SGBLADE - Review

TimurCivan

TimurCivan

Director of Photography
Staff member
h.okay.

So i got my blade in the mail today, and i am finallllly ready to test it out, and give everyone a long overdue review. Philip bloom's experience thread has been great, and for those of you choosing an adapter, a little more information and a different perspective, would be very helpful i think.

Tomorrow, if im not shooting fashion week here in NYC, i will be running a gauntlet of the first run, im bored im gonna go play camera test... yes that means lots of slomo, pretty girls, and puppies. i know you all want it.... but a couple days from now probably Thursday i will do more scientific tests.

I cant wait to play!

also, the box, instruction manual, and lens pen are a GREAT touch. It actually looks like the bone fide professional product, that it is, while still in the box.




INITIAL Impressions:

Build quality, good leap above the Beta unit which was very letus EX like, robust and solid feeling. Much more polished and tight, better looking, bigger Flip optics, and the new support bracket is properly made. Well done. Quiet too. Or well, quieter than my Sgprorev3 which has gotten louder over the years... my rev3 is somewhere between JAckhammer and Shuttle launch as far as dB's are concerned......



FOOTAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://exposureroom.com/members/Timurcivan.aspx/assets/c4fac763fd394336a00206235834415b/



http://exposureroom.com/0077d2c0e43749429b49209637206fa2/



Password for all videos : blade

You can downlaod the full size QT from exposure room. for some reason it made a tiny version and No HD version on the site....

I dont understand computers.....

There are two more videos on the way...... The Slomo stuff and the goofing off stuff.



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OK, So image quality.

What was the deal with the SGpro that made it so desireable in my opinion? It was sharp, but not the shrpest, fast, but not the fastest, rugged but not the most durable and affordable. Well, that doesnt sound so great... but you know what, it looks GREAT. The image had a mojo that when combines with the HVX/DVX mojo just had cross mojination.... that... well, was just beautiful.

So heres whats changed:
Its faster, sharper and better built than a rev3. Period.

But guess what... IF i miss the Rev3 look. BAM. Swap the GG and there it is. DAMN its nifty. ( i did a shoot with emeril today so im "bam"ing everything and everyone... sorry)

And whats good about it.....
1 - Bokeh still looks good, ( not as good as the RR2 gg but the lightloss and sharpness are major plusses that ALMOST counteract the minor bokeh difference) and if you really miss it. RR2, and you have a Rev3 look again.
2 - Clever design. Very similar to a Ultimate, but things are put together somewhat better... well maybe not better, but more thoughtfully. The backfocus takes a minute to adjust, but when its adjusted and set in place, its not gonna move for years.... the lens mounts interchage in a very robust, absolutly solid manner.... Three bolts hold it in place. No friction, just pure manly bolting power.... long heavy lenses should prove not so big of a problem. though like Tim, i REALLLY liked the old REV3's attachment to the rails... it was so damn solid and long 200mm lens shots were absolutly stable. though i think the Blade's proper lens mount will hold the weight.
3 - Price. Affordable unit i think especailly with the american Dollar exchange rate....
4- Proper Instruction manual. I had no idea how to adjust XY. Opened the manual, and there ya go.

Things that Irked me:
WEll its kind of a mixed blessing/curse.

The XY adjustment is kinda clunky. but once its set, its designed in such a way that its set for good. So you really only need to do it once. Same with the Back focus. The Ultimate has a great idea with regard to these fucntions, quick and easy... but the execution was a bit hit or miss. things jiggle. Things dont jiggle on a blade once its set in place. So its kind of a pain in the ass to get it set, but once its set, its good forever it seems like. so i guess it pisses you off for the first day then you love it....

internal battery doesnt last too long. I read 6 hours i believe. ( correct me if im wrong). Thats not quite a whole day of work... Also the External battery pack while a life saver, looks like hell, it just kinda sticks out all over the place....

The little screws that hold the achromat collar , the part that attaches to the camera, are SO small... i feel like i will break them i i tighten them down too much. Perhaps a little bit bigger, more confidence inspiring thread?

Other than that the adapter is good...

I saw minimal CA, and acceptable soft edges. Mostly due to the performance of the 35mm glass. As opposed to Phil Blooms experience the Blades performance with the HVX200 has far less CA. Same amount, maybe a bit less, than my SGpro Rev3.

Good machine. I will be updating findings in the coming months.
 
Timur,

Please download and print out this chart and shoot 30 sec. of it with even light and taking lens and camera lens wide open, somthing like a 50mm would be good.
 

Attachments

Any chance this will be tested in a narrative environment? I'm interested in seeing it perform under the harsh conditions of an actual set. Wear and Tear is an important thing to know on these adapters for professional environments, not to mention that the conditions of a full production push the adapter's weak spots and exploit them instantly.

Here are my main concerns/questions:
-How well does the mount to the bottom of the SG stay connected. Is it as solid (or close to) a standard dual 15mm mounting style (Redrock/ Old SG) or does it have some give to it. This is crucial for dolly shots and precise movements.
-How do the ground glasses compare for sharpness?
-Can you examine the highlights and exposure differences between ground glasses?
-How well does the collimation system and X/Y adjustment work?
-Follow up to that is how fast does the collimation system work while in the field?
-Are there any optical improvements of the new flip Blade package versus using an old flip and Blade (assuming the latest EX1 achromat is used with the old flip).
-How is the corner sharpness compared to the Pro

Im excited for it. I'm about to wrap a production today that put the SG Pro through a vast amount of bizarre on-set scenarios and it has held up perfectly. The only gripe is the external battery pod.

I did back to back productions with the Letus followed by a short film with the Redrock and after this current production, the SG was clearly sharper, similar to the RR in highlights and bokeh, and gave the most even exposure and sharpness across the image. Nothing wider than a 35mm was used but it was absolutely clear that the SG handled the corners far better than the RR and slightly better than the Letus.
 
Avenger007 said:
Any chance this will be tested in a narrative environment? I'm interested in seeing it perform under the harsh conditions of an actual set.
Click to expand...

In two weeks, I'll start principal shooting for a narrative short. Our shot list includes at least 10 locations so far, both interior [including a nightclub scene] and exterior, which I think will put the adapter through a good variety of conditions.

For transport, I plan on keeping the whole rig together and not breaking it down at all. I bought a large Storm 3075 case off eBay which will fit everything intact, including the mattebox. And, it will serve as a nice place to sit in between takes :).

We also have one dedicated person assigned to capturing all the BTS shots on both video and stills, so hopefully I should have some good stuff to share with everyone at some point...
 
Avenger007 said:
I did back to back productions with the Letus followed by a short film with the Redrock and after this current production, the SG was clearly sharper, similar to the RR in highlights and bokeh, and gave the most even exposure and sharpness across the image. Nothing wider than a 35mm was used but it was absolutely clear that the SG handled the corners far better than the RR and slightly better than the Letus.
Click to expand...

I find that the SGpro was the happy medium, not the sharpest, not the most light efficient, but a runner up in all categories. 2nd place isnt bad if youre 2nd place in EVERY category....
 
going to be shooting a "realworld" style test with Tim Naylor tommorow......

should be interesting....
 
So Timur brings by the SG Pro Blade in a shiny aluminum case. Nice touch. Like all my adaptors that came in cool cases, they only travelled in them when I received it and later when I sold them. I usually left them built on the camera in an ENG padded bag or it travelled with my lens case. Either way it's a solid case and if you don't put your adpator in it, there's many other accessories that'll find a home.

Next we go about setting it up. If you've built a Letus, this is all old hat. It's pretty much the same design in terms of attaching, relay and support. Screw it on, tighten four set screws and it's in. I'm not a big fan of the set screws going into bare metal. Not only does it leave dents and divets, I just don't find it a firm way of attaching something that heavy. Many have disagreed with me in the past as I had the same complaints with the Brevis and Letus products. I'd rather see a "pressure" shoe that presses against the channel rather than dig into it. In any case don't use this without the support bracket.

We put in on a Zacuto baseplate / Z riser set up. In snorkel up, the placement of the support bracket threads makes for an impossibly tight crowding of nuts and bolts, making loosening and tightening of the height and securing bolt a pain in the fingers. In snorkel down this wouldn't be an issue. However, snorkel down causes the riser to bump into the tripod head when sliding back, making balance a pain. For handheld though, it's my preferred configuration because of the low CG. In short, perhaps moving the snorkel up thread further up would relieve the crowding.

The bracket itself is a real gem. In fact, I'm thinking of ordering one just as a lens support for a 70-200. Its machining is good and beefy with no flex. That said, I still prefer the mounting of the old SG box as the wide support housing had absolutely no twist or flex. I'd love to see adpator makers us a wider two post support bracket instead of the current single center post. It would be far more stable especially with larger glass. With the Old SG, I had no fear of heavy glass. This may seem nitpicky but when you're pulling focus at 200mm zoomed in, flex is the enemy.

Which brings me to the build. The quality is top notch. Threads, fit and finish all seem tight. No jiggly this and that. The Nikon lens mount we used was from an older SG. As a stickler for lens mounts, this one had worked out the compromise between play and ease of twist that RED and host of 35mm adaptor makers have yet to figure out. Not a hint of jiggle. It required a bit more force to lock in, but lock in it did. If it takes that much resistance to eliminate the dreaded Nikon mount jiggle, I'm all for it. We did have one issue with the 82mm step down. As I like to get it in tight on the HVX, taking it off required some clever application of a robo grip and cloth. If they had an integrated 82mm adaptor mount rather than a step down, this wouldn't be a problem. Or the other solution, get it tight but not too tight.

We also played with the FD mount that had a back focus ring. Although this ring isn't as convenient as other designs, it's incredibly simple and has no play whatsoever. It involves loosening four screws and then turning. It's not a piece that'll fail.

The X/Y adjustment is simple and accurate. Four screws near the collar adjuset up, down, left and right. It's not fast but it is precise. Even better than others, you don't have to open up the adaptor to do it. It's all external.

Being new to it, it took us while to get it centered but that's just our slow sub genius learning curve.

The speed variable was essentially a dimmer. No digital readout, etc. I like that as I'm a big fan of making things as simple as possible.

So how'd it look? Timur will be posting pics/clips soon. Our test wasn't that scientific but more based on the Christmas day present syndrome. So I shot a bunch of shots on different lenses of Timur staring down the barrel, centered, frame, left and frame right. The clarity is excellent. Sharp as an Extreme without the grain. How does it stack up against an Ultimate? My first reaction was that it's not as sharp. That said, to really confirm it, I'd need to A/B test both which I won't be doing any time soon as that takes a ton of time to do right. Bokeh is okay. Not as pretty as the original not as dull as my old Extreme. On par with the Ultimate. We tested a complete zoom through and will post later the results. That was probably the best trait of my Ultimate was the ability to zoom through and not noticeably lose rez. Few adaptors can boast this.

The Blade's edge to edge was okay. There was a drop off at the extreme left / right. Not a deal breaker though. I've seen much worse.

In terms of zoom out, we were able to get to 78 before it showed its guts. That's a few ticks shy of Vista Vision and significantly wider that Cine 35mm. That's a great feature. Half the fun of adaptors for me is the ability to make every prime a variable prime. To make my 24mm behave like a 16mm cine prime at super 35mm but have the shallower DOF like Vistavision or stills.

Anyway, that's all for now. Got it going out on rental for five days, we'll see how it holds up.
 
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Tim, a quick question, does the SG FD mount allows for changing the iris on the FD lens without modification? My Letus mount allows me to do this and I've grown quite fond of the feature. I've had the q-tip or toothpick or whatever I was using on the lens pop out while on set so I'm not looking forward to having to mod all my lenses again.
 
aww man. now what am I gonna write about?


ditto I suppose. i'll talk about the footage.....

the FD does not activate the switch. its Qtips and gafftape again.
 
hey timur,
what ground glass didi you guys use for this test, as i've heard the razzor 2 has the aclaimed sgpro gg.
 
ordered mine a couple days ago with both gg elements. how do you like the rr1 gg compared to the letus ex tim.
 
Timur, you should be banned from this thread until you post footage. As we say in BK - enough already! Or in the great words of Mr. T "Stop this jibber jabber!"
 
it will be up tommorow, working all day today. i only had time to transfer uit with raylight....
 
Looks like the less diffused GG/ Nice stuff, but a bit of CA when you are on frame right along your black sweater.
 
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