SGPro Blade Review

looking at footage, i obviously had the speed knob knocked right down and didn't realise it causing some really nasty flicker...whoops...most of it is unusable and got a bit of dirt inside blade whilst switching razors, couldn't see it on LCD, can see it on my Mac. Boll****!!!
 
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philip bloom said:
looking at footage, i obviously had the speed knob knocked right down and didn't realise it causing some really nasty flicker...whoops...
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Yup, happened to me too but luckily only during some test shoots. After that, I quickly added 'Check Adapter Speed Knob Setting' to my pre-shot checklist to avoid that happening on set...
 
Leo Versola said:
Yup, happened to me too but luckily only during some test shoots. After that, I quickly added 'Check Adapter Speed Knob Setting' to my pre-shot checklist to avoid that happening on set...
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i learnt a valuable lesson today! Perhaps it also need marking which one is faster and which was is slower as out on a noisy beach I couldn't tell!
 
Have salvaged something, from the 25% that was usable. It's what I have always said, you never stop learning and making mistakes is best way to learn! Will post link soon...
 
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phil, you do have the production unit right? And you are still noticing CA? This is something i saw in the beta version but was told would be greatly reduced in production versions with the newer achromat.
 
PaPa said:
phil, you do have the production unit right? And you are still noticing CA? This is something i saw in the beta version but was told would be greatly reduced in production versions with the newer achromat.
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Yes production unit. My video is nearly finished uploading. Am at my parents with a really slow internet connection. Taking four hours to upload!

I used three lenses. The 17-35mm f2.8 nikon zoom, 80-200mm f2.8 nikon zoom and the hartblei 85mm f2.8 shift tilt.

My biggest problem was by far me having the speed too low on the spinning ground glass. It really exaggerates that the glass is not spinning dead flat. I think the Ultimate solved this problem by having the glass spin on a ballbearing or something...Even at full speed there is still some flicker in highlights.

Just make sure you have this baby spinning fast when using it. Can anyone explain to me the need to have the glass spinning at different speeds. I never got it with the Ultimate or the Blade. I just want on or off!
 
philip bloom said:
Can anyone explain to me the need to have the glass spinning at different speeds. I never got it with the Ultimate or the Blade. I just want on or off!
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Philip,

Agreed. Pro35 has variable speed GG as well. Hien told me battery saving was the only reason. I always run my Ultimate at 99 and tell clients to do the same. I would not be comfortable stopping down to F8 or 11 otherwise.

Bexhill is a nice looking piece, even if you didn't have all the selects you could have. Saw some CA, some shots had good edge to edge, some didn't, but the latter served artistic aesthetic, I thought.

So, to be clear, you have seen CA with both GG versions and have used the Blade with the stock EX3 lens as well as the Letus 1/2" Relay lens?
 
Dino said:
Philip,



So, to be clear, you have seen CA with both GG versions and have used the Blade with the stock EX3 lens as well as the Letus 1/2" Relay lens?
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Nope, just used EX1 with RR1 and RR2. Not used EX3 and not able to use Letus relay lens.
 
That's some gorgeous footage!. If there's CA, I sure didn't see it on the first pass.

When I shot the A1/RR1 Nikkor 50mm combo I didn't have any CA.

Today, since the rain has been delayed, I'll be shooting A1/RR2 Soligar 37-105mm / Nikkor 50mm (maybe) and see how that works.

Philip, was the CA you noticed at the wide end of the lens or throughout? I'm just wondering if it's EX1 / wide angle that is the problem configuration or does the EX1 just have it regardless of 35mm lens used?
 
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mvansomeren said:
That's some gorgeous footage!. If there's CA, I sure didn't see it on the first pass.

When I shot the A1/RR1 Nikkor 50mm combo I didn't have any CA.

Today, since the rain has been delayed, I'll be shooting A1/RR2 Soligar 37-105mm / Nikkor 50mm (maybe) and see how that works.

Philip, was the CA you noticed at the wide end of the lens or throughout? I'm just wondering if it's EX1 / wide angle that is the problem configuration or does the EX1 just have it regardless of 35mm lens used?
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Don't know. Not really noticed it with the Letus Extreme or Ultimate...perplexing...
 
Philip

What Z setting are you using? You had mentioned Z70-72 before with the Blade...
Do you use a different setting with the ultimate/elite (Z78?)

Chuck
 
Philip,

First - I feel for you... know what it feels like - when using my Letus I had huge problems with dust - problems I wasn't aware of until I watched the footage on my laptop...
And agree there's no point in having rpm knob. I simply can't imagine anyone risking gg pattern in the footage just to save the battery power.

Some frames in your footage (2:33) are soft near the edges while the other (2:43) have quite good e2e sharpness. Did it depend on the EX1 aperture? If yes, how much did you have to stop down the camera lens to get satisfactory e2e?
Also, why exactly weren't you able to focus on the gg when attempting to shoot non-flip? Didn't the achromat provide enough diopters? I'm considering getting the tube instead of flip as my rig needs a diet after I got mattebox and some heavy lenses - the issues you have make me hesitate...
 
philip bloom said:
with xy on the Ultimate is z70. With the Extreme around z75
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Philip

My first thought is the EX1 lens seems to exhibit different degrees of CA depending on the zoom used, the built in ca correction is not 100%. I was thinking that some CA differences could be due to the elite/extreme z position used and the blade z position. The best way to tell would be to zoom to z75 or so on the blade and compare.

But since you do not see it with the ultimate at the same z position then that kinka kills that notion.

The flicker you mention maybe the difference of the motor directly driving the gg vs the ultimate's belt drive. If they are using a ball bearing I suspect there will be less of a wobble compared to the brass type of bearing used in small motors .

Chuck
 
Phil ,

Thanks as usual for all your testing and cool footage.

The shot I saw CA on was the one on the beach where the woman in a black coat walks across the shot and the CA goes away as she comes more to the center of the shot. Curious what the settings and lens used on that shot.

Interestingly very similar to CA I got with a clean EX-1 shooting a surfer in black wet suit walking across the beach. That shot was at the very end of the EX-1 lens though.


Also the softness on edges of some of those beach shots was very noticeable. Again - do you remember the lens, and settings. That's not vignetting you created in post was it?

How do you like that Hartblei BTW.

Lenny Levy
 
Thats odd, I have exactly this shot (beach with a surfer in a black wetsuit) with my Z7. Didnt notice much CA. Il dig it out and check...
 
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