Are adaptors obsolete?

J

jacotte

Carbonite Member
Six months ago I would have said 35mm adaptors are the thing of the future. Now it seems to be the 35mm adaptors are done with ever since the Canon still cameras with video capability are becoming the favorites amongs film look enthusiasts. I just went in to get my Letus ground glass looked at. The person who rents them (he has 6 Letus) says he has turned the page on all the 35mm adaptor hassle ever since he tried the Canon. The still camera does not have all the ground glass and other mechanical problems, no grain and the best direct lens to digital transfer one can get. Bottom line, it delivers much cleaner, crisper and sharper images than the 35mm adaptor solutions, is cheaper, and lighter. The only problem is audio but you can easily work your way around that. Even in this forum I sense less enthusiasm then before. Even Bloom no longer talks about anything for Canon type cameras. Is the 35mm adaptor phase coming to an end?
 
I believe yes. I think the DSLR's are setting a new precedent. We've all always wanted the ability to have interchangeable lenses on our cameras. It appears those prayers are being answered.
 
VDSLR aren't professional cameras, they're a stop-gap solution for people with low budget. The form factor is terrible, the codec isn't quite there yet, there's no professional audio option, no zebra, no dedicated buttons for each function, no proper video output etc. That's why there are people out there trying to hack the firmware now because with a real video camera you don't have to put up with that.

For someone working on their own project with a low budget or if they want to run-and-gun, this might be a good option, but on a professional set where time in money all of those compromises are going to cost you. Make no mistake, the VDSLR are still cameras that happens to shoot videos; they're a temporary Band-Aid until somebody start making real 35mm sensor cameras. Until then 35mm adapter systems are still going to be important because you get to work with all the convenience of a camera that's actually designed for shooting video.
 
I believe the adapter days may indeed be coming to an end. But if the choice was shoot everything on a 7D/GH1 now, as-is, or use a real camera with an adapter, I think many of us would still put up with the adapter in order to get all the rest that a pro video camera offers.

However, surely things will not stay this way forever. How long will it be before Panasonic builds Ben_B's GHX100, or Canon comes through with a 7D-repackaged-as-XL2? And when that happens (or the Scarlet)... then the days of adapters will truly be over.
 
At this time I think VDSLR's are a good tool to have in addition to your existing systems but are not a complete replacement. Just like the HVX200 is great to have in your gear to complement your Varicam 2700 (as a crashcam, vehicle mount or tight spaces).

The future might hold new and refined designs but we are not there yet.

PS: I have never needed to use a VDSLR yet, so I might be wrong.
 
Huy Vu said:
VDSLR aren't professional cameras, they're a stop-gap solution for people with low budget. The form factor is terrible, the codec isn't quite there yet, there's no professional audio option, no zebra, no dedicated buttons for each function, no proper video output etc. That's why there are people out there trying to hack the firmware now because with a real video camera you don't have to put up with that.
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This is just the beginning. Not bad for a debut on the technology.

Give it a few years.
 
Well, regardless of zebra, XLR inputs, and all the extras, the Canon solution is a natural.

The 35 adaptor solution seems to come right out of a Jules Verne book.

The 35 adaptor solution is a quick and dirty pimped up solution. I just filmed 3 days with my Letus activated only to realize the ground glass wasn't vibrating correctly. Then I realized there was dust hidden somewhere in the mechanism and it's difficult and almost impossible to get rid of. I will say nothing about backfocus, ground glass focus, vignetting, etc...

The bottom line is the Canon solution is a picture quality natural. We are one heartbeat away from somebody releasing a viable 24fr/sec with audio solution. Even Letus is running for cover. Try to get any response from their Portland office. They practically do not exist. I predict 2 years from now you will not be able to get a single adaptor fixed anywhere and these things will be on Ebay by the hundreds.
 
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The end is coming but it's not here yet, having done a test shoot with my HMC150 + Sgblade vs my GH1, I had a whole new appreciation for the former. I haven't tried the 7D but I can't imagine the form factor and usability isn't that different from the GH1.
 
The 7D's form factor is MASSIVE compared to the GH1. The 7D is the "heavy D" of that relationship. The GH1 is the stealth CRX, the 7D is the semi trailer. I was showing my wife the first still pictures I'd taken and she said (and I quote): "whose ginormous camera is this?" (uh-oh, perhaps I forgot to tell her I ordered it... :)

But usability -- GH1 spanks it. I'm already crying for the GH1's articulated LCD. However, I'm loving it as a still camera I just set out to take three or four pictures of something and ended up taking 80 because it's so ... I dunno, I have always gravitated towards Canon still cameras, from way back in the 70's with my first AE-1, there's just something about 'em... so even if it didn't have video at all, I'd still like it. But it's not in the same class or league as the GH1 for usability or stealthy size.
 
Agreed. I was dragged off topic by that darn Ken Steadman, point the finger of blame at him... (sorry Ken, just ... yeah, Stephen nailed it. Guilty as charged...)
 
I think that as usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. It's not the right time to eulogize over the death of the 35mm adapters nor is it the time to herald the coming of a new age of 35mm sensor handicam. They're both a stop-gap solution to a problem that hasn't quite been solved yet. We're in a transitional period right now and I can see adapters and VDSLR coexisting for another few years until a proper camera comes outs that does everything we need without the functional compromises.
 
Huy Vu said:
until a proper camera comes outs that does everything we need without the functional compromises.
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These cameras already exist, just not on the budget that we're all looking for. I've been to a couple seminars and workshops based around VDSLRs and the RED, and ultimately, I'm on the RED bandwagon as far as Scarlet goes. There's a camera that functionally meets most if not all the needs that a professional camera needs to meet, on a budget that indie filmmakers will like (if the price actually is what it is listed at right now) with the proper form factor.

I think in two to three years you'll see a massive decline in 35mm adapters but they won't be gone, and the RED will reign amongst lower budget productions. I think everyone will realize VDSLRs aren't cut out for film productions, but they'll be pretty big among other video productions, like event/wedding videography.
 
I agree that 35mm adapters will decline and vdslrs following suite once the scarlet or similar camcorders come out.
 
It's all about budget and resources, isn't it?
If we all had million dollar budgets most of us would be shooting 35mm film. That's where it all started, anyways.
It's pretty cool to watch as indie people get around their financial limitations with 35mm adapters and VDSRLs in imaginative ways.

Finnegan said:
These cameras already exist, just not on the budget that we're all looking for. I've been to a couple seminars and workshops based around VDSLRs and the RED, and ultimately, I'm on the RED bandwagon as far as Scarlet goes. There's a camera that functionally meets most if not all the needs that a professional camera needs to meet, on a budget that indie filmmakers will like (if the price actually is what it is listed at right now) with the proper form factor.
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reem12 said:
I feel bad for whoever is saling adapters alone.
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I think if a company's sole line is adapters, yeah, they're gonna feel the hurt. I mean, even if the GH1 was awful, it (complete camera+lens+battery kit) costs about the same as, or less, than an adapter for another camera. So for folks with tiny camera budgets, the adapter just doesn't make sense anymore.

If someone was going to use up all their dough to buy a little consumer cam like an HV40 and then spend to put an adapter on it, by all means just get a 7D or GH1 instead...
 
I think almost everyone has hit the nail on the head here. Adapters may well be out...eventually....right now I still have the flexibility with my HVX-200 and adapter. I have the Codecs, the XLR's, the rock solid image(no jello), a form factor that works, 1080p, variable frame rates, etc. etc. etc.

Heck I wish someone would make a further stop gap and make a VDSLR that could do hi-def and uses a CCD...I'd buy it for the smaller form factor alone. At the moment I avoid the VDSLR's almost exclusively because of the CMOS troubles....I'll probably eventually give in as I need a good still camera, but we'll see.
 
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