DoF adapter help!

[Mike Washlesky]

I am shooting 5 days this upcoming weekend on a feature and need advice on these lens adapters, practical and anecdotal. Trying to balance the decision wether to outright purchase the adapter, or rent and which one is less of a headache.

 

We will be shooting on the HVX200. I have used a Letus prior with this camera using a Nikkor SLR set and it was really easy to get annoyed. Not impressed at all. My AC hated it. So we are looking at either the PS Teknik or the Brevis for this production - our lenses will be a set of Zeiss Super Speeds. I understand that these adapters are far from full proof, especially with the inherent lens drift of the HVX.

 

Does anyone have advice as to which is better and why? Thanks in advance..

 

Mike

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I use a Letus and I like it, though Nikons are a pain on it. If you can rent, I'd certailny rent one of these:

http://www.abelcine.com/store/product.php?productid=1000151

 

I hear they're the best and it's the only one that LOOKS like it won't turn the camera system into some un-godly-balanced beast.

Of course if you can afford to buy one of 'em, might as well and then rent it later, but they can be expensive. It's normally much cheaper to rent out a lens adapter than buy one. I bought one and honestly, I don't use it too often. I rent it, and I've made my money back there-on, but if I could do it again I'd've bought a damned HMI instead.

[Mike Washlesky]

I use a Letus and I like it, though Nikons are a pain on it. If you can rent, I'd certailny rent one of these:

http://www.abelcine.com/store/product.php?productid=1000151

 

I hear they're the best and it's the only one that LOOKS like it won't turn the camera system into some un-godly-balanced beast.

Of course if you can afford to buy one of 'em, might as well and then rent it later, but they can be expensive. It's normally much cheaper to rent out a lens adapter than buy one. I bought one and honestly, I don't use it too often. I rent it, and I've made my money back there-on, but if I could do it again I'd've bought a damned HMI instead.

 

Yeah the Letus w/Nikkors was a pain. So you havent used the PS Teknik or the Brevis? The one at Abel Cine looks nice, but we're trying to figure out if purchasing one might make more sense - use it for 5 days, then eBay it..

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I haven't used the P+S or the Brevis. I hear good things, but they're all about the same, you know? They all seem to have the same pitfalls (I've used Letus/Redrock and a home-made), the make the camera very front heavy and you get issues with mounting it on there so as it doesn't jiggle and loose back-focus.

 

I'd say certainly don't buy for such a short shoot. Rent the thing so then if it breaks you can get a replacement, for one, and for two, you can probably get a whole kit. Selling it on E-Bay is a bit like speculation, you know? Just my 2 cents.

[Mike Washlesky]

I haven't used the P+S or the Brevis. I hear good things, but they're all about the same, you know? They all seem to have the same pitfalls (I've used Letus/Redrock and a home-made), the make the camera very front heavy and you get issues with mounting it on there so as it doesn't jiggle and loose back-focus.

 

I'd say certainly don't buy for such a short shoot. Rent the thing so then if it breaks you can get a replacement, for one, and for two, you can probably get a whole kit. Selling it on E-Bay is a bit like speculation, you know? Just my 2 cents.

 

 

Front heavy - yes. But whaddya do? Kind of inherent with these damn things...

[Tebbe Schoeningh]

I´m owning a Letus Extreme too and iI´m renting it out with a set of Carl Zeiss Distagon/Planar with Contax mount. Using it with a HVX 200, you´d have to be careful, because the image of the camera tends to be quiet noisy, especially in the shadows. I think the Letus or the Redrock in combination with Zeis Superspeeds are a good decision. Try to work wide open in camera and in the adapter too!

I´d recommend to lower the Pedestals and Image Details to -2 to reduce a bit the noise because in combination with the "grain" of the adapters ground glass it could be very annoying.

If you could get an EX-1, or even better, an EX-3 and the achromatic lenses for the Letus you would have a camera which works better in low-light situations and is less noisier...

[Mike Washlesky]

I´m owning a Letus Extreme too and iI´m renting it out with a set of Carl Zeiss Distagon/Planar with Contax mount. Using it with a HVX 200, you´d have to be careful, because the image of the camera tends to be quiet noisy, especially in the shadows. I think the Letus or the Redrock in combination with Zeis Superspeeds are a good decision. Try to work wide open in camera and in the adapter too!

I´d recommend to lower the Pedestals and Image Details to -2 to reduce a bit the noise because in combination with the "grain" of the adapters ground glass it could be very annoying.

If you could get an EX-1, or even better, an EX-3 and the achromatic lenses for the Letus you would have a camera which works better in low-light situations and is less noisier...

 

I have heard the Letus works better with the EX1/3. Not an option though. its either the Brevis or PS Teknik. and yeah, wide open on both the lenses and adapter. thanks for the detail tip. will give it a shot once we figure out which adapter we will settle on.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I strapped a pillow to my stomach to rest my elbows on for hand-held stuff..... There's a nice little anecdote ;)

Seriously, though, take the adapter you can find and which you're comfortable with. The lower end ones, Brevis, RedRock, Letus, even the Pro400, are essentially the same idea, ground glasses and prisims etc, and rephotographing a projected image. They can all produce stunning results which using cine lenses as opposed to Nikons (while I love nikons) will only help solve some of your problems, mechanically in your lenses. In the adapter itself the weak point is always between the lens mount and the ground glass and the ground glass and your camera's lense. So back-focus will have to be checked on all of them equally.

[Mike Washlesky]

I strapped a pillow to my stomach to rest my elbows on for hand-held stuff..... There's a nice little anecdote ;)

Seriously, though, take the adapter you can find and which you're comfortable with. The lower end ones, Brevis, RedRock, Letus, even the Pro400, are essentially the same idea, ground glasses and prisims etc, and rephotographing a projected image. They can all produce stunning results which using cine lenses as opposed to Nikons (while I love nikons) will only help solve some of your problems, mechanically in your lenses. In the adapter itself the weak point is always between the lens mount and the ground glass and the ground glass and your camera's lense. So back-focus will have to be checked on all of them equally.

 

 

yeah thats the problem. I have no feelings either way between the Brevis or PS. I know the Letus was a pain and am looking for comfort!

[Chris Keth]

I will preface this by saying that I do not like DoF adapters. I have, unfortunately, worked with them a good bit and have rarely considered the image they produce more than "adequate" and have often considered the images too soft.

 

The P&S Technik adapters, however, are solid and, if I had to use a DoF adapter, that's the only one I would consider. They have consistently set up well, held that FFD calibration, and have given the best images of the bunch.

[Mike Washlesky]

I will preface this by saying that I do not like DoF adapters. I have, unfortunately, worked with them a good bit and have rarely considered the image they produce more than "adequate" and have often considered the images too soft.

 

The P&S Technik adapters, however, are solid and, if I had to use a DoF adapter, that's the only one I would consider. They have consistently set up well, held that FFD calibration, and have given the best images of the bunch.

 

 

Excellent. thank you Chris.

[Daniel Carruthers]

Im currently shooting a feature film on the Brevis35 with a panasonic hpx-170

the lenses Im using are canon fd

I highly recommend the brevis,although its the only dof adaptor Ive used so I cant compare it with anything else.

the brevis only loses half stop of light, the batteries last for over 30 hours,and only takes half an hour to fully charge

my only complaint is the switch to turn on the vibrating groundglass is easy to bump

either me or my ac must of bumped the switch sometime yesterday and 2 shots where ruined because of it,luckily we found out not long after,and we had the time to back track and re due those shots.

so Im gonna consider taping the switch or somthing

either way the brevis is a good investment, we got our brevis with 4 lenses for less than $2000 canadian

[Daniel Carruthers]

I will preface this by saying that I do not like DoF adapters. I have, unfortunately, worked with them a good bit and have rarely considered the image they produce more than "adequate" and have often considered the images too soft.

 

The P&S Technik adapters, however, are solid and, if I had to use a DoF adapter, that's the only one I would consider. They have consistently set up well, held that FFD calibration, and have given the best images of the bunch.

 

 

I actually like how dof adaptor sofen the image

because of that I hardly use my promist filters anymore.

I guess it comes down to personal taste

[Daniel Carruthers]

I actually like how dof adaptor sofen the image

because of that I hardly use my promist filters anymore.

I guess it comes down to personal taste

[Adrian Sierkowski]

I like the softening too, but in truth I'd rather not have it from the adapter and be able to use filtration to choose how much softening I'd like. sometimes, i'd kill for tack sharp off of the adapter, but that doesn't normally happen due to the groundglass.

[Mike Washlesky]

Im currently shooting a feature film on the Brevis35 with a panasonic hpx-170

the lenses Im using are canon fd

I highly recommend the brevis,although its the only dof adaptor Ive used so I cant compare it with anything else.

the brevis only loses half stop of light, the batteries last for over 30 hours,and only takes half an hour to fully charge

my only complaint is the switch to turn on the vibrating groundglass is easy to bump

either me or my ac must of bumped the switch sometime yesterday and 2 shots where ruined because of it,luckily we found out not long after,and we had the time to back track and re due those shots.

so Im gonna consider taping the switch or somthing

either way the brevis is a good investment, we got our brevis with 4 lenses for less than $2000 canadian

 

Thanks Daniel. Yeah I remember that little switch being easy to knock. How is it working using SLR lenses? We had a helluva time with a Nikkor set and he Letus.

[Chris Keth]

I like the softening too, but in truth I'd rather not have it from the adapter and be able to use filtration to choose how much softening I'd like. sometimes, i'd kill for tack sharp off of the adapter, but that doesn't normally happen due to the groundglass.

 

That's my opinion of it. I don't necessarily dislike a bit of softness to some things but I want to be able to choose when and how much to soften the image. I want that option of tack sharp, not nice to talent kind of sharpness.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Amen to that Chris. Sometimes it's best to be un-kind to talent.

[Mike Washlesky]

Amen to that Chris. Sometimes it's best to be un-kind to talent.

 

 

HAHA!

[Mike Washlesky]

Just wrapped yesterday. The P+S Teknik and the Zeiss Super Speeds worked flawlessly. After using both the Letus and now the P+S, I totally recommend the P+S Teknik. Images looked fantastic and on the long lens at night, distant practicals looked stellar. Very happy with the images we captured.