Serious Toys for Serious Boys Nikon Style

paulr

This outfit was on show at Focus Birmingham Uk on the Nikon Stand not shown is the remote control which was massive


Just the thing for Lightweight Photography and a bargain at just under £20,000

Well it is Schneider Electronics

rschnaible

that is some price tag

Golf007sd

From the looks of it: D4 plus a 200 f/2 and other goodies. D4 has some amazing video capabilities.

paulr

The control panel was with a hydraulic short lever which controlled movement in any direction and had total control on zoom facility, clearly designed for studio work or surveillance work with a larger lens.
It was on loan to the Nikon Stand, just for the show.

Correlli

And I thought the latest AF-S lenses have the AF motor build into the lens not onto the lens...

SquamishPhoto

From the looks of it: D4 plus a 200 f/2 and other goodies. D4 has some amazing video capabilities.

Its a 300mm f2.8. The guy in the background is playing with a D4 and a 200mm f2 and you can see that the focus ring is bevelled unlike the lens in the foreground.

Msmoto

The foreground lens is highly modified...a gear ring around the lens in front of the focus ring...which may be also geared to the control motor...to rotate the lens/camera to portrait position? But, it is the correct size for a 300mm f/2.8, just has a few extras....

TaoTeJared

That is impressive! The cost doesn't seem thaaaat much for a high-end remote system. If you ever look at some of the rigs hollywood uses, that would be a drop in the bucket. When you get into that high end video dollies, remote camera set-ups, cranes, etc., you are talking some very high dollar items. They are not made for amateurs or most pros for sure.

sevencrossing

I played with thing last year at Focus , it is buitifully desined and engineerd
£20 K is not unreasonable for what it does

Ade

The foreground lens is highly modified...a gear ring around the lens in front of the focus ring...which may be also geared to the control motor...to rotate the lens/camera to portrait position? But, it is the correct size for a 300mm f/2.8, just has a few extras....

That is a remote "follow focus" system used for shooting motion video, usually available from 1- to 3- axes.

1-axis system controls focus only.
2-axis system controls focus plus aperture (or "iris" in video lingo).
3-axis system controls focus, iris and zoom.

Often in addition to a camera operator (which controls camera movements) there is another person (the "focus puller") who controls the focus remotely, either directly by rotating a gear, or remotely via a wired or wireless system. Sometimes the movement+focus can be computerized.

From looking at the above picture, honestly it looks like an "inexpensive" DIY or prototype system, probably simply to showcase the Schneider MDrive 1.7 stepper motor rather than a complete professionally finished product.

Dredden85

I'll take two please!

Msmoto

"Inexpensive"...yes, Ade, I agree. Most of these fancy remote mechanisms can go beyond ones' imagination. And, the cine lenses can be way up there as well. Kinda makes the 300mm f/2.8 seem "inexpensive" )

JJ_SO

I guess, Gitzo "Athena" could just not take the additional focus/zoom drives? 15 pound capacity is not much, but it's more precise than a hydraulic system, if I'm not mistaken.