Cavision rails for XH-A1 & Letus EX... 200mm long enough?

[frijol]

So I've got the Letus35 Extreme on order (#274), and a XH-A1 on its way, but I need some rails to make sure these two play nicely together. The Cavision RS-15IIM system is what I'm aiming at, but unfortunately B&H (and Adorama) has had the model with the 250mm (that's 10" for the unit conversion challenged out there... like me) rails on back order for a while and ordering direct from Cavision (which is possible) is $200 plus $35 for shipping (compared to B&H's $170 plus $5 for shipping for same item). B&H does however have the same model with the 200mm (8") rods for $160 that I'd be happy with assuming that's long enough. Here's the B&H link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/335222-REG/Cavision_RS15IIM200MM_RS_15IIM_Rod_Support_System. html
(http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/335222-REG/Cavision_RS15IIM200MM_RS_15IIM_Rod_Support_System. html)
For the moment I won't be mounting anything other than the XH-A1, the Letus35 Extreme, and smallish Nikon and Canon EOS lenses (no mattebox).

I've seen pictures of Disjecta's setup with the Cavision rails (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=110794) and I'm pretty sure he's got the 250mm rails on there. Does anyone know if the 200mm rails will be long enough for a similar setup? Disjecta, you're probably one of the few that can give me a definite answer. What do you think?

I'd personally rather have the longer rails anyway, but for a $70 difference at this point I'll settle for the short rails if they'll do the trick.

If anyone knows another retailer that has the longer rails in stock for about the same price as B&H, let me know. I've been unable to find anything in my searches. I'm also willing to buy a used set of rails if anyone is selling.

Thanks for the help!!

[DeGrey]

I have those Cavision 200mm rods on my XH-A1 and they should work fine for you as well. Here is a picture of them with a Flip. The Extreme would look pretty much the same.


http://www.letusdirect.com/cart/images/D/fe-3.jpg

[puredrifting]

You can get any rods you need from www.redrockmicro.com or more directly http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl;jsessionid=ac112b321f43b364fc784bbc47efa7b6c3 58230f35ec.e3eSc38TaNqNe34Pa38Ta38Nch50?c=472981&sc=2&category=4

Not sure if you want any extra rod sticking out from the rear of the camera? Are you ever planning on mounting a monitor, etc. to the rear of the camera? I am receving an Extreme also and I am using it with the HVX-200, foollow focus and a matte box so I ordered the 18" rails (457.2mm) from Red Rock Micro. If you don't plan on a follow focus and matte box or on hanging a monitor or anything else off of the back, the shorter rails will probably work fine.

If you are going to go whole hog and get all of the toys, you will need the longer ones.

Good luck,

Dan

[8DFM.com]

Frijol,

I've found myself in the same situation. I have a Letus Extreme on the way and have ordered and received the 250mm Cavision base/rods system. Now that I'm looking deeper into the "toys" I see that I probably will want to add at least a follow focus and possibly a matte box.

I probably should have gotten the 18" base/rods system from IndiFocus:

http://indifocus.com/indiraILS.html

But hindsight is always 20/20. I also read on the forums here that the IndiFocus Indirails didn't look as sturdy as the Cavision system - but you would never know for sure unless you had them both in your hands.

I might just go ahead and get just the 18" rails from redrockmicro.com for $99. It will be a waste of the 10" rails but maybe I'll use them when I'm not using the Extreme - which probably won't be a whole lot ;)

If you're willing to purchase my Cavision 10" base/rods send me a PM and we'll see what we can work out. Otherwise I'd recommend to you the IndiRails.

Good luck!

[Ram S.O.S]

Frijol,

I probably should have gotten the 18" base/rods system from IndiFocus:

http://indifocus.com/indiraILS.html

But hindsight is always 20/20. I also read on the forums here that the IndiFocus Indirails didn't look as sturdy as the Cavision system - but you would never know for sure unless you had them both in your hands.


Do you think the Indirails system will have enough height at the baseplate and the ability to offset the camera enough for the use of a follow focus and Mattebox? I'm in a similar situation needing to find a good solution for the Letus 35 Extreme, I've seen a Letus setup in another thread on the forum and the Baseplate had to be raised quite a bit and offset a lot to allow the accessories to work correctly due to the Flip design of the Letus. This is no an issue with other adapters (Yet). What are your thoughts on that I want to make sure I make the right support system purchase.

[ecking]

Do you think the Indirails system will have enough height at the baseplate and the ability to offset the camera enough for the use of a follow focus and Mattebox? I'm in a similar situation needing to find a good solution for the Letus 35 Extreme, I've seen a Letus setup in another thread on the forum and the Baseplate had to be raised quite a bit and offset a lot to allow the accessories to work correctly due to the Flip design of the Letus. This is no an issue with other adapters (Yet). What are your thoughts on that I want to make sure I make the right support system purchase.

Good question, I'd like to know the same thing about the indirails.

[Focus This!]

The indiRAILS should be able to accomodate the new Letus35 extreme. If design changes are needed, we would put out a 'letus extreme' version.

[Focus This!]

Question for the Letus folks, does the adaptor HAVE to be orientated such that the 35mm lens is so slow? Can it be orientated with the 35mm SLR lens on top?

[DavidChia]

Question for the Indie foucs guys. Do you sell only the 18" carbon rods without the base. I'm sure alot of people with Cavision systems or other rail system would like to buy them from you if you sell them.

[DavidChia]

And for those of you who are looking for longer rails. I recently email Cavision and they told me that they selling thier rails 45cm/50cm for U.S$50 more inexchange of the 25cm rail when you order the RS15IIM250MM . You can email Jason at this address: jason@cavision.com for more info

[indieGuerilla]

I am curious to the amount of weight that rails or rods actually hold. I would like some guess to how much weight, and the distance of that weight from the place the rails attatch to the tripod or a baseplate. Hope this makes sense. IG

[davidreimers]

I am pretty sure the rods will be sturdy enough... I have 25cm rods from cavision, and it is almost seemingly impossible to break them or bend them :)

with matte box, FF, filters, adapter, lens, you shouldnt have to worry, I mean thats what they were made for

[puredrifting]

With the Extreme, the vertical offset at lens centerline is 44mm if that helps so whatever rod base you use, you need to elevate the camera 44mm.

Best,

Dan

[8DFM.com]

Dan,

Do you recall what the horizontal offset is?

Anybody...?

Thanks!

[taormina]

The problem with mounting the unit "snorkel up" in my case was that there was no way that the follow focus and matte box worked with that sort of height.

[indieGuerilla]

Hi again, Did my last post make sense. I cant get anyone to tell me a guess as to how much weight rails can actually hold. Lets imagine a pair of 14 or 15 inch long rails. Would rails this long be able to hold 5 pounds at 14 inches from where the rails attatch. IG

[iakeij]

Does anyone here know whether the zacuto or hyson base plates work with the Letus Extreme?

[Dennis Wood]

Our carbon rails system uses very heavy wall carbon, is available in 30, 45 and 60cm lengths...and is already designed to allow the correct offset for the flip (Letus or ours), while keeping your mattebox etc. at the 85mm standard. They've been developed over the last 18 months for use with adapters! One of the things you'll find is that with everything mounted, many of the rails systems out there will have issues balancing your rig over the tripod head...something we've learned a few things about here.

[Look 1st]

Our carbon rails system uses very heavy wall carbon, is available in 30, 45 and 60cm lengths...and is already designed to allow the correct offset for the flip (Letus or ours), while keeping your mattebox etc. at the 85mm standard. They've been developed over the last 18 months for use with adapters! One of the things you'll find is that with everything mounted, many of the rails systems out there will have issues balancing your rig over the tripod head...something we've learned a few things about here.

Hey Dennis, I think the only thing left for you guys is World Domination ;)

Keep up the great work