Just got my LetusFE

C

crs127

Well-known member
After a week and half my new LetusFE arrived at my door.
Upon opening the package, I became disappointed with the packaging right away.
The LetusFE just sat in some of those styrofoam peanuts without any kind of cover on either side of the unit, all they had to do was wrap some saran wrap around it or make some caps for the unit. I hope I dont have dust inside the unit.
Also, I was hoping by now they would include some sort of instructions with the unit, nope, nothing, not even a packing slip.
The cosmetics are ok, I noticed that on the end you connect to the camera where the metal is nicely polished, there are areas where it wasnt totally polished up, so it looks scuffed.
I know people have posted instructions on how to properly connect the LetusFE to the HVX but after searching for 15mins I couldnt find anything.
Could someone so kindly post some instructions for me?
Thank you!
-C
 
Last edited:
C,
I am sitting at my desk at work where I had my LetusFE shipped to, it arrived today, I opened the box and felt the exact same way you did. I have to say, for $700 I expected some kind of lens mount coverings. Yes, even tape some paper onto either side instead of having it bounce around in packing peanuts that got into the housing so when I get home I hope I can blow out all of the particles.

I further agree that some sort of instructions, even if posted on the Letus website, are in order. No packing slip, receipt, warranty/registration card, nothing but the exposed unit stuck in the middle of packing peanuts.

I hope the unit performs well, delivery was quite unprofessional. I work at an International broadcaster and we have a national cable channel. Many of us not only produce, direct and write on the job but are indie filmmakers, editors, dp's etc. outside of work. Some co-workers knew I had ordered this for a couple of personal projects, needless to say no one was impressed when I opened the box and saw how it arrived.

Let's say that we are "CNN" we're not, but we are that big, you would think one would want to make a better impression knowing where you are shipping to, after all I could be the head of channel production checking out gear to purchase, I am not, but when I showed it to the person who is, he just laughed and shook his head.
-CN
 
When I got mine, it was packaged the same way. Definitely substandard. I consoled myself with the low price point, but yeah, Quyen could definitely improve the packaging on his product, and include even a one-sheet on documentation.
 
Quyen's profit margin must be huge considering his materials. Standard tube, microscope glass...$700? I was hoping by now he'd do some R&D into the ground glass at the very least.
 
In its defense, and despite its flaws, you can make some great images with the letus35 FE.

But yeah, the unit shipping as if it were a used, spare part didn't instill a lot of confidence in its quality.
 
Quyen's profit margin huge? Please. It's half the cost of the Redrock and other comparable adapters, and performs at least as well as they do. If he had a "huge" profit margin he could probably afford to upgrade his packaging!

I still say the L35FE is the best adapter on the market on a bang-for-the-buck basis. I don't know if it's unquestionably the best on a performance basis, as I haven't had a chance to test it against the competition... but the performance you get for the price? If the other companies are charging fair prices, then Quyen's charging way too little for what he delivers.
 
I think Quyen needs to increase the choice of lense mount beyond Canon FD or Nikon. All the other manufactures have a ton of options for interchangable mount except the Letus. I would jump on the FE if it offers EOS mount.
 
You can get a eos mount if you email and ask him. the thing is it will be permanently fixed to the adapter. If you had Canon FD or Nikon AI lenses you wouldn't be able to use them anymore with the modified adapter.
 
Havent used my new LetusFE yet, still waiting on my step down ring.
I have 7 Nikon lenses, I bought them all from ebay and they averaged around $200 a lense.
Once I test out the LetusFE, I will prob agree with Barry, for the price there isnt anything better.
 
I just ordered a Letus35 FE with the swappable metal mount. I was planning on using mostly Nikon lenses, but I felt it would be good to give myself the option of using Canon FDs since I haven't bought the lenses quite yet and I don't have tons of money to throw around on buying the absolute best lenses. I've got a couple of questions:

1) Have people had problems using Nikon lenses on the swappable mount? and if so, can this problem be cured easily?

2) I listened to some podcast about 35 adapters and the guy said it would be smarter to get primes for rack focusing, because they don't breathe nearly as much as zooms. Everything I've read on this forum so far doesn't seem to agree with this. Do zooms and primes breathe equally during rack focusing, and the lens difference is simply in the image sharpness?

3) This may be going a little off-topic, but I've heard Nikons and Canon FDs are about the same in image quality. Can anyone highlight the real differences of the lenses (better/worse contrast, color tone, sharpness etc.)? I don't need to get the best lenses, but it's nice to have a consistent look for a film when you're paying around the same price for the respective companies' lenses.
 
DP_Drew said:
2) I listened to some podcast about 35 adapters and the guy said it would be smarter to get primes for rack focusing, because they don't breathe nearly as much as zooms. Everything I've read on this forum so far doesn't seem to agree with this. Do zooms and primes breathe equally during rack focusing, and the lens difference is simply in the image sharpness?
Click to expand...

Primary difference is going to be how fast the lense is. Prime lense is typically much faster than zoom, and usually cheaper. And of course the more expensive the lense, the less it breaths.
 
I’m sure many Letus owners have solved the issue of no coverings coming with the unit, but if you have not as of yet, a quite helpful guy in B&H’s photo department spent 20 minutes with me trying out a variety of body caps, threaded solutions, etc.

What seems to work quite well and what I went with were two generic push on lens caps, one 55mm and 72mm –go with a more snug fit as they will only develop more play with time.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...arch=yes&O=productlist.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...lSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t
 
Barry_Green said:
Quyen's profit margin huge? Please. It's half the cost of the Redrock and other comparable adapters, and performs at least as well as they do. If he had a "huge" profit margin he could probably afford to upgrade his packaging!

I still say the L35FE is the best adapter on the market on a bang-for-the-buck basis. I don't know if it's unquestionably the best on a performance basis, as I haven't had a chance to test it against the competition... but the performance you get for the price? If the other companies are charging fair prices, then Quyen's charging way too little for what he delivers.
Click to expand...

We'll have to disagree on this one Barry. I've owned every Letus version (even bought the DIY parts with the syringe rods:) except the XL and HD versions. And i'll agree its a good entry level adapter value, but the dust and fragile parts just don't cut it. I loved the flip, but could not get the dust out of my mirrors. I say huge profit margin after having communicating with Quyen for so long. He has very few outside manufacturing costs vs the other guys and uses parts you can pick up at most local hardware stores. Hey, to me its smart business but I outgrew the product.
 
I use the Brevis Rev2. I also really enjoyed the M2 which I shot with for like a month. Setup is a little longer but hey none of them are perfect. And I still agree with you that the Letus is a great value...I just could not get past the grain from the GG on my flip unit on the HVX...it was like a cloud over the footage. Do you have a flip version?
 
Yep, got the flip. And yes, at high shutter speeds it can indeed make a grainy cloud over the image, but at 1/60 or so it cleans up very nicely.
 
Damn, I wish mine did...I get grain at 1/60 and plenty of light. Go figure....I still hold onto it like it will magically clear up. LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top