Coping with 35mm adapter light loss.

Finnegan

Finnegan

Well-known member
I'm in the middle of shooting a feature film where we're shooting mostly interior sets. Up until now, I haven't used my 35mm adapter (SGblade w/ rotorazor 2) extensively inside and to be perfectly honest, I'm continuously stunned by how much more difficult it becomes to even get enough light to be properly exposed. I suppose its my own fault, but you really don't notice it when you're shooting exteriors being that the sun is so powerful.

But as I said, we're shooting interiors and by and large, the sets aren't that big - yet I have to blast the talent with lights to even get a proper exposure. Out of curiousity I did a gray card test of the camera (Canon XH-A1) with the 35mm adapter and found it had an ISO/EI of 40. 40! I mean, I know rating a digital cam with a 35mm adapter is pretty pointless but I was just stunned by how much light I was losing through the adapter I just had to test it to see what number popped out.

So now, I come to you guys - what can I do to cope with interior sets and not having enough light for the 35mm adapter? As far as I can see, the only two options are faster lenses and more lights - unless I want to take off the adapter.
 
Finnegan said:
So now, I come to you guys - what can I do to cope with interior sets and not having enough light for the 35mm adapter? As far as I can see, the only two options are faster lenses and more lights - unless I want to take off the adapter.
Click to expand...

Bingo.

Although how are you lighting it? I use a Letus Extreme on my A1 which is comparable in light loss to a Blade and I was able to shoot on f2.8-f4 with most setups using just over 2kw of light. Of course it depends on the setup too; wide shot is a little bit more difficult.
 
Huy Vu said:
Bingo.

Although how are you lighting it? I use a Letus Extreme on my A1 which is comparable in light loss to a Blade and I was able to shoot on f2.8-f4 with most setups using just over 2kw of light. Of course it depends on the setup too; wide shot is a little bit more difficult.
Click to expand...

The director wants a very warm, natural look. I'm using mostly 2K fresnels shot through silks. The silks obviously eat quite a bit of light, which is why I'm struggling at times (especially in the wide establishing shots or masters) to get light even to F2.8 on the lens.

Does the Letus extreme have interchangeable imaging elements? I don't know what they're called for Letus, but SGblade calls them Rotorazors - the one I'm using is #2 is the one that creates the most diffusion of light, giving the shallowest depth of field, but in doing so eats the most light. I've found it to be anywhere between a stop to a stop and a half. Doesn't the Letus run around a half stop light loss?
 
Hey Sean, Hey Huy. Funny I find you both in the same thread.
Anyhow, no the Letus doesn't allow you to change elements. It's light loss is indeed about a half stop. Working with the aperture wide open like that doesn't give you a whole lot of room to work with focus wise. I've come to realize this is one of the reasons why sets are often blasted with ridiculous amounts of light.

Really those are your only 2 options. I've found the a1 to be pretty bad in low light situations with my sgpro on it. (which is supposedly the same element as the rotorrazor 2.) You might want to try and tweak the presets and settings on your a1. There's some settings in there that will really kill light.

Faster lenses are nice but shooting wide open generally gives you wafer thin focus fields (depends on the lens tho), it might be hard to keep characters in focus if they're moving around.

I'd continue to blast actors with light, just be smart about your light setups. Move silks/lights closer if you have to.
 
I wonder if you are not having problems with the interior lighting because of the camera you are using. The lens of the A1 is fast at wide open, but can you use it wide open with the adapter? How much do you have to zoom in and what iris value do you have than?
The Sony Ex1/3 doesn't have that problem.
 
My SGBlade RR2 is 1/3 faster than my Letus Extreme or an Ultimate. Don't know why.

I have never found a Letus to really be a half stop. Don't believe what the manufacturers say about light loss.

How fast are your lenses?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top