focus

If you've always wanted to achieve the precise focusing seen in the movies, perhaps it's time you invested in a follow focus. However, with professional systems costing anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is a more affordable alternative for videographers on a budget.

The brainchild of Wiley Davis, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus is made in his homemade CNC (computer numerical control) mill and consists of the follow focus body, a pulley and a rubber-toothed belt. A user-adjustable spring built into the system of Teflon washers in the follow focus allows users to fine-tune the amount of friction needed when focusing a lens.

Crafted from durable, heat-treated aluminum, the 50-Dollar Follow Focus comes with a re-positional handle, which lets users set their lens at different positions at specific marker lines. Finally, a toothed-belt and pulleys of different sizes can be swapped to fit different lens sizes. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--We've heard of headphones delivering new highs before, but never quite like this.

At the Polk Audio booth here at the Consumer Electronics Show, the manufacturer has set up one of the more brazen gimmicks at a show filled with brazen gimmicks: a trampoline gymnast who zooms toward the high convention-center ceiling with every jump. Of course, she's wearing Polk's new Ultrafit sports headphones, which--big surprise--stayed put despite her vigorous bounces.… Read more

The Chevy Volt makes fewer sales than GM expected, Fisker issues a Karma recall, and we talk about our trips to the Detroit auto show and Consumer Electronics Show next week.

When electric Ford Focuses start rolling off the assembly line in March, some vehicles will incorporate recycled plastic bottles tossed away at CES.

The new EV will use Repreve seating material made by Unifi. Repreve is a blend of post-industrial fiber waste and post-consumer waste such as the plastic water bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Each electric Focus will have the equivalent of 22 plastic bottles in its interior, and the strategy is expected to divert 2 million post-consumer plastic bottles from landfills.

If you're attending either the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas or the 2012 … Read more

Ford will demonstrate beta versions of the MyFord Mobile app for the Focus Electric at CES 2012, Jan. 10 through 13, in Las Vegas.

The new app will use MapQuest to identify the best EV charge points, and plan the most efficient routes. The app also incorporates social sharing components, such as updates to Facebook and Twitter, to the driving experience, Ford said.

Focus Electric drivers can compete against each other and earn achievements based on how far they drive and how much CO2 they save by not using gas. Leaderboards will help MyFord Mobile users track their driving results … Read more

Ford Motor has set a goal to have hybrids and electric vehicles make up 10 percent to 25 percent of its fleet by 2020.

SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talked to Ford executive Dan Kapp recently about the company's alternative-fuels strategy and one of its first electric vehicles to hit the market in 2012, the Ford Focus Electric.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Ford driving into the future with energy-efficient autos."

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Over the last few years, the passenger car has evolved from a gas-guzzling hunk of steel into what some have called the largest piece of consumer electronics in your life.

So, while it's fitting that the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2012) will likely be a jumping-off point for the next stage of development on car infotainment, connectivity, and safety technology, I still find it a bit odd to see so many cars sharing the floor with the likes of 3D TVs and compact digital cameras. Now that the car has established itself as a cornerstone of CES 2012, … Read more

What technology can make an in-car cell phone ban workable? Morgan Stanley takes a dim view of electric cars. Acura's first hybrid is on the way. Renault is first with a dash system based on Android. And we drive the 2012 Honda Civic Si and get the VTEC to kick in.

By cutting out gasoline altogether, Ford may be the first production car to break the 100 miles per gallon mark.

Ford today said it has started production of the 2012 Focus Electric at its Michigan Assembly Plant, a sedan the company expects to be rated at more than 100 miles per gallon equivalent.

The electric version of its five-seater will be available early next year for just under $40,000 before a $7,500 federal tax rebate. Ford is making the car available first in California and the New York/New Jersey area and then will make it available in … Read more