Hey folks! Hope everyone is working loads and staying safe. I've heard some good things about the Tilta Nucleus M lately but its price tag makes me skeptical.
What do you guys think?? Is it any good? Good for some stuff or absolute garbage?
Much love.
Mike
Hi Michael,
I've only used the Nucleus M system twice, and it has given range/limits problems on both occasions. The only good thing I can talk about the Nucleus M system is the "master grips" provided with the package which can be useful as a master grip kind of controller or as a microforce for zoom setups. The handset can also be useful as a separate single axis controller for iris on some shootings, but forget about metadata showing anywhere. I hope that helps.
Cheers!
Ah brilliant Hector! Thanks for responding. Could you elaborate on the range/limit issues? As we know the WCU4 has range that is absolute pants compared with the old reliable preston but its functionality with Arri really makes it a go to for some jobs. So if its anyway similiar I could almost call that forgiveable. How about ergonomics like how it feels in the hand, accuracy, latency and tension? Do you feel like without the information and range issues it's just NG?
The master grips do look very nice and the idea of using it as microforce without all the cableing is very attractive to me...
I basically never use the lens data when actually pulling as I mark rings individually hence the interest...
@Michael Gilbert Hey Michael! The range is indeed similar to a WCU4, it's just that whenever you go around a corner or have some kind of large wall between you and the camera the signal gets lost easily. That is something that hasn't happened to me with systems such as the wcu4, Rtmotion, Cmotion Cpro (obviously the price tag is not even comparable). As for the limit issues, I've found that whenever I calibrated a focus ring I had troubles reaching the infinity marking on the lens because the knob just couldn't rotate further. I tried calibrating the knob over and over but the problem persisted, so I guess it must be some kind of issue with the motor's limits. As for ergonomics it's just a brick in your hand and to me it just doesn't feel natural. You can actually attach a smallrig kind of handgrip to it to make it more confortable. Whenever you get your limits well the accuracy is OK. It has little to no latency (but it's not as zero-latency as a Preston or a Cmotion system).
I find that it's good as a beginning focus puller's tool, but it's just not good nor reliable enough for middle to big budget productions.
Oh and yes indeed, the "microforce" wireless option is amazing. A true bang for the buck.
Hi Michael! I've had the Nucleus M system for a year now and I'm really happy, the only issue so far was actually when using the master grips as a microforce for a 70 -200 zeiss cp3, because it needs the voltage given by a V-mount to be at it's best performance, although I have powered it like that with other lenses (other Zeiss CP2) and works just fine even in low torque. The ergonomics work pretty good to me although I've heard you cannot trust in the lanyard, a friend of mine dropped his because of it, so I use a cheese plate with a handle grip just to be able to move faster and safer on set.
Awesome. Thank you so much!
How does it feel not having any varience on the drag of the knob? Or is it adjustable in some way?
As entry level gear goes it's pretty darn good. I'm not a huge fan of pulling focus with it because I'm spoilt by years of Axis One and Preston response times and torque. It's so cheap that it'll pay itself off after a handful of low budget jobs, even with relatively low rental rates for accessories. After that any job it goes on is profit or goes towards getting better gear.
Don't get me wrong, there are issues with torque, power, range, connectivity, reliability, accuracy. These can be worked around and prepared for mostly. When I've used it on jobs, it's only ever on gimbals. The moment we go to handheld or sticks I grab the FF4 or failing that right off the barrel.
Hey Mike, I own the nucleus. Funnily enough, I find the range on it to be far superior to a WCU-4 or a Preston. Bang for buck is pretty damn good in my opinion. Pair it with extra focus rings, and all necessary cables for R/S and it’s pretty much good to go. Battery lasts 3 days on them too. I have 3 sets of batteries, meaning I get 9 days of shooting with it.
I got used to Nucleus-M, using since it came out. I've got problems before with the knob calibration (it lost the "mapping" during use), and also interference, I used a cinefoil as an antenna. It seems the latest units this is solved.
As I work a lot with gimbals, just to have a motor with the receiver, makes the building much better.
You need to buy good batteries tho. $$