Using Letus 35 with HVX. Back focus??

ripupthehwy

ripupthehwy

Well-known member
Hi,
I just cut a deal to do a dramatization/re-enactment of a street gang scene. I already own an HVX 200. In an effort to give this as much of a film look as possible I'm considering spending part of the budget on ppurchasing a Letus 35 dof adaptor. Again, not alot of $$ here.

How much difference will there be spending an extra $700 for the backfocus (letus elite) instead of the letus extreme?

I'm an experienced eng camera operator and have shot acting/drama stuff, so I do understand how backfocus works on a big pro camera with detachable lenses. Does the Letus work the same? If so, then as long as get it adjusted correctly and don't do any zooms or alot of lens changes then I should be good...right? Who can shed some light on this for me? I would greatly appreciate it.

Rich
 
Hi Rich,
The ultimate allows much easier backfocus adjustment than the extreme. That being said, if you know the concept of back focus and can apply it to the extreme, you can save yourself the money. The extreme uses small phillips set screws for adjustment (which can only be accessed by taking off the nikon or canon mount). Many have reported (including me) that on the extreme, the GG is set by the factory too far out for the set screws to do anything useful. In those cases, one needs to open the front of the unit and manually adjust the GG.

Once you have back focus adjusted correctly, you should not have to change it. You can zoom in/out on the HVX, you can change 35mm lenses and you can take the adaptor on and off - all without need to readjust backfocus. If however, there is a large temperature swing or something becomes loose, you may need to readjust backfocus. I have only had to do it twice in about two years.

Don't be fooled into thinking it is a quick process on the extreme. You should not have any issues with adjusting the backfocus, but it may take upwards of 2 or 3 hours.

As for the 'value' of the other features inherent with the Ultimate, that is for you to decide...


Jason
 
Accurate backfocus isn't worth much unless you have a dedicated AC and really need those mark on the lens to line up. If you focus by eye, then backfocus is unnecessary.
 
Accurate backfocus isn't worth much unless you have a dedicated AC and really need those mark on the lens to line up. If you focus by eye, then backfocus is unnecessary.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Take the money and spend it on the HVX optimization kit.
 
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