How to get less grain from Letus GG

ripupthehwy

ripupthehwy

Well-known member
I recently purchased a Letus Extreme for my HVX 200. We had a big shoot with it this weekend. It was 96 degrees here in Florida, and just torture on this oudoor 12hr. shoot. Anyway, one thing I see alot of when going through the footage is that you can see the grainy GG. Looks like we are shooting through very thin panyhose or something. I'm guessing it's impossible to completely eliminate seeing the GG grain (yes we had the vibrating motor running). Possibly the very bright sun accented this? Anyway , who has any tips on how to cut down on the visibility of the pantyhose....uh I mean the frosted ground glass of the Letus???

Thanks
 
try Neat Video.

One thing I would suggest, just in the same way that one does room tone(audio), is to do room tone(video) for use with Neat Video.

I use it and suggest it to alot of clients, and I love the results....certainly if you film in HD and down-rex to 720....and most people will go down to SD, so it'll look WONDERFUL.
 
Nick is correct about Neat video. It is an amazing plug in for FCP or after affects and other programs. It got rid of absolutely horrendous grain for me in a short where my 35mm lens was too stopped down.
So that's question I would ask ripup... . Are you aware of the limitations on f stop on your 35mm lens when shooting with the Letus? Did you have it at f4 or more closed than that? If so you will see static grain.
 
My focus puller wanted to argue with me about that. I tried keeping the camera iris wide open as much as possible and use nd filters on the lenses (it was an extremely bright sunny day). Several times he popped open the internal nd filter on the camera and also iris down some. I don't remember how much. However the first shot of the day when we were in the shade has the most "grain" to it, so what you are saying makes perfect sense.
 
Fire your focus puller. He is completely out of line.
A movie is set is like the army . You do what your superior tells you.
 
Lenilenapi said:
Fire your focus puller. He is completely out of line.
A movie is set is like the army . You do what your superior tells you.
Click to expand...

Actually you can even put him in front of a firing squad....Only if its his first offense....otherwise the penalty would have to much harsher.:2vrolijk_08:

Joking aside Leni is correct, dont hire that guy again.
 
Lenilenapi said:
Fire your focus puller. He is completely out of line.
A movie is set is like the army . You do what your superior tells you.
Click to expand...

I agree. Most DP's including me are a little touchy about people messin with the camera, unless it's their job to.....and it isn't your focus puller jobs to decide lenses, F-stops, filtration,etc....If someone was trying to sneak in and change my stuff who I was in charge of, I'd politely ask them to stop. The next time I'd politely tell them that what they are doing is out of line, and I may need to find someone else to do the job if that line of action continued....then on the third time I'd ask them to leave.

My dad taught me that a long time ago...three strikes and you're out...be polite at every step. If it happens to be a situation that needs violence(this isn't one of them), you are polite on the 1st and 2nd, and you fight on the third.
 
I just think my biggest mistake was that I took a brand new letus adaptor I had hardly used yet, out on a big dollar shoot. The A/C focus puller was a sharp guy who works on alot of national television as well as film. He insulted my Letus adaptor and I asked what he was used to using: P+S Techniques Mini35, which ain't even in the same league. So I should have just been more stern and firm with my direction but I didn't know much about the letus yet either. I wanted more time to work with it but the whole project came together last minute.
 
Frankly I challenge your focus puller to see much difference between the pictures from those 2 adapters if you have good glass. In some ways a P+S can be worse - more flare. If he had any class he would have been curious instead of disrespectful.
He could not have been that sharp, because if he pulled that crap with a DP on a national spot he would have had his ass thrown out on a rail. It doesn't matter how small or big a shoot is you still have to act in professional manner.
 
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