CUSTOM FOLLOW FOCUS RING
Not all camera lenses are created equal. Some of the finer things in life come with some creature comforts not included.
For example - follow focus.
When cinematographer and concept artist, Dario Coelho, got his hands on a Voigtländer macro lens he began the search for a 3D printed solution on the internet…
“I FOUND A GUY ON EBAY WHO MADE ME MY FIRST SET OF 3D PRINTED FOCUS RINGS.
SOME OF THEM WORKED AND SOME DIDN’T. AFTER THAT I KIND OF GAVE UP.
I TOLD A FRIEND ABOUT IT WHILE WE WERE ON SET AND HE TOLD ME
I SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH ITERATOR.DE”
— Dario Coelho (Cinematographer and Concept Artist)
STEP ONE. GET THE NUMBERS RIGHT.
“Dario’s situation had a familiar ring to it when I heard about it. People jumping online and finding someone with a 3D printer and getting varied results, then disengaging and leaving the project sit unfinished happens all to often.
I knew to get the results that Dario needed, the module and ratios on the follow focus ring and its paired drive gear needed to be accurate, and the right material needed to be selected. Dario was more than happy to send us the necessary measurements.
He also sent us the follow focus motor so that we could test it with our 3D printed solution before shipping it.”
— Cameron at iterator.de
Example of follow-focus driver properly mating with focus ring
STEP TWO.
MODEL IT.
“I had the new focus ring modelled in CAD and ready by the time Dario’s follow focus motor arrived. He also sent the malfunctional 3D printed focus ring from eBay which I compared with our own solution. Sure enough it had three gear teeth too few. No wonder it wasn’t working!
Once we were happy with the 3D print design and had printed a few test pieces, we came back to Dario with our findings and confirmed our design with him.”
— Cameron at iterator.de
STEP THREE.
PRINT IT. TEST IT. SEND IT.
“We 3D printed the new focus ring with thermal polyurethane (TPU), because it can handle the heat outdoors and is flexible, so it can create a snug fit. We checked it with one of our own lenses with a similar diameter, and also checked it with the follow focus motor gear to ensure that everything worked as intended.
Lastly we packaged everything and sent it back to Dario.
Once it arrived Dario setup his rig with the Voigtländer macro lens and sent us some photos. We could tell he was excited and happy that he could finally use this lens in his upcoming projects!
Thank you Dario. We are happy we found you the right solution for you too!”
— Cameron at iterator.de
New focus ring 3D printed with TPU filament on a Voigtländer macro lens
