DIY zoom/focus gears

Fed up with being ripped off for items such as zoom gears, I want to build my own. Has anyone else done this and if so, do you have any info about materials. Any photos of the finished items would be cool. I would also like to know if there were any teething problems.

Stew

Fed up with being ripped off for items such as zoom gears, I want to build my own. Has anyone else done this and if so, do you have any info about materials. Any photos of the finished items would be cool. I would also like to know if there were any teething problems.

 

Stew

exactly! my friends and i made a couple of zoom sleeves for the 10-17 and 12-24 for use in S&S housings about 3-4 years ago. raw material cost was about $20 and we made 5-6 zoom gears with material left over. i'll go dig up pictures, but essentially the materials are:

1. 3M double sided mounting tape

2. rubber mat (like a car-mat) with grooves to act as "teeth" to engage the zoom gear on the housing

so we just cut strips of the rubber mat with and stuck them on the mounting tape (1 strip with grooves on the lens, and another strip with grooves facing outwards), and wrapped them round the lens we wanted to use to get the right circumference. then we used electrical tape to stick both ends together and that was it!

just slip on the sleeve to use, and take it off after that. they were incredibly lasting and my friends are still using them now.

the key is to find a rubber mat with the right grooves. somehow the one we had was a perfect fit, and the mat was actually bought to line the floor and we just stared at it and said "let's make zoom gears!"

teething problems:

1. the mounting tape we used was white, so it shows up in the reflection of the dome port when the sun is in the frame. so we used black markers to colour them black.

other than that it's been smooth sailing!

Take a look at :

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31326

and

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15291

Ben

Very good. Its nice to see some inspiration. I have just spent this morning rummaging through my tools and a box full of bits and bobs and have managed to build an amazing little focus/zoom gear for the 100mm Canon.

I am not sure if the Sea and Sea gear works on the 100mm and also the 100mm with a 1.4TC as well and also the EF25, but I have constructed mine so it works with the 1.4TC/EF25 or without it.

Materials used.

1 x aluminium door push plate, cut in 2 strips about 20mm wide.

1 x H & S sign, cut to the desired length

1 x toothed fan belt, cut to desired length

5 x rubber bands

5 x 4mm rivets

plumbers solvent cement

Tools used.

Tape measure

Battery drill

4mm drill bit

File

Stanley knife

Rivet gun

I have tested the gear with the 100mm and the 1.4tc on and also with just the 100mm on land. The only thing left to do now is to wait for the rain to stop so I can take it out side and spray it matt black. Its construction is pretty solid but quite light, and best of all was about £300 cheaper than purchasing 2 seperate gears to use with the 100mm and 1.4TC/EF25 combonation. Obviously I have told Louise that I now have £300 to put towards additional camera gear.

my products:

for E-3 ZD11-22mm

http://hanachan.ddo.jp/!!kosaku/20...1122mmport.html

for GF1 45mm macro (magnetic ring)

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=33742

@stewsmithmost excellent, how did it keep up?

I bought a few gears from Norelem which fit Nauticam. I cut the hole with a hole saw and glued in a bit of drainpipe to fit the lens, finishing it with sandpaper so it's a push-fit on the Tokina rubber. The gears were white so I blackened them with a felt tip pen. I still have one for the Tokina 10-17 available.

25 minutes ago, PeteAtkinson said:

I bought a few gears from Norelem which fit Nauticam. I cut the hole with a hole saw and glued in a bit of drainpipe to fit the lens, finishing it with sandpaper so it's a push-fit on the Tokina rubber. The gears were white so I blackened them with a felt tip pen. I still have one for the Tokina 10-17 available.

Nice! Which ones specifically? 

2 hours ago, PeteAtkinson said:

I bought a few gears from Norelem which fit Nauticam. I cut the hole with a hole saw and glued in a bit of drainpipe to fit the lens, finishing it with sandpaper so it's a push-fit on the Tokina rubber. The gears were white so I blackened them with a felt tip pen. I still have one for the Tokina 10-17 available.

This is extremely interesting...

Especially since the Norelem items can be downloaded as 3D CAD files. When you say, which one of the toothed pulleys is compatible with Nauticam housings, one can easily modify the CAD file and 3D print a perfect zoomgear (without cutting anything)...

Wolfgang

3 hours ago, sinetwo said:

Nice! Which ones specifically? 

22402-1100100 Polyacetyl, 100 teeth, 102mm diameter from Norelem. Freight was expensive.

8 hours ago, PeteAtkinson said:

22402-1100100 Polyacetyl, 100 teeth, 102mm diameter from Norelem. Freight was expensive.

That would suit the N120 housings, I had a quick look at my N85 zoom gear and it has about 78 teeth and 75mm dia.

Yes you are right. N120 housings only.