Cheap zoom controller?

[Jason J. Gullickson]

I ran across this on Ebay and I'm wondering if any of you have seen it before?

http://cgi.ebay.com/55-Remote-Tripod...QQcmdZViewItem

It's obviously a junk tripod but I thought for the money it might be a cheap way to get a remote zoom control for a crane, etc.

[Chris Hurd]

Well, that's one I have not seen before. The maker's page is located at:

http://www.vidprousa.com/shop/Produc...DPROTT%2D800RC

Some people whack the handle off and throw away the tripod, but remember you get what you pay for. There are several stories around here about cheap controllers like this not being compatible with some DV camcorders.

[Jason J. Gullickson]

Any thoughts on how it interfaces to the camera? I couldn't find anything besides vague information.

I figured I was out-of-luck beyond the IR remote that came with my Optura 60 as far as remote control options were concerned.

[Chris Hurd]

Oh it has to be LANC, what else would it be. Too bad the Optura 60 doesn't have a Control-L jack for LANC. And too bad there's no such thing as a FireWire controller, now that would be perfect.

The biggest drawback on the recent Canon DV camcorders is the lack of Control-L for running the camera the right way (that is, without touching it). The older ones have it, though, such as the Optura Pi. See my Optura comparison chart to find out what is LANC-equipped and what is not:

http://www.dvinfo.net/canonoptura/articles/compare.php

[Jason J. Gullickson]

That's what I thought too but I didn't think something this "consumer-ish" use LANC.

[Phil Jensen]

Originally Posted by Chris Hurd

Oh it has to be LANC, what else would it be. Too bad the Optura 60 doesn't have a Control-L jack for LANC. And too bad there's no such thing as a FireWire controller, now that would be perfect.

That would be great, the possible fly in the ointment is that the firewire spec for cameras doesn't require that all possible zoom speeds are supported. Some cameras might just run in and out at a fixed speed (which is required). Don't know the answer to that.