Redrock microRemote?

[Jake Wilganowski]

I will also add, i have no idea if Redrock is planning on making any smart canon adapter to use this controller with electronic canon lenses and no separate lens motor. This is the great thing that the Optitron brings, the ability to use real motors on cine lenses or use their smart mount and no motor with canon lenses. Way cool. Just something to keep in mind….

[Brent J. Craig]

I also had heard on another review that with super small and super slow pulls you get some stair stepping. I can confirm that this is true, however, since you can remap any distance to a full rotation maybe this would help? Not sure. But in practical use, I don't see this being much of an issue at all.

The resolution of the system is my biggest concern. I often need to do exceptionally small pulls, like the width of the witness mark. Redrock has been very vague in answering my questions about how many points are resolved around the lens or exactly how precise the system is. Their responses to me have been:

"It's digital" - which tells me nothing

"People are using it on actual TV shows" - Have you seen what passes for TV these days?

"The specs are proprietary" - but Preston, Arri and others publish this info.

I would love to hear from someone who has used a Microremote on commercials with macro, super-precise focus needs. Anyone?

Redrock, if the specs are good, why not give us some actual numbers? The 270 degrees of rotation on the hand set corresponds to how many 'locations' on the lens? What is the minimum increment your motors can turn? In an all-digital system these numbers should be easy to figure out. Would more expensive motors from other manufacturers give us more resolution or is it limited by the system? Reply by PM if you need to, but this info should be public.

[Jake Wilganowski]

Agreed, everyone would love to know these things. I wish I had had the time to really test it out. We were using it for "normal" pulls and it worked great. I will definitely test more soon though as it is just sitting at my friends house at the moment, so I can get my hands on it when I have some time. I'm particularly interested in the motor switching idea also. It is frustrating they won't give numbers...

[Loren Simons]

The Redrock Torque motor's resolution is 12,800 locations per revolution of the drive gear which equals 320 locations per gear tooth. That is really high, so I don’t think resolution is the limiting factor. I don’t think you will be getting more resolution from more expensive motors either, what you may get though is more torque. However, the price for more torque isn’t linear. You might get 10% more torque, but it may cost you 2-3x the price.

For Jake, I’d recommend he just dial down the microRemote’s gain setting for a smoother pull. This kind of thing is exactly what this feature is designed for – higher gain means faster response for things like snap focus, lower gain is for slow pulls where smoothness is the priority. You can set it for your personal preference or shot requirements.

Also Brent, if you're doing a lot of work on just the macro end of your lenses, you can also gain a lot more control and finesse by calibrating your remote over just the range of the lens you are using (as opposed to the full lens' range of infinity to close focus). That smaller portion of the lens will then be mapped to the full resolution of the microRemote.

[Brent J. Craig]

The Redrock Torque motor's resolution is 12,800 locations per revolution of the drive gear which equals 320 locations per gear tooth.

Thank you! That is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. I really want to get my hands on one!

Does anyone in Toronto have one yet???

[Trevor Meeks]

Only took a few months to get that information! Haha... useful nonetheless, I suppose.

[Scotty Baker]

The Redrock Torque motor's resolution is 12,800 locations per revolution of the drive gear which equals 320 locations per gear tooth. That is really high, so I don’t think resolution is the limiting factor. I don’t think you will be getting more resolution from more expensive motors either, what you may get though is more torque. However, the price for more torque isn’t linear. You might get 10% more torque, but it may cost you 2-3x the price.
.

What is the exact torque of the RedRock Motor? I don't see it listed on the website.

[Scotty Baker]

What is the exact torque of the RedRock Motor? I don't see it listed on the website.

I was informed that the torque on the RR motor is .6Nm which is slightly less than the smaller of Heden's motors the M21VE which has .75Nm.
Not sure how that compares to the M-One.

[Brad Crawford]

So are there any real-world reviews of this unit? I've searched like crazy but nothing too concrete out there. Mostly concerned about radio interference/losing connection and of course just general performance. Looking for a wireless solution asap.