Suggestions on my rig

K

KOHR

Well-known member
Well, not my current rig, but my soon to be rig! I've been going back and forth between two setup options for a while now, and I've finally decided I'll take the plunge and buy a 35 mm adapter setup. I was going to go for the new letus 35 mini, but I'll probably be using the system on both my HV20 and my partners' XH-A1s. So, I've been looking on a good deal on a 35mm adapters, and I've found that I have a couple questions...

1. Why is the SGpro so cheap, with such good quality? By my calculations, the SGPro, when converted into US Dollar, is about $900... am I missing something? This seems like a ridiculously low price considering the competition (M2, Letus, Brevis.) And, it seems that it doesn't lose any quality. I'm figuring that my conversion must be wrong, or there must be something that the adapter needs, like a new acrhomat, rails or something! If someone could enlighten me on this, that would be great!

2. I need a field monitor for focusing HD... which one would you guys recommend. I'm on a rather tight budget (900 or less for entire monitor setup ... including some sort of battery for now). I've been looking at the Ikan V8000 HD with a noga arm, or possibly even the Tote 703HD... also... with a noga arm. Though, I'm slightly confused about the battery situations for both of these, and how well they perform. Despite the fact that the Tote has HD in the name, it's description doesn't say "High Definition" anywhere I've seen it. Strange. Any recommendation on these (or others!) would be greatly appreciated!

3. Also, I'm looking into rail systems, and I'm wondering how long I'll need them to be to fit the HV20 (or sometimes an XHA1), 35mm adapter, lens, follow focus, mattebox, and monitor! Thanks!

If anyone could offer me any help on these three questions, I'd be extremely grateful! Thanks! :D
 
question-1. I was amazed at the build quality of mine, I guess Wayne wants to sell adapters, hes got my recomendation.

question-2. Finding an LCD is a major pain in the ass. Powering it can be done many ways as long as it has a plug/port for dc current. You kinda have to become a DC-current DIY guy... buying batteries and noga type arms and wiring connectors on your own to save money.

question-3. If your going the sgpro route-it comes with rails and shims. You can always buy additional longer or shorter 15mm rails for different cams and play with the shim configuration. Sgpro is a smart build for different configs.

Warning: I know nothing about sgpro's new offset flip adapter, as it was released with first pictures last night.
 
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the sgpro is not THAT cheap. it's just cheaper than the M2. with the flip unit (just released) it'll cost around $1630 - that's with shipping. although they're going to have a "package deal" thing soon. so you'll probably save a little bit if you get that. - hdv footage is a pain in the arse to flip... you have to render everything.... not like SD. so you WILL want the flip... trust me :D

to me the brevis and letus still retain a bit of a "video" feel. about 50% of the footage looks awesome. the other half just doesn't wow me or looks a bit weird. where as all the m2 and sgpro footage, to me, looks great :D

in my humble highly objective opinion, the sg and the M2 have the best looking footage out of all the adapters. the sgpro reportedly has sharper edges though and is more light efficient.

i used to own the HV20 and was one of the first people to use it with the sole intention of making films with a 35mm adapter, and i can tell you, low light performance is not that good. it's better than anything HD under 3 grand, but it's still not that good.

i used it with an old letus35a, which loses about the same if not a little bit less light than the sgpro. indoors nighttime shots with 100W decent house lighting was only just possible with a F1.8 lens - had to ad about 15dB of gain - also little cameras like the hv20 tend to vignette on adapters more than larger cameras, so you have to zoom in a bit more on them... so a 28mm lens becomes a 35mm and a 35mm becomes a 45mm and so on....

because of the light issue, you'll want to invest in some F1.4 lenses. i suggest a set of nikon manual AI 35mm F1.4, 50mm F1.4 and 85mm F1.4. buy them second hand, as they are about 30 years old. they cost a fair bit, but in my opinion are worth it. this is going to set you back the most....

the Ikan V8000 HD is decent for focusing. it's not a pro monitor... but it's good enough for the HV20. the batteries it uses are sony ones. they're pretty cheap if you buy non sony brand ones but it only really makes sense if you've got a sony camera....

the sgpro comes with rails :D



regards
pat.
 
Hey thanks everyone for such quick replies! I basically found out that I can't go with the SGPro because of the fact that I kind of need this rig put together by the end of the month, and the next shipment isn't being sent out until the end of January :( . So, I'll probably wind up going with the Redrock M2 Complete Indie HD Package! Theres some major savings on it right now because of the holiday sale.
 
Thanks for the link, but I think for this first rig I'd rather just purchase everything brand new!
 
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