The Letus35 Redesigned :)

Leo Mandy · January 22nd, 2006, 04:21 PM

Ben, how much did you pull the stoppers out? It looks like they are out all the way and being held my the glue - is this true?
If they are in slightly, how did you measure all four legs exactly so the FL?

Joel Kreisel · January 22nd, 2006, 05:59 PM

Wow Ben, that's absolutely amazing. Nice work.

In light of this, does anyone know if Quyen would knock a few bucks off the price if I told him I didn't need the GG because I was just going to replace it with the Beattie anyway? I realize he makes these pretty cheaply as it is, but that would be a little less work (and expense) for him to not have to bother with it as he made it.

Ben Winter · January 22nd, 2006, 08:53 PM

Not sure Joel. He sells replacement GG's at two for $10, I think. I don't really think it would affect the price that much.

Leo, I approximated a millimeter on each of the stoppers, and left them in the rest--they're not pulled out all the way. I was contemplating doing that though. I measured the distance from the plastic mount base to the edge of the slide holder with a ruler on each of the stoppers, making sure they were the same.

Matthew Wauhkonen · January 22nd, 2006, 10:01 PM

Very impressive. If you didn't use any external light for those clips, I'm stunned.

The G35 beta unit I'm using needs about 5k of light to light a small room without underexposing at f1.4 (to be fair, your images were a bit underexposed and the last was very underexposed). That's with a dvx. For close ups, I'd say 1000w of light maybe, unless you need the background lit.

Ben Winter · January 22nd, 2006, 10:29 PM

That test clip was shot at f4 on a 55mm 1.2 lens. I was trying to keep more things in focus to show sharpness, I guess I couldn't opened it up more--I have zebras on, but I'm just not that good at judging brightness, I guess. I have more test footage on the way.

Matthew Wauhkonen · January 22nd, 2006, 11:24 PM

How much lighting were you using, though? If those were at f4, those results are pretty amazing.

Michael Maier · January 23rd, 2006, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joel Kreisel

Wow Ben, that's absolutely amazing. Nice work.

In light of this, does anyone know if Quyen would knock a few bucks off the price if I told him I didn't need the GG because I was just going to replace it with the Beattie anyway? I realize he makes these pretty cheaply as it is, but that would be a little less work (and expense) for him to not have to bother with it as he made it.

Well, that wouldn't be much of a difference as Ben pointed out. I would be more interested to know if he would make it with the Beattie in place if we paid for it. It looks like it's the best and maybe the only way to go.

Joel Kreisel · January 23rd, 2006, 03:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Maier

Well, that wouldn't be much of a difference as Ben pointed out. I would be more interested to know if he would make it with the Beattie in place if we paid for it. It looks like it's the best and maybe the only way to go.

Indeed, that was my next thought as well. ;)

Dennis Wood · January 23rd, 2006, 06:45 AM

Dan Diaconu's been using a vibrating beattie in his MPIC, regarded by some as the best adapter out there for any price, for the last year or so. They do work.

Ben, can you comment on z axis movement at all with your setup?

Toenis Liivamaegi · January 23rd, 2006, 08:22 AM

Damn I can`t wait my Beattie to arrive, ordered it from B&H for two weeks ago for my open source adapter project I`ve been researching and developing for two and a half months for now.

Now I`m a bit concerned about that F100 Beattie`s size I ordered.
Will it still cover full frame?
I`m developing my design around parts most available in near future (Contax RTS II were discounted like years ago)
I assumed viewfinder coverage of those two SLRs mentioned to have clear Beatties were quite identical in size, 96-97% per specs.

OT: Ben how did you deinterlace that that sample video? I`m assuming you have GS400. Damn perfect diagonal quality... Or was it native progressive? (DVX etc)

Thanks,
T

Alain Bellon · January 23rd, 2006, 10:53 AM

Toenis, he is using a Canon GL2, as can be seen in his first pictures.

Ben, is it possible for you to shoot the same scenes you tried earlier with the thin-film screen so I can do a better comparison of light transmission, sharpness and distortion? I would greatly appreciate it.

Ben Winter · January 23rd, 2006, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Wood

can you comment on z axis movement at all with your setup?

I'm not seeing any. Plus I don't think there's much, if any, z-axis give in the Letus design.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Wauhkonen

How much lighting were you using, though?

My kitchen has two halogens over the island in the middle and a few 60-75 scattered around the place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alain Bellon

Ben, is it possible for you to shoot the same scenes you tried earlier with the thin-film screen so I can do a better comparison of light transmission, sharpness and distortion?

I was planning on doing that today. It's overcast just like it was when I shot with the bag. I'm also going to shoot an EIA1956 with and without the cam, which is printing out now.

Ben Winter · January 23rd, 2006, 06:05 PM

Shot the outside footage today. It was a lot darker today than the other days though, so the footage will be slightly darker.

Also, the first few seconds show the image with the motor turned off, then turned on.

http://www.frozenphoenixproductions....estoutside.mov

That's all I got. EIA1956 tomorrow.

Dennis Wood · January 23rd, 2006, 08:34 PM

Thanks for posting that Ben. Now more questions:

1. What are we seeing on the right side of the frame? Did you need a bit more zoom?

2. The bokeh has a what I can best describe as a "buzzing" quality to it. I compared it to some footage from my spinner, both raw and 3K wmv compressed...and I don't get this. Is this just quicktime compression artifacting? Maybe you could post a few seconds of raw DV up on filefactory or something similar...particulary when the green grass is out of focus.

3. My guess is that you're losing little if any in terms of F/stops with the adapter vs without? Would 1/2 stop be a good guess?

Ha, you've got leaves, we've got 1 metre of snow! Great work on this :-)

Alain Bellon · January 23rd, 2006, 08:37 PM

Thank you Ben, looks very sharp!

January 22nd, 2006, 08:53 PM	#63
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Not sure Joel. He sells replacement GG's at two for $10, I think. I don't really think it would affect the price that much. Leo, I approximated a millimeter on each of the stoppers, and left them in the rest--they're not pulled out all the way. I was contemplating doing that though. I measured the distance from the plastic mount base to the edge of the slide holder with a ruler on each of the stoppers, making sure they were the same. __________________ BenWinter.com

January 22nd, 2006, 10:29 PM	#65
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	That test clip was shot at f4 on a 55mm 1.2 lens. I was trying to keep more things in focus to show sharpness, I guess I couldn't opened it up more--I have zebras on, but I'm just not that good at judging brightness, I guess. I have more test footage on the way. __________________ BenWinter.com

January 23rd, 2006, 06:45 AM	#69
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Dan Diaconu's been using a vibrating beattie in his MPIC, regarded by some as the best adapter out there for any price, for the last year or so. They do work. Ben, can you comment on z axis movement at all with your setup? Last edited by Dennis Wood; January 23rd, 2006 at 07:55 AM.

January 23rd, 2006, 06:05 PM	#73
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Shot the outside footage today. It was a lot darker today than the other days though, so the footage will be slightly darker. Also, the first few seconds show the image with the motor turned off, then turned on. http://www.frozenphoenixproductions....estoutside.mov That's all I got. EIA1956 tomorrow. __________________ BenWinter.com

January 22nd, 2006, 04:21 PM	#61
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Ben, how much did you pull the stoppers out? It looks like they are out all the way and being held my the glue - is this true? If they are in slightly, how did you measure all four legs exactly so the FL?

January 22nd, 2006, 05:59 PM	#62
Joel Kreisel Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA Posts: 44	Wow Ben, that's absolutely amazing. Nice work. In light of this, does anyone know if Quyen would knock a few bucks off the price if I told him I didn't need the GG because I was just going to replace it with the Beattie anyway? I realize he makes these pretty cheaply as it is, but that would be a little less work (and expense) for him to not have to bother with it as he made it.

January 22nd, 2006, 10:01 PM	#64
Matthew Wauhkonen Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 285	Very impressive. If you didn't use any external light for those clips, I'm stunned. The G35 beta unit I'm using needs about 5k of light to light a small room without underexposing at f1.4 (to be fair, your images were a bit underexposed and the last was very underexposed). That's with a dvx. For close ups, I'd say 1000w of light maybe, unless you need the background lit.

January 22nd, 2006, 11:24 PM	#66
Matthew Wauhkonen Major Player Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 285	How much lighting were you using, though? If those were at f4, those results are pretty amazing.

January 23rd, 2006, 08:22 AM	#70
Toenis Liivamaegi Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tartu, Estonia Posts: 579	Damn I can`t wait my Beattie to arrive, ordered it from B&H for two weeks ago for my open source adapter project I`ve been researching and developing for two and a half months for now. Now I`m a bit concerned about that F100 Beattie`s size I ordered. Will it still cover full frame? I`m developing my design around parts most available in near future (Contax RTS II were discounted like years ago) I assumed viewfinder coverage of those two SLRs mentioned to have clear Beatties were quite identical in size, 96-97% per specs. OT: Ben how did you deinterlace that that sample video? I`m assuming you have GS400. Damn perfect diagonal quality... Or was it native progressive? (DVX etc) Thanks, T

January 23rd, 2006, 10:53 AM	#71
Alain Bellon Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: LA Posts: 130	Toenis, he is using a Canon GL2, as can be seen in his first pictures. Ben, is it possible for you to shoot the same scenes you tried earlier with the thin-film screen so I can do a better comparison of light transmission, sharpness and distortion? I would greatly appreciate it.

January 23rd, 2006, 08:34 PM	#74
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Thanks for posting that Ben. Now more questions: 1. What are we seeing on the right side of the frame? Did you need a bit more zoom? 2. The bokeh has a what I can best describe as a "buzzing" quality to it. I compared it to some footage from my spinner, both raw and 3K wmv compressed...and I don't get this. Is this just quicktime compression artifacting? Maybe you could post a few seconds of raw DV up on filefactory or something similar...particulary when the green grass is out of focus. 3. My guess is that you're losing little if any in terms of F/stops with the adapter vs without? Would 1/2 stop be a good guess? Ha, you've got leaves, we've got 1 metre of snow! Great work on this :-)

January 23rd, 2006, 08:37 PM	#75
Alain Bellon Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: LA Posts: 130	Thank you Ben, looks very sharp!