With the current limitation of the 3D Focus always requiring a mandatory auto calibration of the focus range of each lens, it is not really possible to use it with 'freewheeling' lenses without hard stops. Since the main lens that I wanted to use with my BMPC6K is the Sigma 18-35 1.8 and it falls under this category I was desperately looking to find a workaround. At first I tried to manually 'time' and hold/block the lens or focus motor at the right moment, but that was almost impossible and super annoying.

Yesterday I came up with this quick & dirty MacGyver-esque workaround. It should work for everybody who is using an addon focus gear on their lens that has a tiny bit of space/play between the lens and the gear ring. (in my case I'm using the Half Inch Rail Zip Tie gears, so there was easily enough room)

I simply cut off little strips of the flexible DJI focus gear that was included with the RS2 Pro Combo and took the smallest/slimmest zip tie I could find and used that to fix two of those little pieces in the right distance (some trial and error of course) to my gear ring on the lens - one for the start and one for the end point. (pictured below)
Now whenever the calibration process is due it runs into those 'semi hard' stops.. et voila, perfect calibration!
(of course you also still have to use the DJI lens strap thats included with the Pro combo otherwise the strong torque of the motor will most of the time move the lens/camera and go crazy)

Maybe somebody could come up with a little 3D print 'slip on' element or you could of course even 3D print a whole focus gear ring with 'blocking' elements already built in at the right distance for your lens. ;)

Very creative.  

Focus Ring with Hard Stops.

Ingenious solution! I found this focus ring a while back if you want something cleaner. I don't know how accurate it is but I would assume it would do the trick.

brieflyshaking Posted at 2-4 03:28
Focus Ring with Hard Stops.

Ingenious solution!  I found this focus ring a while back if you want something cleaner. I don't know how accurate it is but I would assume it would do the trick.

Ah nice find! Yeah exactly something like that 3D printed should do the trick just fine. Guess I'll see if there are any good public 3d print models for focus rings (I assume there are?!) .. just need to add those stops

Great temporary solution... But the Focus Motor still beat's up the lens and wear it's self in this process. I dont understand why DJI dosen't give the option to  manualy set start/end poins to users that payed extra for their 3D Focus additional to the big cost's of Pro Combo pack they buyed. End efect is = you payed much $$$ and still dont get functions as promised.

this simple solution works also well

Indio Posted at 4-2 12:46
this simple solution works also well

[view_image]

Look how much dust you have on the gear.. For my setup it does not work at all. .. My Focus Motor in RS2 just ignores the pin and keeps up running & running till the camera twist-off of DJI2 mount plate one screw 1/4 mount from the vibrations no matter how hard i screw it....

Payed 170 USD EXTRA to the PRO COMBO for 3D Focus and still  CANT USE iT because 3D Focus don't allow  MANUALY SET ENDPOINTS TO THE FOCUS MOTOR. ISSUE STILL NOT RESOLVED

this little dust comes from the camera bag and is irrelevant

i have not any problem with vibration bacause of the the lens strap

Indio Posted at 4-3 11:46
this little dust comes from the camera bag and is irrelevant

i have not any problem with vibration bacause of the the lens strap

Using the stame lens strap in the same way with or without lens support - no success.

Found any actual solutions? Everytime i try doing it, it just goes balistic, beats up the lens and errors out, since the lens doesn't have a hard stop.

If i manually set endpoints, it just ignores them when calibrating.

brieflyshaking Posted at 2-4 03:28
Focus Ring with Hard Stops.

Ingenious solution!  I found this focus ring a while back if you want something cleaner. I don't know how accurate it is but I would assume it would do the trick.[Image]

Hey there, I have bought this focus gear and I have just tested it. It does not do the trick right out of the box. I guess I have to add another roadblock in order to make it work. Any ideas what I could possibly attach to the hard stops? Best regards

+1 on why does it have to auto calibrate???   C'mon - let me tell the motor where start and stop is.   I do this anyway for the dial control over the focus motor.   In the mean time I will have to try this zip tie method because I really want to use 3D focus with my canon 17-55 f/2.8 which is a photo lens meaning no hard stops.  

Do you have to re calibrate every time you turn the camera off?

+1 for 3D Focus with MANUALY SET ENDPOINTS TO THE FOCUS MOTOR.

Hi all -

I figured out a way to set focus on the sigma lens. Anyone interested I can post a video. But really, all it requires is you to push the lens and the motor together until it calibrates. I used OP's hardstop mod and it worked fine.

djiuser_JNTHMeM2jxxu Posted at 5-23 09:55
Hi all -

I figured out a way to set focus on the sigma lens. Anyone interested I can post a video. But really, all it requires is you to push the lens and the motor together until it calibrates. I used OP's hardstop mod and it worked fine.

Please post a video! Would be much appreciated.

bobby8 Posted at 6-2 17:46
Please post a video! Would be much appreciated.

PLEASE DJI: Do manual stop for 3D Focus

Dschapin Posted at 5-7 19:00
Do you have to re calibrate every time you turn the camera off?

No. I've saved 3 Different lenses as presets. I simply turn on the camera and everything works flawlessly.

The only thing we need now is an official accessory to mount the 3D focus module closer to the lens.

FP_Zcam Posted at 6-12 07:40
No. I've saved 3 Different lenses as presets. I simply turn on the camera and everything works flawlessly.

The only thing we need now is an official accessory to mount the 3D focus module closer to the lens.

the right position is the same level as the sensor

have you come up with more easier and reliable solution guys?  i want to buy 18-35mm to use with my Blackmagic 6k and rs2 but I'm afraid i will fail like many out there when it come to use 3d focus and pulling manual focus , someone has advised me to avoid sigma and non-stop lenses for this purpose and go with the affordable Samyang prime manual focus lenses then as you know i lose the versatility of the Sigma zoom,  can you help me and give me a good advice . thanks a lot

I don’t understand why DJI can’t leverage the camera electronic control of the RS2. If one can use the handle to control the Sigma lens focus electronically, all they would need to do to make this work, is to allow the 3d focus gadget to leverage the electronic control directly. What am I missing?

Actually, an even more clever way to solve this would be to not even need the 3d focus gadget. They should use the feature that allows the gimbal to track motion to follow the talent and keep them in focus. The camera view can be used to detect distance. This is no longer a theory. It’s a fact. Tesla uses only cameras to detect distances to control the car’s autopilot so this should be a feature native to the RS2. They can do it.

I tried the macgyver-version with zip-ties on my Sigma 24-70 2.8 ART and it worked flawlessy calibrating the lens. BUT i'm still having issues getting the lidar focusing the lens correctly.
I've mounted the lidar-sensor closer to the lens and changed the "flange distance" in the setting on my Rs3 pro, but still the focus is a bit off.
I'm still trying to find what's causing the mismatch, my best guess now is that the sensor is calibrated to sit a bit above the lens, not under, going to try this afternoon if changing position of the sensor fixes things.

Another thing is that my lens has a close focus range of 0.38 meters, but the lidar sensor only works to 0.5 meters, bad for close-ups.

johannesh Posted at 2022-10-24 04:05
I tried the macgyver-version with zip-ties on my Sigma 24-70 2.8 ART and it worked flawlessy calibrating the lens. BUT i'm still having issues getting the lidar focusing the lens correctly.
I've mounted the lidar-sensor closer to the lens and changed the "flange distance" in the setting on my Rs3 pro, but still the focus is a bit off.
I'm still trying to find what's causing the mismatch, my best guess now is that the sensor is calibrated to sit a bit above the lens, not under, going to try this afternoon if changing position of the sensor fixes things.

my work around fo now.

https://youtube.com/shorts/lQgyuUeBtWQ?feature=share

By the way, is there any way to turn auto/manual on 3D focus from RS2?