Nick Ouellette Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 I'm shooting a short in a few weeks and trying to decide between Letus or RedRock. I'm shooting with a Panasonic AG-HMC150. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted April 7, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted April 7, 2009 I recommend Letus as it looses less light than some of the older RedRocks (dunno 'bout their newer ones). Then again I'm biased as a Letus owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Neugeboren Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 The new Redrock M2 Encore only looses half a stop of light. The older model lost about 1 - 1 1/2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted April 8, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted April 8, 2009 After shooting 2 films with a redrock for part of my thesis, I wouldn't touch one again with a 10 foot pole. They were the shoddiest built POS I have ever used. There is no possible way you can set the flange focal depth and have it stay put. I'm not that crazy about the letus either but it's worlds better than a redrock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted April 8, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted April 8, 2009 I would kill for a Movietube.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Valente Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 The latest M2 Encore is just coming out of head to head tests with the Letus Ultimate and outperforms it in light transmission by a wide margin. it also has 25 new features and enhancements including a collimating lens mount (Chris: If you are still having issues drop us a line. It sounds like you have a bad unit if the collimation doesn't stick). Essentially everytihng people wanted improved in the M2 has been addressed, and it is state of the art for light loss, sharpness, and performance. Thanks Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted April 8, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted April 8, 2009 The latest M2 Encore is just coming out of head to head tests with the Letus Ultimate and outperforms it in light transmission by a wide margin. it also has 25 new features and enhancements including a collimating lens mount (Chris: If you are still having issues drop us a line. It sounds like you have a bad unit if the collimation doesn't stick). Essentially everytihng people wanted improved in the M2 has been addressed, and it is state of the art for light loss, sharpness, and performance. Thanks Brian I don't own a redrock, I was using someone else's. Anyway, the problem I had was that the groundglass was hard fixed to something that wasn't stable: the motor shaft. It was free to move in and out by a solid millimeter or millimeter and a half. I wouldn't use one again. If I had the opportunity, I would probably give the new one a shot, though. Is the build quality better? I think part of my problem was that the light build quality of the original was actually flexing and sagging when I put a "real" prime lens on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eve Cohen Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I have worked with both the Letus and the RedRock adapters once only and I will not again. The RedRock (a "rental") was used on a music video specifically because it created a finite focus point in the center of the frame. Selective focus was the look that the director wanted and we didn't have to make any adjustments to create that centralized focus because of the inherent qualities in the RedRock. When I was given a choice between the Letus and the RedRock for a short film, I chose the Letus, knowing the focus issue with the RedRock. However, I was very disappointed in the Letus. It performed ok with wide angle lenses, but I would avoid any long lens use. It was impossible to have anything in focus on the 200mm. All that being said, I recommend only using the P+S Technik adapter. It is the hands down the best adapter out there. It does exactly what you want it to do without any problems. All of the lens adapters mentioned were used on the HVX200 and various prime lenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Vogt Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 I would kill for a Movietube.... Hey Adrian, I know you're an EX1 guy... Can you use the Movietube with that?... on Abel's website it only lists DVX, HVX, Z1U and FX1. Just wondering cause I'm using it for the first time next week with an HVX but would prefer using an EX1 with it. Sorry for hijacking this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted April 14, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted April 14, 2009 Rob, Honestly I dunno if you can or not, but I don't see how it'd be that big of a deal. Having a Letus myself which I rarely use I havn't had too much trigger time on the Movie-Tube. When not give Mitch Gross on here a PM I know he works over there @Able. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Deutsch SOC Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I own and rent out LETUS adapters. I have the Letus Ultimate and Letus Elite... Both with all Lense mounts including PL mount, and the ROD SYSTEM needed for your camera. These adapters only have a light loss of 1/2 stop. They are the best in the market. Call me: Joel JOEL DEUTSCH, SOC Director of Photography / Cam Op Local 600, IATSE 310.628.5400 EvidenceProductions.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted July 13, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted July 13, 2009 Jesus Joel; perhaps you should've just posted this in the jobs/resumes section as opposed to at the end of every post which seems to mention the EX or the letus or any combo thereof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivier Vanaschen Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I highly recommend the SGBlade and Cinemek. Having shot with every possible 35mm adapter since years (and even some homemade ones), those two are the best. Don't forget one thing, to get a nice bokeh, you need to loose some light. Yes, some loose less light but then the bokeh gets very diffused, less filmic. With the SGBlade, you can actually choose the Ground Glass. Olivier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Peter Moretti Posted July 15, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted July 15, 2009 I have to strongly agree. I've looked at footage from Letus, RedRock and Cinevate. The SGPro looks better, almost magical, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted July 23, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted July 23, 2009 Don't forget one thing, to get a nice bokeh, you need to loose some light. Yes, some loose less light but then the bokeh gets very diffused, less filmic. With the SGBlade, you can actually choose the Ground Glass. Olivier Bokeh is a function of the lens, not the adapter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Battreall Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I'm shooting a short in a few weeks and trying to decide between Letus or RedRock. I'm shooting with a Panasonic AG-HMC150. Any suggestions? I could not get the M2 to align properly with the hmc150. Never tried the Letus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivier Vanaschen Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Bokeh is a function of the lens, not the adapter. Of course, but if you shoot a ground glass, the ground glass influences the diffusion of the bokeh. Shoot the same lens with a DSLR and different adapters and you'll notice the bokeh's differences. With the DSLR, it'll be way sharper than with the RedRock for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Chris Keth Posted July 24, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted July 24, 2009 Of course, but if you shoot a ground glass, the ground glass influences the diffusion of the bokeh. Shoot the same lens with a DSLR and different adapters and you'll notice the bokeh's differences. With the DSLR, it'll be way sharper than with the RedRock for example. All true. I thought you meant that, somehow, the adapter influenced the shape and character of the bokeh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krzysztof Wlodarczyk Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 I would use neither of these two. I remember RedRock from past few years and it was always nightmare for focus pullers. Maybe it gives you less depth of field, but setting it up is never precise. Forget the lens angle - zooming on the camera will never let you get the proper lens angle (backfocusing). The same problem I had with letus (extreme I think) - the lens were alays longer than thay should - because of focusing and adjusting zoom on the adapter. Two weeks ago I had a small project shot on 2 EX1s, and we were supposed to shoot with letus. We threw away letus after couple of scenes and finished on naked ex1;) . We used ex+letus+nikkon lens first - we wanted to have longer lens than normal EX1 zoom - the effect was a surprise - ex+letus+300mm was almost the same lenght as longest lens on ex zoom! The other combination was ex+letus+pl zeiss planar T2.1 set. when we set the whole configuration (mattebox, follow focus on 15mm), backfocused on the groundglass we ended up with twice as long lens as we wanted (angle). 16mm looked more like 32 - zoom on the camera was almost maximum (95%). This configuration lasted only one setup. It seemed also that it looses more than 1/2 stop. I don't have to mention that distances marked on the lens were far from true;) After all of that I was preparing for another short project on ex3. We decided to try pro35 for 2/3" mount as we didn't have the one designed for 1/2" mount. We compaired EX3+pro35+RED zoom 18-50 (the only 35mm lens left in rental that day ;)) vs. EX3+2/3 to 1/2mount+ HD Cinestyle Fujinon 5-50 lens vs. EX3 with basic lens...guess which configuration looked best ... I am working a lot with 35mm adapters (pro35) on 2/3 cameras (F23, 900R, XDCam HDs, Panasonic AJ-HPX2000) and I am always satisfied with the result. It was never the case with consumer/prosumer small camcorders. If I had to choose any of the adapters I would trust P+S Technik only, and take the adapter dedicated to apropriate type of camera: Pro35 for 2/3", Pro35 (1/2") for 1/2", and Mini35 for small camcorders with integrated lenses. The money spent on that always gives you back the time you would loose working on worse adapters. And time is money;) Take care Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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