So whats it all cost?

[Stephen Eastwood]

I am looking at a 35mm adapter, (I have a DIY one now, and its time to step up) so I am thinking if the letus extreme, but thats not the issue here (feel free to give your input or vote toward any model you use or like however) What is the issue here is what does all the rest cost? Less the lenses, I see I would want a full setup eventually that includes, rails (needed) followfocus, mattebox. I would be using this one on an XHA1/G1 and likely getting another later for either my XLH1 or EX1, still deciding on which one for that camera. So what is a good setup of rails, follow focus and mattebox? and what do they cost? what are the deals and what are the drawbacks to those deals? what does the more expensive options offer that the lower prices don't? And as for a monitor whats the least you can get away with? Ikan view at 780.00? or do you need more? or is there a lower priced alternative?

Hopefully this can turn into a useful thread with some great advice on everything that goes with the adapter to make it easy to work with.

Thanks.

 

[Tomas Riuka]

cheapest solution:
lex ~1300$ + indifocus rails 129$, indi follow focus 450$, ikan monitor kit 849$ + lenses.

Ikan is the cheapest of monitors with which you can focus...

 

[Huy Vu]

The leading adapters are all pretty much comparable, so I won't comment on those. Around $1400 for a flipped setup.

A good rail system gives you maximum adjustability with minimum pain. This means XY adjustment, an effective way to mount a flipped adapter configuration, the ability to adjust the baseplate to balance the setup and (ideally) completely tool-less.

With regard flipped adapter support, the Zacuto rail have the best idea: the adapter is flipped "snorkel up" using the Z-riser. This means a lower center of gravity and an overall more compact rig. Every other rail system I've seen support the adapter by raising whatever riser they're using. The Indifocus is the worst in this regard (hence why it's the most low cost) because it uses a riser block to shim your camera up instead of adjustable baseplate like Cinnevate, Letus etc. Suprisingly, the Redrock baseplate, which costs considerably more, also use a shim system, tsk, tsk.

As far as being tool-less go, none of the rails are quite fully tool-less (all requiring allen key to tighten/loosen), which is unfortunate, although for some it's probably because of design constraint. The Letus is a bit of a pain in this regard because it's allen key port is hard to access when the camera is on the rig, although it has full XY adjustment. But the Letus does incorporate a nice feature that surprisingly I haven't seen: a quick release baseplate. The nice thing about this is that I can secure the camera to the plate very quickly, and and it uses the same Bogen QR plate as my 516 tripod head, so if I want to go from a rail mount setup to a bare camera setup, I can do it without having to switch plates around.

The point is that there's a wide range of possible rail setup, and you pay for adjustability and ease of use. I would plan on getting 60 cm of rail minimum if there's going to be room for all those accessories. The rail Letus use has a nice feature in that it's extendable using couplers, which allow me to shorten the rail for transport and buy more extension if I need it.

The Ikan monitor is...okay. The construction is poor and the picture quality isn't great. If you're using the A1/G1 you don't need one because those cameras have excellent LCD. I focus with the A1's LCD exclusively and it works great.