Hi,
So, I was watching one of Element14's videos from 2020, about a remote zoom controller for a DSLR lens.
Although this is already quite cool, I would like to see something that goes a few steps further: A LANC controller which you can use on any DSLR lens.
The picture above shows what a LANC adapter usually looks like. It's a small remote unit which has a special thumb stick, which you can rotate to zoom in and out on professional camcorders and production cameras. It is often used in broadcasting environments.
The further you rotate the thumbstick, the faster your zoom moves. That is the idea. And it should be smooth and damped. So no zoom stuttering or jumping, but gradual smooth zoom.
Then the controller is mounted on a Tripod or trolly arm, so you can simultaniously operate the movement of the camera, as well as the zoom with just one hand.
So, to summarize:
- Controller needs to be mounted on a tripod arm
- The thumbstick should provide gradual speeds based on amount of input
- The zoom should be smooth
- Since this is meant for video, the zoom should be quiet
- The mechanism should work with any rotate-zoom lens out there
- The above also means that the controls should be invertable, as some lenses zoom clockwise and others zoom counter-clockwise
- Some bigger lenses require more force to rotate the zoom ring. So the "engine" should be relatively powerful.
Can you guys design something like this and make a video of it? I've been wanting a device like that for aaages since I use my mirrorless full frame camera for video (Superior quality over any pro level camcorder). But I can't find anything like this to buy on the internet.
