SGblade

Ultimates build quality is good. IT justs had couple bugs.... easily fixed. The SGpro had the weak point of the letus system intrinsically solved.... The lens mount. The SG lens mount is AMAZING and simple.
 
i read lots of complaints about ultimate on letus forums, people can't stop down past f 5.6 or use higher shutter despite claims... not all of course, but there are some... also mounts seem to be not very high quality.
 
I rented an Ultimate last weekend. Worked just fine. I used the FD mount on my LEX on it, no complaint either except that you can't quickly swap out the mount. The Ultimate is really quite a nice piece of gear, I'll miss it.
 
yea I've been following those threads on the letus forum and there definitely seems to be some lemons out there.

if the blades are anything like the pro's you know they are going to be solid as a rock. still can't wait for the first beta tester review/footage
 
Having seen the diagrams and spoken to Wayne a few times regarding the Blade, I have absolutely no doubts that the blade body will be incredible. As a fan of single piece aluminium machinings, im pretty sure Il be impressed with it. Its cut out of a single block of aluminium. Theres no way the build could be any better, short of cutting it out of titanium or something.

Il find out soon enough, looking forward to fiddling with it soon, but having owned the R3, The quality of the blade hasn't even crossed my mind, I know it will be excellent. You cant get much better than solid machined aluminium. this is the same manufacturing process that Red use....
 
well... i will have had an SG35... A Rev1, a Rev2, A rev3 and a blade.....

Wow. Talk about adapter loyalty...

( wanna talk about lightloss.... the old Sg35 lost like 1/4 of a stop.... it was amazing... but the rails were made of razor sharp plastic that has hurt me many times....)
 
Timur are you one of the beta testers? I have my suspicions, because honestly you'd be a perfect candidate.

hoarp001 said:
having owned the R3, The quality of the blade hasn't even crossed my mind, I know it will be excellent.
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couldn't have said it better.
 
I wonder if anyone will go for a nice fast c-mount prime on the 2/3" $2500 Scarlet and use a $2000 Blade instead of buying the $7000 S35 Scarlet... it is such a much smaller price difference now of "only" $2500 to have the mount of your choice among the most popular ones, Nikon Canon PL and Red... but...

...if you want lightweight footage for post, and 120fps?

Can't wait to see the new GG in action Wayne. I am really curious to see how it performs. Anyone else still consider that it just might outperform the Ultimate? Anyone? I don't think we should close the door just yet... especially since SG has the same color scheme as Red... :D
 
i would buy the $500 SGPro in a second, too bad they don't make them anymore. there is no way i'll pay 2k for a 35mm adapter.
 
hoarp001 said:
Having seen the diagrams and spoken to Wayne a few times regarding the Blade, I have absolutely no doubts that the blade body will be incredible. As a fan of single piece aluminium machinings, im pretty sure Il be impressed with it. Its cut out of a single block of aluminium. Theres no way the build could be any better, short of cutting it out of titanium or something.

Il find out soon enough, looking forward to fiddling with it soon, but having owned the R3, The quality of the blade hasn't even crossed my mind, I know it will be excellent. You cant get much better than solid machined aluminium. this is the same manufacturing process that Red use....
Click to expand...

Machined aluminum is just one aspect of quality. The housing is the least likely part to fail whether it's billet or stamped and screwed together. I've owned adaptors from all three and have had failures both mechanically and electronically on all of their products. So quality of any new adaptor always crosses my mind.

Of any film or video gear I've never come across a class of products that hasn't had as many failures as the lowcost adaptor. I think they all have a pretty bad failure rate for "professional" gear. The problem rarely stems from design but usually from bad fit, workmanship or cheap materials. I always feel at risk without a back up unit. When I used to work with Arri S's, that camera could go 500 days without the need of an overhaul or failure. The adaptor world is another story.

I can't tell you how many times I've dismantled, soldered, rebuilt, etc on sets no less. If the Blade can up the QC levels to that of a Toyota, it would be truly revolutionary. But anything less makes it a hobbyist toy and not ready for paying work. I rely on my car to get me to work, I must rely on the adaptor to get me through work. When something gets the reputation for being so reliable you don't need a back up or customer service on your speed dial, it sells itself. People will pay that extra premium. If something costs 3000.00 and the other 3500.00 and the latter has a great reputation for build, it'll wipe the floor with the former.

A recently hyped mattebox, I found had a few QC / design issues that I knew would bite me in the ass. To take care of the problems may have raised the price a couple hundred at most. The manufacturer declined or ignored them and guess what, word is out - it won't be making the pros anytime soon. But it was so damn close...and that's what makes you weep.

In any case, I wish Wayne all the luck. And any of you testers. Test the crap out of it. Handheld, cold, heat, 20 hour days, 20 lens changes by lunch, etc. Don't just throw up a dainty chart and write a review about edge sharpness. Make this thing earn its lunch. And then give the maker as detailed and thorough assessment as possible.

I recently tested a product and I didn't hold back. The maker made all of the improvements and I believe this gear will finally be worth it.

Good luck all.

Timur, I've gotten late night calls from you too looking for an "emergency" adaptor. You know the deal.
 
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Machined aluminum is just one aspect of quality. The housing is the least likely part to fail whether it's billet or stamped and screwed together. I've owned adaptors from all three and have had failures both mechanically and electronically on all of their products. So quality of any new adaptor always crosses my mind.
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This is true, but having spent the day playing with the beta and the first production Blade at Wayne's place, and seen the internal components and diagrams, im pretty sure this wont be a problem. Its very solid and good looking.

Its also silent, you have to press your ear to it to hear the motor.

Its a great adapter and once its out there, I will be interested to see how the other adapters cope....
 
Very cool. Hope this is "the one". Price/performance/quality. Does it have x/y axis adjustment? Definitely needed for Ex1 and HVX. Can't wait to hear how it performs on an intense production schedule.

Timur let's beta test next week.

TIM
 
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