Moxie, the Smartphone Controllable Wireless Follow Focus

Follow Focus

by Jeff LochJuly 24^th, 2019

Moxie is a wireless follow focus/zoom/iris (or FIZ) system by Gravity Laboratories design to bridge the gap between performances and affordability. Moxie is design for small crews and one-man-band filmmakers that don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a FIZ system. It’s lightweight and compact, fast to set up, and you can control it using a Smartphone or a handheld controller. Let’s take a closer look.

Image credit: Moxie

Moxie Wireless Follow Focus

Eduardo Mucino and Andrew Chau – the founders of Gravity Laboratories – just introduced Moxie on Kickstarter. This new wireless follow focus has to compete with well-established brands and models like the DJI Focus, the PD Movie Remote Air, the Tilta Nucleus Nano, and so on. The Moxie prototype is made of plastic – and it feels a little bit cheap – but the final product should be something more professional looking and not plastic. But what makes this FIZ system different?

Image credit: Moxie

Here are the main features:

• Input voltages: 6 to 30 V via a 4-pin Lemo input. It means you can power it with a power bank.
• You can mount it to either 15 or 19mm rods.
• Lenses with hard stops can be automatically calibrated.
• Lens drive torque: superior to 1Nm. The maximum speed is 200 RPM.
• Range of operation: up to 80m.

But the real magic behind this new FIZ system is that you can control it via a hand controller – like a traditional unit – but also via a Smartphone app.

Image credit: Moxie

The Moxie App will be Android and iOS compatible and allows you to connect all three motors to your Smartphone. That way, you can control your aperture/zoom/focus intuitively. Also, you can program the entire system to automate your shots and get consistent results.

Pricing and Availability

The Moxie system will face stiff competition from other manufacturers. For $600 you can get one motor, for $1100 you get two motors, and the three motors version will cost you $1500. The hand wheel controller is $200, and a custom run/stop cable is an additional $50. It’s not exactly cheap, but it features some functionalities that are unique and unfound on other products if you need these.

The campaign is already live on Kickstarter here. The target ship date is December 2019 with a schedule margin of two to five months, so the latest ship date is expected for March 2020.

Please keep in mind that Gravity Laboratories is a new company and it’s their first project on Kickstarter. As usual, Kickstarter is not a shop or market place. There are certain risks when backing a project.

What do you think of the Moxie follow focus? Do you consider backing it? Let us know in the comments!