m2 Adapter Users - Satisified w/ your investment?

rgdfilms

rgdfilms

Wet poodle
This is a thread for both praise and constructive criticism regarding the M2 adapter -

Those of you that have used or purchased this adapter, please share your thoughts..

Is it worth the big expense, ($1000 for adapter, $300 for lenses, $1400 for onboard monitor) for the image you get over the stock HVX lens?

Do you see the M2 as total neccesity or would you consider it a luxury?

How many of you wanted the Cinemek but gave up?

I've been personally thinking of investing in one by the end of the summertime but still have my own reservations -

thanks DvxUDES !

:crybaby:
 
I would say I use the M2 about 80% of the time I am using the HVX200.

It took a bit of setting up when I owned the Sony FX1. I was using spacer tubes and getting abit of edge distortion. I am now happy to say all those problems have been completely resolved once I used it with the HVX. The secret is the get the lens of the HVX as close as possible to the acromat of the M2. As the HVX can focus down to a finger on the lens, there is no need for spacer tubes or anything. The image is sharp in the middle and sharp at the edges.

Is it worth $1000 for the indie package? I think it's worth $2000-3000 personally and have said before that Redrock are underselling a great product.

The results I have had with the HVX/M2 combo have been fantastic.

As for the Cinemek, I don't understand why folks are waiting. They have no product on the table, their original static adaptor was thrown out as not good enough, and whilst you are all waiting for them to release the new G35 with moving parts, others are buying the M2 and shooting today. Even the Cinemek website has taken off the forum, so it doesn't look good IMO. I hope to be proved wrong and they release a killer 35mm adaptor, but I am not holding my breath, and in the meantime Redrock go from strength to strength with a great looking Follow Focus out any day, as well as aMattebox plus other things on top!

If you do purchase an M2 you will not be disappointed, but I do suggest buying an external rechargable battery that plugs into the 12 volt socket and is bungied onto the side of the M2. It saves taking the M2 apart to change the battery, and also spins the GG slightly faster so there is no sign of spinning GG on the footage.
 
Steve -- do you have a link to the rechargeable battery you use?

My M2 arrived Saturday so I've only done a few hours of testing, but so far so great!
 
I'm with steve, great product at a bargain price. why wait for the g35 ? if they get it working the quality is going to be about the same but certainly not much better. Even the p+S at $10K isn't as good. For me it is the solution until red or some other single chip affordable camera comes along. I just saw this http://www.siliconimaging.com
Aloha
-A
 
thanks guys for your thoughts, more are welcome of course!

The more you guys talk this thing up, the more I justify it in my mind to plunk down some cash whenever I get it..

I wish I could actually play with one before I bought

sounds like yer all happy!
 
I know this is not exactly on the original topic but could some of you also add exactly what lenses you are using and how you like the results? I may invest in one of these units but I cannot afford prime lenses. I am wondering what relatively inexpensive 35mm lenses you have.

Thanks!
 
Obviously the faster the lens the better. Normally I don't use any primes with my M2. You basically need three lenses.

Say for example you are going to use Nikon lenses, as they are the most popular mount. I use 17-35mm 2.8, a 35-70mm 2.8 and an 80-200mm 2.8 zooms, and those three cover all bases.

these three lenses are on Ebay all the time. The 17-35mm sells for £500ish
($800), the 35-70 for about $200, and the 80-200 for about $6-700.
 
I think the M2 is cool. It certainly has an interesting look to the image. My frame edges are still a little disorted. It's not very noticeable unless you're staring at a resolution chart. I believe this is due to the Achromat. Perhaps a better one wouldn't introduce any distortion.

What I like best about it is that you can shoot up to F16 if you really wanted to. I prefer the look of my 50mm at about F4 to F5.6 so far. To me 1.4 is just too shallow for most things - it doesn't feel right to me. The more you stop down the more you need to zoom in (and reduce field of view) in order to avoid vignetting.

Hey, it's one more cool tool.
 
Nice rig! My HVX arrived last week and I love it! I ordered my M2 today and wanted to know monitor you chose and how much it set you back. Oh, and where did you get the bracket...looks very cool!
 
I have an M2 that I use with my DVX100a. I've written about my use with it on the forum before. But here's a quick wrap up:

Pros:

- Footage looks great
- Fairly simple device so easy to maintain
- Not large or heavy so usable run/gun or on steadicam

Cons:

- Pain in the arse to setup
- Problems with noise when using AC adaptor
- Softness at edges of image
- Alignment is tricky unless hard coupling is used

As for lenses, I am using: Nikon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 24mm 2.8, Sigma 55-200mm 1.4-5.6, Nikon Macro 55mm 2.8

At the moment I still recommend the Redrock M2. The problems with setup are worth the effort. And I stress that you really need to spend the time setting it up. The noise problem with the AC Adaptor (Redrock's own) is still a bit of an irritation.
 
HansK said:
Cons:

- Pain in the arse to setup
- Problems with noise when using AC adaptor
- Softness at edges of image
- Alignment is tricky unless hard coupling is used
Click to expand...

Just how bad is the "softness on the edges" issue? Haven't bought mine yet, but the raves for the M2 have me 99% convinced.
 
DVX100a, M2, Mattebox
Sigma 15mm f2.8, Nikon 28mm f2.0, Nikkor 55 f1.2

As soon as the new ground glass came out the M2 is the best thing to happen to digital since the DVX. Although you are still shooting digital (reduced latitude, color space, etc.) the DOF really can make this less distracting.

I think the edge softness has a lot to do with the individual lenses. I used to shoot a cheaper Vivatar 28mm but I got a nice Nikon and it has no problems.

I don't know if you've seen this but this should make the buy descision for you.

CRW_9582_v2.jpg


:kali: competition
 
$300 for lenses
Click to expand...

Hahahahahaaaaaahahahahaha! You're funny.

I just got mine today, so I can definitely share the "setting it up is a pain in the ass" comments. Overall it's not too bad, but it's taken me about an hour to get the shims assembled and all that (the shim screws are too close to the casing, so you have to loosen them with 1/4 turns... really irritating but you only have to do it once.

I've had to set it aside for the moment but I hope to get it all tweaked and ready to go later this evening.
 
Oh, and hey Steve, about how long does that battery last on the M2? I'm guessing significantly more than 2-3 hours.
 
sean90291 said:
Just how bad is the "softness on the edges" issue?
Click to expand...
It's not too bad. But don't expect edge-to-edge sharpness. I've only seen a few clips that are sharp edge-to-edge. Threads regarding this on the Redrock forums suggest several culprits:

1. Incorrect setup
2. Achromat
3. Zoom/Macro support of camera
4. Lens quality

or combinations thereof.

But, I believe it's the achromat and focusing on the back of the GG. I can clearly see when setting up the back focus that the center will be in focus and the edges just a slight bit out of focus. That's an indication of a back focus problem and has nothing to do with the lens.

I've adjusted and tweeked and still have the problem.
 
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