I just got my dp500 ii and first impressions is very good

My Fotga DP500 II just arrived, and I have to say I'm disappointed.

To start, though, I must say that I'm impressed by the build quality. It makes my old D|Focus feel like a cheap plastic toy. This unit is solid, robust, and operates very smoothly. It at least feels like a piece of professional equipment.

That having been said, I'm frustrated for three (big) reasons). For one, it does not work with a Varavon viewfinder loupe, on a lens with a focus ring closer than about two inches from the camera, unless it's mounted on the right side of the camera. Nearly all of my lenses have focus rings closer than that, and I don't want to switch to having my follow focus on the right side of my rig -- just feels weird.

I was ready to forgive this issue though, as just yesterday I melted a hole in my LCD screen because I left the loupe on in sunlight, and decided that I'd stop using it so much.

But then, I realized that even with the hard stops in line with each other, it cannot pull through the full focus throw of any of my lenses, all of which are around 270 degrees. This unit is clearly designed for modern AF glass that has short focus throws, which alienates a pretty large number of people.

To add insult to injury at this point, I tried putting my brand new focus crank in the socket, and realized that it was machined just a little too loose. It falls right out. WTF!

All the same I'll probably keep it, and just remove the hardstops and find an HDMI EVF or a small field monitor that I can use with a viewfinder mounted somewhere else on my rig. But I am frustrated by these issues.

Sangye -

How is the backlash on it? Comparable or better than the D|Focus?

I am not sure if I follow. Can you post a picture? You can use the FF gear in the rear position right? with the FF knob on the left side of the camera, and you put the FF 0.8 (small) gear on the rear position (towards the GH2 body) and you need 2" to clear the screen, due to the knob size?

What kind of lenses are you using? C mounts?

@CFreak - Quite right, and I'm a dunce. I didn't see the mechanism for switching the gear sides, but yes of course, you can. Well that makes me like this follow focus a lot more. And once I pick up some larger gears, all three of my issues will have been resolved. I would now recommend this unit to anyone. Truly exceptional build quality, at the price point.

Just an FYI to my original post. I have had some correspondence with the supplier from whom I got the Fotga II and they indicated that they are planning to make a (series??) of larger gears for the FF unit to accommodate larger diameter lenses/gear rings. No firm word on when but they indicated it will be soon. This seems to be the only major issue with this otherwise excellent FF unit.

Glad to see others are having good experience with this unit. I had to return the base that I had purchased for this rig and am now saving to buy the new Manfrotto adjustable base unit as it seems to be the best choice for me to keep full compatibility with my other Manfrotto tripods and gear. So, the Fotga II has been sitting on the shelf waiting to get a full workout.

Could someone who owns Dp500 Follow focus tell me if it could fit this setup (images attached).

I use nikkor lenses and cokin P filter holder. This lens in the picture is the smallest and I can't figure out judging by the videos and pics if the gear ring and box would fit here. Lens has very narrow focusing ring and it is only few millimeters from the holder.

Thanks!

Thanks @Django

So if I put the focusing gear away from the camera I should be fine, actually my only concern was that this filter holder might hit the focusing ring of the FF, the back side of the main "knob". Because it goes for few cm immediately in 90 degrees angle. Other lenses are bigger and I have no worries.

But I guess that If I run into clearance problem, that huge cinematics gear might solve it.

I've had this follow focus, I ended up selling it because I got a LanParte FF.. It was a well built FF, smooth, no noticeable backlash.

I did have two major problems with it: One is that the gear wheel is plastic, and was a bit wobbly (though it still worked fine). The biggest problem was that the stopper can not be temporarily moved out of the way for when you don't need hard stops - you have to remove the whole thing. Ended up just leaving it off and giving up the hard stop capability, too inconvenient to keep installing/uninstalling it..

@htf

This one I do not know.

Whilst on the topic of the gear wheel, I received my DP500 2 some weeks ago, well packaged and prompt delivery. After setting it up, I had to spent a fair bit of time making various adjustments because there seemed to be a lot of lens, and camera body movement when I used it, and if I backed the gear wheel off slightly it would then disengage itself at a certain spot. On critical inspection I noticed that the wheel wasn't rotating spot on, so the axle hole had been incorrectly drilled ? or simply didn't come out of the moulding process as it should, maybe ? Any way I contacted the supplier who acknowledged me straight away, sent out a replacement gear, and asked if I could send them a photo which I did, but I don't think the photo showed the problem too well to be honest. For a beginner like me I'm really pleased with the FF, and very pleased with how I was treated by the supplier. Cheers.

Looking to buy my first follow focus and I'm not sure how the Fotga compares with the Trusmt. Is the Trusmt worth the extra money?

I think, yes. Forga is good entry FF, best in its price range. TrusMT is better with even less backlash.