing it, as I'll still have to reach up to adjust zoom and iris, as I never use automatic settings,)

So, now that I've bored you to tears with what I'm doing, here's the setup I'm looking at:

I'm looking primarily at Cavision, as they seem to make good, solid stuff geared for the production standards I'm working at. Zacuto and Arri are just not within the scope of the budget...

So, the RSPJ-700 front plate made specifically for the weird mount that seems unique to every other similar camera that JVC makes.

The RS-1525 15mm carbon fiber rods. I think they're about 26-30cm in length, and comes with a rear bracket to mount to the adapter plate, and a front bracket for a matte box, (which I'm not getting...yet.)

RHD1560 dual handgrips.

and I'm waffling right now between two follow focus systems

the Cavision 1560G Follow Focus

The Redrock Micro FollowFocus V2

With both of these, I would be using their standard Canon gear for my 14X4.4 lens.

I'm sorta new to lens accessories like this. Just doing "ENG" style run-and-gun stuff has always served me for over 15 years now, but this project is different. This could very well set the direction of the next 15 years, and I want to bring my A-Game.

So, I know some folks have some experience with this type of thing. Any thoughts? Reviews? Links? Etc.

Funds have been allocated from our backers for this purchase, and I plan on pulling the trigger on this buy as soon as early next week, (like "the 15th or 16th of August 2011" soon,) but with all the grip/support/lens control options that open up when you add a basic rail system, I'm feeling a bit overloaded.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

[Myles Williams]

did you ever get any of these things? I have a 700 and want to hear how it turned out !

[Craig Yanagi]

Myles,

As an option, both Zacuto and Chroziel have accessories designed to be used with the HM 700 series camcorders.

I hope this information helps.

Good Luck,

- Craig

[Myles Williams]

Thanks Craig !

[Daniel Trout]

In response to Myles question, no. I never got the support/FF setup. I reevaluated a lot of the way I'm shooting, and so much of what we're doing is in cramped spaces where the camera's not on my shoulder. So, the rail setup would most likely hinder more than help.

Though, if you are interested, I did a bunch more research, talked to the folks at both Cavision, RedRock Micro and at Adorama, and the setup I described in the original post was what I was going to go with, (I was leaning toward the Cavision FF, though, just to keep all the support stuff one brand, and therefore one call if I had any issues to contact customer support with, and that was my ONLY reason for not going with the RedRock.)

I had also looked at the Zacuto and Chroziel systems, but they were outside our current budget.

Thanks to Craig Yanagi for jumping in, (and thanks for your contributions here at DVInfo! As an HM700 user who loves this camera, it's great having you here!) and good luck to you in your endeavors, Myles! Let us know what you end up going with. While the Follow Focus isn't really a functional necessity for me right now, it may become so in a few months, and I'd love to hear what has/hasn't worked for you!

All the best!