New Letus Ultimate Footage at DVinfo.net

Steven Dempsey · July 8th, 2008, 11:19 PM

Here is a combination of shots, some with natural light, some with a reflector with the setting sun acting as a strong light source. It's a mish mosh of wide, medium and closeups to demonstrate how the Ultimate can handle all of these situations.

Camera is Canon XHA1

The Quicktime file has rendered everything brighter than the original so keep that in mind when you are looking at the not so deep blacks.

I used a combination of the following Nikon lenses:
24mm f2.8
35mm f1.4
50mm f1.8
55mm f2.8 macro
100mm f2.8
200mm f4.0

The first sky shot (clouds) was shot at f11 and the second blue sky rotating into the tree is shot at f8.

http://exposureroom.com/members/disj...611e9188b4560/

Gabriel Florit · July 9th, 2008, 12:11 AM

WOW.

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

This is the XHA1? Phenomenal, the Ultimate makes a sub 5K camera look so good. I must comment on my favorite moments:

1:27 - when she breaks into a smile. Great expression! It's such an honest moment, truth captured in film.

1:37 - great lighting, love the composition.

2:13 - that's amazing, simply amazing. So beautifully composed.

I love your work - I'm off to checking your website.

By the way, who's the freckled girl? She's got such a natural expression, everything looks good when she's in the frame. Also, did you light these shots? If not, did you shoot everything in golden light?

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 07:01 AM

Thanks for the comments. That freckled girl is my lovely daughter who has an incredible screen presence...I'm trying to encourage her to get into drama more.

The golden light shots you are referring to were shot at sunset using the setting sun as a kicker and I also used a silver reflector to act as a front fill.

Chris Barcellos · July 9th, 2008, 10:03 AM

Stephen:

More beautiful stuff.

Question: From your viewpoint, what features are on the Ultimate that take it pass the capabilities of the Extreme ? In other words what benefit do I get for laying out the extra cash ?

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 10:14 AM

Chris, the benefits are many:

1. Spinning adapter lets you shoot virtually grainless with fast shutter speeds and small apertures....this really shows up when you are shooting a sky and moving the camera...with the Ultimate, the picture remains pristine. You can control this further with the variable speed motor.

2. Backfocus adjustment. This is just awesome. Now I can trust my lenses when I turn it to infinity. This is huge to me, maybe a small deal to others. Obviously it's great for ACs also for accurate measurements.

3. Sharpness. This is also dramatic...edge to edge sharp...I don't care what the charts say, to my eye, it easily matches the native lens.

4. Bokeh. It's the best bokeh I've seen on a Letus...gone are the foggy circles in out of focus specular highlights.

The overall image also feels incredibly clean and grainless. This truly feels like I just slapped movie lenses on my camera, bypassing the traditional adapters completely. I can't give this adapter a higher endorsement.

Robert Huber · July 9th, 2008, 11:42 AM

Absolutely beautiful images.

I would think you could make a killing just holding workshops in the park. I know if it would help me capture images a little closer to yours... I would be probably fly up for it.

Thank you for sharing that.

Julian Shapiro · July 9th, 2008, 12:33 PM

I'm assuming you didn't do any color-correction in post since I've read that that isn't your thing. So, does this mean that you adjust the camera's color settings for each and every single shot you take? I'm asking because you are the only man on this forum who delivers consistently beautiful-looking footage. I am not a fan of VIVIDRGB and I didn't detect its use in this footage. I would love to be able to get such color-real and natural shades as you do-- could you please explain what your process is? Is it because you use great compression? Hah... anyhoo... clueless over here... once again: you are a god of the XH-A1. Keep it coming.

Chris Barcellos · July 9th, 2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Dempsey

Chris, the benefits are many:

1. Spinning adapter lets you shoot virtually grainless with fast shutter speeds and small apertures....this really shows up when you are shooting a sky and moving the camera...with the Ultimate, the picture remains pristine. You can control this further with the variable speed motor.
...

I'll have to check out design. I hadn't followed this latest version (pricey) and I didn't realize they had gone full circle back to spinning gg like the original adapters. Thanks for the review !!

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 12:46 PM

The Letus was never a spinning adapter...always vibrating up to this point.

Chris Barcellos · July 9th, 2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Dempsey

The Letus was never a spinning adapter...always vibrating up to this point.

Yes, understood. Seems like industry in general went spinner, then vibrating, and now is going back to spinner.

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 01:13 PM

Yeah, just wanted it clear you were not just talking about Letus.

Nicholas Tran · July 9th, 2008, 02:07 PM

Hey Stephen,

How much light is lost in the Ultimate? Can't seem to find that info anywhere...

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 02:14 PM

1/2 stop...measured with no attached lenses.

From there, you have to calculate the loss based on the speed of your attached lenses.

Julian Frost · July 9th, 2008, 09:59 PM

Steven,

Outstanding work, as always. When I grow up, I want to be just like you! :-)

What is the music? My girlfriend thinks it's from the Batman Begins soundtrack.

Steven Dempsey · July 9th, 2008, 10:02 PM

Yes, kudos to your girlfriend for recognizing the music.

When I grow up I want a cool name like yours :)

July 8th, 2008, 11:19 PM	#1
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	New Letus Ultimate Footage Here is a combination of shots, some with natural light, some with a reflector with the setting sun acting as a strong light source. It's a mish mosh of wide, medium and closeups to demonstrate how the Ultimate can handle all of these situations. Camera is Canon XHA1 The Quicktime file has rendered everything brighter than the original so keep that in mind when you are looking at the not so deep blacks. I used a combination of the following Nikon lenses: 24mm f2.8 35mm f1.4 50mm f1.8 55mm f2.8 macro 100mm f2.8 200mm f4.0 The first sky shot (clouds) was shot at f11 and the second blue sky rotating into the tree is shot at f8. http://exposureroom.com/members/disj...611e9188b4560/ __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 07:01 AM	#3
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Thanks for the comments. That freckled girl is my lovely daughter who has an incredible screen presence...I'm trying to encourage her to get into drama more. The golden light shots you are referring to were shot at sunset using the setting sun as a kicker and I also used a silver reflector to act as a front fill. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 10:03 AM	#4
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Stephen: More beautiful stuff. Question: From your viewpoint, what features are on the Ultimate that take it pass the capabilities of the Extreme ? In other words what benefit do I get for laying out the extra cash ? __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

July 9th, 2008, 10:14 AM	#5
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Chris, the benefits are many: 1. Spinning adapter lets you shoot virtually grainless with fast shutter speeds and small apertures....this really shows up when you are shooting a sky and moving the camera...with the Ultimate, the picture remains pristine. You can control this further with the variable speed motor. 2. Backfocus adjustment. This is just awesome. Now I can trust my lenses when I turn it to infinity. This is huge to me, maybe a small deal to others. Obviously it's great for ACs also for accurate measurements. 3. Sharpness. This is also dramatic...edge to edge sharp...I don't care what the charts say, to my eye, it easily matches the native lens. 4. Bokeh. It's the best bokeh I've seen on a Letus...gone are the foggy circles in out of focus specular highlights. The overall image also feels incredibly clean and grainless. This truly feels like I just slapped movie lenses on my camera, bypassing the traditional adapters completely. I can't give this adapter a higher endorsement. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 12:46 PM	#9
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	The Letus was never a spinning adapter...always vibrating up to this point. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 12:11 AM	#2
Gabriel Florit Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Cambridge, MA Posts: 65	WOW. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. This is the XHA1? Phenomenal, the Ultimate makes a sub 5K camera look so good. I must comment on my favorite moments: 1:27 - when she breaks into a smile. Great expression! It's such an honest moment, truth captured in film. 1:37 - great lighting, love the composition. 2:13 - that's amazing, simply amazing. So beautifully composed. I love your work - I'm off to checking your website. By the way, who's the freckled girl? She's got such a natural expression, everything looks good when she's in the frame. Also, did you light these shots? If not, did you shoot everything in golden light?

July 9th, 2008, 11:42 AM	#6
Robert Huber Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 40	Absolutely beautiful images. I would think you could make a killing just holding workshops in the park. I know if it would help me capture images a little closer to yours... I would be probably fly up for it. Thank you for sharing that.

July 9th, 2008, 12:33 PM	#7
Julian Shapiro Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Las Vegas, Nevada Posts: 35	I'm assuming you didn't do any color-correction in post since I've read that that isn't your thing. So, does this mean that you adjust the camera's color settings for each and every single shot you take? I'm asking because you are the only man on this forum who delivers consistently beautiful-looking footage. I am not a fan of VIVIDRGB and I didn't detect its use in this footage. I would love to be able to get such color-real and natural shades as you do-- could you please explain what your process is? Is it because you use great compression? Hah... anyhoo... clueless over here... once again: you are a god of the XH-A1. Keep it coming.

July 9th, 2008, 01:13 PM	#11
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Yeah, just wanted it clear you were not just talking about Letus. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 02:07 PM	#12
Nicholas Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 67	Hey Stephen, How much light is lost in the Ultimate? Can't seem to find that info anywhere...

July 9th, 2008, 02:14 PM	#13
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	1/2 stop...measured with no attached lenses. From there, you have to calculate the loss based on the speed of your attached lenses. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

July 9th, 2008, 09:59 PM	#14
Julian Frost Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: California USA Posts: 576	Steven, Outstanding work, as always. When I grow up, I want to be just like you! :-) What is the music? My girlfriend thinks it's from the Batman Begins soundtrack.

July 9th, 2008, 10:02 PM	#15
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Yes, kudos to your girlfriend for recognizing the music. When I grow up I want a cool name like yours :) __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/