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My latest bit of kit, a Gini follow focus.
It wasn't without it's problems to mount due to it's not inconsiderable size, hence being on the right of the camera. With all aluminium construction, and being a copy of the £1,500 Cinevate unit it is smoother than an smooth thing in a bath of smooth.
I would have preferred the gear on the left but it fouled on my C bracket and the gear diameter is too close to that of the bracket to mount forward of the lens. The significant convenience of the C bracket a great hand hold for grabbing, carrying, mounting and dismounting the camera (as well as for mounting my recorder) meant in the first instance I had considered ditching the follow focus rather than lose the C bracket.
An advantage of having the FF on the right is it balances better with the shoulder pad and also sits within the perimeter of the rig on the right as dictated by the offset should pad. On the left it would have increased the overall width of the rig by another two inches.
On arrival I was pretty disappointed with the unit as it's sheer size seemed disproportionate to its use. Having now played with it the size, and weight, of the wheel greatly enhances the feel. I can even focus with my thumb on the wheel while still holding the grip.
The unit uses a single rail clamp. While I had my doubts over this it is very secure and means the FF can be quickly swung out of the way of the camera and lens if required. This also had the advantage of not fouling my extended base plate (used for mounting my 70-200 & 100-400 lens). A two rail mount could have been a real issue in this respect.
The marking ring, also of substantial construction, is held on very firmly with four magnets around the perimeter but is easy to remove to clean off reference marks. Although the marker pin is fixed it is very nicely made and robust enough to work when using fingers on the perimeter rig as (soft) hard stops.
The gear rings are Half Inch Rails zip gears and a great addition. They are compact enough to leave on the lens and store in the normal way with the hood reversed (just about) and as such doesn't chance the way you handle and store your lenses. They are a bit fiddly to fit but as you only do it the once (get a gear for each lens) once it's on you pretty much forget it.
The disadvantage of the zip tie gears is it doesn't offset the follow focus gear as much as the Cinevate halo gears and adds to the challenge of mounting the unit. The plus side, as noted, is it doesn't increase the bulk of the lens or the rig.
So, in summary, after a rocky start when I could have quite happily launched the follow focus into the back end of next week I am now delighted with it.
