Help needed with lowering my 35rig.

N

Nicky

Well-known member
Hey all, I have a EX1 with Letus adapter+letus rails.

I cant figure out why the rig so tall, it has adjustments to make it lower but then Id need to saw the pieces sticking out the bottom - why were they designed like that?

Does anyone know of a cool rails system thats not so tall? Ive got shoulder mounts and stuff coming and the rig will never fit in my HUGE bag. I run n gun alot and cant re-assemble the rig all the time.

I really need some friendly advice.:)
 
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.472981/it.A/id.36/.f?sc=2&category=406

two inch lift, fits everything linearly so you don't have to snorkel up or further down to get any mattebox or anything like that on. The riser is one solid block and the entire setup costs less than one Z-Riser or Q-Mount (I think on the Q-mount, not exactly sure).

DSC_0120.JPG


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1281703#post1281703 - These are pictures of the Z-Riser hanging on the bottom of a Redrock setup and then the Redrock Riser in place of the Z-riser instead. I'm not a fan of the Z-riser although others are taking that approach.

I don't mind the two inch lift that the Redrock Riser adds, it's the perfect height to stay balanced and to fit everything you need on one level. I also found that if you use the Z-riser with other rails it "pinches" the rails together tightly making it really hard to slide the Follow Focus back or forward, so you have to loosen it to move the mattebox and the follow focus.

It also interfered with larger Tripod Head operations, and for the most part I couldn't really get it on two other tripods without having a little trouble. Again, it's been working for others but I went with the RR riser route and it's a lot less headache for me. And cost efficient.

I had the Cavision before hand and it "worked" for the time being. Not a good solution though.
 
Thanks Tim, I checked it out but cant quite grasp Zacutos products from the web alone - just looks like some mounting bracket thingy. They also quite pricey it would probably make sense if I was around a distrubitor or something plus I already spent a whack on my letus rods.

I feel maybe I jumped into the Letus rods a bit quick after being advised from popular people on this site (I wont mention names) only to find they are ACTUAL ENDORSERS. Anyway just a quick rant cos I probably just should of gone Zacuto from the start.
 
Thanks Kholi (just saw your post now), Ill def check the RR solution - I like RR products (And Im not an endorser)
 
Cool pics - how did you get hold of all that cool gear so fast? Letus ultimate, RR mattebox, etc. Im still waiting for my RR mattebox - will it fit with the RR riser rig you suggested? cos your RR mattebox system is using a Zacuto thingy?

Thanks.
 
Beta Testing the Ultimate and The RR Mattebox is a Beta/Prototype as well. Still a few kinks, even in this stage it's the best bet for the money.

It will fit with the RR Riser, definitely. I've tried it already but I should get some pics up to exemplify. Will do that today.
 
Thanks... Let me know what u think of the C/Y zeiss lenses when u get them - Im seriously considering them too!
 
Aaah on those Contax Zeiss lenses.

Prefacing by saying that up until about a month ago I was using either what's considered the best Nikon Primes and a sets of Zeiss Standard Speed PL mount lenses for everything. The budget of the project dictated which and when, naturally.

For QUITE some time I would always say "man Nikons are good enough for ownership and they're not as expensive. You can't tell the difference." That isn't true. A friend of mines had taken out my HVX200 + Letus Extreme rig to shoot a short with and then later needed to use another of our friends' HVX200 + Letus Extreme rig for pickups. The difference between these two setups were the glass used.

My rig had Nikons with it, the second rig had Contax Zeiss lenses. Now, I know that there's a difference between Nikon primes and Zeiss primes. Some people will say that it's negligible, but I disagree. But I never expected to see that much of a difference, first hand, between Nikon Primes and Zeiss Contax Primes.

It's there. I don't know if it's merely a preference for the Zeiss "look", microcontrast, edge-sharpness handling yadda-yadda but looking between different shots, Nikon shots and Zeiss shots, the Zeiss was clearly superior in my eyes. I'm gonna put here a disclaimer that says: TO ME ZEISS CONTAX LENSES ARE SUPERIOR TO THE BEST NIKON PRIMES.

The closest I've seen to the same sharp image is exhibited in the Nikon 17-35 and 80-200 zooms. Those suckers are very nice lenses and really do outshine their prime counterparts.

If you do a search on the web you'll find that the Z-Line of Zeiss lenses, the newer Nikon, Canon, etc etc mounts (ZF = Nikon) are merely rehoused Contax designs. They're newer lenses, correct, but the quality difference is none. You may find a newer Nikon ZF 50/1.4 to perform slightly better than a used Contax Zeiss 50/1.4, but it's because it's used. So why pay the money for ZF's when Contax Zeiss glass is floating around for very VERY nice prices? Granted, you need to find a mounting solution for your choice adapter. Letus has one that's supposed to be the same solid quality as the new Nikon and Canon EOS mount, I have the new Canon EOS mount and Contax Yashica mount headed to me this very moment in the mail so I'll report back.

In the end, lenses are just like adapters: choose what fits your wallet and what will work for you. You can get it done! Remember, there was a 17-35 on one of the Bourney movies, so it's obviously good enough!!!

I've wasted a lot of money trying out different lenses, but it was so that I could find out myself. I'm hoping my personal set ends here with the C/Y Zeiss and Tokina mix. Tokina for the 12-24 option. :B
 
Kholi said:
In the end, lenses are just like adapters: choose what fits your wallet and what will work for you. You can get it done! Remember, there was a 17-35 on one of the Bourney movies, so it's obviously good enough!!!
Click to expand...

No, 80 % of Borne Supermacy was shot with nikon 28-70 and 80-200, they didint use the Nikon 17-35 at all. On top of the Nikons, they supplemented the camera with 15-45mm ARRI-Zeiss zoom lens, an Optimo-Angenieux 28-70mm zoom lens, and an older Century Precision 28-70mm zoom lens.
 
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Thanks for correcting me on the zoom lens. The point was that the Nikon zooms are of excellent quality.

You also bring up the shorter focus throw: The C/Y lenses rotate the proper way for pulling focus in a filmmaking atmosphere and they have a longer throw than Nikons. This is good for me, but if it doesn't matter to others then hey no harm done! It's just great that an AC doesn't have to flip his or her thinking around the other way.

And whatever your preference is, man. I clearly stated that it was, in my opinion, a difference I saw and that's why I went with it. I see the difference, if you don't then fine. In the end just use what you want, Nicky asked, I told.

=)
 
Thanks for sharing your experiences Kholi, I so almost went the Contax route before getting my lovely set of Nikon primes - I saw some used contax zeiss lenses today at a camera shop they seem pretty cool but resources for testing and equipment availability in Africa is really short, if only I had a yashica or EOS mount with me without having to ship it from the States.

Another cool thing about the Contax lenses is they fit on the Canon EOS 5D which is supposed to be the cheapest full-frame DSLR, thats really cool - pity Ive just got the Nikon D40x DSLR to go with my Nikons but Im also willing to upgrade later on to the EOS 5D and sell my Nikon set and get Contax.

Would it be hard to sell my perfect Nikon set to the DVXuser crowd considering shipping from Africa? (Sorry to stray off topic Ill stop:)
 
It's your thread. Stray stray stray.

You're right in that the Contax Lenses will fit on the Canon EOS 5D, unfortunately I have a Nikon D70S so I can't even use them on my camera but that's alright. Sacrifices!

You may not notice a difference between the Contax Zeiss and Nikon lenses and I assure you that Nikons are used quite often and put out good results. It's all just preference and that was my personal angle.

You could try the marketplace, people buy and sell from all over here. Just make sure that you do some more research before you bite the bullet!
 
About the RR riser, it doesnt look like it will be much different to my LEX rig. After thinking about it I think the most compact way for me would be something like this -

RR baseplate close to camera and then snorkel up cos then the height of my rig will be from rods up to camera handle with no gaps (I hope that makes sense) and then use that Zacuto Qmount thingy to "up" the rods by the LEX - thus allowing the RR handle bars to slide in higher than would normally be possible.

Kinda like your HVX Ultimate RR mattebox rig except in snorkel up - no what I mean? Alot of guys are doing it.
 
Indeed. It's just a preference and nobody's wrong. I personally wouldn't ever go snorkel up because these things look retarded as they are even snorkel down. But, the best thing to do is to just choose what works best for you!

I've had a chance to use Cavision, Zacuto, and the RR solution and knowing the kinds of issues I ran into with the Cavision and Zacuto I chose the Redrock Riser. Costs less, solid, and I don't have to worry about things hanging here and there.

That was me. I bet you'll be just fine with the Q-Riser piece and going snorkel up.
 
No definitely, If I had it my way I would def go RR baseplate/Riser like you, Im just tryna fit the rig in my soft bag I just bought for run n gun cos I cant be putting together a sniper rifle every time I wanna grab a shot. My existing rig JUST fits as it is, but with the RR mattebox, shouldermount, etc. its never gonna fit so I want to optimise and make the rig compact.

So is the Zacuto Q-mount the only solution cos I dont think it will fit the letus rails like Tim said - maybe Cavision has a bracket thingy to connect to my rods and fit another on a higher level?
 
Transporting is a pain in the behind. The question you ask I have no answer to, but, I've gone ahead and succumbed to not being able to fit all of my gear in a single case. I will end up getting a 16x9 bag for the built-out camera and another Pelican case for everything else.

No real right or wrong decision in this department, you just gotta do what you can.
 
Nicky, As far as i know, you cannot buy the RR riser separately at all. It has to be purchased with their micro X flip module. The new breavis proteus system is very versatile you should check out their video at their website.
 
That was true up until about a week or more ago. When I got my riser and baseplate setup it was without a flip unit. I just posted in the other thread Brian's response to that question whether or not the riser and baseplate would be for sale separately soon and he confirmed that it will be up in a matter of days as a separate purchae. I'll dig up the email.

You may email Redrock directly for clarification if needed.
 
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