Letus/A1 - Need Help...Please

John Scott 3

John Scott 3

Well-known member
All,
I've recently started shooting with my A1/Letus Flip Enhanced combination. I'm not so happy with the results so far, but I think it's coming out okay. I'd like my image to get a little sharper, so I was wondering if anyone could help. I'm shooting in HD (on HDV) with 24f, 1/60 and a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AIS MF lens. I'm not sure EXACTLY how to focus on the ground glass. I just zoom in and attempt to focus (using the A1). Then, I use the Nikon to focus and set aperture. Here is the most recent footage. I also haven't figured out how to capture footage in HD without downcoverting. (Does anyone know a good thread to read that shows how to capture HD footage on FCP 5 without downcoverting?). Anyway, I'd like to see if anyone knows how I might be able to clean up my image a little. Here is my footage with the aforementioned settings:
http://www.zeroaperture.com/Test2.mov
 
I've been researching about 35mm adapters lately and from what ive heard/read and idk if im right but I think your supposed to lock down the focus ring on your A1 and ONLY focus with the Nikon Lens. That might be the reason for the problem.

Can somebody correct me if im wrong please...I dont want to give out wrong info.

- Kyle
 
For focusing I follow timurcivan's instructions:
1) put adapter on camera
2) with lens off the adapter and the adapter turned off you stop down the camera until you can see the grain.
3) focus on grain by hand
4) switch it into auto for a second or 2 and have it lock in, switch back to manual. tape down focus/zoom settings.
5) put lens on adapter and focus on something high contrast
6) flip it back to auto for a second or two and then back to manual.

backfocus should be set.
 
Thanks for your response. I try to keep from moving the focus ring (or any others for that matter) on the A1 but I'm not sure how to lock it down. I'm pretty new to the camera. I'm trying to get my footage pretty crisp (and that "film look") and I'm not sure if it's because I'm shooting in 24f or what it might be. I took some footage at a family BBQ, so I'll post it on here soon. It doesn't look bad, but not quite what other people have posted. I'm very impressed with everyone's footage and just hope to produce that type of image soon. Again, thank you for your help.
 
Matty_g said:
For focusing I follow timurcivan's instructions:
1) put adapter on camera
2) with lens off the adapter and the adapter turned off you stop down the camera until you can see the grain.
3) focus on grain by hand
4) switch it into auto for a second or 2 and have it lock in, switch back to manual. tape down focus/zoom settings.
5) put lens on adapter and focus on something high contrast
6) flip it back to auto for a second or two and then back to manual.

backfocus should be set.
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks. I was scouring the site for something like that. I guess I just can't search well enough. Thank you so much. I'm going to try that tomorrow morning (since it's getting dark here already). And you have to tape the rings down? I figured there would be a "lock" function, but I couldn't find one within the manual. Thanks again. That's awesome.
 
Well, I took the advice. I took the lens off, stopped down until I could see the grain, focussed on it, then put the lens on and focussed with it. I did, however, see a bit of a better picture, but for some reason, my footage still seems a bit..."fuzzy." I'm not sure if it's just me or what, but if you guys want to tell me what you see, that'd be great. I'd appreciate any suggestions that you guys have. I'm very grateful.

Here's the latest:
http://www.zeroaperture.com/Test3a.mov
 
Any suggestions? I'm out of ideas, unless my lenses just aren't doing it. Or for some reason, I'm not actually shooting in HD, and while I'm very new to the camera, if the giant blue light on the left side says, "HDV," then I think I am. Anyway, I appreciate all the help, guys. I hope I can figure it out.
 
Other than having a slight focus issue I quite liked the image quality...I must warn you though, I'm having some monitor issues ;-)
What preset did you use? Did you color correct it?
 
Try focusing using the peaking and mag buttons to get it clearer if your camera has such a function. Also to lock down the lens I use Gaffers Tape. A external monitor is critical on closeup shots. I have shot some footage and found it frustrating because it looked too soft. Then I bought my Nebtek and it made things a lot easier. Also make sure you set your gain setting to -3 vs +3 that may come as the default setting to reduce grain. John Scott 3- Don't forget that when your shooting 24p that you shouldn't pan fast. Think of your camera is a heavy Panavision Camera..if you pan to fast, your image will always be blurry. It should take approximately 7-8 seconds to have your subject to go across the screen. Common mistake in 24p/24f filmmaking.
 
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Thanks guys. I'll employ those techniques today. I hope to have something to show. The gain was a good idea and I feel like a moron for not thinking of that. The panning was just a test to see what it would look like. I wanted to see if I could produce that music video motion look. And I quickly switched to 1/48th shutter speed since I'm shooting at 24f. I don't do much color correcting, but from what I've seen, I can get the image I want without the color correcting...I just have to figure out how. Right now I'm shooting with a 50mm Nikon f/1.8, letus, canon xha1, with settings: gain -3db, 24f, 1/48th shutter, HDV. I'm just messing around with it now. Thanks all. You've all been awesome with your responses. Great filmmaking community.
 
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