We are soon to be 2

All grips are made from Black Walnut.

ergocine turns 2 on the 31st - help us celebrate - buy our triggered grip package at a 15% discount.

was $895.00 now $760.00
offer good until the 31th of October

A special job.

On April 27 Damon wrote:

David,

Was just on your site and love your work! I am a Chicago based cameraman but grew up outside of Rochester in Wayne County. My folks are still there and have plenty of trees on their property... which got me to thinking. Could you make a grip/trigger for me if I were to supply the wood from my folks property? I know little about woodworking but I know they have cherry, maple, oak and pine trees in abundance. It's a strange request but my folks are getting up there and someday that property will likely be sold, having a piece of it in my hands while I work would be pretty cool.

Thanks,
Damon Hennessy

It took months, but it is finally coming together.  Damon sent me this picture and though the Cherry log is small, we think we can make it work.  This wood is green so I will need to kiln dried it before it is milled.  I got the logs this weekend and over the last couple of days I have been prepping.

              

Creating a Handgrip blank on the band saw.

Preparing the ends for drying, the ends dry quicker then the rest of the block causing them to crack.  This waxy liquid slows the drying down.  Next, on to the kiln where they will dry for the next 2-3 weeks.

 

Handheld Follow Focus in 3D / "HF1" for short

Denis - "This is probably going to be more rigid then you are going to need."

David - "When it comes to a Follow Focus there is no such thing as too rigid."

We will be working in BLACK ANODIZED 6061 aluminum
Denis left the aluminum clean so you could see the 
design more clearly.

Designed from the ground up for handheld camera work, Denis Egli has taken my prototype and made magic.  This design allows you to flip the drive shaft from back to front or one side of the lens to the other by rotating or moving the Arri style rosette plate from one side to the other and them locking it in with four 3mm cap screws.  With this adjustability you could use two, one for focus and one for zoom.  The open side is then capped it off with a black walnut plate to protect the brass beveled gears this will be attached with four brass button cap machine screws.  

The drive shafts are made from 1/4' D-rod which come in every imaginable length (at very reasonable prices) so you can extend the pitched gear for the focus ring to exactly where it needs to go.   This is one of the major unique features which allows the operator to place the HF1 just where you want it. The shafts themselves are are threaded through 3 flanged ball bearings at the gear box and 2 on the drive arm, for smooth and ridged operation. Attached directly to the 15/15 bracket you will have just the perfect angle allowing your hand and wrist to position themselves for perfect load bearing ergonomic operation.  We will also make a single rod mount with a Arri style rosette so you can place the ergocine HF1 independently form the bracket.

Rosette, bolts and lock down not shown.

There is a 4" arm with attaches to the 15mm rod coming off the gear box which can rotate 360 degrees and which should accommodate most any lens.  Also if in the future you should need a longer or shorter arm it can be swapped out with little effort.  The steel or Kevlar reinforced GT2 belt is driven by two GT2 Pinion Pulleys which come in many diameters allowing you to customize the drive ratio.  We are striving for perfect customization which grows out of ergocine's design philosophy which is to build from the human up and not the machine down.


Once we have knocked out some beta's we will send it around for evaluation, one of the main things we need to see is if the Sphere needs more resistance. We are kicking around ideas for a way to create some adjustable resistance.  In addition we will have a option for a dry erase disk to attach to the sphere and reference point mounted on the gear box.

The next step will be a Kickstarter campaign to presell 50 to 100 units at a discount, Denis is bring the design over to Chuck (the shop manager) to get some pricing but we are doing everything in our power to keep this affordable.

It is now more important then ever for us to get our Facebook likes up so please help us with this exciting new project by liking us at ERGOCINE.

Thank you.

David

10% discount on all items with a Facebook like till 9.15

In anticipation of a Kickstarter campaign for our new product, the Handheld Follow Focus. We are making a push to increase our Facebook likes, please help us out. If you do so before 9.15.14 we are offering a 10% discount on everything we make.

See it all at: http://www.ergocine.com/

Just drop me an email at ergocine@gmail.com and I will generate a personalized paypal invoice for you with the discount and domestic free shipping. And if you are not ready to buy, your support all by itself will be greatly appreciated.

This offer ends 9.15.14. NYS residents subject to 8% sales tax.

Pre prototype of the ergocine Follow Focus "Focus Sphere"

On Monday I am going into Egli to sit down with Denis to start our next project developing a rosette mounted follow focus based on the sphere, for now let's call it the Focus Sphere.  I put this together out of a box of spare parts, including an old scuba housing, so do not be thrown by the cheapness in the end we will be using high quality machined components.  Also we will have to integrate a way to slide the Focus Sphere in and out from the lens barrel.  The way we work is I get the idea down by modeling and Denis brings his CAD, engineering and machine expertise to the table making the design an elegant thing of beauty.   This is belt driven as you can see but, in the end we will be releasing it with gears though the belt may be a option.   This post also gives another look at how you can use the Flyweight  the Focus Sphere makes the chest cam configuration rock, and the low mo feels great.  I would really like some comments as to what you think and what you are looking for, now is the time, so go for it.  Also if you purchase a Sphere or Grip Package (non clearance items only) between now and the time we release the Focus Sphere you will receive a $65.00 credit toward the cost of the Focus Sphere.

Discontinued woods at deep discounts on ebay

Black Cherry Triggered Grip
SOLD

I am liquidating our inventory in Black Cherry and Kauri.  You can go for the posted price or make an offer of your own.

Black Cherry Spheres

Ancient Kauri Sphere
SOLD

Spalted Black Cherry Grip
SOLD

Ancient Kauri Grip
SOLD

The new ergocine store

Check out our store.

http://ergocine.com

Putting weight on the top of the Blade

Some rigging ideas for the flyweight rig if you want to use it for a heavier camera setup.  
My thought is to move the weight to the top of the blade.  

 I am using these brackets cheep and low profile.
http://www.coollcd.com/super-lightweight-15mm-railblock-3_p942.html

You can use these blocks to go right angle off the rod.

http://www.coollcd.com/smallrig-corner-block-rail-clamp_p1256.html

You can also make a right angle out of two rail block.

Branding the Lion

We are now shipping the Lion R2 branded with the ergocine logo.

Below see the Lion R2 all dressed up and ready to go, one of the images for the new site which we plan to have up on Wednesday.  We have done a lot of new photography, and a good deal of refinement of the individual pieces. Please tune in on Wednesday.

Lion R2 with the triggered grip package for LANC cameras (C100, 300, 500 and BMCC plus many more).

Emilio Albertini's tricked out rig

Emilio sent me these picture of his rig all put together and ready to shoot.   

It is so nice to see a rig come together like this.

  

 

Installing new buttons

In this video I swap out a Momentary button for a On/Off button.  I use a 2.5mm hex driver for the set screw, and tweezers to help grab the wires.  Be careful it is delicate work.  One trick that I did not address in the video, when you are threading the wiring for the Hirose through the grip give it a 90 degree bend to help it round the corner.

variety the spice of life

Black Walnut, sourced from North Pennsylvania from Irion (ear-re-on) Lumber who supply to high end furniture makers and from The Genesee Region of NYS (Rochester) where we buy a tree, cut it down and have it milled . We dry it and the carpenter (Adam) planes and sands it to spec. The wood has a dark chestnut color which darkens slightly over time.

Black Cherry, we have a good stock right in my backyard in Central NY and The Genesee Region.  Almost all of our cherry is bought as wet rough cut board and we have small drying set up that my father runs up in Rochester. When first finished, the Cherry is very light but it darkens over time reaching a rich red color.

Ancient Kauri (Cow-ree) was buried and preserved in peat for up to 50,000 years ago on New Zealand's North Island.  I purchase dried chunks from Ancientwood, Ltd in La Pointe, WI. Over the millennium It has been penetrated by minerals giving the wood a shimmering iridescence.  It is almost dull when first finished but in a few weeks time kauri develops into a rich copper color with flecks of gold.

These buttons are swappable - we can also get green, white, blue and yellow.  The one on the end (black w/ dimple) is for the Epic and only comes in black. Or no button at all.