A remote control device for a motion picture camera which has a lens and at least one lens focus setting motor for setting a focus distance of the lens and with which at least one distance measurement device for determining a distance measurement signal is associated, said remote control device comprising a portable operating unit, wherein the operating unit has: - a base part, - a first operating element which is movable relative to the base part into a continuously variable setting position, and - a second operating element (39, 67), wherein the remote control device has a control device which is configured to determine a manual focus setting value for the lens focus setting motor in dependence on the continuously variable setting position of the first operating element and to output the manual focus setting value in a manual focus operating mode; and wherein the control device is further configured, in dependence on an actuation of the second operating element (39, 67) of the operating unit, to cause the lens focus setting motor in a focus transition operating mode to set the focus distance in accordance with a sequence of a plurality of different intermediate focus setting values which converge to a second desired value of the focus distance starting from a first desired value of the focus distance, wherein the first desired value or the second desired value of the focus distance corresponds to the distance measurement signal of the distance measurement device, characterized in that the control device is configured to determine and to output the intermediate focus setting values in order to control the lens focus setting motor, in that the sequence of the plurality of different intermediate focus setting values corresponds to a continuous or substantially continuous convergence of the focus distance from the first desired value to the second desired value, and in that the different intermediate focus setting values correspond to a respective interpolation, in particular differently weighted interpolations, between the first desired value of the focus distance and the second desired value of the focus distance. - a base part, - a first operating element which is movable relative to the base part into a continuously variable setting position, and - a second operating element (39, 67), wherein the remote control device has a control device which is configured to determine a manual focus setting value for the lens focus setting motor in dependence on the continuously variable setting position of the first operating element and to output the manual focus setting value in a manual focus operating mode; and wherein the control device is further configured, in dependence on an actuation of the second operating element (39, 67) of the operating unit, to cause the lens focus setting motor in a focus transition operating mode to set the focus distance in accordance with a sequence of a plurality of different intermediate focus setting values which converge to a second desired value of the focus distance starting from a first desired value of the focus distance, wherein the first desired value or the second desired value of the focus distance corresponds to the distance measurement signal of the distance measurement device, characterized in that the control device is configured to determine and to output the intermediate focus setting values in order to control the lens focus setting motor, in that the sequence of the plurality of different intermediate focus setting values corresponds to a continuous or substantially continuous convergence of the focus distance from the first desired value to the second desired value, and in that the different intermediate focus setting values correspond to a respective interpolation, in particular differently weighted interpolations, between the first desired value of the focus distance and the second desired value of the focus distance.