What 35mm Adapter would you choose?

lawriejaffa

lawriejaffa

Veteran
Okay gents,

Two questions really - to guage your expertly technical opinions. What 2/3 adapter mount, and adapter would you go for with your HPX500?

As far as i know we have Letus, and P&S (what is the cost for there 2/3 adapter mount any ideas?)

Love to hear the combo's and of you gents use?

(For the record i currently use a broadcast lens for my cinematography, a Canon J 6x8 Wideangle.
 
Letus B4 Compact relay lens is $3500 USD, B4 Pro relay lens is $6000 USD. Letus Ultimate DOF adapter is $4500 USD. P+S Technik Pro35 is around $22000 USD, I think.

I own the B4 Pro/Ultimate, used mostly with Nikon primes. It looks great with my new Panasonic HPX2700 and has been used with HPX500's and HDX900's for many projects.
 
Yep the B4 Pro adapter - now you see thats interesting, can i ask Dino, in your experience what is the principle qualitive difference between your choice and the B4 compact.

In my murky brain, its precisely the flexibility of using the b4 adapter with other 2/3 cameras (beyond the 500, like varicams for example) that - for its cost and flexibility compared to say hd lenses and primes etc for film making, makes it appealing. However i wasnt sure of the working differences between letus 's two products. I would go for the Ultimate too myself.
 
lawriejaffa said:
can i ask Dino, in your experience what is the principle qualitive difference between your choice and the B4 compact.
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The B4 Pro is a bit faster, better contrast from f2.8 to f1.5, a bit sharper. I think a B4 Compact is fine for an HPX500.
 
By the end of the month I will send a demo piece to Weyne and then to US in order Lenny and Jeff to test the GG.relay B4 relay lens that works with the SGblade... Also Chris Albert from CBS will get his FF35 version.

SGblade/GG.relay combo will be at around 3000 euro's (sold separately) in S35 with PLmount on blade.

The system with RR3 GG is slower by 1/2 stop from what you get from PRO35 MKII full open... and simillar sharpness characteristics, tested with Cooke S4 50mm and Viper Filmstream camera. In my measurement the PRO35 fully open is about a stop slower than my Canon Cinestyle 11x4.7 zoom.

Resolving resolution is more than 1400 lines.

Sgblade on Viper in Cinemascope. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=174960

With an additional 500 euro's cost the system can be converted by user to FF35...

Also the relay has exchangeable mounts for camera and adapter that means it can be converted also for 1/2 and for Scarlet 2/3...

Since Wayne will have the relay for demo in UK you can arrange with him a test along with SGblade.
 
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Pricing has dropped on the Letus relay lenses. The B4 Compact is now $2999 USD and B4 Pro is now $4999 USD. Sorry about the incorrect information posted above.
 
God i dont know McGee - i mean with all respect... i dont see them offering me hd dvc pro, 4.2.2 ratios and other bits and bops i might need.

Pretty enough though - but there not there yet, deffo killing the 1/3 chip camera adapter market seems more plausible - but meh!
 
mcgeedigital said:
Yup.

I got both.

The 35mm adapter market has been killed by the 5d/7d.
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Which incedently deliver basicly avchd style compression, without onboard audio capabilites. I find it hard to see a producer choosing a 5D over a Hpx3000 with Pro35 and some good primes...:engel017: Where you do get D5 quality with either onboard audio or in sync externally.
 
Christian m said:
Which incedently deliver basicly avchd style compression, without onboard audio capabilites. I find it hard to see a producer choosing a 5D over a Hpx3000 with Pro35 and some good primes...:engel017: Where you do get D5 quality with either onboard audio or in sync externally.
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And complete control of the image, more latitude(10-11 stops vs. 7-8), higher ASA if low noise is a priority(ASA 640 vs. 160), better monitoring with HD CRT VF, LCD VF and three HD SDI outputs, long, uninterrupted recording time, better ergonomics for hand held, no overheating issues, no jello cam, little moire/aliasing on the edges, time code, genlock, downconversion, but apples and oranges for price.
 
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Yeah its fanboyish to exaggerate hehe, i mean sure i want to try out the 7d etc, great fun but its just no comparison to a 2/3 video cam. And its not really the point of this thread, which is to discuss adapters for ol' cams like my hpx500! hehe
 
What I sometimes forget is that there are young filmmakers on this forum who may not have shot with 2/3" ENG style cameras before. The things that are important to me in a camera may not be on their priority list.

My HPX2700 w/Letus Ultimate/B4 Pro 2/3" relay is still rated at ASA 500 with a fast prime lens!
Try that with RED One or Video DSLR without lots of noise.
 
Now you see that would be ideal, an hpx2700 hehehe!

Bah we'll see if Santa brings me one hehe. Not to go off topic but what kinda work are you mostly using it for Dino (or does it form more a part of your rental business?)
 
Well, I just bought a 5dMkII, and the noise is so low at 500iso, I had to go to 800iso for a little more noise in the pic. Yea, weird, but looks better to me. I'm using Nikon lens with full manual control. And the latitude beats my HPX500, as does the noise level.

Just found out they will have new firmware for 24P. I don't care, I hate 24P,,choppy, choppy.

So, I have 6 Nikon lens, 3 Canons, and an adapter for my 3 Hassy Zeiss lens. Talk about short DOF.

My Glidecam rig will fly a whole lot better also.

JohnnyD
 
JohnnyD said:
Well, I just bought a 5dMkII, and the noise is so low at 500iso, I had to go to 800iso for a little more noise in the pic.

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And the latitude beats my HPX500, as does the noise level.

JohnnyD
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I have a friend in LA who is a top DIT using F35's, Genesis, Arri D21's, etc. He has done comparisons with the F35 and 5D MkII(he owns one) and he reported the following to me:

"I would say the 5D is natively 100-160 ISO and has about 7 stops at high quality, 8 at acceptable, 9 starting to push it and 10 if you don't care about noise."

I was shocked to hear how slow he rated the 5D, latitude findings didn't surprise me. He's got over 20 years of experience and gets a very good day rate for DIT work.
 
JohnnyD said:
Well, I just bought a 5dMkII, and the noise is so low at 500iso, I had to go to 800iso for a little more noise in the pic. Yea, weird, but looks better to me. I'm using Nikon lens with full manual control. And the latitude beats my HPX500, as does the noise level.

Just found out they will have new firmware for 24P. I don't care, I hate 24P,,choppy, choppy.

So, I have 6 Nikon lens, 3 Canons, and an adapter for my 3 Hassy Zeiss lens. Talk about short DOF.

My Glidecam rig will fly a whole lot better also.

JohnnyD
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This is the kind of remark for someone who really isnt getting why the pros are using ENG cameras and not cameras with options to shoot video... We need complete control over the image, and I think I speak for every actual working cinematographer that if you think 24p is choppy then you aren't really in the right form to be discussing quality for shooting footage. Having jello footage, and having horrible bitrates and having no way to shoulder mount is a pretty big deal. We need proper shooting not a toy, these cameras cant even shoot passed 12 mins without powering down because of over heating... I dont think that would go so well if I've been rolling for 10mins and finally something great is happening and my camera will decide "Nope I dont wanna shoot now, I will just go to sleep for a while, BYE".

I totally agree with Dino when he says there are a lot of filmmakers on this site that have never actually operated a professional ENG camera before and have completely different ways of thinking like we do. Sometimes it just frustrates me and I guess I need to keep my mouth shut.:lipsrseal
 
Giuseppe Pugliese said:
I totally agree with Dino when he says there are a lot of filmmakers on this site that have never actually operated a professional ENG camera before and have completely different ways of thinking like we do. Sometimes it just frustrates me and I guess I need to keep my mouth shut.:lipsrseal
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We know that 2/3" cameras are not he right solution for every project, but I think it's still important for those who don't have much experience shooting with them to know what the strengths are. 2/3" cameras aren't trendy, but they are used with good results in the thousands daily, all over the world, for all kinds of productions.

I wrote a blog called, "Why Shoot with A Full Size 2/3" Camera?", http://ssvhd.blogspot.com if anybody is interested. Obviously most HPX500 owners know about 2/3" cameras, but many filmmakers have only used palmcorders.
 
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