Another Letus "detail" test

disjecta

disjecta

Lucky Duck
The biggest weakness of 35mm adapters is their inability to resolve detail in wide shots. I'm here to tell you that the Letus Flip Enhanced can do just that. I am really impressed with the detail retained in distant subjects.

Here is a test featuring 3 lenses (28mm, 50mm, 100mm) shooting across the other side of the lake where I live. I am thrilled with the usability of these shots instead of having to deal with the nightmare of mixing shots from the adapter and the stock lens.

So, unlike what you are used to seeing with these adapters, the purpose of this test is to see how well the Letus performs outside of the confines of shallow depth of field. Okay, I threw in two token shots of flowers :)

Softness is to be expected with these adapters but as softness goes, this is less pronounced than what I've seen with other adapters. There is also a little vignetting because I was not zoomed in enough but it's minor and outside the safe zone.

There are two versions here:

Full res 1080 (about 44mb): http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest1080.wmv

or for those with slower computers:

720p version (about 40mb): http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest720.wmv

Obviously, the full detail can be seen in the 1080 version better.
 
The Letus35 Flip Enhanced is simply the best bargain in all of adapter-hood. I'm amazed at how much detail it retains.

Have you been bit with the grainy sky/grainy white issue? How have you dealt with it? It's the only fly in the otherwise very attractive ointment.
 
No typo... I've found the L35FE's ground glass can cause a fixed grain pattern in the brightest areas of the image. I've noticed it in skies and on bright whites. It's pretty much endemic to any vibrating adapter. I didn't notice it the first week I had the adapter, but in some outdoors bright-light stuff I started to see it on whites and in skies. Looks like a fixed-noise pattern, a fixed grit/grain issue.

So I was asking if you've been "bit" by that, and if you've devised any way around it. Only way I can think of is to use a slower shutter speed (so the vibration of the pattern makes the grain blend a bit) but that's not frequently practical.
 
:embarasse Oh, I get it, just read it wrong.

I haven't really noticed the grain issue in the sky but I haven't been looking for it. I'll be doing some more tests soon and will see if it's bothersome.

Did you find that to be a problem with the more expensive units (like the mini35) also?
 
I did not download yet. But I had downloaded a few clips coming from the relay lens adapter. They had a horrible grain and lack of definition. Not now any more? Explain yourself please.

EDIT -- I should provide an enlightenment. I agree with all your comments that I could read before, Steven. So far so good. So, your comments are taken in consideration. We'll be waiting. It'll depend on a further purchase (as it happened with a lot of people when you bought Canon instead another option, etc).
 
Last edited:
Excellent examples, Steven. I'm amazed at how much better the letus flip enhanced is than the regular letus. I thought the only difference was that it fliped the image, but it seems there's A LOT more to it.

I have used the letus35 (regular) about one or 2 years ago and I really didn't like it. I now have a letus35A with the 72mm thread and it's much much better. This is another thing that I had no idea could interfere that much on results...DO spend the extra 20$ and get the 72mm version. I actualy spent this morning with the company I've been working for, testing the letus and they were so happy that they're planning to buy like 5 units or more!

I just received a brevis35, so when I have sometime I'm going to test them both. I gotta say I love what the brevis does with the sharpness and light loss.

Anyway, I'd really like to know what other differences are there between the regular letus and the enhanced version.

P.S - I know I shouldn't be saying this (just asking for trouble), but I still haven't seen anything as sharp as the G35
 
Emanuel, It may have something to do with the manual ability to focus on the imaging plane here. I wasn't able to do it with the relay lens because it's already predetermined. Download these files and see for yourself.
 
Forgot to say one thing, Steven. It must be very inspiring living in a place like that, with such splendorous nature right on your face. I'm surrounded by concrete :(
 
Concrete is beautiful too :) Sometimes you can find the most amazing beauty in chaos and urban atmospheres, I really envy you. Barcelona is a gorgeous place to live in, now I'm in the suburbs of the East Coast, there is litteraly nothing here but small town houses and little fake looking lakes :), I loved that footage of the church you had, it was the same one from L'auberge espagnole right?
 
Disjecta,

quick question...

I own the Letus Filp Enhanced, did you have to order a special
macro for your Canon HD, or is this just a stock LFE?

In other words, if I order the Canon, will I have to upgrade my Letus?

Thanks,
Adrian
 
Looks really nice.

I have a question though - if you look closely at the last two shots of the flowerpot (both of which have great bokeh), the color of the magenta flower seems to bleed and dance. What is causing this? I've seen it in other A1 footage too.
 
A2, as far as I know you sould be able to use it as is. I don't think Quyen put anything special on mine.

The bouncing color you refer to, Meterlens, is a result of my color gain setting being too high. I find that Nikon lenses create an enhanced chroma and I already had the color cranked up in the camera. For serious shoots I would pull that level way back and it would fix the problem.
 
Thanks Disjecta (btw the handle's Metrolens).

Is it possible the vibrating element of the 35mm adapter worsens the dancing red/magenta? Or has the same thing been observed with the stock lens?

And, for a serious shoot, if one were to shoot reds more flat, then pump them up in post, would the same problem occur? Might this be fixed by using a better post codec than HDV?
 
Appreciate the correction Metrolens :beer:

To dial down the color gain before shooting and then pumping it back up in post would dramatically improve the red problem.

It has nothing to do with the adapter because the same thing can be observed with the stock lens (seems to be more prevalent when using 24f).

The problem occurs when it goes to tape, it's already encoded as HDV at that stage. The only other way out of it would be to take an external feed from the camera using the, I think, composite out, similar to how an HD SDI connection would work but I'm not at all familiar with this aspect of things. Bottom line for me is that it would be cumbersome and impractical.
 
Very interesting indeed, Steven. I second the Barry's comment.

Do you use any follow focus device? Rods etc?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top