SGPro or Brevis 35??

Slinkii

Slinkii

Active member
Ok guys, Ive just about worn out my puter researching the variety or DOF adapters on the market and have narrowed it down to either the SGPro rev.3 or the Brevis 35. I like the fact the SGPro includes the rails and I quite like the whole design of it.. I also think it's a little better value for money with what's included. I'm not really looking for a quick setup and shoot style unit, mainly will be shooting music vids and so on, not doco..
Any personal experiences and opinions would be appreciated.. :)
 
I honestly believe the SGpro is a great adapter that delivers nice & sharp images, and in most of the times delivers good edge to edge sharpness as well. The Brevis is great value too, but has a different feel to it since Brevis is vibrating and the sgpro is a rotating gg.

All in all, (this has been said so many times before) both are really great and it all depends on what lenses you'll use with it, and why you'll use it for.
 
Yes I must admit I feel a little guilty for again posting another "what 35 adapter" thread considering I've pretty much read all the others too!
I'll be using Canon FD lenses, 28mm 50mm 85mm and up to 200mm zoom for cinematic music videos..
My camera is the original DVX100e (pal). Sorry also guys, when using an adapter what difference visually does shooting in interlaced as apposed to progressive make? in my case 50i-25fps & 25P??
 
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Hi Slinkii,

Shooting 50i or 25p with an adapter is irrelevant, that is, it is the same difference as without an adapter.
 
Thanks Wayne, I didn't think it would make a difference. Well I'm pretty much decided on your SGPro, I'm looking forward to buying it just as soon as I can rake up the cash! Can't wait :)
 
i've been doing the same research. for me the main difference is the sgpro comes with rails which saves you money, but you have to wait a couple months for it because they are backed up with production. visually, i've seen really great footage from both.
 
SGpro might save you money, but consider the long term.
If you want nice lightning you can use a redhead with a softbox together with some additional light to lit the background etc. if you are going to use the Brevis35. But with the sgPRO, you need alot more light which means your going to spend alot more money then you need with the Brevis35.
Also, the Brevis35 takes around 30 sec to mount up, while the sgPRO takes alot more time.

The thing with the rails is I think that you can't actually use the sgPRO without it. At least not without the risk of breaking the whole thing of the camera. The Brevis35 doesn't weight much and you can use it without rails, as long as you have a strong camera mount.

I've been in the same situation as you. I looked at the Letus35 first, but then abandon it because it didn't feel very professional. Then I looked at the M2, but realised that the lightloss and long set up time would become a problem.
Then I looked at the Brevis35 and the sgPRO and the only thing I can see as an advantage for the sgPRO is it's sharper image. Other then that, I think the Brevis35 wins in most cases.
It's also upgradable and a flipunit will come some time in the future.
(They also ship with fedex, so you will have the unit a week after if you order it)
 
The light loss is a mute point. if youre worrying about a stop of light loss, dont shoot with an adapter. Whether its the 3/4 stop loss of a brevis or the 1 stop loss of an Sgpro, or the 2 stosp of a Letus FEA, or the 1.5 stops of an M2........ etc....

Setup times isnt an issue. i you dont have the extra 1 minute avialable during the shoot day, you have bigger problems.

watch footage, pick the image you like best. BAse your judgement on that. Because thats what will mke you happy. ( and your clients too!) The Newer letus 35's continue to impress me actually. So very sharp, and flipped too!
 
Image wise, I don't see any differences. There is bad footage and good footage from all adapters. Depends on how much time you take to get to know your unit. Weight might be an issue for some. I don't like to use rails when I don't have to. Like if you are doing hand held on a spider brace or flying on a glidecam. Forget about flying on a smaller glidecam with the whole rail setup. I'm sure there are some that do it but once you try it and see how much your arm burns you will not want to. Also I would pay attention to upgrades. Is the unit going to be able to accept upgrades without having to send it back every time. I can't imagine changing a spinning GG and trying to get it to not wobble a millionth of a pube. I know some people that do all the damn research in the world, buy and adapter and don't use it at all and sell it. Go figure.
 
Owned both.
SG PRO is my favorite because I can see big difference in pic quality. It's grainless, sharper, no vignetting, able to shoot much higher shutter speeds with no artifacting, better bokeh, much more solid lens mount (which becomes a big deal when using a follow focus on a stiff or heavy lens), ground glass alignment is centered and absolutely perpindicular to the camera axis (even edge to edge sharpness, no trapezoidal effect), it's build has no jiggles/super solid.

It does weigh more. If you're used to ENG or Film cameras then it's cake, otherwise buy some dumbells and start working out if you plan to do handheld for long periods or buy an easy rig.

Light loss is more by half a stop. Which means combined with the HVX's lousy sensitivty, what was once an inky will now have to be a 1k.

So if that xtra 1/2 stop and weight is a priority than go with Brevis. Pic quality and build - SG Pro. Also, hardly mentioned is that dust is a big issue when it gets on an oscillating ground glass. I've dismantled my Brevis several times because of a small piece of dust, lodging on the GG. Happened to me so much that I sold my Brevis. Hopefully, the seal is better these days. They have made improvements since I sold mine. My SG has an excellent seal on the GG. Not once have I had to dismantle because of dust.

Regarding the "upgrade" issue, get the ground glass right the 1st time and it's not much of an issue. But I do wish the "spinners" did offer a way to swap out GG. Say, if light loss was a super priority over bokeh (doc or available light) would it be too hard to design a threaded motor shaft that could accept different spinning discs that have a threaded shaft.

I took my SG apart last weekend and began to ponder this. I'm sure it would bump up the price - but it would be worth it. Hint, hint.....

The big wish list I have for all these low cost adaptors is a relay lens for B mount cameras. I would love to put my SG directly on to an HPX.
 
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Tim, the issue with dust was addressed by a change in the CNC processing of the carbon chassis tube. It's been implemented for the last four months or so bringing these types of complaints to an end. Your unit had CF1 installed which has been superceded by CF1L for the larger cams with significant improvements in image quality. Combine CF1L with the micro-collimation features and you end up with footage like this. As far as the HPX relay issue, that will be a reality for Brevis users very shortly :-)
 
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Based off my experience, shooting with all of these, if you're shooting with a DVX the Brevis is your best bet. Low Light, easy setup and Dennis is the man when it comes to support, upgrades, and future releases. The Brevis fits right on the DVX like it was made for it.

With an HVX go with the SGPRO. Pure sharpness and no vignetting. Will lose a little more light. The HVX has some off center optic crap going on in some models and you can tweak a Brevis on it all you want, it won't come out perfect, soft edges, especially when using wider lenses.

The Brevis footage looks amazing on all other cameras, but the HVX has it's own problems to deal with.

Both killer products though.
 
Swellison: I guess my main attraction to the SGpro is it comes with rails. I understand it makes it a slower setup process and overall a heavier camera but I want rails to use a mattebox so this just seems more logical and I'm not looking for a "2min setup and shoot" configuration. I am a little bummed about the shipping time on the SGpro but as as for image quality they are both excellent although I'm aware the SGpro is a little sharper.. The SGpro also comes in a little cheaper for what you get and that's a factor for me at the moment with money...Hmm, I'm still undecided which adapter to go for...
 
I'm pretty sure you save more when you go with the Brevis.

It takes zoom lenses with out Vignetting.

Say for example If i get a 50mm F1.4 and then later I decide to get other lenses but I have to keep the F-stop constant to match my 50mmF1.4 say for example like a 28mm , 85mm 105mm, 135mm 200mm and keep them all constant to a F-stop or close to a F-stop. It works out to be more then a 35mm adapter.

Different lenses have different look, How sure are you going to get a 50mm to match a 28mm, or even a 105mm. ( yes of course there is colour correction., But the time wasted and efford and when rending a colour corrected clip =more time = more Money spent).

If I just get a zoom lens with F2.8 and the whole range will be constant, I carry only one or two lens to a shoot rather then 6 lenses . I keep the lens on and save the time in changing and don't need to back focus evertime I change lenses and it keeps the dust out because i'm not changing lenses. Just remenber time = money

Tim got the older Brevis, the one with CF1, The new CF1L is so much better. Anyway this are only my point of view.
 
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I really don't agree with the zoom-lens favouring. In my opinion, most zoom lenses are really bad optics. We recently shot with a zoom lens from zeiss (over $10k) and the lens was really bad in comparison with the constant lenses. Then again, 2.8 is really limiting for indoor events, meaning, if there are no heavy lights on it, the footage will be dark. Of course there are exceptions, but who can afford a zoom lens that has nice focal distance, attracts much light and has good optics?

About the differences in colour, we never noticed something that bad it needed extra colour-correcting. Differences are really minimal, but it's a good choice to stay for all your lenses with the same optics-manufacturer, instead of staying with one lens.

My humble opinion though.
 
I depends on if you are switching out different brand names. I have one lens that has a definite yellow hue to it but I like the look it gives. I would have to color correct to make the other lenses match.
 
The Canon L serie have a few zooms that surpass lowprice primes...
Still, Canon L primes is the best of all. I'm not so familiar with Zeiss, but I know that comparing Nikon primes with Canon L primes, there's no need for more format wars, Canon's L lenses are the best.

You need to pay a little more for them though.

As for the nikon primes on mini35. There are too many that use the 50mm nikon prime. The canon 50mm is better.

I think it's kinda fun that people try to compare the adaptors instead of the lenses. I'm using a 17-40 4L canon zoom and it's not vinjetting, not breathing, still sharp as hell. I want the 16-35 because it has F2.8, but the 17-40 is still a very good zoom.

As for longer lenses... I really don't know when you need long lenses over 85mm indoors, if it's not a big hall. Outdoors it could be good with a 300mm prime.

If your shooting indoors and want a good lens but don't want 6 lenses with you. You can use the Canon 16-35 2.8L together with the 24-70 2.8L
Those two are among the best zooms outthere.
Or, you can use the 16-35, the 50mm 1.2L prime and the 85mm 1.8L prime
Then you just need a zoom for outdoors. Maybe a 70-200 or something?
Zooms tend to get worser the longer they gets though...
 
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