Jagpro35 Gear

In my quest for the "proper kit" I've read a LOT of posts on both Vincent Laforet's as well as Phillip Bloom's blogs. Mr. Bloom had a post back awhile ago where he talked about a "runner up" to the gorgeous, albeit pricey, Zacuto Z-Finder.

Mr. Bloom reviewed the Jagpro JagPro Follow Focus system, which I promptly ordered.

The Follow Focus is very cool, it gives a much more controllable feel to the focus - with an SLR you're reaching around to the front to turn the barrel of the lens, and this causes jumpyness or other shake in your video. The FF allows you to very gently turn a large, easy-to-grasp knob, and get the focus you want. It also could let a focus-puller come into play, though that might be overkill... Then again, it's really not when you're moving these cameras around and doing lots of interesting scene setups.

Once I got on the Jagpro site, the LCD Viewfinder caught my eye- here was the answer to the Z-Finder, but for under $200! Moreso than the FF, the LCDVF is a must-have for any daylight shooting, and for any 3rd party manual lenses. With the JP LCDVF I can actually tell if things are in focus without having to bring a monitor, or generally worrying about the results.