letus ultimate on HPX370?

M

Mark Smith

Veteran
I bought a letus relay lens which has a 1/3" mount on one end and a circular mount with 6 hex screws to couple it to a Letus ultimate on the other. However when I tried to do a trial fit up of the pieces Letus 1/3 relay and the Ultimate today, there was no way the relay lens was fitting on the end of the Letus ultimate body. Has anyone ever used this setup and If so what is necessary to mount the letus Relay to the Ultimate Body.
I've called Letus Tech support several times and only get voice mail.
 
I have the Extreme... not the Ultimate, and I had to remove the 82mm threaded ring & achromat lens to slide the relay on the Extreme. The instructions with the relay lens should explain the mounting process.
 
Curious how you got on Mark? I have been pondering the Ultimate with a 1/3" relay and 370 combo for some time. How is it working out?


Jason
 
Mark: TreeHaus is TOTALLY right... "remove the 82mm threaded ring & achromat lens"..!

AwakenedFilms: The results are absolutely wonderful!

Using this setup with the HPX370 + Zeiss ZF 28-35-50-85 & Nikon 80-200/2.8 since August.
Shooting basically TV Commercials... Regarding resolution, color & texture, better results than with Canon 5DM2 + same set of primes. Regarding workflow, even much better!

RELAY LENS INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove the achromat lens from your Letus35 adapter (Ultimate/Elite/Extreme) and
screw it onto thefront cap of the relay lens for safe storage. Use the Letus camera
connection ring to cover the other end of the achromatic lens.
2. Connect the relay lens to your camera.
3. Connect the Letus adapter to your front of the relay lens and tighten the 6 set screws.
Make sure the adapter is aligned properly with the camera.
4. Use the relay focus ring to focus onto the ground glass of your Letus adapter.

(these are from the instructions sheet included with the relay lens).

Hope it helps.

Happy shooting!

Henry Epstein
 
Thanks all!
The Letus instructions were a bit vague about removal of the Anchromat. I finally spoke to a human at letus and got the low down and will give the set up another shot when time allows . Maybe the end of this week. I like the IDEA of a good relay adapter combo on the 370. I'll see how it works out once its all put together.
 
CinemaElectronika said:
AwakenedFilms: The results are absolutely wonderful!

Using this setup with the HPX370 + Zeiss ZF 28-35-50-85 & Nikon 80-200/2.8 since August.
Shooting basically TV Commercials... Regarding resolution, color & texture, better results than with Canon 5DM2 + same set of primes. Regarding workflow, even much better!
Click to expand...

That is wonderful to hear. I can't stand the lack of audio support, miniature form factor and aliasing of DSLRs. I hungry for a shoulder mount P2 shallow DoF camera (AF100 needs more gear to be shoulder mount and to implement a higher quality codec). I think the 370 + relay + Ultimate is a great option, but have not seen it in person. Can you comment on the handling - is it front heavy, does it still feel balanced the shoulder when shooting HH? Did you have to set the X_Y adjustment on the Ultimate or is the 370's sensor lined up fairly well?

Rather than primes, I am thinking about a short nikon zoom as my go to lens.

Mark, maybe when we get together I can 'cop a feel' of your camera setup...


Jason
 
AwakenedFilms said:
That is wonderful to hear. I can't stand the lack of audio support, miniature form factor and aliasing of DSLRs. I hungry for a shoulder mount P2 shallow DoF camera (AF100 needs more gear to be shoulder mount and to implement a higher quality codec). I think the 370 + relay + Ultimate is a great option, but have not seen it in person. Can you comment on the handling - is it front heavy, does it still feel balanced the shoulder when shooting HH? Did you have to set the X_Y adjustment on the Ultimate or is the 370's sensor lined up fairly well?

Rather than primes, I am thinking about a short nikon zoom as my go to lens.

Mark, maybe when we get together I can 'cop a feel' of your camera setup...


Jason
Click to expand...

Hi Jason,

Honestly, we do not use this camera handheld or shoulder mount. We mostly shoot tripod locked down or on a Jib.

Certainly, for us and our business this is really a wonderful option since you have AVC-Intra 100, Full-HD master quality sensors, 1080/24PN, variable frames @ 720/24PN, full-frame FOV with the Relay, vibrating ground glass on the Ultimate... and many choices of very good manual and fast SLR lenses instead of heavy PL mount's... We use Zeiss ZF's which are truly fantastic... and with the 370/Letus combo you get multiple formats, codecs, standards, and ease in setting the camera, for focusing, for exposure, for monitoring video, audio, with robust P2 cards, etc. etc. etc... You name it!

Yes, it could be front heavy on the shoulder, mostly with a zoom like the Nikon 80-200/f2.8... And regarding lenses I would hardly suggest to go with a good and fast manual prime instead an AF Zoom (in manual mode) along with a good follow-focus... and the proper rig for handheld since you will not have a handgrip likewise you would with the Fujinon TV lens...

And yes. We've had to set the X/Y adjustments more than once to control vignetting, which can be a real pain at the beginning. This is not by large the perfect setup since you have to check your back focus on the relay almost often before each shot, or tightening up the rig after/before shoots, etc... but I do prefer this anytime rather to shoot with the Canon 5D which by the way is part of our arsenal...

We are currently on the preprod for a new shoot next week. I'll try to take some pics to post them here.

Best,

Henry Epstein
 
I think the 370 with a letus mounted would be a bad idea for lots of hand held weight and balance wise. Its also a bad idea since hand held implies moving camera & or subjects which means lots of focus chasing with the shallower DOF, unless you want to make that a style choice or something.
 
Mark Smith said:
Its also a bad idea since hand held implies moving camera & or subjects which means lots of focus chasing with the shallower DOF, unless you want to make that a style choice or something.
Click to expand...

Kind of the look i'm after.

This was shot on the 200 with an extreme and nikkor primes: http://awakenedfilms.com/media/dfs100610.mov.

All I was missing was shoulder mount-ability, AVC-Intra and 1080 24pN. Now, I may be out of mind in terms of how it will handle with a pair of hand grips, but its the closest thing in my price range which seems to tick all of the boxes. I have shot HH with an EX3, PS Technik and a PL. Not too shoulder friendly (but slightly better than the 200). Hopefully somthing like the 370 Letus kit will be even more balanced.

Of course, a 3700 with 6-24 digizoom would tops, but right now that is on the dream list.


Jason
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top