Premium Members Alex Leung Posted September 30, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted September 30, 2014 I just recently had the pleasure of using the RTMotion MK3.1 on a shoot. We only had 2 motors. And I opted to only use one to keep the rig light (handheld all day). As mentioned before, the receiver is incredibly small. Maybe the size of a pack of HubbaBubba chewing gum. The motors seem to have a proprietary 4-pin Lemo connector/cables. The motors were very quiet and responsive. However, if you do try and make a quick and large focus rack, you will notice the motor can't keep up. Although maybe I didn't tweak the torque settings correctly. Not a huge fan of the mounting options for the motor because you can only put the rod-bracket on one side of the motor. Also the butterfly tightening knob does not ratchet and that actually caused some problems for me. Very easy to pick up and learn to use if you've used any other wireless follow focus systems before. Range was decent. I was shooting inside an old brick-walled apartment with lots of wifi signals everywhere. No discernible interference. And signal passed through at least one wall with no problems. I never had a chance to test the range fully. There was no lag between the hand unit and motor. The unit does auto-calibrate and you will need to mark rings like you do with a Bartech. Other other minor gripes: - No way to lock the controls as far as I can tell. Example, if I set an iris stop and I don't want to accidentally bump it, I can't lock it. - There are these two thumb knobs near the top left of the hand unit. I suppose they are designed for zoom control or inter ocular control. Them being so small, means there is no way to mark them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jonathan Pfundstein Posted October 2, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 @Massimo Oh yeah, so you had a chat with Ash, good on you. I'm intrigued by the Tilta System. I have a vague recollection of it, just looking at the website, I remember passing by the demo model at CineGear several times, though I can't comment beyond face value at it's viability, except, if you're stated price for a 3 channel system is $5000, I wouldn't expect too much. My single-motor RTMotion kit cost around $8000, so that immediately speaks for itself. I know that you're looking for some objective reassurance before making such a financial commitment. I know the feeling. I took (in very large part) a leap of faith when purchasing the RTMotion 3.1, and that was after only scarce user feedback, and a superficial attraction to its design. Also, a local Steadicam colleague of mine was vocally sceptical about the company (though I'm sceptical of the true motivation of his opinion ;)) back when I was finally putting serious consideration into it. I am happy with it. It involved a moderate (in the scheme of things) investment, but now I'm confident about it. I have no regrets. Zoltan, just wondering how your single chanel system came out to be $8000? I was looking now and seems to be right around 3083 euros, about 4k$ US. Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoltan Jonas Posted October 2, 2014 Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 $8000 Australian dollars at the time - greenback has strengthened since then. My package included my needs for Steadicam - most power cable options, and all camera cables. Plus with the thumb wheel, spare marking disks, courier, it did add up. That didn't include the Canon batteries for operation. Ultimately, I'm very glad to have comprehensively accessorized. I just wish they'd make a usb dslr run/stop cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jonathan Pfundstein Posted October 2, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 Well after my PD movie debacle, I'm looking in the direction of a RT Motion system. Any updates from owners that would be useful, has customer service improved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Mike McGowan SOC Posted October 2, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 I had the pleasure of using one (2 chanel) on a 14 day comercial. I loved it, my assistant loved it, it worked flawelssly. I would own one now but it's (or it was) a 5 week lead time. If I was starting from scratch and had an unlimited budget (or any budget) I wouldn't even bother buying a preston. I'd just own an RT. My 2 cents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jonathan Pfundstein Posted October 3, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 And the design bads: - The motor mount leaves a lot to be desired. Hard to tighten very tight and difficult to get to. Do yourself a favor and buy a Jerry Hill (or Film-Stuff.com) motor bracket and put it on. It fits the 15mm bracket and I used a wing-nut wrench to crank it down. So much better now. Acts just like a preston motor on a mount. Cannot recommend this route enough. - Hirose connectors for power and camera control. Not a big fan in favor of Lemos. (if they had thought about it I think using Bartech standard connectors would have been smart for power and camera, for upgrades and cable sharing) - 4pin 0B Lemos for the motors/ motors not compatible natively with other digital systems. I imagine this was a cost issues, but too many other devices use 4 pin 0B Lemos. I like it when a connector is only used for one or two things, it helps cut down on confusion with AC's not familiar with the system. (I.e. I had an AC pull in a motor to the camera port on the MDR with a red one (4 pin 0B Lemo) start stop cable. I have since taken and labeled everything better, but the anecdote still stands) - Not a huge fan of the labeling discs. Too narrow for my taste. I built my own out of PVC and the AC seem to prefer the homemade wider ones. That is all I have for now. Please let me know if you have any specific questions! Is this the bracket you were reffereing to http://film-stuff.com/remote-focus-accessories/preston-motor-mount.html ? About to place an order through RT and want have all the related goodies already lined up. Also if I'm reading this correctly, your saying that the motor cables wouldn't allow you use a 3rd party motor, unless a propper cable was made? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoltan Jonas Posted October 3, 2014 Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 There is some truth about the motor mounting difficulties. It's a solid mount, but inconvenient to access in compact builds. The suggested filmtools bracket is a smart idea of course, but not strictly necessary. I'll live fine without one for now. Third party motors are not yet compatible (according to website faqs), as the receiver only provides power and networking, not driving signals. A dongle adapter has been mentioned to be in the pipeline, which would allow 3rd party motors. Not anytime soon though I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jarrett P. Morgan Posted October 3, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 3, 2014 Zoltan is correct and in addition, I was writing about the 3.0 motors, not the 3.1 motors. I believe they have a slightly better turning handle that is less painful to tighten down than the old one. The jerry hill mount (and if you do buy them I suggest going through jerry hill and not film-stuff) do add a good bit of flexibility though. I can undersling and mount motors quite close together. The motors themselves are quite good. I am using a preston on my current show and the motors seem to have about the speed of the DM2, just not quite as much torque. And obvious the preston motors win on build quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jonathan Pfundstein Posted October 4, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 Zoltan is correct and in addition, I was writing about the 3.0 motors, not the 3.1 motors. I believe they have a slightly better turning handle that is less painful to tighten down than the old one. The jerry hill mount (and if you do buy them I suggest going through jerry hill and not film-stuff) do add a good bit of flexibility though. I can undersling and mount motors quite close together. The motors themselves are quite good. I am using a preston on my current show and the motors seem to have about the speed of the DM2, just not quite as much torque. And obvious the preston motors win on build quality. Thanks Jarrett and Zoltan. Its good to hear the RT system competeing in the same class of a Preston and also about the updated motor clamps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Louis Puli SOC Posted October 5, 2014 Moderators Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Jonathan I would not go that far . At the end of the day you get what you pay for . "Its good to hear the RT system competeing in the same class of a Preston and also about the updated motor clamps." In my humble option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoltan Jonas Posted October 5, 2014 Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Yes, fair point from Louis. You can't and shouldn't directly compare RTMotion to Preston. Completely different classes of product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Walter F. Rodriguez Posted October 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Would you directly compare Cmotion to Preston? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jens Piotrowski SOC Posted October 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Yes, based on the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Jonathan Pfundstein Posted October 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 Certainly not trying to compare a Preston system to an RT motion one at all, (Apples and Oranges) my response was poorly worded. More so remarking that to be able to even compare the two in terms of speed is interesting to hear when these two system are really in two seperate classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Walter F. Rodriguez Posted October 5, 2014 Premium Members Report Share Posted October 5, 2014 I'll take that answer as sarcasm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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