OK, so... fastest lens adaptor PERIOD?

I'm not sure why you are worrying about sharpness of the lens. Those are nice zooms made by Nikon. They are good enough for 35mm film photography so they are definitely sharp enough for HD.

All I would worry about is having enough light. If you have access to lighting gear, the world is your oyster. You only lack the ability to open up to a wider aperture.Remember each stop you close down requires twice the amount of light to expose properly. Just saying that the difference between my f/1.4 primes and your 2.8 zoom is 2 stops, which would require 4 times the amount of light. Just to put it in perspective.

Like I said, many people won't go over 2.8, and I think you can pull off a 2.8 lens as long as you always prepare with ample light.


A word of warning, one of those zoom lenses looks really long, I'd look into a lens support for the rod system to help relieve some torque on your lens mount. I would wait to see if you need it, but you might.
 
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Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
I'm not sure why you are worrying about sharpness of the lens. Those are nice zooms made by Nikon. They are good enough for 35mm film photography so they are definitely sharp enough for HD.
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Yea... that's what I have been telling myself and have been hearing here and there but now that you put it that way I am feeling much better.

Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
If you have access to lighting gear, the world is your oyster.
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Well... not really... just those I mentioned prior... a 1000w kino a 500w kino and two hard lights of 800w and 1500w... so not really... for interiors yes... but not for exteriors... not much anyway... so I am a bit worried about my stuff looking too flat-noir... lol...

Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
Remember each stop you close down requires twice the amount of light to expose properly. Just saying that the difference between my f/1.4 primes and your 2.8 zoom is 2 stops, which would require 4 times the amount of light. Just to put it in perspective.
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Wow... yea I forgot it was like that... ouch it hurts to hear it like that... thanks for reminding me!!! Maybe I should then try to get a few primes? say a 30mm a 50mm and an 80mm...? sounds like too much money ... well I have ZERO $ left anyway...

I am thinking that full availability of focal lengths will allow for full creative expression... but maybe I will have to rent primes for night exterior stuff... huh?

@#^!!@#!*^%*&%$%@@! :)

am I doing the right thing? hummmm.... gotta think about this very carefully... I hate the HVX's low light capabilities when it is bare... I think I might be in for a rude awakening...

Ryan Patrick O'Hara said:
A word of warning, one of those zoom lenses looks really long, I'd look into a lens support for the rod system to help relieve some torque on your lens mount. I would wait to see if you need it, but you might.
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I am getting 60mm rails and I saw the long one is 7.6" and weighs 2.86 lbs... however I saw it has a little mount of sorts probably for a monopod so I guess there might be something that attaches there and I can get an extra Brevis rail mount... what do I need for that besides the Brevis mount?
 
Well... not really... just those I mentioned prior... a 1000w kino a 500w kino and two hard lights of 800w and 1500w... so not really... for interiors yes... but not for exteriors... not much anyway... so I am a bit worried about my stuff looking too flat-noir... lol...
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It may be as simple as renting lights on a per project basis. Or... renting primes as mentioned below.

Wow... yea I forgot it was like that... ouch it hurts to hear it like that... thanks for reminding me!!! Maybe I should then try to get a few primes? say a 30mm a 50mm and an 80mm...? sounds like too much money ... well I have ZERO $ left anyway...

I am thinking that full availability of focal lengths will allow for full creative expression... but maybe I will have to rent primes for night exterior stuff... huh?

@#^!!@#!*^%*&%$%@@! :)

am I doing the right thing? hummmm.... gotta think about this very carefully... I hate the HVX's low light capabilities when it is bare... I think I might be in for a rude awakening...
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Whoa. :huh:

I'm not trying to change your mind about zooms, or scare you! haha
I'm trying to let you know what you are getting into either way.

I have a set of primes, and some of my very wide lenses and very telephoto (24mm, 105mm micro, 135mm) are f/2.8's. I usually avoid using them in very dark night shoots, but they are used for many other scenes. My point is, even if you had a prime set that covers the same focal length range (as your zooms), some of the lenses on the extreme wide and extreme telephoto range will still be 2.8's.

Renting primes for night scenes could be a great idea. Even look into getting a fast prime or two. Not a whole set. Keh.com is a great place to get NICE used lenses and great prices. It's where I go most of the time. I like the manual lenses more then those automatic ones. As long as you know the amount of light you need, and plan accordingly for each shoot, you should do well.

I am getting 60mm rails and I saw the long one is 7.6" and weighs 2.86 lbs... however I saw it has a little mount of sorts probably for a monopod so I guess there might be something that attaches there and I can get an extra Brevis rail mount... what do I need for that besides the Brevis mount?
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That connection you see on the bottom of the zoom lens is for mounting on the tripod. Since 35mm camera bodies are usually light people can do this:
Monster_vs_400mm.jpg



Since we are using HVX's those are much to heavy! :)

If your lens happens to be heavy enough that you are concerned about the torque strain on the lens adapter, look into a lens support like the one below. Most 35mm adapter makers should have their own version of this:
2609-800.jpg

see also:
http://geardear.com/gif2/Bilder0807/2614-800.jpg
http://www.cavision.com/rods/lenssupport.htm
http://www.letusdirect.com/cart/Letus-Extreme-Rods-Support-Bracket-p-15.html
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.472981/it.A/id.227/.f
 
That geardear is only $60! And for something like this I wouldn't mind the GearDear quality... not that their stuff isn't rugged enough. It should look good too. I've seen their Matte Boxes...

So lens wise I think I am going to get the Zooms to start with... (very weary about it) and then look for a 50mm prime (cheapest) then look for something like a 35mm, a 70 to 85mm and a 105mm... or just rent like mentioned before. It is a scary decision to make. How many primes could I get with the same budget?

Ryan, again, like I said, please don't apologize man... you are helping me a ton and I am nothing but happy to read your posts! :thumbsup: I am getting a lot of info really quick.

Oh, and speaking of Matte Boxes... what's up with Redrock's? And is there anything that will match it? I wonder if they will put it out before I am ready? It doesn't look like it... :(
 
USLatinContent said:
That geardear is only $60! And for something like this I wouldn't mind the GearDear quality... not that their stuff isn't rugged enough. It should look good too. I've seen their Matte Boxes...

So lens wise I think I am going to get the Zooms to start with... (very weary about it) and then look for a 50mm prime (cheapest) then look for something like a 35mm, a 70 to 85mm and a 105mm... or just rent like mentioned before. It is a scary decision to make. How many primes could I get with the same budget?

Ryan, again, like I said, please don't apologize man... you are helping me a ton and I am nothing but happy to read your posts! :thumbsup: I am getting a lot of info really quick.

Oh, and speaking of Matte Boxes... what's up with Redrock's? And is there anything that will match it? I wonder if they will put it out before I am ready? It doesn't look like it... :(
Click to expand...

Geardear has a nice quality/price ratio. It's not the best gear, but for the price, it's damn tempting. I'm sure the lens support for support rods will work, (pretty much anything you can cram between the lens and rods will hold that baby up). And god only knows when the redrock mattebox is coming out. I was on the waiting list, but my email hasn't gotten any notices yet, and they are about half a year over the projected release. Oh well.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. If you want to look into prime lenses, let me suggest you check out KEH.COM.

They are a used photography store which I have had a lot of business with. They clean up the lenses and give them a rating. It's better then ebay because you don't have to worry about scams or misleading information and they use a consistent rating system. They also have a great selection of the good condition older manual primes, which many of us here like. (They tend to be better than auto focus lenses when used with a follow focus.)

Here is a link to the Nikon 35mm film camera manual prime lens search. If the link expires for any reason just use the drop down menus at KEH.com.
Link

EDIT: I buy BGN and EX. Don't bother with UG.

EDIT PART 2: If you are curious what the difference between lenses are just drop me a line. I know that it's confusing trying to figure out what all those generations and abbreviations mean.
 
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Wow, those BNG's are amazing!
I figured I might find prices like that on Ebay, but not only would I be out in the dark praying not to get stiffed with a messed up lens, but also you get so much all in the same place...

...that rating is just awesome. Thanks!

So it looks like you can score 1.8f 50mm's for a ridiculous prices practically whenever you feel like getting one. Then you can also get a nice 1.8f 105mm for quite a sick deal real easy... but I don't see 1.8f's in the wide range... something like a 35mm would be fine... then I could use these three lenses for the darkest scenes... it would be limited but hey, it could work and save my arse...

now is there danger when getting any of those 1.8f primes or should all of those be just fine since they are 1.8f's which I guess means they have to be of quite high quality to be so fast?
 
I don't want to detract from the discussion, which has been great so far, but I feel I should just point one thing out: These lenses, accessories, etc. are tools, and only tools. They aren't the end; they are the means to the end. You've got some really great advice here, and I'd recommend that you go and grab whatever tools your gut tells you will serve you the best. Getting the gear is only half (probably even less than half) of the battle. After you get your lenses you still need to go over composition, camera placement, blocking, LIGHTING, grading, operating - the list never ends.

My point is, I guess, that a filmmaker with a good set of skills can use lower quality gear to make something great, but the opposite is true for filmmakers with an underdeveloped set of skills; even the best gear won't compensate for errors in technique or style.

I'm assuming that you're pretty new into cinematography, judging from all the posts you've made lately (all of which have yielded great info, so thanks for that!), so don't forget that you're trying to paint a masterpiece, and getting the paintbrushes is only part of that process. If you're already experienced with cinematography, and you're just getting into 35mm lenses now, then nevermind :)

That said, I vote for using primes. In *most* situations you can compensate for the lack of dynamic focal range simply through blocking or camera position. Zooms are useful, of course, but I don't like to use them as often as I do my primes (does that make me old fashioned? heh...).

Happy filming :)
 
I am just getting into my own lenses... the HVX is my first camera, but I have been around for a while now. Still I am not the DP though I am very interested in photography and I am hands on and discuss everything with him. I know what I want as I always see it in my head before we set it up. However I love when your DP shows you something that just fits better. However, there is loads to learn... cinematography is an art, and you can never stop learning more about it. :)

I am kinda stuck on zooms because of the speed between setups. Also it is nice to be able to find your focal length on the monitor, then like you said pull in or away. This might not be such a big deal for those of you with large kits but I find it... heheh, this is gonna sound funny "liberating" lol... :) still I keep thinking of speed... you want to show me something, you just dial it in... no need to swap and we all know that going back and forth to a video village that's a mere 10 steps away can drive someone insane when you are in a rush or don't want to spoil whatever magic might be happening.

Still I have never had to put together a full kit all on my own, and it has proven to be a very arduous task for me. We don't have any cash to spare, and we are hoping to shoot our first feature very soon. This put a lot of pressure on me since I had to teach myself a gazillion things to make many decisions I never had to make before. Then again I LOVE understanding, and all of this has only made me a much better director than I ever could have been... so I am a very happy camper these days :)

Thanks Sean for bringing up the biggest point of all. It is not the gear, but the user. All day long today I thought about my crew... over and over again... I kept thinking well this ain't no Arri with Pana Glass, but it ain't too shabby... we just might get a crazy great filmic look from the HVX > Brevis > this glass. But now the hardest part begins... Producing, getting the TEAM, then Directing this TEAM though all of production... then doing it all over again though post!
THAT is the scary part... I have full faith and confidence in my ability, yet it is never easy... and I keep setting the bar higher... this time it will be much higher than the last time. Kinda gets your blood flowing, don't it? :D
 
The Brevis may be faster than the Extreme but the Brevis does not flip like the Extreme does and when you add the Brevis flip unit to match the composition of the Extreme it is no longer the fastest adapter... And yes the lens makes a lot of difference in the outcome
 
well it sounds like you've got everything well under control from the production aspect. Just out of curiousity, what is your feature about? I'd love to see some of the footage you get with your new package!
 
Me too! I hope all goes well... I don't have the money for the new package yet but I am practically praying every waking moment that all goes well.

About the flip of the Extreme. I would get Siniarch's monitor which flips the image for you! Zero light loss!!! :) Then I would make the HVX end out the least amount of text to the monitor and use the built-in for menu navigation. Or I could also just flip the monitor with the arm too... zero light loss again.

The only reason why I didn't like the Extreme was the rendition of the brokeh... it probably would have escaped me till I saw the DGpro next to the Extreme and it was a BIG factor since then for me. Other than that it is a phenomenal tool... extremely fast.

Sean, thanks! I hope I'll be telling you guys more about it in a month or two.

Slinkii, thanks for mentioning that. I thought it would make a big difference... I just wish I could try them out before buying them! :(
 
So I was looking at the Catvision hand grips...

http://www.cavision.com/rods/RS15HD.htm

I am waiting for their price sheet, but it already looks like these will be the most affordable way to go?

But what should I do for a shoulder pad?

I know this is not on topic, but with all of you guys helping me so much and this being a build based around the Brevis it really isn't too far off topic yet for me to start an other thread I think.
 
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I haven't read the pages in this thread, but really, I'm just putting it out there:


I wouldn't think about buying an adapter unless I knew I had plenty of lighting to begin with.

In which case the fastest wouldn't be as big of an issue.
 
If you want to save money, I would recommend the spider brace.

It's pretty cheap compared to other systems, and I have owned one for quite awhile. It works great with my M2/HVX/FF system.

Those cavision shoulder pads and pistol grips work great as well, I've used both and it again comes down to look and price, because they do pretty much the exact same function.

http://www.spiderbrace.com/
 
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