The 5 fundamental GBlade questions!

N

nimborde

Carbonite Member
Let's face it: In its pricerange it's GBlade vs Letus and the Gblade issue boils down to 5 questions:

(1) Does it make less noise, have less vibrations, and have a less fragile motor than the letus?
(2) Does it have backfocus issues like the letus?
(3) Is it cheaper than the Letus?
(4) Does it have grain, vignetting or chromatic noise issues (with EX1)?
(5) Is it lighter, more reliable and more practical than the Letus?

Answering these questions will help us all determine whether the GBlade is worth waiting for. Let's stick to these questions and let's not start getting carried away with philosophic discussions.
 
Well, I can see this post motivates quite a few responses.

Here is what I understand. Is this right?

(1) GB makes more noise, does not vibrate, and has a smaller motor (which may be more fragile).
(2) GB does not have a backfocus issue as backfocus is easier to set.... (I'm not sure about this).
(3) GB is cheaper by 30%.
(4) GB has less grain, less vignetting, some chromatic noise and is softer on the edges.
(5) It is smaller and lighter than the letus and locks in tighter on the EX1 lens.

May those who have corrections to make speak out now.
 
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one major question you forgot to ask? does the image look better than the letus ex? yes!

If one wants the letus ex without the grain, just pop in the rr1 on the blade. if one wants the aesthetics and filmic bokeh of the sgpro, pop in the rr2, and still be able to stop down past f4 without having to see the heavy grain of the ground glass like on the letus. These two adapters aren't that far off in price and because your able to switch the gg for less light loss and grain, the blade is a no brainer.
 
What is a RR? The problem with the blade is that if I order one today I won't get it until March. I am starting a project in two weeks. So I suppose Letus is the only option. This said, are there any advantages of the Letus over the GB?
 
The rr stands for rotor razar and is the ground glass it uses. rr1 has less light loss with slightly sharper image, with the ability to stop your lenses down without seeing grain unlike the letus ex. the rr2 has the old sgpro ground glsaa that giver one of the better filmlike bokehs imo, than the letus and some of the other contenders. I own the letus ex and think it is a nice adapter but build quality is a little lacking imo.

Yes, it is disheartening to half to wait a whole month to start working.

I would say though, that if one can wait, the blade gives you more bang for the buck. Also I've recently had a rely bad customer service experience with letus and will not be buying another product from them again.

In terms of less expensive, not sure but would say they are closer in price than by 30%.

As far as softer image, this does not seem to be the case with the rr1, but may be slightly softer with the rr2.

Haven't noticed the cromatic aberation to be bad on the other cams but may have minor issues with the ex1.
 
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All of the information you are looking for can be found by reading through the threads, and the use of the search will help.

Also, take a look through the manufacturer's websites. Great place to start to understand the products you're considering.
 
At this point, the Letus is a better fit for the EX-1 optically if you care about shooting with the EX-1 f stop wide open (which most people do). Hopefully that will improve soon, but if you need something right away I would go that way.
 
corner to center sharpness is better on the Letus when the Ex-1 is wide open. It is perfectly sharp in the center though.

Actually now that I see your notes above you already know that so I guess I'm not telling you anything new.

I don't think there is any soft corner issue with the Blade on other cameras, and it is a wonderful design. I don't think its loud at all.

I'm expecting the EX corner issue will get solved soon.
 
reem12 said:
if one wants the aesthetics and filmic bokeh of the sgpro, pop in the rr2, and still be able to stop down past f4 without having to see the heavy grain of the ground glass like on the letus. .
Click to expand...

Have you tried going past f4? The instruction manual says:
"The disk results in gorgeous film-like bokeh at the expense of limiting your aperture range to F4 and shutter speed to 1/1250th"

I've just received the Blade but will not be able to play with it until wednesday.
 
The one thing that the letus has over the blade is that it has a sharper image and almost no CA.

But the blade has tons of features over the lex.
 
hey pAPA from what I've seen, the rr1 loks mre filmic than the letus. but grain is an issue for me on the letus .
 
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reem12 said:
hey pAPA from what I've seen, the rr1 loks mre filmic than the letus. but grain is an issue for me .
Click to expand...

Grain is an issue with Blade?! I used to have LEX and sold it to get Blade - main reason was grain. The grain of the Blade's RR1 element (made of glass and rotating), should be much less apparent - people say they can stop down up to f16 or use pretty fast shutter speeds with RR1...
 
trez said:
Grain is an issue with Blade?! I used to have LEX and sold it to get Blade - main reason was grain. The grain of the Blade's RR1 element (made of glass and rotating), should be much less apparent - people say they can stop down up to f16 or use pretty fast shutter speeds with RR1...
Click to expand...

no grain issues with RR1 that i know about if used properly. Fast shutter speeds, stops down well, you won't be sorry with your purchase.
 
The tests that i did made the bokeh of the RR 1 and the LEX basically identical. while the LEX lost about 1/5th of a stop less light than the RR1.

If you want the ability to control shutter and f-stop passed 5.6, then you have to go with the blade, but if CA and sharpness are a bigger concern, nothing beats the LEX.

Both great tools, but very different. It's just a matter of what you need.
 
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