John Huffman has released a new product built around the Propeller 1 Multicore Microcontroller in the FLiP Module format. He provided us with the following information about the new BUZ3:
Professional field video production has been based on interchangeable video camera lenses since the 1960s. These lenses generally have a power zoom, manual focus, and an aperture (iris) controlled by the camera.
Cinema or film production uses a different kind of camera lenses which are fully manual and require manual adjustments to the lens. These worlds have always been separated by the look of video and the look of film.
Since about 2007, with the advent of the Red Cinema camera, these worlds have collided. Video pros started using cinema lenses on their new crossover video cameras that accept cinema lenses. This gives a shallower depth of field and that coveted “film look.”
This created a whole new market for devices that remotely control cinema lenses. Now many wired and wireless solutions are available for these lenses, but no solutions were integrated into legacy camera systems using cranes and Steadicam rigs.
That’s where this niche device fills a need and provides an integrated solution for these operators.
John’s Electronic Inventions created the BUZ3 based on the Parallax FLiP Multicore Module which receives signals from the five inputs: focus pot, zoom rocker pot, iris pot, speed pot & torque pot via the MCP3208 ADC. After processing the inputs, the FLiP Module outputs the serial ModBus data and is received by up to three motors. The motors have spur gears attached, which mesh with the ring gears around the lens barrel. The motors can be calibrated so that the gears do not exceed the physical limits of the ring rotation.
We kept the enclosure small and lightweight since many rigs need to limit the camera payload.
Steadicam and camera crane operators are very excited about this new product!
For more information see https://e5b568.myshopify.com/
Congratulations to Mr. Huffman on another excellent design! – Ken Gracey
