$1 Dollar DIY Follow Focus Project!! VERY COOL!

[camsnyde]

Is that an epiphone wildkat?

[musichistorynut]

@camsnyde Nope, it's a Gibson ES-175-D (old and in need of some repair work, but otherwise an AWESOME guitar!

[meeyaomestan]

I just found this one here in Canada, Kitchen Stuff Plus stores. True, it's $4 vs your $1, but this seems a lot safer solution, plus it looks a mile nicer: [Insert_Triple_W].rgbfilter.[i­nsert_com]/?p=15296 (Silicon jar opener. Composed of a rubbery silicon material with a hard plastic tightening collar, it is made to open the toughest of jars)

There is no way you can scratch your lens if you're concerned about that. I sure am with my Canon 7D and few quite expensive lenses.

[musichistorynut]

@meeyaomestan That is a NICE solution!!

[MrReyserpiente]

jajja awsome!!! this is the best and cheeper idea that i saw!! cool!!! and thanks!!!

[remoran]

It's a 10!! :)

[sausagenmuff]

skip to 4:17 -your welcome

[Rockadell]

Ducky, out of focus

[musichistorynut]

@Rockadell Yeah, a bit. But the idea here is that you CAN work this to rack measured focus points. It was testing the principle.

[brettzdaman]

I was just thinking.... What if you used a ziptie instead of the hose clamp and bolt? i think that could work just as good unless the zip tie is too flimsy?

[holyonfire]

Clever.

[WestCoastMods]

I think a piece of masking tape would work better than the rubber band.

[Zolototruboff]

Ducky, George, Ducky, Guitar. You made me smile) Thanks for video!)

[dcaramia]

already made this, i agree it is pretty amazing.

[DJBRKFST]

very clever. i like.

For this video and others like it, visit ThinkStageDOTcom

[GanEdenAustralia]

Hoseclamps that big are about $3-$4!

[musichistorynut]

@GanEdenAustralia Well, I bought mine for less than that. All of the materials used cost all together less than $1.00 US. They might cost more in other locations. You can get them cheaper on line as well, but then you have to factor in shipping costs, so it is better to just find one locally. But, even if you only find them at $3-$4, it is still a bargain compared to a traditional Follow Focus.

[wykkydjvc]

use a second rubber band to place on ring you are tightening against so as to not damage the hub

[drastes]

good job brother

[CarrbonMedia]

Great, What camera are you using?

[musichistorynut]

@CarrbonMedia In this video I am using a JVC Everio GZHD6 with a Letus Mini DOF adapter. The lens is a 50mm Canon FD 1.4 SSC lens.

[CarrbonMedia]

@musichistorynut  Ahh Thanks :)

[SpeckyNation]

Great idea! I modefied your idea and added 3 bolts that were shorter. Works a little more like a pirate wheel but adds multiple control grip points :)

[musichistorynut]

@SpeckyNation That is clever!

[tscholent]

hey mr.musicnut...now that you installed the FF mechanism and you get tired of that lens...how about selling it as an original Canon L lens..it's got the red ribbon...(just kiddin...you're a good men)

[tscholent]

it's actually ridiculous when canon or nikon could just simply build it into the damn dslr's for another grand or so)but that would ruin billions for red rock et all...and that we don't want(right?)...also sales of dslr's would go through the roof...and that we don't want ('cause know every trunk monkey calls himself Steven Sp.......)

[welles2002]

will this work with a prosumer sony hd camera



[musichistorynut]

@welles2002 If your Sony HD prosumer cam has a manual focus ring, I am sure it would - but it would have to be a larger hose clamp.

[AkoolStick]

im a musician too! :D

[Skcrog86]

George, Ducky, Guitar, Ducky, Guitar, George, Ducky, George, Guitar, Ducky, George, Ducky, George, Guitar, Ducky, George, Guitar.

Great system !

[musichistorynut]

@Skcrog86 I know it's lame - but it illustrated the principle. :)

[illustratedWORD]

(6:21') Note for Nikon users, when locking the clamp on, set it with the "closest" distance since focus direction is opposite on Nikon lenses.

[ZARTHALAS]

jump to 4:10 for info sans ramble.

[pdlpictures]

dude...thank you!

[smilesTM]

THANKS

[micbergsma]

going to make one tomorrow!! thank you so much!

[MaghoxFr]

Great

[effectsportal]

Thats really helpful, thanks!!!

[tortenhebu]

Thank YOU !! That's a good idea !!! :)

[Aphexas]

I'm thinking for shoulder held camera mounts, it could be used to scroll with left or hand hand... Because now you have to release one of the hands to adjust the focus even do using a follow focus =) (I think i will work on that one) :)

[musichistorynut]

@NappiCinema Thanks! Yeah - I used this method till I could afford a real ff. I used this till I could.

[Aphexas]

yeah, I also thougt about that one. But still you need to move your hand above the camera, to the other side...

still cool DIY

[musichistorynut]

@Aphexas I agree. I did buy a real ff later. But it sure worked for what I needed at the time.

[HorrorOfMike]

Wow man that's pretty amazing, thanks for the info!

[musichistorynut]

@HorrorOfMike You're welcome! I appreciate the comments!

[DorianVasco]

Ducky, George, Guitar ;-)

Thanks a load for this video, and thanks to Andrés for the idea. I think I will use this in my next short film project!

[musichistorynut]

@DorianVasco :) Usually you won't need to rack between more than two subjects in your frame, but hey, it was fun and illustrated the principle.

[jimbobeanster]

thanks for this. great video. i'd 5 star it but i'll have to settle for a like

[musichistorynut]

@jimbobeanster :) Thanks!

[overcontrast]

Thanks buddy that was great. You can use a cardboard cutout that looks like an arrow instead of the paper clip. That might look better. But hey its the look of the film that matter most.

[musichistorynut]

@overcontrast Great tip! Thanks!

[Recycledhero]

Thanks for sharing and very noble to give the creator credit. I'll pass this along as well : ]

[toms900]

Amazing! 

[ilPaolino1]

very cool your video, really. How have you shot it? with which lens?

[musichistorynut]

@ilPaolino1 Well, the first part was shot with my the JVC Everio GZHD6 and my Letus Mini with a Canon 50mm f:1.4 lens.

And then when i am actually showing the lens and the follow focus, I am shooting with a Canon Zr900. When I show the function of the follow focus, it is with the first setup.

Glad you liked this.

[CydiaHelping]

u scare me :(

[musichistorynut]

@CydiaHelping I scare myself as well. 

[TheMrLux]

@musichistorynut you dont scare me :)

nice video

[musichistorynut]

@TheMrLux :) thanks. I certainly try to NOT scare people, but sometimes it cannot be helped.

[Xpluse]

excellent job !

[musichistorynut]

@Xpluse Thanks but the credit goes to the guy who came up with this. I'm just passing it along.

[Xpluse]

@musichistorynut Well thank you for passing it along (:!

[yourmanjh]

Hi pal you cannot used hose clam on canon ef 50mm f 1.8 ii look how small is the focus ring is

[MyLegacyFilm]

@yourmanjh You are right about that.  That focus ring on an EF lens is way too small for something like this. But, I am sure there is a solution.

[yourmanjh]

@MyLegacyFilm I did try to used a cable tie but it slip from the focus ring too :(

[musichistorynut]

@yourmanjh The Canon EF lenses just might be the exception. You might just need a real follow focus for that type of lens.

[yourmanjh]

@musichistorynut lol need to spent again :P

[pixuma]

@yourmanjh the nifty 50 is extremely hard to mount a follow focus type device to... the solution?

Superglue... yes, superglue. It's a $100 lens, don't be too scared

[yourmanjh]

@pixuma superglue ?? lol :-p nah to risky it might dilute the plastic ...

[pixuma]

@yourmanjh dilute the plastic?

so long as you're not pouring it onto the lens it's fine. pretty low risk.

[yourmanjh]

@pixuma yes, try putting super glue on plastic if could dilute the plastic

[john2555]

Thanks! mate

[musichistorynut]

@john2555 You're welcome! Thanks for watching.

[GTLMedia]

Awesome. Thanks.

[musichistorynut]

@GTLMedia You're welcome.

[davidstillsonmusic]

it's amazing how people come up with the simplest solutions for the simplest problems.. thanks for finding and sharing this with us!

[musichistorynut]

@davidstillsonmusic I agree! That is why I HAD to share this. I never would have thought this up, and yet.... so simple.

[Fidd91]

some dude told me that it is smart to buy a "real" Follow Focus. But when i saw this video I think youre the smarter guy

[musichistorynut]

@Fidd91 Well, it depends. This thing doesn't work well if you have to do a lot of extremes in focusing from far and close objects if you are on rails. The little handle gets in the way. But... for 80% of what I need - this works really well. I have a "real" follow focus which I like, but this works every bit as well.

[markusbob]

Amazing.

[musichistorynut]

@markusbob THANKS!

[dabanditisback]

Wow! I love it! Thanks for reposting this idea. I would probably put another rubber band under the hose clamp though!

[musichistorynut]

@dabanditisback That would be a good idea too! Thanks!

[johnkarliss1]

Dude. Thanks for the info but, WE are in the movie making biz' right? Ever heard of pacing? GET TO THE POINT or just tell the audience in the text where the DIY part actually begins.

[musichistorynut]

@johnkarliss1 Yep. You are absolutely right - I took way too long to get to the point. I have resolved to be more efficient with the pacing of my videos from now on. (Others have commented on my lack of brevity as well). Nice idea to link to the DIY part in the text description - I hadn't thought of that before. Thanks!

[paolinosk8]

sorry i didn't understand the thing with the hole the bolt and the nut.. could u do a vid or explane me how to stick the bolt with the nut in the whole

[musichistorynut]

@paolinosk8 You have to drill a hole in the hose clamp. (Large enough to fit the bolt in) and then you just have to tighten it with the nut. Pretty simple.

[paolinosk8]

@musichistorynut but u tighten the drill with the bolt from inside... so the bolt is inside... ?

so actually the end of the bolt that is more far away from the lens should have something on the end like all bolts have( like a round surface or octagunall) ???

why is it without on urs...

[musichistorynut]

@paolinosk8 You put the bolt in through the inside of the hose clamp. (The opposite of what you are thinking). The head of the bolt is on the inside of the clamp. Look at that part when I actually install the clamp around the lens, You will see the bolt head in the INSIDE of the hose clamp. Then you use the nut to tighten it. You COULD put something at the other end for something to hold onto, but I don't. I hope that explains things.

[Bemersd]

great video the only thing is you took waaaaaay to long to get to the point this should have been 2-4 mins long and it should have started at 4:24 great idea but i gaurantee youve lost alot of audience because they did not want to sit through you talkin for 8 minuts randomly

[musichistorynut]

@Bemersd You are very right about that. I took way too long getting to the point. It's just that whenever I have done a video without any preparation, I get a MILLION questions from people wanting to know all the background stuff about what I am talking about. I guess I could just let them figure it out on their own. But you are right - and all my future videos will be as efficient as possible and models of brevity. People have very short attention spans.

[fowc0]

Excellent idea, great find! Just out of curiousity (not as adept at the follow focus concept) do you have to use a 35mm lens? Could a 50mm, etc., work? Thanks!

[musichistorynut]

@fowc0 Well, I use a 50mm lens. The 35mm indication is more to do with the fact that you use lenses that areused with 35mm film cameras. (35mm being the film size - not the lens size) So, you can use any variety of sized lenses, since they are most likely standardized for 35mm cameras. Canon FD lenses are the least expensive - that is what I use.

[sasktank]

great design - ill try it when my 7d arrives ----//---- funny when you said you were in canada--i was already thinking that -im a canadian and when you said (acrossed) instead of (across) - i instantly thought of ontairio--the only place on earth that i know of that they say acrossed instead of across

[musichistorynut]

@sasktank huh? Ontario? I am not from Canada. (Been there a few times, and loved it, but I'm from the USA) That's funny! I never noticed I said "acrossed." I did this video after being awake for nearly 40 hours. I am just surprised I was as coherent as I was. The guy who came up with design may be from Canada. Not sure. Thanks for commenting. 7D? I want one of those!

[jthurmond7]

Thanks for explaining in detail. You almost lost me in the beginning, but I'm glad I stuck around. I am going to use your idea.

[musichistorynut]

@jthurmond7 Yeah, I got a little long-winded. Sorry about that. I think I should script these more and not just blab on. :) Glad you enjoyed it.

[Joehands0me]

Thanks a lot man! The zaguto follow focuses are OUTTA my price range along with every other manufacturer! And many DIY projects were too fiddly for my liking.

This I already have all the components to!

Many thanks.

[musichistorynut]

@Joehands0me :) Glad you enjoyed it. Go onto Vimeo, sign up and leave feedback on the one I refer to in the vid - he deserves all the compliments. I'm just passing along the cool design.

[Joehands0me]

@musichistorynut Already on there. He did a great job, I have some ideas myself too, to make it "better" :P

Thanks!

[PiriniLelapa]

i was looking on the commercial following focus systems ( 400$+ ) unti i bumped into your video. i think i will try that first before i spend 500 bucks. thanks!

[musichistorynut]

@PiriniLelapa You're welcome! Just passing along this design. (I wish I had designed something so useful, simple, and yet effective.)

[AugyAtarashii]

Thanks! Will have that in mind :)

[AugyAtarashii]

It's a great design and seems to work well. I'd love to take my hands on dof adapter, probably will have to make one.

Say, isn't your audio level too low?

[musichistorynut]

@AugyAtarashii yeah, I suppose it is low. It was an attempt to NOT have YouTube add so much compression that it distorts my voice. My mic tends to be pretty "hot" as far as levels, so I brought it down in post. Obviously too much this time. :) I am still learning.

BTW making DOF adapters can be more costly than just buying one (from JAG35 for example) if you don't know EXACTLY what you are doing.