35mm adapters, the right one for you and for me

B

Bezakor

Well-known member
O.k so I have almost saved up enuff loot to buy an adapter, of course all of a sudden i cant quite grasp which is the right one for. I have seen some amazing posts by you guys in the dvx GRABS sections with your adapters, I have always been inclined to the Letus Flip, and the M2, but have recently seen some amazing footage from the SGpro...

Now i thought the letus Flip was the budget adapter to get. But its $700 and $200 for the recommended rods that makes it:
The M2 and rods $975
LETUS FLIP-A and rods $900
The SgPro and rods is $820
Brevis35 HD bundle (no rods)is $998

Quite closely priced for me with the M2 topping the Letus that tops the SGpro... now did i do my math incorrectly or what...?
So im a little caught up. the cheapest seems to be SGPro.
Another Question: Do all these mentioned adapters shoot the image the correct way up?

Those of you with adapters, without, those having the same problem as me, or those that will eventually have the same predicament, please help with some advice!!!
Thanks users!
much love
Beza
 
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remember that the sgpro price does not include a lens mount.
the letus flip is the only one that will give you the image the "correct" way up.

I've heard the letus had problems with shutter speeds and swirly grain.
The m2 seemed to fiddly for me. Too many adjustments and room for error.
the sgpro was just right.
 
great matty!!
those are the comments im looking for.
thanks for getting this started.

how do u mean fiddly? yes i saw that there is no mount, but do they supply one and u know the price?
 
on the m2 you have to open it up and move the motor around to get edge to edge sharpness. and if you change lens mounts you have to move the motor agian.

on the sgpro the lens mounts are calibrated to the gg so no adjustments are needed.
sgpro mounts:
Canon FD (in stock) - £75

Canon EOS/EF (in stock) - £50

M42 (about 28 days lead time) - £50

Contax (about 28 days lead time) - £60

Leica R (about 28 days lead time) - £60

Leica M39 Screwmount - £12

Minolta MD (about 28 days lead time) - £50

Nikon (in stock) - £50

Olympus OM (about 28 days lead time) - £60

Pentax K (about 28 days lead time) £50

PL mount £300

OCT-19 mount £300

these were the prices wayne sent to me when i was ordering mine. I assume they are still accurate
 
Have you consider the Brevis? I had an M2 and ended up selling it, i wasn't using it enough. One of the reason what the weight (very heavy), the setup time (1/2 hour) and the fact that it was difficult to keep highlights not to become "blown out" which is a problem most adaptors have. Two month after I sold my redrock, I got a project which needed a 35mm adaptor. I started to take a second look at adaptors, and found the Brevis. The Brevis has three big advantages over other adaptors: First, it's very light and set-up in less than a minute, which for me is a big, big plus. The second advantage is it's modular aproach to the ground glasses... They offer different one, called Cinefuse, that will give you different looks, a bit like film stocks in a way and which can help with some of the blown out problems . Last they are fully upgradable to future improvements / add-on...
Off course most of the adaoptors you mentioned will give you very good results as well, so you can't really go wrong with any of them...

read about :

the Shootout between the Redrock Micro M2, Brevis 35 and the SGPRO

on:

www.philipbloom.net

it's a very good read.
 
SomewhereinLA, Great article at a glance, just about to read it!
Your coo\mment on the Brevis easy usage and setup time intrests me a lot actually. I am relatively new to film (i did photography and studied Architecture) so what would take u 1/2 hour would certainly take me 2hours! haha,

Are u still using the Brevis35? I actually just havent seen any footage yet with it and the DVX.

Matty that footage just makes me excited to get an adapter! lol.
thanks for putting up those quotes, how long have u been using the SGpro?
Also i see it has a minolta mount too, i have 2 or 3 old AF lenses around, obviously the AF wont work but will it function as a Manual still?
 
I've just done some backyard tests and whatnot with mine and a small group test.
you can check it out here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=91404
I wish i had more light to stop the lenses down a bit, but i was still very impressed i could use the adapter indoors with very little light. I was often out of focus in that test, and that is all user error.
It is also very easy to set up, but not quite as easy as the brevis.

About the lenses i'm afraid I don't know. Some AF lenses will work manually and some won't.
 
Yes, I like Phil's shootout a lot , because it is unbiased. He owned both the Brevis and the Redrock and the creator of the SGpro was there to help him with his adaptor. He just tell it like it is, which is a good thing. Most people are very biased toward the hardware they have, which of course is understandable, but make getting good advices difficult.
I use an HVX, if you do a search, I am sure you can find many clips shot with the DVX and the Brevis. You might also want to visit brevis website and check out their forum: http://www.cinevate.com
They have a section with clips shot witn many cameras... Also one other advantage of the Brevis I forgot to mention is that the Brevis has the least light loss of any other 35mm adoptors, which is important when shooting indoors or night scenes.
 
I set my M2 up in about 5 min and thats when I'm slow, usually it's more like 2. The real time setting up is in the other add ons. here is why:

a if your using any adapter you should be using an HD monitor, 7" marshall and a larger monitor for focus. That will eat time.

b lighting for any adapter will take longer than usual, you need more light.

c changing out lenses sucks because you're really forced to check back focus every time.

I've seen really great stuff with all three mentioned adapters but for me the M2's GG is the best in the price range, that doesn't mean that the M2 is the best. I advise you to rent all three for a day and draw your own conclusions.
 
HDkilledFilm, firstly sick profile name! nice.
Secondly, u absolutely right I would love to rent them out, but i live in South Africa so my choice (conclusions) of wich adapter is indicative of the advice i read from you guys.
so far this thread is revealing some very impartial views on personal adapters, so im pleased with what im reading already.
Thanks for your input HD, is the M2 your first adapter.. how did u choose?

SomewhereinLA that thread is brilliant, people like Phil are so f**cking helpful to me - i did see in the test that the Brevis maintained great amount of light.

Matty, im busy downloading it! ...no one really seems to know about the minolta lenses.... it not a train smash.

no ones mentioned their LETUS?

cant wait to post my "first adapter footage" lol !
 
I really like the SGPRO, i took me like 2 minutes to set it up. Great product and sharp as a razor. Only drawback is the lack of a sexy logo!
 
When you all mentioned the fact about the flipped image. Is the image flipped in the viewfinder but is recorded with the correct image aspect?
 
no its flipped in the viewfinder, and in the resulting footage. the LETUS A FLIP is apparently the only adapter that corrects this.
 
I bought the M2 after I tried almost all the adapters in my price range, both static and moving GG, either on shoots or borrowed from friends. I thought the M2's cine screen was for me, the most "filmic". Thats just to my eyes and it's a subjective opinion but with the HD achromat and their cine screen the M2 had enough edge to edge sharpness and the right look to it for me. I'd say your best option if you can't rent is to ask each adapters maker for hi rez uncorrected sample footage shot with your camera (if possible) and then make your decision from that mixed with the customer service experience you get from each company.
 
Matty_g said:
remember that the sgpro price does not include a lens mount.
the letus flip is the only one that will give you the image the "correct" way up.

I've heard the letus had problems with shutter speeds and swirly grain.
The m2 seemed to fiddly for me. Too many adjustments and room for error.
the sgpro was just right.
Click to expand...


As for the Letus...expand on the shutter speed info and swirly grain. What did you hear?
 
What about the WDR35PRO.

It fairly cheap. gives good results too. Cost 550euros with rail system & 1 lens mount . 30euros for an additional extra lens mount if you want.
 
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