Letus on Brevis

L

livelikeriley

Well-known member
Okay...I feel dumb. I was all set to purchase the Brevis, having read about it all last year and waiting patiently for my grant money this year to come in. I even posted a few days ago some "final" questions before buying the Brevis. And then I read that the Letus Extreme has come out...wow. The one sticking point for me is the rod support system. I've seen another thread on this, and in it Dennis seems to hint that the Brevis rail system can support the letus...is that true? I mean what sort of rails to letus support is there or does it just rest on the rails themselves? Someone posted a B&H link to some cavision rails, that supposedly had lens support, but it wasn.t clear on the B&H website. I love the idea of the letus adapter (as I shoot very quickly and would LOVE to not have to compensate for the flip or wait for Brevis' flip to come out), but the rod thing confounds me? Perhaps Dennis can shed some light on his rods supporting the letus, as I would feel bad at this late stage abandoning the Brevis, but that prism sure is nice :) Perhaps I could still get the rod system from them? Yes? No? Thanks so much,

Mark.
 
I don't get why this is such a big deal. It's on like four different threads!

Here is a pic of my cavision setup.
 

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I know, I know...I was asking specifically about the brevis units, but since you bring up the Cavision, I can't really tell from the picture...what is the length of the rods, and are you using the lens support? If so, is the lens support supporting the 35mm lens itself or the adapter? Again, sorry for the questions, it's just hard to make out from the picture (I also just had laser eye surgery so that could be the culprit!) :)
 
Ahh...thanks, my eyes are not fully adjusted yet ;) It looks like that lens adjuster just goes up and touches the system...There was a link from someone who worked for Cavision that linked to a product with a strap that would go around the unit...any reason to prefer one to the other? and 10 inches, I don't plan on using a matte box (low, low budget you know ;) ) so I assume everything.s gravy, except that B&H appears to be sold out :(

Thanks again,
Mark.
 
Those rods are actually redrock - 18" as is the lens support. The rest is all cavision. You can't see where I have mounted it, but a black zip tie fits the holes in the lens support, goes around the letus, and joins to the other side. It is very, very firmly held in place. No problem flipping the cam upside down if I have to.
 
I do apologize for the "newb" type questions but do you mean the rod system is redrock or just the actual rods...if the rod system is cavision, I don.t think i.ll mind the 10 inch rods because I don.t plan on using a matte box etc. I just want to make sure if I buy the product trudd is linking to is all I would NEED for support. Again, sorry about sounding like a Newb, but I really only do this camera stuff when I'm looking to buy gear, other than that I'm the director usually - and hire a DP :)

Thanks,
Mark.
 
Yes what trudd said is the whole deal. I needed longer rods and wasn't too fond of the carbon ones.
 
Fantastic...going to have to order tomorrow...or actually Monday once the banks open and I can transfer funds :D Wow...It's going to be a very long four weeks...oh well, that will give me time to work on the screenplay so I can have great dialogue to go with those great pictures! If it shipped next day, I think I'd get too preoccupied playing with it ;)
 
Our heavy wall carbon rails (up to 60cm) are designed to accomodate the flip offset and support the rig very securely for use with follow focus units, matteboxes, and even car mounts. I'm not sure if this post will remain here for long, so best to pm for information.

Cheers,
 
There are many, many DIY rails setups out there that use just that. I've also seen at least one rig based on a 2x4 piece of wood, also available at your neighbourhood hardward store :-)
 
Based off of Adam's feedback, I ordered the Cavision rod base today. I decided to get this version, which B&H does NOT carry at this time, mainly because of the extra heavy duty support at the rear of the camera. http://www.cavision.com/rods/minidvFF.htm I did also get the T part with the strap system also, although I read in the other thread on this board that the Le Bros. are going to include their new Extreme bracket for us for free, at least for orders for the next two weeks so I probably won't need the Cavision one now.

You do need a 44mm centerline lens offset with the Extreme and many of the existing rod bases do not offer that much offset. Adam has been using the Cavision and it does work, as witnessed by the pictures of his setup on this thread.

I am also ordering the 18" Red Rock rods tomorrow as Cavision only has the carbon fibre ones.

Best,

Dan
 
Dan, do you mean the Cavision camera plate can pivot left and right, as in offset? I wonder how much offset is actually allowed? Just getting my head around it all.

RS15IIMF.jpg
 
Hi Christopher:

I know, assembling an entire system together with nothing but web photos is fairly abstract. I will have a Letus 35 Extreme adapter, a Cavision camera baseplate, Red Rock Rods, a Red Rock microFollow Focus, Nikon lenses and who knows what brand of matte box eventually? It's cool that all of this stuff can work together though, even though they are all different brands. Makes the HVX feel more professional and less prosumerish.

No, I mean it will elevate your camera enough to compensate for the Extreme's 44mm lensline offset, here look at the pictures http://www.cavision.com/rods/minidvFF.htm

Not sure why you would need horizontal off set unless your camcorder is a model where the tripod mounting hole is not in centerline.

I ordered this version of the plate because of the rear support. Adam C (Taormina) and a few others have remarked how they have needed to shim and reinforce the version without the extra support in the rear. You really need the entire system to be rock steady and solid in order to function correctly. I also ordered the Cavision lens support system http://www.cavision.com/rods/lenssupport.htm to steady the Extreme itself on the rails but now it is being reported that Quyen is including a free metal lens support barrel with Extreme orders over the next two weeks so I probably won't need it.

Enjoy!

Dan
 
Good job, Dan. Let me know how that baseplate works out!

All this stuff fits together so well because a 15mm rod design is fairly industry standard stuff and thankfully all these guys have adhered to that. I've had no problems mixing and matching components from other vendors - it all works just fine.

THe only perplexing thing for me now is a remote follow focus unit. No one knows much (or at least wants to talk about) focusing with these adapters on anything but a tripod. I'm finding the static shots a little limiting, and want to get back to steadicam and jib stuff. We'll see. I think I'll make my own.
 
Rods, Rails, Bungee cords, Duct tape.

Rods, Rails, Bungee cords, Duct tape.

I have a question as to the actual amount of weight that a rail system actually holds. I understand that the Tripod holds all the weight of everything on the rail system but how much weight is actually held by the rods or rails? And what length is the longest stretch of rails to be holding any weight. Hope this makes sense. IG
 
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