Canon 7D/HMC 150/Letus Adapter

A

anjalpetty

New member
Looking for advise..

I own a HMC 150, planning to buy canon 7D and later Letus extreme for a great DOF.

Q: What are the basic lense(s) i should buy(i'm new to canon) and letus compatible adapter? My area of interest is shot films, mostly shooting in a close range.

rAj
 
The two things you need to know for an adapter are
1) full frame 35mm lenses (not APS-C, etc.)
2) manual aperture control on the lens

To my knowledge -- no modern Canon lens (the new Zeiss Canon mount may or may not) has manual aperture control on the lens. To my knowledge, if it says "EOS" the aperture is controlled electronically by the Canon brand camera -- meaning it'll be a disaster for any 35 mm adapter.

Nikon "G" and "DX" lenses are the same, but not G and not DX Nikons have manual aperture control on the lenses -- and that's why most people use them (or third party Nikon mount) with 35mm adapters.

As a related side note to your planned purchase -- this past Friday we used the setup on which you plan for documentary interviews. An HMC150 with Letus Ultimate with Zeiss primes as the "A" camera, and a Canon 7D (50mm, 1.4) as the "B" camera. The result -- nearly half the 7D footage had intense moire/aliasing (1080/24p, sharpness all the way down) for the people who wore clothing not approved by Canon engineers -- and was unusable. Translation: worst interview B cam in history if the subject hasn't had his/her wardrobe approved by Canon.

So, if anyone has any great links to any genuine 7D moire/aliasing solutions -- I'm grateful if you'd post them here or message them.

Another side note to the HMC150 crowd -- the focus group that viewed a large portion of what we filmed (you know, "regular" people) -- unanimously preferred the look of the HMC150 w/adapter footage to the 7D footage that wasn't killed by moire/aliasing. Personally, I disagree, but the old crowd may be pleased to know that the "Panny mojo" still works its magic on uninformed audiences.
 
Raj,

When I purchased the Letus Elite, I bought the Nikkon adapter.
You can find the manual aperture "AI" and "AIS" lenses on ebay for a very reasonable price.
I bought the fastest lenses I could find in 24mm, 50mm, 85mm and 105mm. You can find some good info on the Nikkon lenses here http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/nikkor.htm#mf

Once you have the lenses you might as well use them on your 7D. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270277272535&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT these are the adapters I bought for my 7D and they work well.

If you want to see a quick comparison of the 7D and HMC with Letus try this http://www.vimeo.com/9738670

hope this helps,

Doug
 
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AGMedia said:
The two things you need to know for an adapter are
1) full frame 35mm lenses (not APS-C, etc.)
2) manual aperture control on the lens

To my knowledge -- no modern Canon lens (the new Zeiss Canon mount may or may not) has manual aperture control on the lens. To my knowledge, if it says "EOS" the aperture is controlled electronically by the Canon brand camera -- meaning it'll be a disaster for any 35 mm adapter.

Nikon "G" and "DX" lenses are the same, but not G and not DX Nikons have manual aperture control on the lenses -- and that's why most people use them (or third party Nikon mount) with 35mm adapters.

As a related side note to your planned purchase -- this past Friday we used the setup on which you plan for documentary interviews. An HMC150 with Letus Ultimate with Zeiss primes as the "A" camera, and a Canon 7D (50mm, 1.4) as the "B" camera. The result -- nearly half the 7D footage had intense moire/aliasing (1080/24p, sharpness all the way down) for the people who wore clothing not approved by Canon engineers -- and was unusable. Translation: worst interview B cam in history if the subject hasn't had his/her wardrobe approved by Canon.

So, if anyone has any great links to any genuine 7D moire/aliasing solutions -- I'm grateful if you'd post them here or message them.

Another side note to the HMC150 crowd -- the focus group that viewed a large portion of what we filmed (you know, "regular" people) -- unanimously preferred the look of the HMC150 w/adapter footage to the 7D footage that wasn't killed by moire/aliasing. Personally, I disagree, but the old crowd may be pleased to know that the "Panny mojo" still works its magic on uninformed audiences.
Click to expand...

Very interesting. I'd love to see comparison footage if at all possible. And, just so I understand what you said correctly, G Nikkor lenses don't have manual aperture control, correct?
 
ikander said:
Very interesting. I'd love to see comparison footage if at all possible. And, just so I understand what you said correctly, G Nikkor lenses don't have manual aperture control, correct?
Click to expand...

Yes. I tried to find some nifty explanation link -- and I'm sure it's out there -- but all I found were essays and ads.

Regarding footage -- it was done for a client -- and would be inappropriate for me to share.

Both "DX" and "G" have no manual aperture control. "DX" is also designed for the APS-C sensor.

The other person posted a recommendation to buy lenses on Ebay. Indeed, you can find some amazing deals on Ebay for anything, but you can also discover lens problems you didn't know existed. Unless you know what you're doing and are ready to gamble, yes "gamble," on Ebay lenses -- I wholeheartedly recommend visiting reputable professional used stores, like B&H, who professionally evaluate, classify, and warranty the used lenses they sell.

I really can't speak highly enough of the B&H used store. I recently picked up a legendary Nikkor from the 1970's that is notorious for an outrageously loose zoom. The one I purchased from the B&H used store was not only in perfect condition (an amateur would never dream the lens is over thirty years old), but the zoom was as snug as many new lenses.

Did I pay more than I would have on Ebay? Yes. But I also got a lens (with warranty) that not only works without any problems -- but arguably works better than the two thousand dollar comparable zoom Nikon lens sitting in a drawer next to this computer.

The above experience is possible on Ebay -- but it's a gamble. The truth is that it's more likely that you'll discover new kinds of problems that you didn't know were possible with Ebay lenses that were recovered from recently passed on Granddad's garage.
 
AGMedia said:
The above experience is possible on Ebay -- but it's a gamble. The truth is that it's more likely that you'll discover new kinds of problems that you didn't know were possible with Ebay lenses that were recovered from recently passed on Granddad's garage.
Click to expand...


I too bought one of my used Nikkon lenses from B&H, which is where I buy just about everything.
My ebay experience with used lenses was very good. Most were bought from retailers with thousands of sales and 98% positive feedback or greater, that do provide money back guarantees - here is a sample of a guaranteed lens condition I just looked up -

No mold, fungus, dust, haze, or scratches on the glass. Aperture ring and focus ring both are smooth and precise, no excess oil on the blades.

I actually found many of the condition statements very similar.

I will say that I was a little reluctant at first, but found most lens conditions to be very well described and accurate.
Maybe I am just lucky, but I purchased half a dozen nice lenses in great condition.

Doug
 
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IMO :
I found that a naked hmc 150 , on the wide side and the long end , produces a much better image then an hmc 150 with adapter or the 7d.


PS : hmmmm that must make me part of the old crowd :)
 
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm about to jump onboad the Letus Extreme bus for my HMC150 :) I got to see / use this pairing in action recently, and just fell in love. I also saw a 7D in action... and fell in love. So I had a choice of HMC150 + Letus or sell the HMC150 and get a 7D... never in my life am I going to sell my HMC150 :D

So, one question I have is do I need to get the Optimised Achromat adapter to use the Letus Extreme with my HMC150? I can't seem to find a definite answer to this. Even if it means just noticeably better image quality, I think it's worth it.
 
I think that the HVX200 is the only panasonic camera that needed/needs the optimised achromat, so you should be fine. Just fire away an e-mail to them and ask just to be shure =)
 
Jim,

Let me just throw this out there....
If you are primarily going to shoot video, why don't you buy the T2i/550? From what I understand, it shoots the same video quality as the 7D and costs about the same as the Letus adapter.
Here is why I say this. I too have the 150 and do not plan on selling it. However, I did sell my Letus adapter and bought the 7D. The DSLR has better low light capabilities compared to the HMC150, you can carry it with you anywhere and people don't ask if you are shooting for the Discovery Channel and it allows you to shoot multicam if you choose.
Another reason I sold the Letus (Elite) was the images never looked as "clean" as the naked 150 or DSLR.
I take my 7D with me everywhere.

Just my thoughts. I realize, what is right for me is not right for everyone.

Good Luck,

Doug
 
michigan said:
Jim,

Let me just throw this out there....
If you are primarily going to shoot video, why don't you buy the T2i/550? From what I understand, it shoots the same video quality as the 7D and costs about the same as the Letus adapter.
Here is why I say this. I too have the 150 and do not plan on selling it. However, I did sell my Letus adapter and bought the 7D. The DSLR has better low light capabilities compared to the HMC150, you can carry it with you anywhere and people don't ask if you are shooting for the Discovery Channel and it allows you to shoot multicam if you choose.
Another reason I sold the Letus (Elite) was the images never looked as "clean" as the naked 150 or DSLR.
I take my 7D with me everywhere.

Just my thoughts. I realize, what is right for me is not right for everyone.

Good Luck,

Doug
Click to expand...

It's a valid point Doug, I wasn't aware the T2i has the same video capabilities as the 7D... the option to multicam would certainly be great to have.

My concerns with DSLR video though are audio limitations and poor monitoring features (obviously when compared to the HMC150). Say if I just wanted to shoot 35mm with the 550D (so no HMC150), it would be a fair bit of extra hassle to setup the audio recording on a separate device? I generally work on a two man team, with boom + mic or lapel into the HMC150. I'd also feel pretty naked without the fantastic feature set and flexibility of the HMC. Also, does the 550D suffer from the overheating problems like the 7D? A lot of my shoots run for hours (for example I do a lot of in-school filming, which could be 3 x 1 hour lessons interspersed with interviews over a 6 hour day).

When I consider all this, it just seems like sacrificing a bit of low-light capability and maybe a bit of image quality (though everything I've seen of HMC + Letus looks great) might be worth it for the work I usually do. I guess it comes down to the fact that I don't standard "film" work like shorts etc., I do more news / documentary / training material video work, where I wan't to start introducing the film look to get more creative.
 
Jim,

I use the Zoom H4n for sound and a Zacuto Z finder for focusing and viewing. That being said, this is an unaccounted for $600 or $700.

Your boom guy could strap the H4n to his side, no longer being attached to any camera. Set up your HMC150 and leave it running (and recording sound on it's own), use the T2i to capture a variety of close ups or multiple angles, while also recording it's own sound. You can use "Plural Eyes" to sync the footage together (as long as you have a sound source from each device)

I just think the extra camera allows for more flexibility. If you are only able to effectively use one camera for a shoot, the Letus may make more sense.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

Good Luck,
Doug
 
michigan said:
Jim,

I use the Zoom H4n for sound and a Zacuto Z finder for focusing and viewing. That being said, this is an unaccounted for $600 or $700.

Your boom guy could strap the H4n to his side, no longer being attached to any camera. Set up your HMC150 and leave it running (and recording sound on it's own), use the T2i to capture a variety of close ups or multiple angles, while also recording it's own sound. You can use "Plural Eyes" to sync the footage together (as long as you have a sound source from each device)

I just think the extra camera allows for more flexibility. If you are only able to effectively use one camera for a shoot, the Letus may make more sense.

If it were easy, everyone would be doing it!

Good Luck,
Doug
Click to expand...

First of all the Zoom H4n + Plural Eyes is a bloody great idea regardless of camera choice... wish I'd thought of that earlier!!

I'm finding it pretty impossible to decide on the letus or DSLR front to be honest... and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had this conundrum. I think I'm just going to give the Letus a go first (it helps I've picked up a 2nd hand one with rails + case in great condition for £500). When I can convince the wife that we should upgrade our DSLR, then I'll get a 7D / T2i / GH1 and have the best of both worlds :D I'm planning on getting Nikon primes for the Letus, so it's a shame Nikon don't do a proper rival to the 7D :/
 
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