Tilta at Cine Gear 2018 announced that the Nucleus-M wireless follow focus is now shipping and all backorders are being filled. Tilta has ramped up production not only to take care of customers that have ordered the popular Nucleus-M but new ones as well. The kit is very extensive at an incredible price of $1199 US.
Tilta also has updated the firmware of the Nucleus-M to make paring the motors and handles easier. Also in the update the follow focus will recall the lens data that was imputed after changing a battery.
Tilta Nucleus-M Kit
- (1) Wireless FIZ hand unit
- (2) Brushless wireless motors with 19mm rod support and 15mm rod bushings
- (1) Right and right wireless handle
- (4) Follow focus marking disks
- (1) 74cm 7-pin to P-tap motor power cable
- (1) 31cm 7-pin to 7-pin motor connection cable
- (1) 18cm 7-pin to 7-pin motor connection cable
- (2) Photographic lens follow focus adapters
- (1) 18650 quad battery charger (batteries NOT included)
- (2) Handle to Arri Standard Rosette adapters
- (2) Handle to gimbal bar adapters (compatible with 25mm/30mm rod diameters)
- (1) Wireless FIZ hand unit strap
- (1) Hardshell waterproof safety case
Nucleus-M Specifications
- FIZ Hand Unit (no batteries): 0.972 lbs
- Right Handle Grip (no batteries or adapters): 0.582 lbs
- Left Handle Grip (no batteries or adapters): 0.529 lbs
- Arri Rosette Male to Handle Grip Adapter: 0.161 lbs
- Gimbal to Hand Grip Adapter: 0.099 lbs
- Motor: 0.496 lbs
- Length/Height: 11.43cm
- Width: 8.26cm (end to end furthest points)
- Depth: 1.59cm (rod mount section), 1.91cm (base section), 3.49cm (motor section)
- Material: Aluminum-alloy, stainless steel, ABS plastic, rubber, Brazilian rosewood
The Nucleus-M is a customizable 3-channel wireless lens control system. It allows you to have full control of focus, iris, and zoom on either the FIZ hand unit or between the two wireless hand grips. You can even split control of the channels between the hand unit and wireless hand grips as you see fit with the push of a button.
The wireless range of both the hand unit and hand grips is 1,000 feet and with an upgrade, the range can reach up to 1 ¼ miles. This makes it ideal for drone or car-mounted shots.
The hand grips can be attached to the included rosette mounts for handheld operation and can also be attached to top bar-based gimbals with the included Nucleus-M Hand Grip to Gimbal Adapters or to ring-based gimbals with the optional Nucleus-M Hand Grip Universal Gimbal Ring Adapters.
Each motor has its own built-in motor drive that communicates directly with the hand unit and hand grips. This negates the need to mount a separate MDR to your rig, allowing for a more compact camera setup and a quick setup time.
The motors allow for automatic calibration of the lens as well as manual calibration if you are using lenses that don’t have hard end stops at close focus and infinity.
The motors are designed to clamp onto 19mm or 15mm rods with the included rod bushings. This clamp-on design allows you to easily attach and detach the motors without needing to remove any other accessory from your setup. Every motor has a 0.8 mod, 35 tooth, 32 pitch gear attached, which is the standard gear size for cinema lenses.
To power the motors, only one power port on your camera rig needs to be used. Simply plug the P-tap power cable into one of the motors and then daisy chain power to the rest of the motors with the short 7-pin to 7-pin cables.
The hand unit and hand grips are each powered with two 18650 rechargeable batteries (batteries NOT included). When fully charged, the batteries in the hand grips last up to 2 days, while in the hand unit they last up to 10 hours.
Tilta’s pricing of the Nucleus-M is very good. At $1199US you get a complete kit ready to use out of the box.
