Thinking of a Letus 35FE... Hope these grabs & review help.

Cory84 said:
I've had some problems with it, but Quyen has always been so quick to help. Something happened with my vibration pattern. You can see the grain so well because I was shooting at 120 shutter speed for a slow motion effect.
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I emailed Quyen about high shutter speed a while back. He told me that this was a Letus limitation. Hope this helps!
Jgastelb
 
c.g._eads said:
what does higher shutter speed do exactly?
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I took this from -- http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/fototech/apershutter/shutter.htm





[FONT=Arial, verdana, helvetica, geneva]What is shutter speed ? The aperture diaphragm of a lens (bigger or smaller values) AND timing (open and close) of the camera's shutter curtain - [/FONT][FONT=Arial, verdana, helvetica, geneva]BOTH[/FONT][FONT=Arial, verdana, helvetica, geneva] perform the tasks of regulating the amount of light entering the camera and expose onto the film. The shutter speed scales engraved on the shutter speed dial of conventional camera bodies with a shutter speed ring OR via some flickering digital numerals on the LCD screen like: 1/8000, 1/4000, 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1 or -1, -2 etc. are essentially indicators of the duration (timing) at which the shutter curtain opens up and closes during an exposure process. A 1/125 setting means the shutter curtain open and close within one hundred and twenty five of a second while 1 means an one full-second the shutter opens up during exposure to absorb the available light source onto the film to form an [/FONT][FONT=Arial, verdana, helvetica, geneva]exposure[/FONT][FONT=Arial, verdana, helvetica, geneva].[/FONT]​
 
so 1 second allows more light
and 1/125 second allows less light?

why would you want less light again? I guess if it's too bright.

so if you're shooting out in heavy sunlight you want to go with a lower shutter speed (1/125 as opposed to 1) and that's when the Letus runs into trouble?

That doesn't make sense because why would the Letus do worse under high light conditions?
 
c.g._eads said:
so 1 second allows more light
and 1/125 second allows less light?

why would you want less light again? I guess if it's too bright.

so if you're shooting out in heavy sunlight you want to go with a lower shutter speed (1/125 as opposed to 1) and that's when the Letus runs into trouble?

That doesn't make sense because why would the Letus do worse under high light conditions?
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I won't pretend that I know the ins and outs of the inner workings of an adapter but this much I think I understand -- The ground glass rotates at a certain speed. When you use a shutter of, say, 1/125 the shutter and the ground glass are in sync with each other making the grain seem static. This is, of course, very obvious in your highlights. Not a good thing. Using 1/24, 1/48, 1/60 will render good results provided your motor is working. I haven't tested all of the high shutter speeds but I know that with 1/125 this is not a good combo.

In regards to why you would want to use other shutter speeds -- If it's a really bright, sunny day, and you need to cut down on more light then you may want to use the 1/125 or whatever. Though that's when you can add an ND filter or two to compensate. The slr lens can also be adjusted to get the right exposure, thus getting the look you want without having to resort to other speeds you may not want. Keep in mind that the more filmic shutter speeds tend to be 1/48 and some people claim 1/60. Shutter speeds such as 1/125 and 1/250 are usually reserved for more commercial venues such as music videos and great for sports where you would want a sharp crisp look with little motion blur.
Jgastelb
 
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Very high shutter speeds can also serve to create that sort of stroboscopic effect that works so well in the combat scenes in 'Saving Private Ryan' and 'Band of Brothers.'

Going by what jgastelb sez, the grain in the letus becomes more visible, for the same 'stroboscopic' reason: each very short exposure is catching the GG at the same point in its vibration cycle.
 
I wonder... if you swapped out the battery pack for one with 4 AA's instead of 2 AA's, would it perform with higher shutter speeds...?
 
Cory84 said:
I wonder... if you swapped out the battery pack for one with 4 AA's instead of 2 AA's, would it perform with higher shutter speeds...?
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Ummmm..... Don't know that I want to go that far into it.
Jgastelb
 
Letus36 FE Slow Mo Shutter Tests

Letus36 FE Slow Mo Shutter Tests

As per some previous posts I banged out a couple of tests with all the frame rate/shutter combinations I could do in a bedroom without pro lighting.

Please excuse the vignetting.. as this was a test for frame rates and shutter speed I didn't care to clean things up.

On the clip you'll find.

DVX 100A
28mm Nikn AI
Lighting... a crappy worklight.

30i @ 120f
30i @ 60f
30I @ 30f

60i @ 120f
60i @ 60f

24PA - Shutter OFF

As was mentioned in earlier posts a white background reveals the most amount of the vibrating Ground Glass. That's why my tests have a white background.

I have done other slow mo letus tests and without the white background you couldn't see any strobing or GG vibration

Also, note the 120 shutter speed is not lit with enough light. With proper light you should see less strobing. But I think for the purposes of this test it will aid in seeing what everybody's talking about.

To my eye the 120 speed, on a white background, really shows the strobe-ing.

The work around seems to be a 60 shutter limit on white.

When I used my friends Redrock I had only limited natural light so I used a the lowest shutter I could and it looked great. My subjects were also moving slowly to begin with so motion blur wasn't a problem.

All that to say without a variable GG rate the 120 shutter speed slow mo, on white background, is a bit of a problem. Nothing dumping down to 60 won't fix if white has to be the background.

If more juice will make the GG vibrate faster and if that will clean up the 120 shutter, on white, issue will have to be left up to the techs.

Also, I can't speek to those of you who's HVX's can shoot at a variable rate for slo mo. You can chime in to help those deciding on a Letus35 FE for their HVX.

Next I'll test 30i and 60i slo mo with a non-white background, outside with plenty of light.... post that when I get to it.

Kip

Video: (It's big... for qualities sake)

http://mono-fi.com/slolettest.mov
 
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You Tube

You Tube

jgastelb said:
THX-1138,

It says 'video not available.'
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Youtube bug I guess... I got an upload conformation and a url to post but it never went online... I'm uploading it again right now.

I'll post the new url as soon as it lets me and I test it.

Kip Kubin
 
Cory84 said:
I wonder... if you swapped out the battery pack for one with 4 AA's instead of 2 AA's, would it perform with higher shutter speeds...?
Click to expand...

Someone actually did modify his battery pack with 4 AA's. Not only did it made the Letus perform better at higher shutter speeds, the grain is less visible at default shutter speeds too.

Thing is, I forgot who was the user who posted his modifications and clips. Perhaps a little search on this forum might help.
 
eureka said:
All i meant was, your paying good money for the equipment, which looks insane, then you purchase a Letus35FE and it degrades the look.

"someone show me a pic that looks the part please"

Peoples perceptions are very important.

Cause if it wasnt the 3chip Panny Ive been using for the last 5 years, would have done the job.

"Believe me, If i could have bought an imitation HVX202 And used the small handheld next to it, i would have.

Customers have to be pleased, and if they see you using a cheap old camera and there paying top dollar for the production.
They feel like there being ripped off.

Im not talking about low budget Productions either, Im talking about commercials for TV.

Were the customer owns the business and your spending his money, not some multi-national, with a massive budgets.

Regards



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How does this setup look to you
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=50691&highlight=letus
 
For me that doesn't look so professional. That old bogen head doesn't do justice for that setup. Also that cavision rod setup is not too stable looking. This was just for the looks, I know that setup creates nice images.
 
badlaa said:
For me that doesn't look so professional. That old bogen head doesn't do justice for that setup. Also that cavision rod setup is not too stable looking. This was just for the looks, I know that setup creates nice images.
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WOW!!!
 
badlaa said:
For me that doesn't look so professional. That old bogen head doesn't do justice for that setup. Also that cavision rod setup is not too stable looking. This was just for the looks, I know that setup creates nice images.
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I guess there's just no pleasing some folks.
 
SilverWolf said:
I guess there's just no pleasing some folks.
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I'm with ya. I mean, come on. If that doesn't look pro then you must be the DP to Mr. Spielberg or something where everything else just looks ordinary.
 
I noticed some people mentioned (maybe in another thread) recommended primes to have in one's kit (25mm, 50mm, etc) but it doesn't seem like there's much talk of zoom lenses. Is that a weight issue? With rods, would weight even be an issue?
 
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