Letus optimization kit - worthy?

T

trez

Well-known member
Does anyone have any experience with Letus HVX optimization kit? How does the custom achromat lens affect the sharpness?
I own Letus Economy adapter - the optimization kit cannot be installed on it (it's only for Extreme). I wonder if there's any point in getting Extreme version with the kit... Will it result in significant quality gain? I also consider getting the kit and doing some DIY work to fit it to my Letus Economy...
 
I have the LEX and had really bad sharpness issues on the right side of my image (almost a 1/4 was out of focus). The kit really fixed everything up. To bad it costs so much and doesn't come stock.
 
Thanks for answering my question, Thekreative. I haven't had such severe sharpness problems with my Letus so far. However, I'm moving from DVX100B to HMC150 (or maybe HPX170) soon - 720p will be much more demanding in terms of sharpness...
 
I have the Ultimate with the HVX 200A optimization kit, it uses the same achromat as recommended for the EX1. The 200A did not have good edge to edge focus, but the EX1 and
HPX170 look great. I haven't tried the Ultimate without the achromat.
 
Dino said:
I have the Ultimate with the HVX 200A optimization kit, it uses the same achromat as recommended for the EX1. The 200A did not have good edge to edge focus, but the EX1 and
HPX170 look great. I haven't tried the Ultimate without the achromat.
Click to expand...

Do you have the HVX kit's spacer ring as well? It's the only HVX-specific part of the kit.

If so, are you saying that even with it you don't get good e2e on the 200A?
 
Ted Spencer said:
Do you have the HVX kit's spacer ring as well? It's the only HVX-specific part of the kit.

If so, are you saying that even with it you don't get good e2e on the 200A?
Click to expand...

I have the HVX200 optimization kit, which is an achromat and a ring that says "HVX200". I assume the ring is the spacer?

Center focus is 35, corner focus is 36, compromise focus is inbetween. EX1 and HPX170 has one focus point for very good e2e.
 
Dino said:
I have the HVX200 optimization kit, which is an achromat and a ring that says "HVX200". I assume the ring is the spacer?

Center focus is 35, corner focus is 36, compromise focus is inbetween. EX1 and HPX170 has one focus point for very good e2e.
Click to expand...

That's pretty consistent with what I've found with mine. Too bad it isn't better, but it's certainly a lot better than it was with the standard LEX achromat/ring.

Evidently Letus designed the achromat for the EX1 and found it enough better on the HVX that they didn't further optimize it. The ring is all they redesigned specifically for the HVX. So - semi-optimized I suppose you could call it. If the EX1 hadn't been so horrible before its optimization, the HVX might have gotten the better of it...
 
Ted,

Thanks for the info. I'd been wondering why an "optimization kit" used the same achromat for
a 1/2" imager and a 1/3" imager. I was not happy with e2e on the 200A, especially after seeing the EX1 and HPX170 look so good.
 
trez said:
Does anyone have any experience with Letus HVX optimization kit? How does the custom achromat lens affect the sharpness?
I own Letus Economy adapter - the optimization kit cannot be installed on it (it's only for Extreme). I wonder if there's any point in getting Extreme version with the kit... Will it result in significant quality gain? I also consider getting the kit and doing some DIY work to fit it to my Letus Economy...
Click to expand...


What's up? what's up?

I stumbled upon this thread and seems like something I shoudl know about but I have no idea what you guys are talking about... Can someone fill me in? A link to the product por favor ?

See, that's what happens when you are too busy filming a feature LOL you lose track of what's going on on the gear market.

Is this something I should look into getting with my HVX200 and my Letus Extreme adapter? I glanced at their website but did not see it...

Fill me in, thanks!
 
Duece,
I believe the upgraded achromatte comes with the new adaptor from Letus. You can buy it separately as well. I was on the fence about upgrading. I did a bunch of before and after tests and found that the new achromatte did not improve my image much. Thankfully it was probably because my original achromatte did a decent job (unlike many others have found) and the day I received the original Extreme with the old acromatte, I disassembled the GG system and calibrated it for proper back focus (which ensures the GG is exactly parallel to the lens).

Bottom line, The new achromatte does increase edge to edge sharpness, even for me. In fact, I have seen pictures of some users footage that had just horrible E2E before the upgrade.

It is worth noting, I found that I could not align the camera with the GG as easily after the upgrade. This forced me to zoom in a little bit further. While slightly annoying, after some thought I came to the conclusion that it was probably keeping my camera more parallel to the GG and Lens then with the old achromatte.

Even though it did not do very much for me, I recommend it - small price to pay for technically better footage.

Jason
 
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Deuceofspades said:
What's up? what's up?

I stumbled upon this thread and seems like something I shoudl know about but I have no idea what you guys are talking about... Can someone fill me in? A link to the product por favor ?

See, that's what happens when you are too busy filming a feature LOL you lose track of what's going on on the gear market.

Is this something I should look into getting with my HVX200 and my Letus Extreme adapter? I glanced at their website but did not see it...

Fill me in, thanks!
Click to expand...

It's available here:

http://www.letusdirect.com/cart/panasonic-hvx200-kit.html

It's $350, but only $200 for existing LEX owners. And contrary to the other poster above, above, it's NOT included with current shipping LEX kits for HVX. You still have to buy it separately as an add-on (for $200). There's a popup item on the LEX order page for that.

I find it to be well worth it, although as previously mentioned, it does not completely solve the e2e issues on the HVX200 or 200A (I tried it on both). I'd say it's about 85% improved.

It's a pretty simple process - remove the old achromat from the body of the LEX, screw in the new one, change out the (separate) spacer ring, and you're done. Evidently for older LEXs it's not so simple - they had glued-in achromats or something. Hopefully yours isn't one of those.

Hope this helps.
 
The new achromat/optimization kit is included with the Ultimate. What is so amazing about the 200/200A/170, is how there is next to no chromatic aberration. The EX1 was good, but not as good as the Panasonic's in this regard. That doesn't mean you won't see some CA on some 35mm taking lenses, however.
 
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