PROAIM FF-WRLS-DR-ONE User manual

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 1
I N S T R U CTI O N M A N U A L
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Drive One Wireless Follow Focus
(FF-WRLS-DR-ONE )

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 2
INTRODUCTION
PROAIM presents its new Drive One wireless remote follows focus system. It assists the camera operators in
adjusng the focus or focal distance (zoom) of the camera shoong remotely. The Wireless Follow Focus can
be used along with matching camera control gear like DSLR rigs, sliders, Steadycam kits, cranes/ jibs / dolly,
Easy Rigs etc. It allows the user to precisely operate the focus ring on a 35mm lens from up to 200 metres
away. The system provides a choice of 7 bands on which to transmit the encoded data stream, and two user
denable limits to calibrate motor movement or serve as focus stops. The transmier requires only a single
9V baery and the receiver ulises a standard 4-pin XLR for 12v power input, allowing the user to connect a
standard V-lock power, or use the provided AA baery pack.
IN THE BOX
Please inspect the contents of your shipped package
to ensure you have received all that is pictured and
listed below.
Proaim Transmier
Unit
Proaim Receiver Unit Proaim Motor Unit Proaim Marking
Rings (1 Included)
2x Antena Interchangeable Gear(s) Lemo Cable (60cm)

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 3
WARNING
- Do not over ghten any rod clamps or ghten with no rod inserted.
- Do not press on the membrane panel lights (frequency and limit).
- Do not operate in wet environments.
- When not in use for long periods of me, remove baeries.
- For best performance, do not use rechargeable baeries.
- Do not aempt to use with high gain antennas.
- Do not aempt to open any of the units unless instructed to do so by focus Products, doing so could
void your warranty.
- To clean the units, wipe with a damp cloth.
- Always transport in a rigid bodied case.
- Do not pierce or dispose of baeries in re.
- Do not dispose of units in household waste.
Cinema Lenses
Please note that the Proaim is intended for SLR and broadcast lenses only. The motor does not have the
power or the rotaon necessary to control heavy and s cinema lenses.
Using the Proaim motor with cinema lenses could cause noisy operaon, and could damage the gearing
inside the motor.
This product conforms with Restricon of Hazardous Substances Direcve
This product meets U consumer safety, health and environmental requirements.

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 4
TRANSMITTER (Weight: 530g)
RECEIVER (Weight: 340g)

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 5
Receiver Connecon
15mm Rid clamp
Clamp Knob
This is a guide to get you started with the Proaim Drive one follow focus as quickly as possible. We
recommend that you read through the rest of this guide for more detailed instrucons on operang the
Drive One Wireless Follow focus.
- Power the transmier with one 9v baery.
- Power the receiver with 3 pin XLR input or Sony NP mount camcorder baery.
- To set frequency, press and hold FREQ buon unl the light starts to cycle through colours. Stop or
preferred colour. Repeat for each unit, matching the colours. Verify DATA light is solid green.
- Set up the system o the camera to verify operaon
- Install the correct gear to the motor and slide motor onto the camera rod.
- Posion the motor (but do not engage gear teeth yet)
- Route cable to the receiver, and plug in, aligning the red dots. The angled end is for the receiver.
INTERCHANGEABLE LENS GEARS

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 6
- Turn on the transmier and set the limits:
- If either of the two limits are already set (green lights) erase by pressing and holding the appropriate
buon unl the light shows red
- Set the lens and the motor to their centre posions
- Engage the drive gear to the lens and ghten the clamps. Do not mesh the teeth too ghtly, a bit of
place is necessary for smooth operaon.
- Turn the wheel all the way to one side and stop slowly on the lens mark
- Press and hold the appropriate limit buon unl it lights green.
- Turn the wheel the opposite way and repeat this process for the other stop
- Turn the wheel from end to end to check that the limits are setup correctly. If the motor vibrates or
humble loudly at either end of the movement range, erase and reset this stop
- If the control wheel rotates the wrong way, reverse it using the direcon switch on the transmier
Please read the rest of this manual for more in depth instrucons in the set up and operaon of the Proaim
system.
Gearing SLR lenses
SLR lenses do not have gears built into them so a gear ring must be ed before can be used. Gear rings are
available from many manufactures such as Redrock Micro, Shoot35. The gears are ideal as the design is
compact and allows for the fewest number of teeth possible which helps maximize available lens throw,
however they are not easily changed between lenses. The Redrock Micro gear rings are suitable for changing
rapidly between dierent lenses.
Care must be taken to ensure that the lens ring is centered with the lens, or the rotaon can push the motor
away from the lens and cause the teeth to skip. You should also make sure that the ring is secured and
cannot slip round on the lens which will cause inaccuracies with your focus pulling.
If the lens ring has a clamping secon like rings, make sure this is posioned so it does not run into the drive
gear whilst it is turning.
All lens rings for 35mm SLR lenses are 0.8mod Cinepitch.
Marking rings
The Proaim features interchangeable acrylic marking rings. These use three small magnets to sck to the
transmier. These rings are not double sided and will only sck to the knob when the magnets are facing the
black disk.
The notch in the ring must be aligned with the peg on the knob disk for the ring to snap to the front of the
disk.
The receiver has a standard ¼-20 thread in the boom for mounng to the camera. There are many third
party mounng products available, but for versality and durability, we recommend.

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 7
The motor is designed to mount directly onto 15mm support rods, or 19mm rods via the oponal 19mm
adapter.
If you have a manual follow focus on the rails, it is recommended that you remove this before mounng the
Proaim motor.
First install the correct drive gear on the motor unit for your lens. These will be 0.8mod for cine lenses,
0.6mod for Fujinon lenses and 0.5mod for Canon lenses. Unscrew the red hub nut, and seat the gear down
on the hub, aligning the two holes with the pins on the hub. Secure by replacing the hub nut.
Slide the motor onto the rod, orientang the ghtening knob so it is accessible. Align the gear with the teeth
on the lens ring, but do not engage the gears yet. Tighten the clamp knob to hold the motor in posion.
Connect the motor to the receiver using the supplied Lemo cable. Care should be taken to align the red dots
on the connector with the corresponding dot on the socket. The angled end of the cable is for the receiver
and will not plug into the motor.
Route the cable so it is secure and will not upset normal operaon or balance of the camera. Ensure that no
cables or loose parts can be pulled between the drive gear and the lens.
Do not turn the system on with the drive gear engaged to the lens.

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 8
Seng the frequency
The Proaim drive one follow focus uses a colour coded frequency selecon system. Ensure both antennas are
connected before you start. To set the frequency, the colour shown on top of the transmier and receiver
units must match. To change, press and hold FREQ buon. Aer a few seconds, the colours will stars to cycle.
When the light shows the desired colour, release the buon and the unit will hold that frequency. Repeat
this process for both transmier and receiver units.
The DATA light on the receiver illuminang green veries a good connecon. The light ickering between red
and green indicates ‘dirt’ or interference on the channel. When this happens, move to a new channel using
the instrucons above.
Whilst there are 10 frequencies available, these do cross over. This is to ensure there is maximum space
available to avoid any interference. More than one Proaim can be operated together, we recommend no
more than four sets. Some experimentaon with dierent frequencies may be required to nd four clean
frequencies.
Powering the receiver
The Proaim receiver runs on 12v DC. For maximum torque and speed, the 3pin XLR power input should
always be used. Power from a V-Lock or Anton Bauer baery is ideal. If this is not possible a Sorry NP
baery (for Z1 and other cameras) can also be used on the included plate. Do not use both the XLR and the
baery plate at the same me. When the baery is running low, the frequency light will ash slowly.
The Proaim has two limits which can be set to prevent the motor over turning and damaging the lens or mo-
tor. They are also useful to deal with the innitely rotang focus ring on some of the newer SLR lenses.
To set the limits, rst ensure that the motor and lens are disengaged before switching the receiver on. The
motor should be lined up and the correct drive gear installed before doing this. Switch on the receiver and
transmier and verify a connecon by turning the motor with the control wheel.
If either of the two limits are already set (green light) then erase by pressing and holding the corresponding
buon which will ash and then go red.
Turn both the lens and the control wheel to their centre posion. On the Proaim transmier, this is when the
marking disk keying stud is in the boom posion.
Engage the lens and drive gear. It is important to leave a small amount between the two gears to ensure
smooth operaon. Tighten up the knob on the motor to securely hold the motor to the lens.

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 9
Now carefully rotate the wheel in either direcon. It is not important which limit you set rst. Constantly
observe the lens as you rotate the wheel. Carefully approach the last mark on the lens and stop on the mark.
If the motor is humming or chaering, wind back a lile bit unl it stops.
Set the limit by pressing the appropriate limit buon. The buon to use is the one you have turned the
wheel towards.
Wind the wheel back towards the other end of the lens and repeat this process.
Test the range of moon by carefully moving the lens through its range of moon, checking there is no
humming or chaering at either end.
If the control wheel operates in the wrong direcon, reverse this by icking the direcon switch on top of
the transmier unit.
Some long focal length lenses have a longer lens throw (turn of the lens barrel from innity to close focus. In
some cases, this can be too much travel for the Proaim motor to turn all the way.
In these situaons, there are several things you can do to help achieve full lens barrel movement. If using an
SLR lens, the lens gears you are using will have a big impact on the rotaon you can achieve. The fewer the
teeth on the lens, the beer. The gears are ideal as they hug the lens barrel ghtly so the number of teeth is
minimal.
If you decide that full turn on the lens is not necessary, it is possible to pull focus using just part of the focus
movement. Based on the individual shot you are working on, decide which end of the focus scale is more
important, innity or close. In most cases, this will be innity.

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 10
To set up the limits with maximum travel available, rst erase both limits. With the gears disengaged, turn
the lens to your preferred end and rotate the motor using the transmier to the same end. Engage the lens
to the drive gear. Wind the lens back the other way to check that the motor does not outrun the lens. If it
does, set the limit using the appropriate buon in the normal way. It is not necessary to have both limits set
when seng up the motor limits in this way.
For more advice on dealing with long throw lenses, please contact us.
Most common problems are easily solved. If the troubleshoong informaon does not resolve the issue
please contact us immediately. Do not aempt to nd the fault or repair the unit yourself as this will void
your warranty.
Transmier will not turn on
- Check baery charge and polarity
Receiver will not turn on
-Check power source, power and polarity. Do not use both XLP power and baery plate at the same me
Motor does not move when the wheel is turned
- Check transmier and receiver frequencies match (page 11)
- Verify data light is green
- Check motor cable
- Both limits could be set at the same posion (this will stop the motor operang) erase by pressing and
hold both limit set buons unl they light red.
Frequency colour light is not visible
- In bright light; the frequency light can be hard to see. Shading the light with your hand will help you see
the colour
Limited or no radio range
- Ensure antennas are connected
- Check data light is green
Data light is ickering or showing red
- Check transmier and receiver frequencies match (see page 11)
- Ensure antennas are connected
- Move to a dierent frequency colour
Motor hums or jerks at the end of its motor movement
- Reset appropriate limit stop
No repeatability on innitely turning focus rings
- Innitely turning focus rings found on modern DSLR lenses can lose their repeatability. Make sure that
when the motor stops turning at the end of the wheel moon, it does not move the ring past the
stop.
- Reset the limits

Proaim Drive One Wireless Follow focus (FF-WRLS-DR-ONE) 11
Technical Specicaons
Frequency: 433-434mhz (US 900mhz)
Transmier power: 10mW
Range: 150 metres aprox, (50 metres in built up area)
Compliant to R&TTE direcve; EN300-200-3, 301-489-3
WARRANTY
We oer a one year warranty for our products from the date of purchase.
We will repair or replace your product, free of charge, in the event of a defect in materials or crasmanship
obtained during normal use or handling based on the user manual. Please note that we will not cover any
shipping costs for returning the product to us. If any VAT or import dues are applied to the return, we will
also charge these costs to the customer.
The warranty does not include, by the way of example, damage caused by products that we donot supply
or from mishandling in transit, accident, misuse, neglect, lack of care of the product , or service by anyone
other than our company.
We are not liable for incidental or consequenal damages resulng from the use of the unit or occurring
due to any breach of this warranty.
Replacement parts of the product will be provided at nominal cost (covering the cost price of the replace-
ment parts only) to the customers aer the Warranty Period has expired. We will cover the complete cost
of sending replacement parts within the warranty period. Aer that, Nominal cost of the product & Actual
shipping cost will be charged.
Donot send the unit to us without rst geng a response and geng the approval to send back the item.
In case of any kind of dissasfacon, we urge you to Contact us immediately and we shall do our best to
help you out.
For any other assistance you can reach us via email.