So I've just noticed DJI have added what appears to be a new product to their website - the Focus Thumbwheel (https://m.dji.com/product/dji-focus-thumbwheel) l. As a Ronin user who also owns the "DJi Focus" follow focus unit for the times I need a focus puller, I'm seriously hoping that this new Thumbwheel means I can pull the focus myself from the handles. Does anyone know if this is indeed what the Thumbwheel is? I can't imagine what else it's for to be honest, but there's nothing that confirms it on the website or online. I really hope this is what every Ronin user has wanted from DJI since the Ronin was released! Talk to me...
https://m.dji.com/product/dji-focus-thumbwheel

yes.  that is what it is.  I have one.  SLIGHT problem: it doesn't come with the cable to connect to the focus motor, and there is no apparent way to purchase one.  So right now it is useless.

Interesting! So it won't connect to the motor wirelessly? Have a look at this link - flick through the pics of it and you'll see a cable that I assume would do the trick. What do you think? http://solectric.eu/dji/focus/focus-zubehoer/1452/dji-focus-thumbwheel-dji-focus-motor-cable-p35

Yep.  That is the cable you need, but I'd be very surprised if it is actually available.  According to DJI Technical support, the cable is not available yet.  If you are only going to use it on a ronin, you can also use the ronin expansion module cable http://click.dji.com/ANlkAkuLCwTMWAv-0Zgi?pm=custom but it can't be used on a movi or slider or anything else, so I'm just waiting it out until they release the cable you linked to above.  Really seems crazy not to include the cable when you buy it.

OK.  that link didnt work.  try again http://store.dji.com/product/dji ... ower-and-data-cable

Thanks for that. So I'm a bit confused - its to clarify, will I be able to use the Thumbwheel to move the Focus motor with that cable you mentioned? Seems like it's a cable for the drone / Ronin MX?

Hey guys,

Hoping you can help. I got my Thumbwheel in today along with the required cable shown here: (http://solectric.eu/dji/focus/fo ... cus-motor-cable-p35).

Problem:

I plug the p-tap power into the Ronin MX then the communication and power end into the focus motor so all that's left is plugging the can-bus end into the thumbwheel. So after I do that I should be able to control the focus motor with the thumbwheel however they are not speaking to each other. I've seen pictures of the thumbwheel being connected into the top of the MX into the can-bus1 plug but then where would the can-bus cable that comes with the special cable go into?

Sorry if this is confusing. I can clarify if need be.

Thanks in advance for the help.

James

fans5ddba66b Posted at 2017-5-18 04:46
Hey guys,

Hoping you can help. I got my Thumbwheel in today along with the required cable shown here: (http://solectric.eu/dji/focus/focus-zubehoer/1452/dji-focus-thumbwheel-dji-focus-motor-cable-p35).

Have you already tried linking the two like on page 14 of the manual?

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/f ... _Manual_v1.2_en.pdf

I'm talking about the new focus thumb wheel not the follow focus.  Two different things but thank you  for trying

Have you had any luck yet? Mine arrived the other day but I'm away and haven't had a chance to try. I wonder if there's a setting in the Focus units menu that might do something?

Has anyone had any luck getting the Thumbwheel to work with the Focus motor? I have a Ronin and the cable supposedly needed to connect it all together (https://m.dji.com/product/dji-focus-thumbwheel-focus-motor-cable) but I'm having no joy. The two won't talk. Anyone??? DJI? Even the customer services don't know!

fans5ddba66b Posted at 2017-5-18 16:16
I'm talking about the new focus thumb wheel not the follow focus.  Two different things but thank you  for trying

My bad, I may have skimmed a little too quickly. Do you have any other accessories connected to the Ronin besides the Focus motor? Just to clarify, does the thumbwheel appear to receive power when plugging to the P-Tap via that cable? Are all the components up to date firmware wise? Any visuals of your set up would be appreciated.

Just to answer your other question, the two methods to connect the thumbwheel starts on page 5 of the manual:

http://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/f ... heel+User+Guide.pdf

Just for reference, if you hit 'reply' on a post that you're responding to, it will notify the person that you responded to them.

fansb6a24c11 Posted at 2017-5-23 03:47
Has anyone had any luck getting the Thumbwheel to work with the Focus motor? I have a Ronin and the cable supposedly needed to connect it all together (https://m.dji.com/product/dji-focus-thumbwheel-focus-motor-cable) but I'm having no joy. The two won't talk. Anyone??? DJI? Even the customer services don't know!

Could you clarify what your set complete set up is? Does the thumbwheel seem to get power at all?

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-5-23 14:58
Could you clarify what your set complete set up is? Does the thumbwheel seem to get power at all?

Hi there,
So I have a Ronin - not MX or M. I tried method 1 - it didn't work, but then why would it? How would connecting the Thumbwheel to the Ronin make the Focus work? So I order the special cable which goes from the motor, to the P-tap, and then to the Thumbwheel. This should work, but it doesn't.  Yes I get power to the motor, but the Thumbwheel and the motor will not connect or pair. I've tried everything. Do you know if anyone has successfully got this to work yet, and if so is there any evidence? It's super frustrating coz DJI themselves don't seem to know what the Thumbwheel really is and keep fobbing me off with the instruction manual, which is pretty useless!

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-5-23 14:58
Could you clarify what your set complete set up is? Does the thumbwheel seem to get power at all?

Hi there,
So I have a Ronin - not MX or M. I tried method 1 - it didn't work, but then why would it? How would connecting the Thumbwheel to the Ronin make the Focus work? So I order the special cable which goes from the motor, to the P-tap, and then to the Thumbwheel. This should work, but it doesn't.  Yes I get power to the motor, but the Thumbwheel and the motor will not connect or pair. I've tried everything. Do you know if anyone has successfully got this to work yet, and if so is there any evidence? It's super frustrating coz DJI themselves don't seem to know what the Thumbwheel really is and keep fobbing me off with the instruction manual, which is pretty useless!

I've having the exact same issues as you guys. DJI Support have also been sending me screenshots of the manual, which is useless as I have already read it a number of times.
I too, cannot get the thumb wheel to talk to the motor. According to the manual you should be able to just use the CAN cable to the CAN1 port on the original Ronin, and a power cable from the p-tap connector to the motor. The thumb-wheel however will not "pair" with it. I know that the motor works as the wireless Focus can connect to it with no problems at all. But the thumb wheel is useless to me at the current time.

This is a shame because I have gone from using the redrockmicro microremote and universal power supply and have changed to having everything DJI branded, but for such a big company, DJI support is really really lacking and the language barriers and broken English makes it very difficult to communicate with them.

It's good to see I'm not the only person out there having the same issue. I also went out of my way to purchase a $139aud data cable for the motor in order for me to check the firmware and confirm everything was updated, which is a big waste of money because my firmware versions are all current and zero progress has been made with DJI support over the past 2 weeks.

In the most recent email that was sent to me they have asked me to make a video of the issue I am having.

Here is said video to see if it's the same problem as you're having:



I will update you once the Support Team replies.

DJI support are now telling me that I need to purchase the following item, however according to the manual, this falls under Method 2, (when not using a ronin series gimbal).

The instruction manual that comes with the thumb-wheel states that for method 1 (when using a Ronin Series Gimbal, to use the provided CAN cable.
The cable I am being told to now purchase does not have a CAN connector on it. So this product is for method 2.

http://dji.com/product/dji-focus-thumbwheel-focus-motor-cable

Sorry here is the correct link:

http://store.dji.com/product/dji ... l-focus-motor-cable

I have just received my DJI Focus Thumbwheel, the DJI Focus motor - thumbwheel with d-tap cable and a DJI Focus motor. Same thing is happening to me, or not happening so to say. I Plug everything in powering straight off the d-tap of a battery. Both devices switch on, the motor has a fast white blink while the thumbwheel has a slow red flashing light which according to the guide means no device connected. The thumbwheel is just not speaking to the motor. I've tried every combination of plugging in connections and even tried to pair using the the pair button on the bottom of the motor but there's no way to pair using the thumbwheel. Still no connection.

Very disappointed with this. Spent a bit of coin on something that doesn't work, very frustrating.

Any answers would be appreciated! Thanks!

The most recent update for me is they are now asking for screenshots of my firmware versions, despite me already having told them that every product I am using has the latest firmware update, including me having spent extra money on the focus data cable purely to check the firmware which was already up to date when I received it.

DarKSpirit Posted at 2017-6-17 00:15
The most recent update for me is they are now asking for screenshots of my firmware versions, despite me already having told them that every product I am using has the latest firmware update, including me having spent extra money on the focus data cable purely to check the firmware which was already up to date when I received it.

Hey so who are you talking to? I've sent an email through customer support but there isn't even a topic point for the Thumbwheel, can only select DJI Focus.

BenBerkhout Posted at 2017-6-17 18:29
Hey so who are you talking to? I've sent an email through customer support but there isn't even a topic point for the Thumbwheel, can only select DJI Focus.

Yeah I went through the Focus section of the support.

The most recent update is that the engineers are going "have a look at the issue" and they will get back to me.

Still no luck with mine. Customer support keeps sending me the same thing which doesn't work. Eventually they'll realise they need to update the firmware for it to work. I hope so anyway. Literally nobody at DJI knows what the Thumbwheel even is. There's no evidence of anyone having any luck with it. It's a mystery. Soon I'll demand a refund because this is a joke product. Come on DJI, sort it out.
Also here's a pic of what I see when I wire it to my laptop. Version 1 still, and wtf is that Hardware ID???

Yep, same hardware ID for mine as well. Hopefully this "engineer" will fix the problem soon.

So they replied.... The broken English is so poor it's very difficult to understand. If somebody could please translate this for me and explain what they are trying to say?
Also, the cable they are showing doesn't make sense. If that cable has a CAN port on it and the Ronin has a single CAN connector, where does it plug in? And if I use this cable instead of the one the thumb-wheel came with, then how does it connect to the thumb wheel?

If, for arguments sake this cable is designed for the ronin-mx (as stated on the product page) the ronin-mx has 2 can ports, so physically it will connect... however.... how will it reach from the CAN port at the top of the unit to the P-Tap and the Motor at the base? and for people such as myself with the original Ronin, what do we do?

This is getting more and more frustrating that a Product we have spent a lot of money on, with a multi-million dollar company like DJI... having purchased the product weeks ago, and having spent hundreds of dollars purchasing multiple cables since then to try and get this to work, as well as dealing with the very slow responses and language barriers, on top of being told incorrect information and things that don't make sense, on top of being told to purchase more additional items. Really wishing something could be done about this.

Here is the Email I recieved.. good luck:

"Thank for waiting. RONIN can use the parts we confirmed it.
Here we reason in your video.

Still the connection issue

​
Sorry for my fault. for communicate the motor, thumb wheel to the ronin,
with our this cable we still need   
DJI Focus - Expansion Module Power and Data Cable
http://store.dji.com/product/dji ... om=related_products

this is the right connection


​

For this you can link the thumb wheel and the motor.

Then do the calibrate and travel range setting is fine.
And here has a concern
Our calibrate has to know the lens limited, if you are using the zoom lens without limited you gave to set it travel range by manual.

Really sorry for my poor technical ability.
​
If there is any further question, please feel free to contact us. "

I THINK I HAVE THE SOLUTION

Having zoomed in on the very low resolution second image in the email and staring at it for some time it looks like the LB port tab has been lifted and possibly the cable has a LB connector and not a CAN connector.

It still means purchasing another cable and spending additional money.... which I will reluctantly do now. And whether the reply comes first, or the cable, I'll update you all and let you know if I have any success.

Now they're saying I just need to update the firmware after they have already told me to purchase another cable (which I have already ordered) and there is no new firmware.
Calling this a "mess" would be an understatement.

Same here except I've green light and the motor is not blinking.
I use the special splitter cable between the PTap and the thumbwheel to the motor (Focus Thumbwheel Motor Cable).
I can trigger the calibration.
But the wheel by itself doesn't drive the motor. The Hardware ID is like the one of fansb6a24c11 except I've firmware 1.2.

There you go, seems fairly close but still not working...

ChEdL Posted at 2017-6-22 13:11
Same here except I've green light and the motor is not blinking.
I use the special splitter cable between the PTap and the thumbwheel to the motor (Focus Thumbwheel Motor Cable).
I can trigger the calibration.

Did you update it to 1.2... or was it like that when you got it?

DarKSpirit Posted at 2017-6-23 06:19
Did you update it to 1.2... or was it like that when you got it?

No, I received it with 1.2.
And unlike most firmware with DJI, including the ones of the Ronin, I cannot flash it again, it doesn't suggest the latest version as 1.2.

Hi guys,

Just letting you know: I had quite some help from the Twitter @DJISupport and it now works for me.
Actually, everything could communicate together with the Thumbwheel Focus Motor Cable but LED was actually amber, not green as mentioned. It's not in the manual either. But yeah basically was missing calibration (which is noted in the DJI Focus manual).
If you don't have the remote though (which is my case) you can't do manual calibration at this point, and auto calibration with photo lenses don't work. So personally, now that's my issue to solve, but the system is working fine.
The support twitter guy was very reactive and quite helpful. If you didn't try yet it might be a good way to get support.

Cheers!

ChEdL Posted at 2017-6-24 01:59
Hi guys,

Just letting you know: I had quite some help from the Twitter @DJISupport and it now works for me.

I don't have a twitter account, do you know if there's another method of contact?
And do you know if anyone has had luck using alternative cables to the one you have?
Also, what is the length between each plug on the cable you have? In the product page it looks very very short.

DarKSpirit Posted at 2017-6-25 05:03
I don't have a twitter account, do you know if there's another method of contact?
And do you know if anyone has had luck using alternative cables to the one you have?
Also, what is the length between each plug on the cable you have? In the product page it looks very very short.

Seems like they have a Facebook account for support there.
I would think it's the same guys that are in charge of the Twitter account as well. The reseller I bought from said he didn't have any feedback of problems with the product, so I would guess that it's working usually.

For the lengths, I'll make the measurements later and let you know. On my Ronin M it's more than enough, I've plenty of extra length, but I would think they have made it so it's OK on the Ronin as well.

Ok I have tried making contact with their Facebook support, but a different person replies to each message so there's a lot of repeated questions. Hopefully they can help though.

Also... to confirm the cable I was told to purchase by support does have an LB connector on it, but having connected it, it's still not working

GREAT SUCCESS - SOLUTION FOUND

Despite having no luck with Facebook support, they have ignored multiple messages, the original person I have been emailing the past 3 weeks has emailed me back and has provided me with a solution.. finally!!!

They informed me that I am not allowed to publish the method so I cannot provide specific detail, however basically they gave me the "secret" back door built within the Ronin Assistant Software.
This allowed me to Update my Ronin CGU firmware to 1.4 (which is coming out next month, so as of next month nobody should be having issues).

I can now successfully connect the thumb-wheel cable to the CAN port on the Ronin and it will allow me to auto-calibrate the lens and communicates with the Ronin successfully.
The same as ChEdL, I'm not sure how to manually calibrate, but I can definitely work with this for the time being!

DarKSpirit Posted at 2017-6-28 02:21
GREAT SUCCESS - SOLUTION FOUND

Despite having no luck with Facebook support, they have ignored multiple messages, the original person I have been emailing the past 3 weeks has emailed me back and has provided me with a solution.. finally!!!

Hey,
I had the same email from them, but it doesn't seem to make sense, nor did it work. I have a Ronin (not the M or MX, normal RONIN). Have you had any luck, and if so could you let me know what you have and what you did please? It's doing my head in and DJI are absolute idiots!!!
Cheers!!!

Hello,
I would like to tell you that the Thumbwheel works absolutely properly with one small detail - you need to calibrate first with the Follow Focus Sistem (Wireless Lens Control System). After a lots of hours, reading, trying, watching tutorials and looking for the proper info realise thankful of Mr.ChEdL post that you need to connect first Wireless Lens Control System and then the Thumbwheel will be calibrated already... And finally works perfectly! Thanks, Mr.ChEdL - you helped me a lot!!!

fanse31fc840 Posted at 2017-7-22 15:06
Hello,
I would like to tell you that the Thumbwheel works absolutely properly with one small detail - you need to calibrate first with the Follow Focus Sistem (Wireless Lens Control System). After a lots of hours, reading, trying, watching tutorials and looking for the proper info realise thankful of Mr.ChEdL post that you need to connect first Wireless Lens Control System and then the Thumbwheel will be calibrated already... And finally works perfectly! Thanks, Mr.ChEdL - you helped me a lot!!!

Please can you upload a video of it actually working please? We'd really appreciate it.