Going to purchase Letus Extreme, please answer a question or two first

A

andrew00

Well-known member
Hey chaps,

I'm going to order an Extreme today or over the weekend or something and, being that purchases like this always make me paranoid, esp as it's coming from America, I wondered if someone would let me know what I've selected is the good option!

1) Letus Extreme

2) Mount - I want to use Nikon so 'Improved Nikon locking mount'

3) Camera optimization - was going to go normal 77mm but am tempted by the Sony EX1 option for $200 extra, which I assume is basically the Sony EX1 kit that Letus sell for $350 bucks on it's own - they're the same thing yeah?

4) For support I was also going to order the indiRAILSpro XVsm after seeing Brad's version and, well, being a pauper! I like it b/c it's got the rail support with the shoulder pad that may provide satisfactory.

What I'm not sure about is that it doesn't seem to have a support bracket. I'm tempted to order a Letus one with the Extreme so the lenses have something cradling them?

Thanks for any answers to alleviate my paranoia!
 
Looks like you have all the bases covered. I have the LEX and the IndieRAILSpro as well. works wonderfully. I do not have teh lens support bracket and it is just fine. good luck and make a movie.
 
so there is no need for an additional riser or anything when using the letus extreme combo and the indirailspro system?
 
Get the support bracket especially if you're going to use longer primes or zooms. Even if you're not, it dramatically reduces extraneous movement from follow focus torque. Anything that reduces strain on the lens mount is a good thing. The beefed up Nikon mount is 100 pecent better than the old. No jiggle / rock solid stuff and well machined. Also, spend the extra dough and get the optimization kit. It makes a huge difference in edge to edge sharpness on both the Ex 1 and the HVX. Regarding rails, I've yet to use the Letus system as I'm a Zacuto believer. I have to get one in my hands to know whether it's the real deal. I'm not nuts about the knob machining on the support bracket. Hopefully the rod/rail system improves upon its quality.
 
1) good performance, low cost, low light loss. Vibrating GG's cannot stop lenses past 5.6 & risk GG grain when overcranking.

2) I don't think they offer the old mount. New one is strong.

3) Upgraded achromatte is a good choice, but if on an extreme budget not necessary in my opinion. I did a bunch of tests and posted on this forum. My experience with the new achromatte versus the old achromatte was not as dramatic as Tim's. I am not unhappy with the upgrade, but did not find E2E on (my) old achromatte to be as poor as others have found it to be. Do a search and you can see my comparison test shots on DVXUSER.

4) don't know about the indi-system, I have the Letus system. Works great, excellent support for the adaptor, slightly on the heavy side of things.

One note about Letus as a company. They offer a nice product filling a niche need in the indi filmmakers market. They are not a big company with everything together. Customer service was slow - Hein answers most of the phone calls. Product delivery for me and many others is slow - 30 to 75 days depending on the order. Quality control is not the highest and some products come needing internal adjustment or are outright defective.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy with my purchase, however, my expectations were not managed upfront and I was frustrated a number of times through the process. Just thought you would benefit from knowing.


J
 
AwakenedFilms said:
One note about Letus as a company. They offer a nice product filling a niche need in the indi filmmakers market. They are not a big company with everything together. Customer service was slow - Hein answers most of the phone calls. Product delivery for me and many others is slow - 30 to 75 days depending on the order. Quality control is not the highest and some products come needing internal adjustment or are outright defective.


J
Click to expand...

I have had a much different experience then this so far. I am leaving on saturday for a long two week shoot in Italy and Greece, and ordered a Letus Bundle for it last wensday from letusdirect.com. I knew there was a 1-2 week turnout time, so I emailed Aaron and asked him if there was anyway he could get it to me earlier so I would be able to bring it on the trip, and configure everything. He always got back to me very quickly, and was very helpful. He said he stuck a note on the order asking them to get it out to me early this week. Tonight I got a email from them saying it had shipped, and was expected to get to my house tommorow. So far, everything has gone awesome :)

I can't comment on the quality of the Letus package I'll be receiving, but I have high hopes! I'll report my findings to you tommorow. Hopefully I won't have to send anything back, as that just will not do for the shoot.
 
I'll second what Daryl said. Letus is in a transitional period at the moment. I spoke to Hien on the phone two weeks ago and he mentioned that they're in the process of moving into a new office. I sent my unit in for repair and they got it back to me within a week in time for my shoot. If I need help with anything their services were always prompt, no problem here.
 
Daryl and Huy,
I am really glad that others are having great customer service experiences with Letus. That was my feedback to Hein - the greatest thing that can set you apart (in a negative or positive light) is customer service.

My business transactions with Letus were about 2 months before NAB 2008 and Hein admitted to being very busy with the Ultimate and NAB. Excuses aside, not only was there poor communication, internal GG was mis-aligned and it took nearly 75 days to complete my order.

I did alot of research before purchasing - Great product, low cost...etc. However, I wish I had found feedback concerning the issues I had, I could have better managed my expectations as it pertains to the customer service I received and the timeliness of the product's delivery.


Sincerely,
Jason
 
Ok, so I got the Letus at around 10:30 this morning, and have been playing around with it for about 90 minutes. Nothing physically wrong with it upon inspection, everything is their.

It took me awhile to configure the rails in a way that I like. I had to take alot of stuff off, adjust it, put it back on, etc. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Now I have a possible problem.

I know they come with proper back focus adjustments, but I'm not sure if my focus is any good. I get alot of definitie grain reaching infinity on my 50mm 1.4 and 135 2.8, yet when I get objects in focus the picture is very clear. I may just be imagining this grain.

I can understanding reaching infinity and getting a blurred picture, but does it typically get grain?

Can one of you guys walk me through all the tests I would need to go through to test my focus? A manual came but I'm not 100% clear on the instructions.
 
Figured out what was wrong, so problem solved. Didn't have anything to do with faulty building or focus issues.

I just finished about 30 minutes of test shooting around my neighborhood and I am loving the Extreme. This experience with Letus has been great, and I can safely reccomend them. I am very pleased.
 
YES: 'Improved Nikon locking mount'
YES: EX1 Kit

Check out my Blog, got the Letus Extreme pretty much covered.
 
Thanks for the answers to my questions, I have now ordered a Lex, hurrah!

In fact I dreamed it arrived this morning, didn't though hehe.
 
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