All adapters side by side picture

[hienle]

I got in my hand 4 adapters:

1. SG Pro Rev3 (Wayne sent to me to measure the connection to make the FLIP for him)
2. Redrock M2 (borrowed from a friend
3. Brevis (Someone paid us $700 to upgrade to Letus Extreme at the time we need one to test our FLIP ;-)
4. And of course our beloved Extreme

And here is some vitals:

SG Pro: 148mm long, weighed in at 3 lbs 6.8oz without a battery
M2: 196mm long, weighed in at 3 lbs 15.8 oz with battery
Brevis: 175mm long, weighed in at 2 lbs 12.3 oz with battery inside
Letus35 Extreme: 141mm long, weighed in at 3 lbs 3oz with 2 AA batteries

Notes: SG Pro, M2, Brevis measurements were taking with Letus FLIP.

All adapters' measurements include Canon FD mounts, except Nikon mount for M2


I won't bother with the test on the image quality because it will not be valid since I would have my own interest. Just like my mom says I am handsome :), doesn't mean a peep to you. But frankly ....... :-)


Hope you all find this helpful

[Kholi]

Suh weet. The flip on every unit.

[alpi69]

With the SGpro there is a lot of elevation for the camera necessary.

[Luis Caffesse]

With the SGpro there is a lot of elevation for the camera necessary.

I imagine you could always configure the flip unit to go down instead of up.
Of course then you need raised rails in the front, I would guess.

[Taylor Rudd]

I imagine you could always configure the flip unit to go down instead of up.
Of course then you need raised rails in the front, I would guess.

My thoughts exactly. Sounds like a job for the Z-Riser.

[Lenilenapi]

Thanks Hienle,

BTW I'll get my photos to you today - promise. I've been away.

I'll try to get you some of the offset on the EX-1 as well.


Lenny Levy

[Wayne Kinney]

With the SGpro there is a lot of elevation for the camera necessary.

This is not true, the distance from the rods centre to the lens mount is the standard 85mm to align with a mattebox for example, so the elevation will be the same for all adapters, the SGpro is no different.

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/rodstolenscentre.jpg

[Arrik]

Also, the pics of waynes flipped rig dont look any more elevated than any other set up imo. I actually prefer the sg flipped rig over the rest.

[ecking]

Wow I had no idea the sgpro was so small.

[Jason Adams]

This is great...Thanks Hein

I always thought the Letus was much heavier than the other guys. It seems with Flip all but Brevis are about the same.

[Dennis Wood]

The Brevis with the Cinevate flip is about 6 oz lighter than the Brevis/Letus flip, and $50 less expensive ($170 less expensive for our pre-flip bundle purchasers). It's also optically optimized specifically for our system. It's important to note that the Cinevate flip has XY adjust built in for all the cam's out there that cannot shoot image-centric. Our 72mm HD achromat differs from the Letus in that it can be removed and used as a very high quality macro for extreme close up videography. The unit mounts to Sony cams etc. without hitting the mics when being threaded on. I'll let the upcoming reviews speak to the differences in edge-to-edge sharpness :-)


http://www.cinevate.com/images/flip4sm.jpg

[Tim Naylor]

XY axis. Good move. I'm having problems with left edge sharpness on my LE with my very uncentric HVX 200 (its days are numbered).

re: the SG

It's quite light with the flip. I use it with the Z riser. I just couldn't bare to have my camera look like a platform shoe. Something's inherently less stable about raising the camera instead of the adaptor. It just ain't right. If alignment isn't perfect or rock solid, you'll run into leveling issues. Ask anyone who's had extensive use with PS mini's platform system. A camera deserves to rest on a solid base.

[William_Robinette]

Dennis, nice job on that avatar change. That pixelated Brevis from before was no good :p.

[hienle]

We are filing some patent on how to do compensate for CCD off center. We will let you all know how we do it once the paper is filed properly. It is certainly not the current all adapters out there are doing. Certainly it is not using 3-4 screws and stick one longer and one shorter to compensate for it. This is the worse way to do fix the offset because it will create a very unstable structure (If anyone out there took Structural Analysis in college will know exact what I am talking about.) We want to build it the way that is rigid and the whole structure must rest on something solid, not 3-4 screws heads. Professional users will freak out when they see this. We had this thought up long time ago but has not time to implement it.

[Kholi]

We are filing some patent on how to do compensate for CCD off center. We will let you all know how we do it once the paper is filed properly. It is certainly not the current all adapters out there are doing. Certainly it is not using 3-4 screws and stick one longer and one shorter to compensate for it. This is the worse way to do fix the offset because it will create a very unstable structure (If anyone out there took Structural Analysis in college will know exact what I am talking about.) We want to build it the way that is rigid and the whole structure must rest on something solid, not 3-4 screws heads. Professional users will freak out when they see this. We had this thought up long time ago but has not time to implement it.

Cheers! To ENGINEERS!

I do have a thought, though. Wouldn't screw adjustments re-introduce edge softness if not aligned perfectly? That's why I didn't go for the "push your Letus against the ring" trick to align my image. I would rather zoom in then center it that way. So, to know that there's a well-engineered solution that's something as serious as requiring a patent is good enough for me to wait up for.

Didn't think about this at all, I suppose using screws to adjust as well would cause problems with the weight of a lens and a mattebox and such. Could get serious.

[Dennis Wood]

Tim, the issue with a z riser that I see is that you lose fore-aft balancing...particularly using cine lenses out front with a mattebox and filters. However, if it's working for you, cool. K, it's all in where you do the adjustment for XY...that's why our modular approach has some advantages. William, thanks and all the credit goes to a few of our staff who are Photoshop guru types :-)

[Jon Neely]

Hey guys, just though I might add that after seeing Brian at DVexpo in Dec. he showed me a protype flip for the M2, and it seems to be much smaller then the flips on thease adapters, I dont think it had 72mm rings but is was down right tiny, and it was disgined for the m2, just thought I might add that, Also Dennis, your flip looks to me the best and most professional out of all of them, Do you think it will work on the SGpro? I'd test it for ya!

Jon

[Arrik]

Regarding weight, I think a fair comparison between vibrating/spinning adapters would be to consider the weight of the adapter support for the Brevis and Letus, since I dont think anyone would use a flipped adapter on their camera's threads alone.

In that respect, the spinners have a plus in that support is built in to the adapter.

Also, using a brevis flip with the spinners (provided it performs equal or better to the letus-flip) would help reduce overall weight. SG Pro would be lighter than the Letux EX in that case. But having all the adapters side by side really shows that the letus for all its "built like a tank" and "heavy" comments, is not that much of a tank in weight and size. Pretty compact actually....

Im a brevis owner and gladly take the added weight of the brevis-to-rails mount because it is rock solid, but it does cut into the brevis edge as the lightweight leader.

[Pastor Thug]

The Extreme is the best looking adapter aesthetically speaking. Not that 'looks' is that important... but it does have that clean, professional look to it.

[Kholi]

But having all the adapters side by side really shows that the letus for all its "built like a tank" and "heavy" comments, is not that much of a tank in weight and size. Pretty compact actually....


=P And, it's all one unit.

[DeGrey]

Ah.... we are missing the Extreme's little brother, the Mini. Was he too shy to appear with the gang? It's geared toward the smaller cameras of course but it would be fun to see it in the line up.

[Dennis Wood]

Our solid carbon fibre rods system is about 75% stiffer than stainless, sexy as hell, and the entire 45cm rails system including the new quick-release Brevis-to-rails mount, tripod plate, solid carbon fibre rods, and camera platform is only 2lbs, 7oz. The camera and adapter rig can be released from the rails in about 7 seconds :-) You'll see some sneak peaks in the next few days of the entire updated rig. Jon, the entire design team (which does include 4 engineers, 3 of them optical) looks at functionality first, but then weight and esthetics come into play and literally every excess gram is shaved away where possible. I'm glad you like the look of the Brevis rig...it's better in person :-)

[Jason Adams]

Not that it matters all that much, But the Flip on the Brevis is sexy....Makes the whole adapter look more pro.

[arno]

Sexy... More pro? Come on... DVXUSER is s a serious forum.

Arno

arnokranenborg.com