ZERO Follow Focus Lens Gear Ring

There is an amazing new follow focus lens gear about to hit the market called the ZERO, which is made by Broken Anchor Design. They are currently raising funds on Kickstarter to get the first batch made and shipped now that the prototype is fully functioning.

We haven’t had a chance to try this follow focus lens gear ring out on a project, but there are a lot of things that we love about their design:

1. Centers itself on lens: This is very important, since a misaligned lens gear ring will pull away from the follow focus as the lens turns, making your focus pulls skip. The ZERO centers itself as you attach it to the lens, making centering it a non-issue.
2. Quick to install and remove: If you have a set of lenses that all need a lens gear, you will probably be attaching and removing lens gears throughout your shoot. So you need to be able to do this quickly. Most lens gears on the market take a little time to attach. They either have centering posts that have to be raised and lowered, or the gear has to be pulled over the lens. The ZERO is attached by twisting the front of the lens gear, which raises and lower the three supports simultaneously.
3. Seamless: Many lens gears have a seam, which can cause problems during a focus pull. The common solution is just to place the seam away from where you might hit it, but sometimes this is hard to do. Some seams are low-profile, while others are big and bulky. The ZERO does away with all that, by not having any seam at all!
4. Rigid: A common material for lens gear rings is rubber or flexible plastic. This allows the ring to fit many different sizes of lens, as well as make it easier to pull the lens gear over the lens. The downside of using a flexible material is that the teeth on the gear also are flexible, adding backlash to the focus pull. The gear also won’t be perfectly circular when attached, and so time has be spent pushing and pulling it so that the follow focus has a smooth turn. Since the ZERO sits away from the lens, it can be made out of rigid plastic. Now it stays circular, and backlash is reduced.

Another huge plus is that since it fits a huge range of lens sizes, you only need to buy one. With other lens gear rings, you have to get different versions based on what lens you are using.

We really encourage people to check out Broken Anchor Design’s Kickstarter campaign to learn more. It’s getting some great traction, and should be fully funded soon!