NEW 35mm adapter pre-purchase questions

B

benandaim

Well-known member
Hi Guys,

I've been eyeing off the Letus Extreme for a while now and would like to get advice & some questions answered before purchasing.

I mainly shoot TVC's, video for the web & chroma key stuff. I'm used to grabbing my HVX202 and shooting reasonably quickly. So here are my questions:

1. How easy is it to shoot & focus handheld with the extreme attached?
2. How's the maintenance side of things eg. (cleaning, dust issues ETC)
3. Does setup feel like a pain? Particulary if your shoot requires footage with & without the adapter on?
4. Lastly if i have a bare HVX what other essential items should i purchase with the extreme? (rods? ETC)

I have a Manfrotto tripod with a 503 head.

Thanks in advance guys, i'd really appreciate any advice.

Kind Regards,

Ben:)
 
Uh... first of all with any adapter you have to figure out your rig. I'm a Zacuto man myself. There are plenty of good systems out there... most adapter companies sell their own (i.e. Redrock sells it's mounting plate with rails, Cinevate sells their carbon fibre plate with rails).

When shooting handheld (you do not want to attach your adapter without some sorta support - bad idea in my book!) you're going to need some sorta shoulder pad most likely. You'll see people on here using the DV Rig Pro, Zacuot's shoulder pad, a Switronix, or another assorted version. The thing it.. you have to decide what fits you and your pricerange. For me, Zacuto's customizability couldn't be beat! It's also rock hard sturdy as well.


So you're going to want lenses, the adapter, and rods. Maybe a mattebox as well.
If you're pulling focus on your own, you'll probably have difficult in handheld mode.

There is plenty of stuff on here about this. The Letus is a trick to mount. However, I know Cavision, Letus, and Zacuto have options available. Do some research to see what works for you!
 
Reply

Reply

benandaim said:
Hi Guys,

I've been eyeing off the Letus Extreme for a while now and would like to get advice & some questions answered before purchasing.

I mainly shoot TVC's, video for the web & chroma key stuff. I'm used to grabbing my HVX202 and shooting reasonably quickly. So here are my questions:

1. How easy is it to shoot & focus handheld with the extreme attached?
2. How's the maintenance side of things eg. (cleaning, dust issues ETC)
3. Does setup feel like a pain? Particulary if your shoot requires footage with & without the adapter on?
4. Lastly if i have a bare HVX what other essential items should i purchase with the extreme? (rods? ETC)

I have a Manfrotto tripod with a 503 head.

Thanks in advance guys, i'd really appreciate any advice.

Kind Regards,

Ben:)
Click to expand...
1. If you are used to shooting handheld with your bare HVX, you will be in for a surprise. My rig weighs about 22 lbs and is 24" long and is quite the beast. Its not that it's that heavy, it's that it's long and somewhat unbalanced.
2. So far, dust is not a big deal for me
3. Setup from scratch is a big pain. I am buying a large Storm case that will carry the whole rig setup so I can just take it and out, mount it to the tripod and shoot. The connection from the HVX lens to the Letus takes some tweaking, the rubber donut on the matte box takes some tweaking, changing lenses takes some tweaking, etc. If you are switching between adapter and non-adapter shots, that will be a pain and time-consuming.
4. You will need rods, rod mount of sufficient vertical offset. Most are going with the 18" rods but if you want to mount anything to the rear of the camera, you might want the 24" rods. I think that a follow focus and matte box are essential for me although not an absolute must for all. If you are going with just handheld event type of shooting, you can probably get by with just the cam, rod base, shorter rods and the LEX and a monitor. But if you are shooting a film or higher end type of project, the matte box and follow focus are a must. As is a monitor, when you have 4" of depth of field, your stuff is going to constantly be out of focus unless you have a real monitor to see that it is out of focus.

I would also suggest that your Bogen will not work very well with a heavier rig although I do see lots of LEX owners with their $10,000.00 plus rigs sitting on $150.00 Bogen 501 heads so what do I know? ;-)

Good luck,

Dan
 
Thanks so much guys for such a quick response.

It all sounds hardcore! compared to my style of shooting. I'll take it all onboard. I guess for handheld work you need quite a bit of gear, ah well if that's what it takes.

Thanks again.

Ben
 
yeah... if you can afford it, just buy a full Zacuto kit! It comes with everything you need! (whips, monitors, mounting, camera, cases, prime lenses)...

or be cool like us and throw it all together!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top