35mm with XH-A1 essentials

A

ANTshooter

Active member
I'm interested in buying a 35mm adapter, either the Letus Extreme or the SGPro but my budget pretty much limits me to to the adapter itself (preferably flipped) and its accompanying rail system. These will be used with my XH-A1.

Questions:
1. Can't afford an external LCD...realistically thinking, will I be able to focus properly on the default LCD or viewfinder using its peaking and magnify modes, or is this just simply so difficult that it's nearly impossible?

2. How essential (really) is a follow focus system? Will I be able to manage without one?

3. I really prefer to be more run and gun, rather than always be mounted on a tripod, so any other opinions or experiences of an A1 and LEX/SGPro user will definitely be appreciated.

4. With an 35mm adapter and rails, will my Bogen 503/525 tripod be more troublesome than usable?

Not sure if this is the right place to post or if it should be in Canon cameras......
 
I've had both the letus ex and sold and repurchased the sgpro for my canon a1 and it's alot sharper edge to edge and gives the prettiest picture.

to answer your question. You can definitely use the a1s lcd with a telephoto lens, but you gamble with focus on the shorter ones. hope this helps.
 
1. Not really convenient, i missed a lot of shots not using extrernal monitor, when i sent my Ikan for exchange... so you better save some money and spend 800$ on IKAN HD monitor, it's affordable and you can focus no problems...

2. you cal aways go without it, but still, not convenient, in the long run, plan this purchase. always, adjusting focus on lens itself, will transfer your movements to the camera and you will have small shakes...

3. probably not possible, unless you mount everything on some sholder mount system, but not really usable a lot, as you will not focus properly moving, cause let's say with 35 or 50mm f-1.4/2.0 focus field is very narrow...

4. not sure, depends on how much weight it can handle, A1, LEX + lens + rails + Ikan (~600 gr with battery) weights around 6-6.5 kg.. pretty heavy.
 
Theres a guy on the shoot35 forum called Dave and he uses the A1 and SGpro. All seems pretty sharp. If theres an expanded focus button on the A1 then you can use that....
 
I'm in the same boat as antshooter up there....I'm thinking of buying a 35mm adapter but I'm on a budget, so I'm really interested in finding out what accessories are absolutely necessary and which aren't. so far, I've come to the conclusion that the 35mm adapter, a full rail system, and lenses are all absolutely necessary - for obvious reasons.

but what about some of the things antshooter mentioned? follow focus system? hd-monitor? are these peripherals used to increase precision, or are they necessary to even do the job of focusing or looking at your shot composition? aside from being larger and in full hd, what does the monitor allow a director/dp to achieve that the on camera lcd/viewfinder doesn't?
 
read my comments... i own A1 + lex and focusing with onboard camera LCD is hard, even with peaking and expanding image for focus... it's just too small... and does not have amazing resolution as for example EX1 does...
 
reem12 said:
I've had both the letus ex and sold and repurchased the sgpro for my canon a1 and it's alot sharper edge to edge and gives the prettiest picture.

to answer your question. You can definitely use the a1s lcd with a telephoto lens, but you gamble with focus on the shorter ones. hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I would have to disagree with this statement.

Although the SgPro does produce the most filmic bokeh, i have yet o see footage from the SgPro WITH the XH A1 that is sharper than XH A1 with the letus extreme.

Pros and cons

SgPro:
1) most film like bokeh
2) Must purchase flip as an add-on
3) more light loss than the Letus extreme, anywhere from .5 to a full stop with the addition of the flip unit.

Letus Extreme:
1) Beautiful film like bokeh, not quite as nice as the sgpro but still beautiful
2) flip is built in, lower overall cost, espeically when we talk about shipping overseas
3) .5 stops of light loss.

An HD LCD will be, of course, an asset to your work. But using the Peak on the XH A1 lcd will help yield excellent and spot on results, as long as you have practice and time to reherase the move prior to shooting. More of a gamble if it's run and gun. But without an HD LCD, it is doable, and has been done.
 
Edge to edge, the XH-A1 is the best camera by a mile with the Brevis flip. I wouldn't recommend it with our non-flip, but when testing 35mm or cinema lenses...we use the XH-A1 and MP.1 flip rig here. Patrick and Michael shot this on the XH-A1 in Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas.
 
The Bogen Tripod is the weakest link to be honest. Trying to do pans and tilts of a smooth nature with that thing is taxing. You may want to look in the Hardware forum for other options.

As far as the adapters go you can't go wrong with those two for sure. You'd pretty much be deciding if you need less light loss and a flipped unit or a spinning ground glass. Both will require rails which is an expense you shouldn't forgo with any adapter.

But, again, those are choice adapters so you'll be good either way!
 
See Dennis I appreciate everything you have done and your product, I would love even more to be able to support a fellow Canadian, I just cant get passed the look of sg footage. What is the main difference? The spinning? The GG? Because I love the brevis is, Canadian, upgradeable, small, super handy collimation adjustment etc, but the SG just has a look that I associate with film, the brevis, in my opinion, looks like video with shallow depth of field.

IE the canyon footage with the xha1 looked amazing, incredibly sharp, but it looked very video like.

Where as the footage Steve keeps posting with his SG look like film.

I wish I could buy both, but I cant.

Have you ever thought of trying a spinning GG in the brevis?

Thanks
 
the letus ex gave me major soft issues on the sides of my pictures. I poped the sgpro and found it sharp edge to edge out the box. not being able to stop down pass f5.6 was a big issue for me also. I feel that the sgpros sharpness is very close to the letus ex, but I had to do a lot more in post to knock off the video look with the letus ex that I just don't half to do with the sgpros filmic texture. I guess i'll just call it sgpro mojo.
 
The steve bogda footage, for a while he was posting like every day with new stuff. But an example of what I mean is this.

Sg I think looks like film.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=kBTLJur7iNE

Brevis which looks amazing, but looks like video.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=FSeaUrsYXG8&feature=related

I think it might be because the sg is generally softer, which I suppose could be done in camera or in post.

I have just yet to see brevis footage look the way I think it should. And 1500 is alot to spend not knowing it ever would or not. AHHHHHHH
 
Zerg,
Without weighing in on the distinction between the adapters at all, I can't believe you're making subtle judgements on look based on you tube footage that is compressed beyond belief.

Lenny Levy
 
The A1's LCD is excellent. Very sharp. During my last two shoots with the LEX I had an Ikan monitor with me. Never needed it as it was quicker to just use the onboard LCD. Footage came out perfectly focused every time. This is my favorite feature about the A1 and I'm making the inclusion of a good onboard LCD a deal breaker for my next camera. There are obvious advantages to having a big LCD for the 1st AC and the director, but if budget is tight then it's not a completely necessary feature for an A1 rig.

Follow focus is VERY important, but it's really useful if you have a 1st AC with you. Without an FF and an AC you're very constrained as far as your camera movement. No more dollying, no more tracking shot; your actors are stuck walking in a two dimensional plane. I consider it a necessity.
 
Huy Vu said:
The A1's LCD is excellent. Very sharp.
Click to expand...

Play with an EX1 and then try to say the same :)

I rarely use an external monitor with my XH-A1. While I don't recommend it, it IS possible to focus with the XH-A1's LCD using Peaking. That isn't to say it will be easy, as the LCD is by far the weakest link on that camera.

If you are going to forego the monitor, you MUST get a follow focus. No ifs, ands, or buts. Even if it is the Indifocus geared (which, after buying one I'd suggest the Redrock), it is better than nothing. If you take the time to block your shots and mark the FF, then you can get away with using the built in LCD.
 
Before you go making an a** out of you and me, I was giving examples. The judgments I am making are the HD versions of footage I have downloaded, IE the example Dennis gave earlier in this thread as well as clips from Steve which I have downloaded. I gave those 2 examples to show, even compressed, that the sg looks more like film then the brevis. I think the reason is that the brevis is incredibly sharp, where as the sg tends to be softer. At least that's what I can come up with.

This is the wrong thread to be talking about this. So I may bring my thoughts over to the Brevis forum.
 
trudd said:
Play with an EX1 and then try to say the same :)
Click to expand...

That's why the EX1 is gonna be my next camera lol :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG). The A1's LCD aren't as good, but it's certainly got one of the best LCD in its class of camera; I don't even need to use peaking, just expanded focus and I can tell focus clearly.

trudd said:
the LCD is by far the weakest link on that camera.
Click to expand...

Play with an HVX and then try to say the same :).
 
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