DSLR RIG REVIEW

by Sebastian WöberJanuary 23^rd, 2010

When attached to the camera the thing feels ok. It’s not very stable, you can bend all the articulations easily at first.

We take some time to retighten all the screws on the thing and even used a gripper and an “L” wrench to get everything real tight. After all that, the “rig” worked pretty good. We wouldn’t rely on it as we would on most other follow focus units, but it will do the job and probably stay stable until we change lenses.

The follow focus gear works OK, it runs smoother on the first 180 degrees and is less fluid on the other 180, but it’s still usable if you simply want an easier way to adjust your focus.

The D | Focus will work with most lens gears, matte boxes and base plates, due to it’s flexible base plate and large gear wheel. You can even use it on the Cinevate rig, where the Cinevate follow focus doesn’t really work at all.

This setup should be used in conjunction with a tripod, or handheld rig, since it doesn’t offer enough points of stability to reduce the awful shake we can see when a DSLR is used without stabilization.

The accessory that locks the D | focus to a rail system is good for this price too. The screw isn’t great, but better than some of the screws we have seen in this review. You can lock it sufficiently tight, without too much force.

The marking disc can be taken off, but only if you remove the whole knob. It’s cheaper to use without the disk anyway.
We would recommend this unit to those with on a tight budget, but we must also call to your attention, that this unit has an expiration date much earlier than all other units we’ve tested here.
If you don’t have high demands for quality and time before shooting to set it up, then this follow focus might be good enough for you.

It’s DSLR compatible unlike some other products we’ve seen here and it’s dirt-cheap.

Price: