Letus Extreme rig photos

Mark,

Nice set-up - only issue is still mounting a Mattebox which will force the camera w/ adapter up another 1 - 1.5" (depending on the mattebox) - nice to see it adapted to RR rails though - that's the same setup I have and have been trying to figure how to raise it high enough to use with my mattebox

thanks for the pics!

cheno
 
Little hi-jack here, but I've got my feelers out for anyone with a Letus35 Extreme in NC to help configure a proper Cavision solution that will address this issue.

We're a full-line dealer and will provide a complete set-up (once it's been finalized and offered commercially by Cavision) to whoever loans us their Extreme for configuration.

We'll get this issue sorted.

e
 
What's the issue? Mine is all cavision and it works fine. Many people don't know that you must flip the matte box rail mount upside down for it to work properly - i.e. give you enough clearance to lower the matte box far enough.

Snorkel up is just plain dumb to me - why raise all that weight so far above the rails????
 
Cheno -

My solution to putting on a matte box will be to fabricate a block at whatever height I needed (like you said, about 1-2") and go with that once I decided on an MB. Today's trick is the quick and dirty.

I just looked at my configuration, and there is plenty of adjustment to the Letus bracket and to the Red Rock FF that would allow this. I think the best solution would be to remove the Red Rock block that mounts to the base plate and just make a new block of the correct size. Don't know if I'll try it or get a machine shop to make one. If you have a matte box with height adjustment, then it should be pretty easy to make one close enough to work well and keep it all level.

Mark
 
e -

Is that a hint? I live in Richmond, VA. Where in Carolina are you?

How long do you need it? I'm in a Maya class all next week and would be willing to part with it (under certain conditions ---my wife is a lawyer and she could have a 312 page contract ready in day or so...).

Mark
 
Breaking news.......the setup does not work just like the FE did. I mounted my extreme today and it is deeper by about 3/8" - which screws up my matte box heighth. The easy solution is dual rails, but I don't like the extra bulk on an already heavy rig. I think the base plate needs to be shimmed. I will look into it and report back with photos.
 
Thanks for the Richmond offer. We're trying to source from mfg. as we speak. Once we have the Cavision solution up and running, I'll post the link to it here.

e
 
Nice setup Mark! I'm really glad to see that the Letus Adapter attachment is not getting in the way of the RR Follow Focus. I think it's 8DFM.com that had to re-purposed his rails attachment because they were getting in the way of his IndiFOCUS. I don't understand why... Maybe it has something to do with the way the IndiFOCUS support is design? Could someone clarify this?



 
Hi all:

I am late to the party as far as rig photos. My HVX has been in the shop for the past week and I just received the new Cavision extension kit from Jason this morning. I have not leveled and tweaked this setup at all yet, this was just literally thrown together to make sure that everything fit. I think for my needs, mainly tripod shooting with occasional jib usage, the height issue on the Cavision will not be a problem.

The next step is adding Luis' monitor and replacing the Anton Bauer for the camera with a Tekkeon to power the monitor. As this rig sits right now, 16lbs, 2oz. with the 18" rails and the Nikon 50mm 1.4 lens. I will come in right around the DV-6SB's weight limit of 20lbs once I add the monitor. I have the 24" rails coming in from Red Rock for when I want to shoot with physically longer lenses.

Enjoy!

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TheRealMe said:
Nice setup Mark! I'm really glad to see that the Letus Adapter attachment is not getting in the way of the RR Follow Focus. I think it's 8DFM.com that had to re-purposed his rails attachment because they were getting in the way of his IndiFOCUS. I don't understand why... Maybe it has something to do with the way the IndiFOCUS support is design? Could someone clarify this?
Click to expand...

Yes - Initially I could not fit both the IndiFOCUSpro mount and the Letus Rails Support in the same space - I don't know if it was for lack of effort BUT - I was able to re-rig the LRS and fit both on easily:



My only issue now is getting the GearDear Matte Box to not "sag" forward when its mounted on my rails....

EDIT: GearDear is shipping me a new part to support the "sag" on my rig - I will update this when it gets here.

Here is another pic of my "new" rig set-up:



backFF.jpg




All things considered and after much research I think I built the most inexpensive rig out of all of the FF, MB, and Rail Vendors out there.

The last piece of the puzzle will be the DVRigPro HD which I'll receive early next week!
 
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Your Letus support is backwards. The back of that bracket marks the film plane where you will measure focus from. You need to flip it so the upright is further aft.
 
taormina said:
Your Letus support is backwards. The back of that bracket marks the film plane where you will measure focus from. You need to flip it so the upright is further aft.
Click to expand...

He had to do that to allow for the IndiFocus mounting.
 
8DFM.com said:
All things considered and after much research I think I built the most inexpensive rig out of all of the FF, MB, and Rail Vendors out there.!
Click to expand...

Your setup looks great now, I was a little nervous for myself when I saw you first pics because of the angle of the setuo, now everything looks great aside from the mattebox angle. Good work man, now if only my Extreme would get shipped I could get something going.
 
taormina said:
Hey Dan - looking good. What is that battery setup?
Click to expand...

Hi Adam:

That is the freebie Anton Bauer Elipz that Panasonic gave to pretty much everyone who bought one from Spring of this year onward. Nobody wants to use it the way it is intended, which is sitting underneath the HVX because it has a plastic tripod mounting plate, it's kind of flimsy and I would not trust it on my HVX. But other than that, it's a kick ass battery, it lasts me about 7-8 hours on one charge with the HVX with the flip out monitor on versus about two hours with the CGD-54s or the DVX User big battery. It was killing me having this $400.00 battery sitting around that I could not use so I figured out a way to rig it nicely.

It also adds a nice counterbalance to the rig, even though the rig is super long, it is remarkably well balanced on the Sachtler. It is not front or back heavy and actually moves like having an HDX or HPX on there, it has that smoothness that comes with bigger cams.

I paired it with an additional Cavision base to hold it. The tripod plate for the Anton Bauer fits nicely into the 1.4"20 holes on the Cavision so it is quick release when I want to take it off. When I buy Luis' monitor (I think I am going to go for one?), I will have to replace the Anton Bauer with the Tekkeon to power the monitor, using both will make the rig over the weight spec for the DV-6SB.

Dude, thanks for the help and advice along the way, your pics of your rig were a great help.

Best,

Dan
 
No prob, Dan. I really like that setup, including the battery. Going to have to look into it. My Marshall takes an Endura battery, so it will have to be powered separately.
 
you're rig looks really nice, except i just dont like how the unit is sooooo front heavy. Something i just wouldn't like to work with. It's not the best thing for the fluid head either.
 
Front heaviness is kind of the nature of the beast right now, unless you're into 24" rods and counter weights. But then we'd complain of bulkiness.
 
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