I’ve slowly warmed up to the Okii USB follow focus as a remote camera controller though the follow focus function still isn’t amazing. When I purchased mine the Okii was $300, now it looks like the price is $400, but at least now it has labels on all of the buttons.  Another option is the clunky square shaped Light Craft Helmsmen USB controller for $460, no labels, ugly design, and for some reason the box can be broken down into two smaller peaces.

Since these USB follow focus controllers are based on open source Arduino hardware it was only a matter of time before a China based company started selling something similar at a lower price. Which brings me to the .

Priced at $320, the has an almost identical button layout to that of the Okii usb follow focus. There are still no button labels, but they have added a set of arrows and dial indicators to help you return to a focus position. They’ve also added 3 thumb nuts that can be added along the outside of the focus wheel. I’m not 100% sure what that accomplishes but it’s interesting none the less.

The best use I’ve found for these controllers so far is remote operation. If you want to mount your camera on the top of a crane or on a car and still have full access to all of the controls then you have 2 choices, a laptop with EOS utility installed, or a USB follow focus controller. The USB follow focus is usually more durable and certainly easier to mount. I’ve used 30 foot usb cables without a problem and some people have claimed 60 foot of cable worked fine. That should be more then enough to get your wire to the top of a small crane or the back seat of a car.

The ships out of Shenzhen, China so don’t expect fast shipping. But for $80 less then the other options I’m sure many will be happy to wait a month.

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brackets and mounting, Canon 5d Mark II, Canon 5d Mark III, Canon 7d, Canon t2i, Filming, Follow Focus