if autofocus is so good these days then why on Earth would you need a focus puller
in this video I'm going to share five reasons why manual focus will
never go away and why you should consider using a focus puller on your next shoot
I'll take a behind the scenes look at a recent sports commercial I shot on the Sony fx3 the film
was commissioned by SmallRig to Showcase their new MagicFIZ Wireless follow Focus if you're familiar
with my channel you'll know that I practically live by autofocus but I've been on the fence about
investing in cine glass for months now and this was a great incentive for me to take the plunge
which leads me to reason number one Cinema lenses the main reason why so many TVC's and feature
films are shot on these lenses is because they produce unique looking images each with their own
characteristics from bokeh to Chromatic aberration to flares directors and DPS usually choose them
because they're going after a certain look a look that cannot be recreated by perfectly sharp modern
styles lenses for this very reason I invested in a set of dzo primes because they hit that sweet spot
between modern sharpness and film-like softness Cinema lenses by default require manual focus so
naturally the need for a focus puller arises the magicfiz is a wireless system with a Focus motor
that attaches onto your rig via 15 millimeter rods and is controlled remotely the kit comes in three
options a standalone hand grip with a finger wheel aimed at solo Shooters the hand wheel for
a dedicated Focus puller and then a combination of both because the system is modular which means the
two controllers can connect to each other for a more comfortable hold but also enables you
to control two Focus motors with one controller where one would be for focus and the second for
aperture reason number two complexity although I'm pretty skilled in using autofocus there are
scenarios where autofocus is simply unable to do the job and manual control gives you the
freedom to pull focus at exactly the right time to focus exactly where you want to starting with the
opening scene this alone is a tricky one to pull off because I'm on the Gimbal and coming around
the corner with autofocus would be a gamble with the potential of hunting I shot the entire piece
at T 2.1 so even a 21 millimeter there's still the need for small Focus adjustments the wide
shot cuts to a medium at 35 millimeter and when moving from top to bottom like this the chance
for Auto Focus hunting is much bigger you can see how much the focus ring is moving to stay sharp
with the next close up on 50 millimeter would perhaps be a little easier with eye autofocus
but a skilled puller can still easily manage shout out to Clarence Raymond for doing a stellar job on
this project it was an absolute pleasure working with him the wireless hand wheel controller has
a 1400 milliamp per hour battery and lasts up to 20 hours the electronic control module also comes
with a power failure memory function that spares you from repeated lens calibration and a b Point
settings thus improving shooting efficiency the hurdle scene was arguably the most fun to
film tracking with the golf guard usually for a tracking shot like this I would preset the
focus based on distance especially when moving parallel with the subject but in this case the
golf cart wasn't able to keep up with the athlete so Focus pools were essential especially for the
shots on a 75 millimeter where the athlete was behind or in front of us the magic first has a
remote control range of up to 100 meter in open areas with low latency control so we could stay
a shop even up the last hurdle another reason to use a focus puller creative freedom when pulling
Focus manually with your hands it takes an immense amount of concentration then this
can be a huge distraction to the creativity of your shots especially when it comes to movement
and framing the same goes for autofocus the need to constantly get the settings right can
ultimately distract you from just focusing on the shot I find it incredibly liberating
to shoot without thinking about Focus the place it was most helpful was when shooting in the gym
the pace of the film is fast and shaky with lots of movement and passing foregrounds with
motion tracking shots keeping the subject in frame doesn't leave any room for thinking about Focus
which made the shooting that much more enjoyable the Precision of focus required in some of these
scenes are just not possible with autofocus well in most cases just take up a lot of headspace and
playing with settings on some shots Clarence will make temporary markers on the hand wheel between
two Focus points making it easier to hit that sweet spot on the back and forth movements I can give
a ton of examples but ultimately it comes down to where you want to focus the attention of the
viewer like in this case choosing which hand to finish on something autofocus decides for you and
you don't always have the final say reason number four keep it natural autofocus can sometimes be
too perfect and almost obvious where a human pulling focus with a slight delay has a more
organic feel to it that and most of the lenses with autofocus also has a lot of breathing when
racking Focus something Cinema lenses handle a lot better the small rig Focus motor can be powered by
USBC or with an npf battery with a torque output of 0.5 nanometer which enables you to quickly
scroll through the entire focal range the system uses an ultra low power 0.96 OLED screen with RGB
lighting effect and vibration warning provides a simple but efficient interaction experience and
then a massive reason to use a focus puller camera assistant another name for a focus puller is also
first AC and with it comes a lot of added benefits AC stands for assistant camera which means your
puller will help you with all things camera on the day from building your rig to changing lenses this
gives you more time with the director and gaffer to focus on the next scene instead of fussing with
gear after takes Clarence would take the camera out of my hand saving me the energy of having
to go put it down or just to carry it around and that alone is a huge bonus this film would not be
possible without the help of an incredible team a massive thank you to director Ian Nieuwenhuizen Ian is
also the talent behind the edit so if you want to see more of his amazing work check out his
YouTube channel linked below I've listed all the names of the crew involved in the description so
go show them love a special thank you to smorg for sponsoring this video and for giving us
the freedom to produce our passions if you have any questions let me know in the comments below
and I'll do my best to answer thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one