m2 Adapter Users - Satisified w/ your investment?

I can tell you one thing after looking at that cow footage - those cows most certainly are not from California.

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Steve,

Thanks so much for the pictures of your setup. That helped a lot. I finally removed the hood and pushed the achromat and the skylight flush. And for the first time I got the edge-to-edge sharpness I wanted. I tried a couple of lenses, and I agree with you that the lens was part of the problem.

Three more questions, if you don't mind.

1) Do you find that the positioning of the camera relative to the m2 is critical? It seems that even a millimeter off either in horizontal translation or parallelism between the two is enough to mess up the evenness of the focus. Do you find this to be true? Are there any tricks you use to get the two aligned and to keep them that way?

2) I've read that the CineGamma's cause the image to go unnaturally dark. I was wondering what Gamma you favor or what Gammas you use in various situations.

3) To experiment with the focus, I finally hooked the camera up to a 50" HDTV. Would you say that you can't use the m2 without an HD monitor? I was hoping I could set the back focus and then shoot using the camera's LCD and focus assist. I guess my concern is that I might bump the camera and lose the critical alignment for the back focus and then never know it in the field. Besides image flip -- is focus/alignment the reason for the extra monitor?

Thanks for your advice. Greatly appreciated!

Andy
 
andy_starbuck said:
Are there any tricks you use to get the two aligned and to keep them that way?
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Read the post I made a little back in the thread. It explains the trick of sliding the M2 against the achromat/camera first to align them.

andy_starbuck said:
I guess my concern is that I might bump the camera and lose the critical alignment for the back focus and then never know it in the field.
Click to expand...
Many people use gaffer tape on their zoom and focus rings after finalizing the back focus.

Another quick note, even after setting back focus I do a final adjustment of the camera focus whenever I add or change the 35mm lens. I will focus as sharply as possible using the lens (using a monitor) then fine tune with the camera focus. The camera can focus small amounts between the focus units displayed. For example, within a focus distance of 87 there is still small adjustments that can be made.
 
andy_starbuck said:
Steve,
Three more questions, if you don't mind.

1) Do you find that the positioning of the camera relative to the m2 is critical? It seems that even a millimeter off either in horizontal translation or parallelism between the two is enough to mess up the evenness of the focus. Do you find this to be true? Are there any tricks you use to get the two aligned and to keep them that way?

2) I've read that the CineGamma's cause the image to go unnaturally dark. I was wondering what Gamma you favor or what Gammas you use in various situations.

3) To experiment with the focus, I finally hooked the camera up to a 50" HDTV. Would you say that you can't use the m2 without an HD monitor? I was hoping I could set the back focus and then shoot using the camera's LCD and focus assist. I guess my concern is that I might bump the camera and lose the critical alignment for the back focus and then never know it in the field. Besides image flip -- is focus/alignment the reason for the extra monitor?

Thanks for your advice. Greatly appreciated!

Andy
Click to expand...

Point one. I am not over fussed in lining the camera up with the M2. I actually "eye it in". before I zoom in, I look through the viewfinder and make sure the GG sits in the middle of the screen. I seem to get sharpness edge to edge with the minimum of fuss or attention.

Point two. I shot the cow footage on F5 gamma V. I also use F6 a lot as well.

Point three. Every time I shoot, I use focus assist. Every single shot I check for focus with focus assist. The monitor is used not for focus but composition of the shot, as it has flip and shows the image the right way up. Without a monitor I just wouldn't be able to work properly as I would be shooting flipped, and that would be virtually impossible.

I also agree that a bit of tape to lock the focus of the HVX on the GG is well worth doing. It's so very easy to move the HVX focus dial instead of the Nikon lens by mistake. If the HVX focus is taped then is saves yo having the find accurate focus on the GG again.

And no, those cows are from the field next to my house here in Dorset. Thomas Hardy, Tess Of The D'Obervilles, "Far From The Madding Crowd" country.
 
Whoa, the HVX gets really long with that setup! It must be near impossible to shoot hand held?

Love the cows BTW
 
Steve,

Your setup looks great, as does the cow footage. Good thing no bulls charged you, it would be difficult to move very fast carrying that stuff!

Couple of questions....
Did you have to get the extra-long rods to support that 80-200 zoom?

Also, is it front-heavy with the long lens on there, or does the monitor on top help balance it all out? Thanks.
 
R Gale said:
Steve,

Your setup looks great, as does the cow footage. Good thing no bulls charged you, it would be difficult to move very fast carrying that stuff!

Couple of questions....
Did you have to get the extra-long rods to support that 80-200 zoom?

Also, is it front-heavy with the long lens on there, or does the monitor on top help balance it all out? Thanks.
Click to expand...

The rods are the standard rods that come with the indie package. I ordered extra long rods from Redrock a while back and they haven't shown up yet. I might cancel them as I don't think I will now need them and just settle for these, that are just long enough.

As for weight and length of the setup, well it is almost, but not completely impossible to go handheld. But you would'nt use an 80-200mm lens on handheld, your focus would be impossible if you move about. You could use the 17-35mm and go very wide to have a big DOF and go handheld, and I should imagine last a few mins before being dragged to the floor under its weight.

This setup is definately for the tripod, and you need a good one like a Satchler or a pro Viten that can handle quite a few kilos!!
 
With the Matte box and a couple of 4x4 filters, 80-200 lens, rods and mount, camera, M2 and lcd monitor, just over 10 pounds.
 
I've now got a Lenmar 5400 mAh battery attached to my M2. I tested it by just turning the M2 on and letting it go. It ran for 7 hours straight and only brought the battery down to 3/4 charge. So as suspected, the battery is overkill for this situation, but I'm finding other uses for it as well.
 
Steve:

I wanted to thank you for all your advise in this thread. I will be receiving my M2 in the next few weeks and the information you have provided will be invaluable.
 
How do film outs look with these 35mm adapters ~ does the softening of the image cause any problems?
 
booth said:
How do film outs look with these 35mm adapters ~ does the softening of the image cause any problems?
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Only filmout I've seen with 35 adapter footage was at the JVC event at the Director's Guild several months ago. They screened some test footage shot in a garden on the JVC HD-100, using a P + S mini 35. Very shallow focus, rack focuses.

It looked like 35mm film IMO.
From what I've seen you can control the softness with your lens choices, and aperture.
--In an earlier thread, Steve posted an M2/HVX clip he shot in a garden (so many gardens!)which had a wide shot of a field with true edge-to-edge sharpness.

It doesn't have to be insanely shallow focus, f/1.4 kind of stuff. I believe there's a happy medium to be found. Plus, if the focus is too shallow, for drama it will be extremely difficult to follow the actors.
 
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