Redrock Micro gave us a glimpse of this product last year but at NAB 2011 they finally announced a release date of June 15th for one of the most talked about DSLR film making accessories. The system consists of several different parts so you can build up a solution that suits your needs. Those people running a shoulder mounted run and gun rig will want the wired option and others using steadycam rigs or tripod mounted systems might want to use the remote system with the aid of the microTape.
To understand the system have a quick look at this video from Redrock Micro:
Redrock microRemote preview from Redrock Micro on Vimeo.
The thing that impressed me most about this system was the responsiveness of the finger control for focusing. There was no visible latency in the system at all, even the smallest movement of your finger resulted in an immediate adjustment of focus on the lens. It was really very impressive and for a run and gun rig it would keep you so much more stable as you are able to grip the rig with two hands instead of having one hand on a handle and one on a follow focus. The little focus knob is easily useable with a single finger. Brian Valente from Redrock Micro told me that all new parts will be available for shipping on June 15th except for the Redrock motor. Instead you will be able to purchase Heden motor , until the new Redrock Motor is available. No timeline on the Redrock motor though and the Heden motor is quite a bit more expensive than the target price for the Redrock one. On the wireless side of things the display on the iPhone or iPod is intuitive and informative. Not only can you have it display marks as you would use hard stops on a follow focus, but you can also have it display depth of field for your lens, and where you are withing that field.
Redrock microTape tells you your distance to subject.
microRemote basestation
Finger control for wired focusing.
Heden motor controling focus.
