Shoot 35 SGBlade First Review at DVinfo.net

Phil Bloom · February 6th, 2009, 04:14 PM

It arrived today in a rather large box...it looks REALLY nice. Unfortunately it's far too dark and far too cold to go shoot anything tonight. Tomorrow I take her for a spin. In the meantime please read my blog first my initial thoughts and lots of pics!!

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Shoot 35 SGBlade First Review and my adaptor history.

Dennis Murphy · February 6th, 2009, 05:34 PM

Well, It's certainly a sexy looking beast and packaged beautifully.
I'm looking forward to your impressions in terms of how hard you can push the shutter speed and to what f-stop you can push it without grain.
Did the Siamese cats come as standard, or did you order them separately?

Phil Bloom · February 6th, 2009, 07:21 PM

Siamese cats come as standard, just make sure you pay for fast shipping. It's cruel otherwise!

Dean Harrington · February 6th, 2009, 10:16 PM

Nice cats !!! Good presentation on deboxing the unit. Can't wait to have some tests run !!

Chris Barcellos · February 6th, 2009, 10:55 PM

Phil:

You are the Imelda Marcos of 35mm adapters. It actually is quite nice to hear your comparisons of all these adapters.... next thing we need is a Phil Bloom model making use of the best of each !

Phil Bloom · February 7th, 2009, 10:19 AM

I know, bit worried when I counted them all up!

Anyway...

...just got back from filming some test footage. I haven't looked at it yet so all I can give are my first impressions...

It was easy to set up, personally I think Wayne should bring out a 77mm version rather than use step up rings as they are horrible things that can easily get stuck on cameras. But I mounted it onto the ex1 using the ring very easily, adjusted the X/Y very simply using the grub screws on the flip module and had a perfectly aligned image.

I was zooming into about z70 to lose the edges clearly, maybe about z72 to be safe. A feature that I am glad this had that the Letus line has but the brevis doesn't with the EX1 is the ability to be able to zoom all the way in and maintain focus without really soft edges. Useful if you need a tighter shot quickly!

The rods are fine, not up to Zacuto quality but then they are a fraction of the price! They are light, sturdy and a perfect match for the Blade. The support bracket screwed on easily and I had my rig all up and ready in 20 minutes.

I can't comment on picture quality as I haven't imported the footage into my mac yet, but it looked good on the ex1 LCD. One thing I was warned to expect was edge sharpness, with wide lenses especially, you needed to have the ex1 closed down a lot to get it. Not so much on normal lenses. Buy on my 17mm I struggled to get edge to edge sharpness, but this is a very wide lens!

I stopped down to f11 and it looked fine, I also managed to put 1/500th shutter in. Bit difficult with the light in London today, also in the LCD it looked fine.

I will update later with some footage and a proper assessment. So far it all looks great!

Dennis Murphy · February 7th, 2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

I stopped down to f11 and it looked fine, I also managed to put 1/500th shutter in. Bit difficult with the light in London today, also in the LCD it looked fine.

I'd be very interested to hear if those figures can be achieved without patterning at all.

Phil Bloom · February 7th, 2009, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Murphy

I'd be very interested to hear if those figures can be achieved without patterning at all.

Not at same time, one or the other. Am writing blog review right now and my test short is uploading to Exposure room as we speak!

Phil Bloom · February 7th, 2009, 04:02 PM

here is the review and the test short film

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Test film made with Shoot 35 SGBlade

Scott Brickert · February 7th, 2009, 06:29 PM

Thanks for the review, pics, and footage. Very helpful.

Any chance you'd take half an hour with the HV20 behind it and post it...maybe to 'My Generation'...;)...? I'd really appreciate it.

Adriano Apefos · February 7th, 2009, 06:53 PM

there is chromatic aberration in the footage. you need to see the video in HD, in full screen to see it. these crops from the footage shows the chromatic aberration, the green/blue and yellow/red fringing in the contrast objects:

Dan Chung · February 7th, 2009, 08:25 PM

Phil, great review and great footage. You are such a talent! Which Rotorazor did you use? have you tried both?

I did see some grain at around 1:16 and some flicker 1:45, did you see this too?

At this early stage would you say the image from the SGPro is better than the Letus Extreme/Elite ? It looks a tad softer and more washed out than previous stuff you've shown from the lower end Letus but I wasn't sure whether it was because the footage is ungraded or its just the Richmond weather.

Also are you planning on testing the new Redrock Micro Encore M2 as well?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks again

Dan

Phil Bloom · February 8th, 2009, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Brickert

Thanks for the review, pics, and footage. Very helpful.

Any chance you'd take half an hour with the HV20 behind it and post it...maybe to 'My Generation'...;)...? I'd really appreciate it.

i dont have the mounting kit for it unfortunately.

Wayne Kinney · February 8th, 2009, 03:03 AM

Please bare in mind, this is shot with an EX1, not an HV20...

Phil Bloom · February 8th, 2009, 03:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Chung

Phil, great review and great footage. You are such a talent! Which Rotorazor did you use? have you tried both?

I did see some grain at around 1:16 and some flicker 1:45, did you see this too?

At this early stage would you say the image from the SGPro is better than the Letus Extreme/Elite ? It looks a tad softer and more washed out than previous stuff you've shown from the lower end Letus but I wasn't sure whether it was because the footage is ungraded or its just the Richmond weather.

Also are you planning on testing the new Redrock Micro Encore M2 as well?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks again

Dan

Hi dan

cheers mate,

I used the roto 1. I didn't notice the grain at all, just looked at footage, if you see grain it would be a circular pattern. But I did notice the flicker, not sure why...it was only when I overcranked to 60fps. V odd. Def more washed out than my usual stuff as I haven't graded it, couple of shots in particular with the sun coming straight at me gave nasty flair that made it look washed out. I was too lightweight to bring matte box with me.

I may get my m2 upgraded, but to be honest to find the time to do it and test it would be hard!

Best,

Phil

February 6th, 2009, 04:14 PM	#1
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Shoot 35 SGBlade First Review It arrived today in a rather large box...it looks REALLY nice. Unfortunately it's far too dark and far too cold to go shoot anything tonight. Tomorrow I take her for a spin. In the meantime please read my blog first my initial thoughts and lots of pics!! Philip Bloom Blog Archive Shoot 35 SGBlade First Review and my adaptor history. __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 6th, 2009, 05:34 PM	#2
Dennis Murphy Major Player Join Date: May 2006 Location: Whangarei, New Zealand Posts: 396	Well, It's certainly a sexy looking beast and packaged beautifully. I'm looking forward to your impressions in terms of how hard you can push the shutter speed and to what f-stop you can push it without grain. Did the Siamese cats come as standard, or did you order them separately? __________________ http://www.dmvideostuff.co.nz

February 6th, 2009, 07:21 PM	#3
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Siamese cats come as standard, just make sure you pay for fast shipping. It's cruel otherwise! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 6th, 2009, 10:16 PM	#4
Dean Harrington Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Tokyo Posts: 898	Phil ... Nice cats !!! Good presentation on deboxing the unit. Can't wait to have some tests run !!

February 6th, 2009, 10:55 PM	#5
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Phil: You are the Imelda Marcos of 35mm adapters. It actually is quite nice to hear your comparisons of all these adapters.... next thing we need is a Phil Bloom model making use of the best of each ! __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

February 7th, 2009, 10:19 AM	#6
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	I know, bit worried when I counted them all up! Anyway... ...just got back from filming some test footage. I haven't looked at it yet so all I can give are my first impressions... It was easy to set up, personally I think Wayne should bring out a 77mm version rather than use step up rings as they are horrible things that can easily get stuck on cameras. But I mounted it onto the ex1 using the ring very easily, adjusted the X/Y very simply using the grub screws on the flip module and had a perfectly aligned image. I was zooming into about z70 to lose the edges clearly, maybe about z72 to be safe. A feature that I am glad this had that the Letus line has but the brevis doesn't with the EX1 is the ability to be able to zoom all the way in and maintain focus without really soft edges. Useful if you need a tighter shot quickly! The rods are fine, not up to Zacuto quality but then they are a fraction of the price! They are light, sturdy and a perfect match for the Blade. The support bracket screwed on easily and I had my rig all up and ready in 20 minutes. I can't comment on picture quality as I haven't imported the footage into my mac yet, but it looked good on the ex1 LCD. One thing I was warned to expect was edge sharpness, with wide lenses especially, you needed to have the ex1 closed down a lot to get it. Not so much on normal lenses. Buy on my 17mm I struggled to get edge to edge sharpness, but this is a very wide lens! I stopped down to f11 and it looked fine, I also managed to put 1/500th shutter in. Bit difficult with the light in London today, also in the LCD it looked fine. I will update later with some footage and a proper assessment. So far it all looks great! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 7th, 2009, 04:02 PM	#9
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	here is the review and the test short film Philip Bloom Blog Archive Test film made with Shoot 35 SGBlade __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 7th, 2009, 06:29 PM	#10
Scott Brickert Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Crested Butte, CO Posts: 576	Thanks for the review, pics, and footage. Very helpful. Any chance you'd take half an hour with the HV20 behind it and post it...maybe to 'My Generation'...;)...? I'd really appreciate it. __________________ Scott Shot-By-Scott Last edited by Scott Brickert; February 7th, 2009 at 10:23 PM. Reason: changes

February 7th, 2009, 06:53 PM	#11
Adriano Apefos Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belo Horizonte BRAZIL Posts: 154	Chromatic aberration in the footage there is chromatic aberration in the footage. you need to see the video in HD, in full screen to see it. these crops from the footage shows the chromatic aberration, the green/blue and yellow/red fringing in the contrast objects: Attached Images

February 7th, 2009, 08:25 PM	#12
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	Phil, great review and great footage. You are such a talent! Which Rotorazor did you use? have you tried both? I did see some grain at around 1:16 and some flicker 1:45, did you see this too? At this early stage would you say the image from the SGPro is better than the Letus Extreme/Elite ? It looks a tad softer and more washed out than previous stuff you've shown from the lower end Letus but I wasn't sure whether it was because the footage is ungraded or its just the Richmond weather. Also are you planning on testing the new Redrock Micro Encore M2 as well? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again Dan Last edited by Dan Chung; February 8th, 2009 at 03:06 AM.

February 8th, 2009, 03:03 AM	#14
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Please bare in mind, this is shot with an EX1, not an HV20... __________________ Thanks, Wayne.