Preffered 35mm adapter for HVX200

take2visualmedia

take2visualmedia

Well-known member
I'm looking to get a 35mm adapter for my HVX200. Is there one that people seem to like better than another? My main concern is stop-loss. Any insight is appreciated.
 
I just got the letus extreme I noticed the light loss but haven't compared it to any other adapter. but it does flip the image for you.
 
letus seems to be the current popular favorite.

i have a brevis ive used for a couple years and i like it fine as well...
 
If money is no issue, the clarity of the p+s technik is pretty much solid. However, with an HVX, you usually get about a 100 asa rating from the whole setup...

The Redrock m2e has almost no light loss from what I read. Hoping to test one in the next few weeks.
 
My Letus Ultimate does everything it was advertised to do -- it has been nearly a "joy" to work with.

Remember -- a 35mm adapter at it's best transfers the image from the lens to your camera -- meaning that bad lenses plugged into the best adapter in the world will result in near perfect transfers of the bad images from the bad lenses.

It's more important to spend money on quality lenses -- cheap junk from Ebay is rarely a good solution. The reason many people complain about "light loss" and detail loss is precisely because they saved money with bad lenses -- yet they blame the adapter.

I'd rather have a Letus Extreme with Zeiss primes than a Letus Ultimate with "affordable" lenses.

Also, you'll want full frame 35mm lenses, NOT newer lenses designed for digital sensors such as the Nikon "DX" line or Canon whatever.

The good news is that the HVX/HPX becomes a different camera with each different lens -- opening up realms of options and creative possibilities. I could write a vast essay about how amazing it is to have the entire world of full frame 35mm lenses available to use with the 170.

And, unless Canon comes out with a full frame 3 CCD VDSLR, or until the FF35 Scarlet/Epic are functionally available -- few things come close to beating the HPX/Letus combo both in terms of image and convenience.
 
Every lens adapter must have some loss as the image has to land on a frosted surface. A stop loss of 0 would be light passing through the screen medium and into the camera's lens, which doesn't work.

Before you buy a lens adapter try working with ND filters to see if you can get what you are looking for. For $80 you can get a .3 and a .6 ND to fit the HVX, if you can swing a 1.5 that would be even better. The idea is to run the iris close to wide open at all times. You stack NDs on the lens and use the built in .9 and 1.8 NDs to control the overall exposure. It may be a touch soft, but it will be sharper than any adapter can get.

The HVX lens' F stop is in the 2s, which is pretty fast. You may find that with the this method and proper staging you simply don't need the adapter.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/58655-REG/Tiffen_82ND6_82mm_Neutral_Density_ND_.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/58591-REG/Tiffen_82ND3_82mm_Neutral_Density_ND_.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._82_ND1_5HD_Neutral_Density_Filter_82mm_.html


Bob
 
Bob,

I've often wondered why most people don't do what you suggest. Between the onboard ND filters and a few additional glass ones knocking down the light, keeping the F-stop wide open, you can get a fairly decent depth of field without spending so much on additional (and expensive) rigging and lenses, right? Not crazy DOF, but useable, and no graininess from whatever ground glass the adapter presents the image to.

I suppose if people have killer primes it would make sense to use them, but if you have to buy a new or gently used set of primes + adapter + all the misc. mounting gear to make it work right, plus an HPX170, aren't we talking about a much bigger chunk of change for DIY filmmakers?

Bart
 
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