Letus
- Thread starter Corine
- Start date
wgzn
Veteran
what do you want to know about it?
its a device that allows you to use 35mm still lenses for video.
most of them "project" the image from the 35mm lens onto a spinning (or vibrating) textured and glass element that adds a degree of "grain" which people tend to describe as "cinematic"
letus is one of the more popular but there are also other well-respected brands: the cinevate brevis, redrock micro, shoot35 (my personal favorite), cinemek... all good options. but they all have their own slightly different look and better and worse features - although they all are basically pretty much the same thing (with exception of the cinemek which has no moving parts)
stylistically these adapters are cool. but they come with a whole new set of concerns. with the heavier "flipped" versions (which the newer ones ALL are) you absolutely HAVE TO also have a baseplate and rails rig to support and secure all the components. so youre looking at easily another $500 ish... then you'll need lesnes, most adapter manufacturers offer interchangeable lens mounts so you can use diferent brands of lenses (canon, nikon, pentax, olympus, etc) so you need to factor in lens costs as well, most people choose "prime" lenses (prime meaning single focal length - no zooming) for adapter use. affordable decent older primes run generally $200-$400 each, and you'll need a few, like a 35, 50 and 85. so youre looking at another $600-$800 there (minimum)
i could go on, but this should give you a starting point.
on the flipside of the discussion, you have DSLRs, which by virtue of what they are, give you this functionality right out of the gate. so its taken a HUGE chunk out of the 35mm adapter market. so things like the letus that used to run about a grand can now be picked up used for $200-$300 pretty easily.
so right now, if you are just starting out it may be more effective (both cost and style wise) to forego the video+adapter path and just get a DSLR
its a device that allows you to use 35mm still lenses for video.
most of them "project" the image from the 35mm lens onto a spinning (or vibrating) textured and glass element that adds a degree of "grain" which people tend to describe as "cinematic"
letus is one of the more popular but there are also other well-respected brands: the cinevate brevis, redrock micro, shoot35 (my personal favorite), cinemek... all good options. but they all have their own slightly different look and better and worse features - although they all are basically pretty much the same thing (with exception of the cinemek which has no moving parts)
stylistically these adapters are cool. but they come with a whole new set of concerns. with the heavier "flipped" versions (which the newer ones ALL are) you absolutely HAVE TO also have a baseplate and rails rig to support and secure all the components. so youre looking at easily another $500 ish... then you'll need lesnes, most adapter manufacturers offer interchangeable lens mounts so you can use diferent brands of lenses (canon, nikon, pentax, olympus, etc) so you need to factor in lens costs as well, most people choose "prime" lenses (prime meaning single focal length - no zooming) for adapter use. affordable decent older primes run generally $200-$400 each, and you'll need a few, like a 35, 50 and 85. so youre looking at another $600-$800 there (minimum)
i could go on, but this should give you a starting point.
on the flipside of the discussion, you have DSLRs, which by virtue of what they are, give you this functionality right out of the gate. so its taken a HUGE chunk out of the 35mm adapter market. so things like the letus that used to run about a grand can now be picked up used for $200-$300 pretty easily.
so right now, if you are just starting out it may be more effective (both cost and style wise) to forego the video+adapter path and just get a DSLR