How much adapter is enough?

B

Bobonli

Well-known member
WARNING: this is basically a “help me decide” thread but I’m hoping you can share your personal experience with this issue.

I am trying to decide how much adapter is enough for my needs. I’m considering the Shoot 35 Blade and Letus Ultimate. Both are excellent instruments, perhaps one a bit more perfect than the other but at a substantial price premium. I’m wondering if I should be tempted to pay that premium based on my needs.

I want a spinner, so that narrows it to the Blade and Ultimate. Having rented the Letus, I like being able to stop down and use faster shutter speeds.

Background: I do not generate revenue through shooting. I’m an educator who uses video for personal story telling and as an adjunct in the classroom. Although I’m not paid directly for the video work I do, I still try to produce a professional-looking product. I shoot with an EX-1. The Ultimate works perfectly with this camera. No experience with the Blade. I’ve read the reviews and the major nits to pick are chromatic aberration and edge to edge sharpness issues, which hopefully are resolved with the new achromat. Some people prefer the regular AA batteries of the Letus to the re-chargeables of the Blade but that’s not a deal breaker. The Letus could be on my doorstep in a week; on the other hand, the Blade would take at least a month to ship.

If money were no object……… But the question I’m struggling with is “Will I see a major difference between the two devices, so much so to justify the extra money?” Is the difference clearly noticeable to the untrained/uncritical eye? Is it unreasonable to be considering a $4k adapter when I won’t be making money off it? (that didn’t stop me from buying the EX-1!!!)

I know there’s no “correct” answer, but I can’t be the only one who’s faced this decision and I’d appreciate your input.

Thank you.
 
Bobonli said:
WARNING: this is basically a “help me decide” thread but I’m hoping you can share your personal experience with this issue.

I am trying to decide how much adapter is enough for my needs. I’m considering the Shoot 35 Blade and Letus Ultimate. Both are excellent instruments, perhaps one a bit more perfect than the other but at a substantial price premium. I’m wondering if I should be tempted to pay that premium based on my needs.

I want a spinner, so that narrows it to the Blade and Ultimate. Having rented the Letus, I like being able to stop down and use faster shutter speeds.

Background: I do not generate revenue through shooting. I’m an educator who uses video for personal story telling and as an adjunct in the classroom. Although I’m not paid directly for the video work I do, I still try to produce a professional-looking product. I shoot with an EX-1. The Ultimate works perfectly with this camera. No experience with the Blade. I’ve read the reviews and the major nits to pick are chromatic aberration and edge to edge sharpness issues, which hopefully are resolved with the new achromat. Some people prefer the regular AA batteries of the Letus to the re-chargeables of the Blade but that’s not a deal breaker. The Letus could be on my doorstep in a week; on the other hand, the Blade would take at least a month to ship.

If money were no object……… But the question I’m struggling with is “Will I see a major difference between the two devices, so much so to justify the extra money?” Is the difference clearly noticeable to the untrained/uncritical eye? Is it unreasonable to be considering a $4k adapter when I won’t be making money off it? (that didn’t stop me from buying the EX-1!!!)

I know there’s no “correct” answer, but I can’t be the only one who’s faced this decision and I’d appreciate your input.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

It does sound like it is a bit unreasonable. HOWEVER, you earned this money, do what you want, do what brings you joy. Personally I have had no experience with any 35mm Adapters, but I can already tell im a SGblade person. I cannot wait till I have the money for an SGblade. I'm just afraid its gonna take some more time as im going to need a monitor, plus the whole adapter rig. Than obviously a few lenses. So I need about $1700 before I can get any of it. :lipsrseal

Good luck.
 
Do you need a adapter or is it something you would like to have? Owning a adapter in not just owning adapter, its owning lens rails, support etc.

The difference is very minimal between the two, from my understanding, they are both fine products. The blade has interchangeable ground glass and the build is better on it (From what i heard).

I own a Shoot 35 Sgblade, had a letus extreme and love it but I use all the time. I love the ability to stop down and having a different type of bokeh with just switching a ground glass out, the letus line can't do that.

Think twice before buying one, you might not really need one.
 
Hey, How R U? One thought mate, i have seen five Ultimates on Ebay in the last 6 weeks or so, all saying " i thought i would use it more." Hmmmm

Wayne has fixed the EX1 issues to astonishing success and it soooooo much cheaper, how much will u use it, and how much resale values will you get if u sell it in todays economy?

I think the Ultimate is overkill unless you are doing adapter work day in and day out, i had the choice and i went G35 because simply it looks the most like film. Now if i would use the adapter all the time on every shoot, and i can't fuss with lighting it like a film , i would buy Blade, especially now since Wayne has fixed the achromat for the EX1.

Good Luck, you wont lose with either one. There is an Ultimate on Ebay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Letus-Ultimate-...QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0QQsalenotsupported
Cheers
 
Danwreid said:
Do you need a adapter or is it something you would like to have? Owning a adapter in not just owning adapter, its owning lens rails, support etc.
Click to expand...

Ha ha. That's like asking do you need an EX-1. I see it as a tool to be used in certain circumstances when it will enhance what I want to do with the camera. I'd have to answer "no," I don't need it (in the strict sense of the word) any more than I needed an EX-1 instead of my Canon HV20. But I prefer what the more sophisticated tool can do for me. Same thing with the adapter.

Yes, I know that there's a thousand and one accessories. I actually priced out a Letus Elite kit last year with rods, f.f. etc but postponed purchase to learn more. So I know the hidden costs. I already have all the Nikon glass I need.
 
DEPTH OF PHIL said:
Hey, How R U? One thought mate, i have seen five Ultimates on Ebay in the last 6 weeks or so, all saying " i thought i would use it more." Hmmmm
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm affraid I don't have the stomach to buy used high-ticket items on the 'Bay. If I'm gonna buy something like that used, I'm buying from brick and mortar shop that I can bring it back to for repair/support. Just my personal practice.
 
Anyone else want to weigh in?

Perhaps a fellow "serious amateur" who had to make the same decision.
 
I think it's totally unreasonable to spend $4000. Even considering u have a nice camera. I just got my Redrockmicro M2 (the discontinued version) from their website for about $600 bucks and I got myself an indiRAILSpro with shoulder mount for $300 so basically an entire system with rails for under 1000 bucks. I'm waiting on my 50mm 1.4 Nikon to arrive but I've fooled around with my cheapo old 28mm 2.8 and it looks pretty damn good (I'll post some stuff soon). Again it's all about lighting, lenses, framing, etc. Just do a search on vimeo or on here and you will find awesome footage with past versions of all these adapters.
A friend who regularly uses adapters told me the SGBlade is probably the best around now, but I'm sure the Extreme and the new M2 Encore are pretty much just as good.

Spend $1500 on the adapter and then splurge on fantastic lenses!
 
Thanks David for your input. I'm just having a difficult time cutting through all the promotional hype. If I had the opportunity to touch and feel the Blade and comparre it with my experience renting the Ultimate, it would alleviate some of the confusion. But it's a royal pain for me to shell out the money without a test drive so I can determine for myself whether a $1500 adapter is good enough.

I was over at Stillmotion.com and they seem to use the Brevis with Ex-1 without any complaints. Yet, there aren't too many fans of that combo on this site.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top