The Letus35 Redesigned :)

Andrew Todd · January 24th, 2006, 01:48 PM

"When you get immersed in this subject, it's easy to forget until your wife walks over, looks at the footage, then makes the comment: "You did all of this to get that???" Lugging the 100lbs of blast media in five different grades into my shop (GG tuning), I wonder myself sometimes!"

or when your girlfriend finds all the melted wax on her things .. or her hairdryer overheats and burns out, and destroy every cellphone in you house trying to find a vibrator that will work, or you cut your fingers wide open trying to get glass out of a filter and she looks at you and your bleeding hands in horror as you hold your fancy looking frankenstein adapter.. taped together for quick changes sake.. and "ALL" you have to show her for your efforts is "a blurry background :P "

Mark Wisniowski · January 24th, 2006, 09:09 PM

G35 footage by Matthew Wauhkonen :
http://csxinfo.net/mattw/g35.mov

Modified Letus footage by Ben Winter:
http://www.frozenphoenixproductions....estoutside.mov

Both have the buzzy grain. Both have very similiar results. I think I prefer Bens footage over the g35. Hmmmmm

Craig Bellaire · January 24th, 2006, 09:16 PM

Ok if the grain is there with both the old and new GG. Should one still consider replacing the GG with a new one? Or is what we are after is the Crispness of the image that is in focus?

Ben Winter · January 24th, 2006, 09:35 PM

Craig, by replacing the GG with a Beattie there is an increase in clarity as well as a decrease in light loss, which are the main reasons for the switch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Wisniowski

Both have the buzzy grain. Both have very similiar results. I think I prefer Bens footage over the g35. Hmmmmm

Don't forget that the G35 is built to be much more durable than the Letus, as well as the fact that the G35 is apparently static...but then again, is it worth the extra $$$?

Ben Winter · January 24th, 2006, 09:37 PM

Removed duplicate

Joel Kreisel · January 25th, 2006, 03:18 AM

I think I prefer Ben's to the G35 as well. I wouldn't even complain about that amount of grain, since it gives it kind of a film-y look. Since the G35 is static, I suppose you could concievably get almost zero grain out of it by making a grain filter in post (since there's so little as it is), but for my part, I like prefer the very slightly grainy look of Ben's.

Dennis Wood · January 25th, 2006, 10:50 AM

Ben, did you have any luck with the EIA1956s with and without the adapter? For my tests, I left the tripod in place, just removed the adapter and reframed with the same f/stop settings (increased shutter speed after removing adapter). I'm very curious! It would be great to try this with the letus GG too, but that's a lot of work.

Ben Winter · January 25th, 2006, 08:09 PM

Well, for another day yet again I have been unable to do the EIA1956 test. But I did try quickly shooting a grid and I noticed that there is some slight barrel distortion, which makes me sad. It's probably the Century Optics macro acting up in this situation, which makes me wonder if my previous "shortened" design is still a better way to go. Still, I have a lot of footage to shoot tomorrow for an actual TV class project so we'll see how the footage looks, I'll post some tests. And yes, I promise I'll get around to the EIA1956, it's sitting on my desk right now :)

Leo Mandy · January 26th, 2006, 03:31 PM

Ben, I am noticing this too with my rig, and it is bothersome. I think Wayne was saying there is a sweet spot for the macro to be in so that there is no barrel distortion? Maybe it was him?

Wayne Kinney · January 26th, 2006, 04:23 PM

The distortion is most likely coming from the PCX lens in the letus. The SG35 also suffers slight distortion.

Michael Maier · January 26th, 2006, 06:41 PM

So how the Mini35 works? No PCX, cause I haven't seem complains of distortions.

Wayne Kinney · January 26th, 2006, 06:48 PM

Not sure about the mini35, not sure many people know the optical setup of that, but i know the m2 does not use a PCX, but i have heard some have had trouble with vignetting.

Leo Mandy · January 26th, 2006, 10:13 PM

Wayne, didn';t you say there was a sweet spot though?

Wayne Kinney · January 27th, 2006, 03:45 AM

Leo,
Its a trade off. You can move the PCX away from the ground glass, which will remove the distortion but start to give you more chromatic aberration.

Leo Mandy · January 27th, 2006, 04:28 PM

Ben,

Did you notice the barreling before the Century optics?

January 24th, 2006, 01:48 PM	#91
Andrew Todd Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Saint John, CANADA Posts: 633	"When you get immersed in this subject, it's easy to forget until your wife walks over, looks at the footage, then makes the comment: "You did all of this to get that???" Lugging the 100lbs of blast media in five different grades into my shop (GG tuning), I wonder myself sometimes!" or when your girlfriend finds all the melted wax on her things .. or her hairdryer overheats and burns out, and destroy every cellphone in you house trying to find a vibrator that will work, or you cut your fingers wide open trying to get glass out of a filter and she looks at you and your bleeding hands in horror as you hold your fancy looking frankenstein adapter.. taped together for quick changes sake.. and "ALL" you have to show her for your efforts is "a blurry background :P " __________________ video : xl2 / letus35xl / bogen 503 photo- canon 1dmkII - bronica etrsi

January 24th, 2006, 09:09 PM	#92
Mark Wisniowski Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chicago Posts: 31	g35 vs. Ben's Modified Letus G35 footage by Matthew Wauhkonen : http://csxinfo.net/mattw/g35.mov Modified Letus footage by Ben Winter: http://www.frozenphoenixproductions....estoutside.mov Both have the buzzy grain. Both have very similiar results. I think I prefer Bens footage over the g35. Hmmmmm __________________ Mark Wisniowski www.probe3.com

January 24th, 2006, 09:16 PM	#93
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	Grain Question Ok if the grain is there with both the old and new GG. Should one still consider replacing the GG with a new one? Or is what we are after is the Crispness of the image that is in focus? __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com

January 24th, 2006, 09:37 PM	#95
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Removed duplicate __________________ BenWinter.com

January 25th, 2006, 08:09 PM	#98
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Well, for another day yet again I have been unable to do the EIA1956 test. But I did try quickly shooting a grid and I noticed that there is some slight barrel distortion, which makes me sad. It's probably the Century Optics macro acting up in this situation, which makes me wonder if my previous "shortened" design is still a better way to go. Still, I have a lot of footage to shoot tomorrow for an actual TV class project so we'll see how the footage looks, I'll post some tests. And yes, I promise I'll get around to the EIA1956, it's sitting on my desk right now :) __________________ BenWinter.com

January 25th, 2006, 03:18 AM	#96
Joel Kreisel Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN, USA Posts: 44	I think I prefer Ben's to the G35 as well. I wouldn't even complain about that amount of grain, since it gives it kind of a film-y look. Since the G35 is static, I suppose you could concievably get almost zero grain out of it by making a grain filter in post (since there's so little as it is), but for my part, I like prefer the very slightly grainy look of Ben's.

January 25th, 2006, 10:50 AM	#97
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Ben, did you have any luck with the EIA1956s with and without the adapter? For my tests, I left the tripod in place, just removed the adapter and reframed with the same f/stop settings (increased shutter speed after removing adapter). I'm very curious! It would be great to try this with the letus GG too, but that's a lot of work.

January 26th, 2006, 03:31 PM	#99
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Ben, I am noticing this too with my rig, and it is bothersome. I think Wayne was saying there is a sweet spot for the macro to be in so that there is no barrel distortion? Maybe it was him?

January 26th, 2006, 04:23 PM	#100
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	The distortion is most likely coming from the PCX lens in the letus. The SG35 also suffers slight distortion. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

January 26th, 2006, 06:41 PM	#101
Michael Maier Trustee Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,269	So how the Mini35 works? No PCX, cause I haven't seem complains of distortions.

January 26th, 2006, 06:48 PM	#102
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Not sure about the mini35, not sure many people know the optical setup of that, but i know the m2 does not use a PCX, but i have heard some have had trouble with vignetting. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

January 26th, 2006, 10:13 PM	#103
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Wayne, didn';t you say there was a sweet spot though?

January 27th, 2006, 03:45 AM	#104
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	Leo, Its a trade off. You can move the PCX away from the ground glass, which will remove the distortion but start to give you more chromatic aberration. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

January 27th, 2006, 04:28 PM	#105
Leo Mandy Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 749	Ben, Did you notice the barreling before the Century optics?