Letus Learning Curve

[Vinny Flood]

I have an upcoming project for which I would like to use a Letus Extreme.

However, I can't afford to buy one at the moment (and generally speaking, I don't need one), but I'm not too sure how practical it will be to rent one.

Have the Letus users out there generally found it is a case of plug n' play, or do I risk looking like a fool in front of the client as I work out how to use it.

And are there many people out there successfully using one without an HD monitor?

[Brandon Freeman]

It's not too hard to get going. Follow the supplied directions to attach. Zoom to Z80. Set camera's focus to 1.4. Set your camera iris to f4.0 for optimum sharpness, don't stop down farther than that or you'll get weird artifacts in out of focus lights (you can open up as you need to with little difference, though). Don't stop down your photo lenses past f5.6 (f8 is death), or you'll see a fixed grain pattern. When you're using a fluid head tripod on a hard surface, always put rags of some kind underneath the tripod legs to prevent subtle vibrations in the image (something to do with resonance).

Focusing without the HD monitor is easier than you'd think. Just don't use the LCD to do it -- the viewfinder is much better for that.

[Vinny Flood]

Just what the doctor ordered Brandon, thanks for that. Sounds like a two day rental for a one day job might be a good idea.

[David Chia]

If it is a paying job, You should get a HD monitor or a laptop for focusing. even with the VF. you won't be able to get critical focus. 90% of the time you think you get it but no it is off when you look at it in the big screen or on your NLE .

Plug and Play? not really. You need to emulate the area of a 35mm POV. it is not just zoom in till the edge falls off. Because you going to get soft edges, and it also depends on the Lens you are using.

To emulate a 35mm POV , do a search on the net or go here:

http://dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=125831

Use a siemens star for focus to set up the focusing before you try to shoot. down load one here and print it out.

http://www.jvcpro.co.uk/getResource2...t1.pdf?id=6145.

There are more things you need to learn before you shoot. Plug and play, you can do at home in your free time. For a paying gig. you have to take time to really learn and be comtable before you can shoot with it.

[Brandon Freeman]

David, I actually got to the Z80 (actually it's Z78, but I moved in two more units to cut down on vignetting issues with my 28mm lens) setting by using a method described on Cinematography.com to emulate the 35mm Field of View with the Extreme.

The focus of 1.4 for the camera is also something I tweaked till I found it just right.

I did not just plug and play. But, having said that, since Vinny is using the same camera as I (I'm assuming, since he's posting here), his findings should be identical.

As far as focus goes, I haven't had a problem with focusing with a viewfinder. Sure, I'm planning to buy a little HDTV for film and professional gigs (thank you stimulus), but I really can get it just right with the viewfinder and not have issues in the edit room. Maybe I've been lucky.

[Nicholas de Kock]

I zoom at Z70 with focus at 0.9m, works for me.

[Charles Hesman]

I will tell you, the setup is easy. Just follow instructions to thread the Letus then after that it is really a breeze. I have a zoom of z75 and focus at 3.2ft.

I use a 50mm nikon f1.8 and just works great.

Go ahead and rent dude.

[Brandon Freeman]

Wow, I did not realize the focus on the camera would vary that much from A1 to A1. Paint me stupid. :) In that case, definitely make sure you use a siemens star.