Peter Hoare the Managing Director from Hocus Products will be showing off the companies new Axis1 Remote focus system at NAB 2013. The Hocus Products Axis1 is a simple but full featured single channel professional remote focus system, designed for the high end professional. Built to be simple, easy and robust, it can handle any lens, including the stiffest freezing cold cine zooms, and can even be manually set to work on cheaper stopless DSLR lenses.
Featuring a very advanced auto calibration routine, which calibrates the required torque of the lens as well as the end stops, the system can be set up and calibrated in minutes, and there is no need to position the lens in the middle of its rotation – the Hocus Products auto calibrate system can handle starting when placed up against either of the lens stops.
The data is transmitted on a secure, worldwide licence free 2.4ghz data stream. The system has two way data flow, so the hand unit and receiver unit speak to each other constantly, which allows remote notification to the user of problems at the camera end such as low battery, motors being unplugged, or signal being lost. This two way data flow system also means that the tally light on the hand unit only lights once the receiver unit has confirmed that the signal has been received.
The data transmission system also features an intelligent unit pairing system. When your Axis1 is first powered up, the hand unit and receiver unit pair up. This means that they will only accept data from their paired partner units. If a second unit is turned on using the same channel (In the studio next door for example) then your unit will ignore data from the second unit, meaning there are no adverse effects or interference experienced with your system.
The data transmission and the advanced control electronics, together with the HPM-1 focus motor deliver staggeringly fast lens speeds and absolutely zero noticeable latency, unmatched by any other system available.
The hand unit is a very robust and simple device, built to be strong and simple to use. The system has been designed with our ‘One button one function’ philosophy, which makes the system very easy and intuitive to use. The hand unit features user definable soft stops which can be used to limit the range of the lens, useful in telephoto or macro situations where there is very limited depth of field, and increased control resolution over a small area of the lens is useful.
The hand unit runs on one Canon LP-E6 (5D style) lithium ion battery. Battery life is very good, with about 4-5 normal shoot days use from a fully charged battery. The transmitter has a low battery warning system, and the receiver will also report low voltage, which is fed back to the hand unit – this will give you an early indication that the camera is about to die, if the receiver unit is powered off the camera D-tap for example.
The receiver unit is very small, light weight and easy to mount. All the connectors are on one end, which makes for a very streamlined package when mounted on the camera. Both the hand unit and the receiver feature an LED numeric display for frequencies and various system messages.
Both units also feature a 4-pin data connection, for firmware updates and future product expansion, and the TX has a socket for a gooseneck LED light accessory for focusing in poor light conditions.
Simple but capable single channel remote focus system
Automatic end stop and torque calibration, plus manual calibration option
Full size 355 degree fluid drag focus knob, with conical or Preston Style rings available. Very high resolution sensor.
Remote camera run function, including Red Epic and Scarlet native support.
Secure 2.4ghz transmission with 12 selectable channels, line of sight range, about 100M
Intelligent automatic unit pairing prevents a second unit on the same channel adversely effective the operation of the first unit.
Incredibly fast and responsive, with no visible latency.
Unparalelled motor speed and response when used with our HPM-1 Focus motor
User definable soft stops on the hand unit to limit the range of the lens
Hand unit runs on Canon LP-E6 lithium ion battery, about four shoot days can be expected from each charge.
Two way data flow between receiver and hand unit
Full digital 16bit transmission
Very simple and robust system with very compact receiver unit.
Electronics design undertaken by engineer with decades of camera motion control and control systems experience.
Included:
Hand unit
Reciever unit
HPM-1 Motor unit
Motor cable (50cm)
XLR power cable
Motor clamp (choose size 15 and 19mm)
Drive gear (0.8, 0.6, 0.5 available)
1x Conical or Preston style marking ring
Please see Hocus Products for more information about the Axis1 remote focus system.