NEED ADVICE!!! LetusX $600 upgrade - worth it? Should I splurge or not?

Deuceofspades

Deuceofspades

Veteran
Making my own full feature film means having no money to spare. I JUST saw this 'newer' product on Letus website and was wondering whether it is worth spending $600 for or not. I have always been "blurry" (PUN INTENDED HAHA!) about "back focus" but I assume it is the focus of the camera to the ground glass (right?)... If so, I have found it necessary to make very manute camera focus readjustments when changing prime lenses... or you don't have best focus.

I do it with my camera ring. It is worth it for me to spend $600 to do the same thing with Letus ring? Assuming this ring does the same thing - which I am not sure... Are there any other improvements with this upgrade module? (ex: better quality - better edge to edge charpness, etc...)

As you see, I am still a rookie in the end hehe.

Any input is much appreciated.

FAITH


Letus35 Elite Upgrade Module


elite-prod-01.jpg


Upgrade your Letus35 Extreme to the Letus35 Elite with this upgrade module. This Letus back focus adjustment ring attaches to the front an Extreme allowing for the quick back focus adjustments available on the Letus35 Ultimate.
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It does nothing between camera and GG Faith.

It does it´s job between the GG and the 35mm lens.

Actualy you only need it, if you are not able to get the primes in focus when on infinite.
Some lenses have that problem, some not.

So if you did not run into that while your project, you can probably spend that money elsewhere (on your Rod - for example) :)

Frank
 
If you're using the latest Nikon mount ($99), it has the ability to adjust backfocus by turning three tiny screws. The Elite Upgrade Module just makes it a lot easier (and it looks nicer). You should only have to adjust backfocus once and it will be set for all your lenses (assuming there's no problems with the lenses themselves)... I would definitely earmark the $99 or $600 for something else unless as Postmaster said, you can't focus at infinity with your lenses.

Cheers and can't wait to see your movie...
 
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Yeah, those three tiny screws are a pain in the ass. It is almost impossible to make them exactly the same across the board. More pain staking than anything else.

Put it this way. Between my 24mm lens and my 135, i need to adjust the back focus about 30 degrees on the elite. So yes, it is imperative for me to be able to adjust back focus on the fly, as so it should be with any professional in the field.
 
PaPa ,
Have you looked into bringing your lenses to a competent repair man who can fix the backfocus misalignment. They should all be the same. The 24 should be the critical one.
 
If you cant focus on GG then problem lies between camera lens and gg ,anyway i dont think your footage is soft , its the shutter speed that didnt gave the film feel , i have in my camcorder shutter speed of 1/50 and i cant stand it ,it looks so disgusting with adapter ,like some soap opera.I almost feel like this was some kind of conspiracy between camcorder manufacturers to not gave camcorders shutter speeds which look like footage from film cameras ,those are just numbers to progam on sensors and i dont see any reason to not give shutter speeds like film cameras ,even optional if its too blurry(yeah right) or if its because pal and flickering lights(i would rather change lights just to have better filmic look and good shutter speed).
 
Faith,

Lots of people here have confused the word "back focus " with the video cameras focus on the ground glass,. but its an incorrect use of the word.

Everybody above is correct that its about the focus of the Nikon lens on the ground glass. If its off you may see a few different symptoms:

1 - Can 't achieve infinity even though you turn the focus ring all the way.

2- Focus ring goes past infinity more than just a hair.

3- Distance measurements on the lens barrell won't line up with real measurements on a tape.

4 - If you have a zoom lens that is supposed to track properly ( Not all still lenses are supposed to) like a nikon 80-200 f 2.8 then you will lose focus as you change the zoom. Tracking means the focus stays sharp as the zoom changes. (All video and cine zoom lenses are designed to track but not necessarily still zooms.)
Often a lens that isn't designed to track will have more than one mark on the footage barrell for opposite ends of the zoom - i.e two hash marks one labeled 28 and one labeled 70 on my Tokina 28 - 70mm lens.

The above posts are also correct about fixing the Letus back focus yourself. The three little screws will do it unless you need to make the lens closer ( i.e. can't get to infinity.) Otherwise its a pain in the butt.

You want to test your lenses with the fstops wide open. Usually if the measurements are accurate at about 5 or 10' and infinity then your back focus is OK.
Most Nikon lenses should have their backfocus the same. If the lenses are different though then you have lens problems and they can be adjusted by a tech though I don't know the cost.

All this backfocus stuff becomes most critical when your 35mm lens is wide open and especially with wide angle lenses. The wider the lens the more critical.

If you have any questions pleas email me. Along with everybody else on this board I am a fan and in awe of your talent.

lenny levy
 
Go for it! It's the best system you can get without pulling the trigger on a full on Ultimate. I use my backfocus on my Elite all the time!
 
Lenilenapi said:
PaPa ,
Have you looked into bringing your lenses to a competent repair man who can fix the backfocus misalignment. They should all be the same. The 24 should be the critical one.
Click to expand...

This is very true. Have you ever seen an SLR with backfocus adjustment?

IF your lenses are not all the same, then the problem lies WITHIN the lens. Focusadjusting your lenses is not all that expensive, and for $600 you can probably have 4-7 lenses adjusted at a certified Nikon/Canon/Zeiss/etc repair-shop.

The three small screws on the newest nikon mount is not all that hard to get right if you only have to do it once (ie when all your lenses are correctly adjusted).
 
Hmmmmmmmmmm....

OK, Looks like I shoudl so some tests then to see. I don't remember my 24 mm ever giving me trouble, the shots looked fine to me. So I am probably OK, but should check nonetheless to see if I have any backfocus problem.

For me I think my primary problem with softness is the light. I am definitely a low key, low fill ratio cinematographer, probably because most of my scenes call for it (but not all)... So since you can't close an adapter or lense to far down with a vibrating GG, or you get artifacts, I have to rely on less light to achieve my look. This produces softer images. If I bump the amount of light up, the image is crispy but the feel I am after is gone.

If this film sells and I recoupe some of my investment I will consider upgrading my adapter. It's a big price jump though (yikes).

Overall I have been happy with my LetusX for the money, but on and off it tends to become "lazy" and spin slower for no apparent reason, causing artifacts. It did that on me on my last shoot. I need to send it in to be looked at again.
 
Faith,

When/if the time comes to upgrade your adapter, take a look at the SGBlade. It's similar (but not exactly) in design to the Letus Ultamate (i.e. spinning GG), similar form factor, has interchagable GG, but is only a little more than 1/4 of the cost.

Who knows, by then there may be even more choices out there.

-M
 
I felt the same about my pictures Faith, untill I learned one thing:

I used to set my skin tones to settle on a 70% Zebra to get the look I like - that´s probably the same thing you do.

The sensor of the HVX200 (especially if you use an adapter) loves light. Period.
To get the best out of your HVX you need to saturate the sensor - that means set your Zebras to 100, use CineD and shoot as flat as possible.

I was so much after my low key, low fill look that I forgot that I dont have to do it in the camera but do it in post.

I always looked at my controll monitor while filming and tried to get as close as possible to the look I wanted. Now I shoot as flat as possible, saturate the sensors, get better, sharper pictures that look like crap in the first place but give me so much room in post and acieve much better results now.

Do some tests and try it out Faith. It´s worth it.
You get better pictures and gain more controll.

Have a look:
Here is a scene I did last month - 1. as shoot - 2. after color grading.

Frank
 

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Faith,
I can't tell from the amount of information you're providing what the problem might be , or if there is one at all. If the shots seem a little too soft, that could result from using 35mm lenses wide open where they are not at there best. But it also sounds like you like them soft.

Lenny
 
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