My first tests with brevis and hvx

Congrats on the purchase! Looks pretty good to me...


I'm on the HVX now, so I just sold my 35mm... sad day for me.. However, I'm curious about your setup.
  • How heavy is it? I'm assuming you have to use rails with ths system? Also looks like the main body is carbon fiber?
  • Which lens(es) are you using? I noticed they offer a Canon EOS mount.. Does that mean I can use my wife's lenses now.. shhhhh ;-)
  • Do you have any pictures of the camera with the adaptor on it?
 
Thanks.

All my lenses are old nikons I bought off ebay. I have a 28mm 2.8, 35mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 135mm 2.8 and 200mm 4.0.

The brevis is made out of carbon fibre and is quite light.

I do have rails, but they're only needed for the 135mm and 200mm. The shorter lenses are OK without rails. The whole thing only takes a few minutes to setup.

Sorry, no pics of the setup. will try to post something later.

DCERVENKA said:
Congrats on the purchase! Looks pretty good to me...


I'm on the HVX now, so I just sold my 35mm... sad day for me.. However, I'm curious about your setup.
  • How heavy is it? I'm assuming you have to use rails with ths system? Also looks like the main body is carbon fiber?
  • Which lens(es) are you using? I noticed they offer a Canon EOS mount.. Does that mean I can use my wife's lenses now.. shhhhh ;-)
  • Do you have any pictures of the camera with the adaptor on it?
Click to expand...
 
I thought it looked terrible, but I think it is mostly due to the CODEC you chose to get it onto the web. It downloaded way to fast, so you must have really compressed it down.

Post a few full resolution frames so we can see how it turned out.

Bob
 
Bob,

It was very compressed, but saying something is terrible isn't much help to anyone. I respect everyone's opinion, even if they think something is terrible. I wouldn't post here if I didn't want to get some feedback. However, I think we need to choose our words little more carefully and show each other a little respect. I wouldn't have any problem with someone not liking my footage. I just wish they would express why. I think that's the only way we can learn from each other. Anyway... no hard feelings. I really do want some feedback, so here are some full rez frames.


Bob Gruen said:
I thought it looked terrible, but I think it is mostly due to the CODEC you chose to get it onto the web. It downloaded way to fast, so you must have really compressed it down.

Post a few full resolution frames so we can see how it turned out.

Bob
Click to expand...
 

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Thanks. Just used the HVX LCD with the focus assist. Wish I could afford an HD monitor, but they're a little pricey right now. I'm hoping there's a reasonably priced alternative to the Marshall on the market sometime soon.
 
How much did the Brevis cost? I only ask because their site is a little confusing. Is it a vibrating adapter?

Looks great! I like it!

EDIT:

NVM. I just went to Cinevate's website and they finally updated. Now it's not so confusing. Kinda pricey compared to the M2 though.
 
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I purchased the HD imaging bundle, which was about $1100. This was what I needed for my HVX. Depending on what camera you're using, you may also need a step up or step down ring, and a spacer ring. If you plan on using any lenses longer than 50mm, I'd also recommend buying rails and the brevis to rails support.

These adaptors are great. I've really become a believer. However, it can get quite expensive. All told, with adaptor, rails, brevis support and all the lenses you'll proabbly want to buy, you could easily get over $2000. And, that doesn't even include a HD monitor, or a followfocus which I think are absolutely essential.

I'm glad you liked the footage. I was very surprised at how quick and easy the adaptor was to setup. I spent 5-10 munites setting it up and only about 2 hours shooting the footage you saw. It was also all available light, except for the night shot for which I had a 1k soft light just to bring up exposure.

Oh ya... it is a vibrating adaptor.
 
Nice pics mate. Was that the CFL1 cinefuse? I've got CF1 and 3 regular and 3 does have too much grain, might play around with 1 again for a while.
 
Thanks tmnt. It was CFL1 cinefuse. But, I gotta tell you. It is amazing how much grain you can see, or not see depending on what fstop you're shooting at. I found that the more you stop down, the more the grain comes out. It varies from lens to lens, but in general, you want to shoot from wide open to no more than 2, possibly three stops down. I had my HVX at F4 and I had my nikon still lenses either wide open or 1-2 stops down. The shots you see were done with:

Nikon 200mm (4.0) at f4.0 & f5.6
Nikon 135mm (2.8) at f2.8 & f4.0
Nikon 50mm (1.4) at f1.4, f2.0 & f2.8
Nikon 35mm (2.0) at f2.0, f2.8 & f4.0
Nikon 28mm (2.8) at f2.8 & f4

My favorite lenses were the longer focal lengths. The 200mm & 135mm.

Hope this helps.
 
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Yeah the longer lenses are beautiful. I have a Canon FD 85 1.8, it's my favorite at the moment. I also have a zoom Tamron 80-200 that's seems pretty damn good too. My next investment will be a 17mm 2.8, I'm hanging out for that. In Australia it's hard coming across FD lenses they're not on ebay much, I've been hunting for a 100 and 135 for a long time now.
 
I've heard great things about Canon lenses. Some people prefer them to the Nikons. I've heard a few people say they have a more filmic quality. I'd love to see some footage sometime.
 
You have an HVX? Lucky you! I'm planning on buying a DVX100B within a month or two. I'm also interested in a 35mm adapter but the price for the Brevis is to steep for me. Looks like I might go with the M2 ($550 I think). The only thing that might put me off from buying the M2 is the setup time/calibration to make the video look the best they can.

Are rail systems adapter independent? For example, if I buy the M2 can the rails that Cinevate sells be used with the M2 and vice versa. How much were the lenses (total)? I've been looking at some Nikon lenses but one thing that I don't get, are the initials used with the listings. Some have "AI" in the name. What do the initials mean?

ahhh... to many questions, sorry insomniac!

btw, what happened to your thumb, I see you're wearing a band-aid!

More footage PLEASE! :P
 
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The DVX100B is a great camera. I've seen some great footage shot with it and 35mm adaptors. I think you''ll be very happy with it.

As for the M2, I'm not sure where you're getting the $550 price. It's actually almost the same price as the Brevis. I looked at a lot of adaptors and I chose the Brevis because it was incredibly light and easy to use. It also had a design that allowed for changing of the cinefuse element allowing for different looks. It also is great at light loss. It loses little, to no light.

The only other adaptors I considered were the M2 and the SGPro. I have a friend that owns three M2's and he's not very happy with them. Although they can create some great looks, they are very difficult to setup properly. It took him a very long time and a lot of experimenting. The SGPro is also a little difficult to setup just right, but is great in every other respect. To be perfectly honest, I was leaning towards the SGPro, but availability wasn't great and the exchange rate made it considerably more expensive. In the end, I went with the brevis and I think it was a good decision.

Rail systems usually come in 15mm and 15.8mm diameters. Everyone will tell you that they are universal, but that's not always true. You'll have to look closely at the specs to make sure all will fit together. I don't recall what size the M2 needs.

Nikon lenses come in all flavors. AI, I believe means Auto Indexing. Any older Nikon AI or non Ai should work fine. Just make sure it is a manual lens. Stay away from autofocus (AF).
My five lenses cost me about $250 bucks total. If you're patient, you can get some really great deals. I don't care so much about the cosmetics of the lens, but I won't buy if it doesn't have clean glass and smooth movements.

Hope this helps.

John.Malak said:
You have an HVX? Lucky you! I'm planning on buying a DVX100B within a month or two. I'm also interested in a 35mm adapter but the price for the Brevis is to steep for me. Looks like I might go with the M2 ($550 I think). The only thing that might put me off from buying the M2 is the setup time/calibration to make the video look the best they can.


Are rail systems adapter independent? For example, if I buy the M2 can the rails that Cinevate sells be used with the M2 and vice versa. How much were the lenses (total)? I've been looking at some Nikon lenses but one thing that I don't get, are the initials used with the listings. Some have "AI" in the name. What do the initials mean?

ahhh... to many questions, sorry insomniac!
Click to expand...
 
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I actually started with Canon FD's because I got a free one off my mom. They seem to be in less demand than nikkons so you can get them a bit cheaper too. The downside is Canon lenses have different mounts so that's a big drawback for some but yes, I do love the quality.

John, the m2 loses a light of light which in turn means buying the fastest (ie more expensive) lenses possible is especially important and you'll have to use more lights. I don't want to put you off the m2 - I've seen great footage from it, those are just some thoughts. Most rail systems should be interchangeable. I'd personally go the SG pro or Brevis. Read through the 35mm ADAPTOR section thoroughly, there's a lot of info take in before you make a purchase.

Jump on ebay to give you an idea of how much lenses run for and also check out your local second hand dealers.

Here's a great photography page for some info. http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm

end hijack
 
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