ok, a few DOF solutions, but how much? at DVinfo.net

Steven Andrus · April 4th, 2006, 03:21 AM

How much we talkin for a WELL MADE DOF solution, i'm thinking of just making my own if they are going to be as costly as the mini35 (over 7 grand) i'd like to pay substantialy less than a grand if i can pull it off, or else im going to radio shack and grinding down a cd. Which ones are the good cheap ones?

Craig Bellaire · April 4th, 2006, 03:19 PM

Just buy a Letus35 www.adapterplace.com for a few hundred bucks and you'll save yourself so much in head ache, time, and money... Of course this is a DIY community... Kind of like Burger King... Have it your way......

Mike Oveson · April 4th, 2006, 04:31 PM

If you wait a bit you can save yourself some money over the Letus. Jim Lafferty, a member of this board, is bringing out a low cost adapter that (last I heard) was going to be targeted at $209. Jim, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. So far I've been very impressed with the footage from his adapter tests and I'd definitely recommend him if you are looking for a quality, low cost adapter.

Forrest Schultz · April 4th, 2006, 08:41 PM

before thinking of the Letus35, read this article, it is a shootout between the Letus and the SG35. basically the Letus sucked bad in light loss. about 3 stops. But the SG35 only last about 1/2 a stop. now thats an amazing accomplishement. but building your own is definatly a good way to go. you could build a nice one for under $80 if you think smart, and buy only what you need. ive already made a static adapter, and i am in the midst of building a spinning adapter. but i have a problem of making a good glass (or plastic) without getting hot spot.

Wayne Kinney · April 5th, 2006, 02:27 AM

I agree,
If you have the time, try building one, at least to begin with. Its a great learning curve.

Andrew Todd · April 5th, 2006, 05:03 PM

forrest.. what article are you talking about.. you didnt post a link.. and im having probs trakcing it down on here.. from personal experience you dont get 3 stops light loss with the letus. i have the older version and with a 50mm 1.4 lens i dont detect much loss at all. definately nothing greater than a stop IMHO

Forrest Schultz · April 5th, 2006, 06:46 PM

haha, sorry bout that

http://dvxuser.com/articles/35/

about light loss, dont tell me, pictures are worth a thousand words

Mike Oveson · April 5th, 2006, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Todd

forrest.. what article are you talking about.. you didnt post a link.. and im having probs trakcing it down on here.. from personal experience you dont get 3 stops light loss with the letus. i have the older version and with a 50mm 1.4 lens i dont detect much loss at all. definately nothing greater than a stop IMHO

If you have an older version then you probably don't see as much light loss. The version in the article is the 'flip' version, which DOES suck up a lot more light than the earlier versions that did not flip the image.

Also, in that article the SG35 doesn't get a fair critique. Ok, let me rephrase that. It gets a fair critique of the adapter that they received, but that is not the typical quality of the SG35. I have seen other footage that is MUCH better than that shown in the article. I'm not saying it's any kind of bias on the part of the testers, but from what I have read concerning this the adapter that was shipped was defective. And it is also being redesigned, so it will be even better in the near future.

Also, you can build your own relatively cheaply. Depending on what kind of GG you use (and other options) you can make the main tube assembly for as little as $60, depending on where you source your materials. The $209 adapter that I mentioned earlier will have a pretty dang good GG in it, and Jim does plan on selling it separately. You may want to look into building your own tube assembly and then using his GG. It's really not that hard to make these once you have the concepts down. But then there is a difference between making one that works, and making one that works well. Best of luck to you.

Forrest Schultz · April 5th, 2006, 08:52 PM

Also in that article, all the shots and footage and still grabs of the Letus35 were done using the unflipped letus35. the written part of the article was about the flip version, which does take up alot more light. but look at the old letus35 grabs compared to the SG35. those were done with the older, and lose a fair bit of light. alot in fact.

if you get yourself a good beattie screen, then you will be getting almost no lightloss, am i correct? thats what Dan states with his MPIC. which uses a beattie intenscreen. anyways, if you can make that screen oscillate. then your pretty much set. ttyl

Steven Andrus · April 6th, 2006, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Bellaire

Just buy a Letus35 www.adapterplace.com for a few hundred bucks and you'll save yourself so much in head ache, time, and money... Of course this is a DIY community... Kind of like Burger King... Have it your way......

cheapest one they list is 600 bucks....

Steven Andrus · April 6th, 2006, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Oveson

If you wait a bit you can save yourself some money over the Letus. Jim Lafferty, a member of this board, is bringing out a low cost adapter that (last I heard) was going to be targeted at $209. Jim, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. So far I've been very impressed with the footage from his adapter tests and I'd definitely recommend him if you are looking for a quality, low cost adapter.

I'd be down to buy one at that price range if it's for real and not a piece of junk... ...jim, you have a website?

Jim Lafferty · April 6th, 2006, 11:16 PM

go-35.com, though it is little more than a placeholder at the moment. If you'd like to see some high res footage from the $209 prototype, they are here:

http://go-35.com/vids/go35standard-lg.mov

http://go-35.com/vids/go35standard-lg2.mov

Low res footage from the Standard is the "Demo" link on that page, as well.

I also have DVX footage with the Go35SD ("standard"), but I'm hesitant to show it as in truth the adapter needs a proper achromat to work with the DVX at its full potential. The DP I rented the prototype out to over the past few days laughed when she saw the vignetting -- "You know, plenty of people pay a ton of money to get that look in post..."

Wayne Kinney · April 7th, 2006, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Oveson

Also, in that article the SG35 doesn't get a fair critique. Ok, let me rephrase that. It gets a fair critique of the adapter that they received, but that is not the typical quality of the SG35. I have seen other footage that is MUCH better than that shown in the article.

Yes we did find the problem once i received the unit back after testing. Was a build error o my part, resulting in the dvx being about 5mm too close to the GG.

I am sending them an SGpro next month, so they can update the article.

Ben Winter · April 7th, 2006, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Andrus

cheapest one they list is 600 bucks....

You're looking at the Letus Flip version. Click the Letus35 link on the left side of the page, scroll to the bottom and you'll see he offers regular Letus models starting at $300.

Dennis Wood · April 7th, 2006, 08:21 AM

Steven, how would you define "well made"? I'm interested in your point of view. It's not something often discussed in the current crop of adapters.

April 4th, 2006, 03:21 AM	#1
Steven Andrus Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ Posts: 48	ok, a few DOF solutions, but how much? How much we talkin for a WELL MADE DOF solution, i'm thinking of just making my own if they are going to be as costly as the mini35 (over 7 grand) i'd like to pay substantialy less than a grand if i can pull it off, or else im going to radio shack and grinding down a cd. Which ones are the good cheap ones? __________________ www.supafraud.com

April 4th, 2006, 03:19 PM	#2
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	BUY a Letus and it's over Just buy a Letus35 www.adapterplace.com for a few hundred bucks and you'll save yourself so much in head ache, time, and money... Of course this is a DIY community... Kind of like Burger King... Have it your way...... __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com

April 5th, 2006, 02:27 AM	#5
Wayne Kinney Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Brighton, East Sussex, UK Posts: 938	I agree, If you have the time, try building one, at least to begin with. Its a great learning curve. __________________ Thanks, Wayne.

April 5th, 2006, 05:03 PM	#6
Andrew Todd Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Saint John, CANADA Posts: 633	forrest.. what article are you talking about.. you didnt post a link.. and im having probs trakcing it down on here.. from personal experience you dont get 3 stops light loss with the letus. i have the older version and with a 50mm 1.4 lens i dont detect much loss at all. definately nothing greater than a stop IMHO __________________ video : xl2 / letus35xl / bogen 503 photo- canon 1dmkII - bronica etrsi

April 6th, 2006, 11:16 PM	#12
Jim Lafferty Major Player Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 636	go-35.com, though it is little more than a placeholder at the moment. If you'd like to see some high res footage from the $209 prototype, they are here: http://go-35.com/vids/go35standard-lg.mov http://go-35.com/vids/go35standard-lg2.mov Low res footage from the Standard is the "Demo" link on that page, as well. I also have DVX footage with the Go35SD ("standard"), but I'm hesitant to show it as in truth the adapter needs a proper achromat to work with the DVX at its full potential. The DP I rented the prototype out to over the past few days laughed when she saw the vignetting -- "You know, plenty of people pay a ton of money to get that look in post..." __________________ Realism, anyway, is never exactly the same as reality, and in the cinema it is of necessity faked. -- J-L G

April 4th, 2006, 04:31 PM	#3
Mike Oveson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Ogden, UT Posts: 349	If you wait a bit you can save yourself some money over the Letus. Jim Lafferty, a member of this board, is bringing out a low cost adapter that (last I heard) was going to be targeted at $209. Jim, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. So far I've been very impressed with the footage from his adapter tests and I'd definitely recommend him if you are looking for a quality, low cost adapter.

April 4th, 2006, 08:41 PM	#4
Forrest Schultz Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atwater, CA Posts: 246	before thinking of the Letus35, read this article, it is a shootout between the Letus and the SG35. basically the Letus sucked bad in light loss. about 3 stops. But the SG35 only last about 1/2 a stop. now thats an amazing accomplishement. but building your own is definatly a good way to go. you could build a nice one for under $80 if you think smart, and buy only what you need. ive already made a static adapter, and i am in the midst of building a spinning adapter. but i have a problem of making a good glass (or plastic) without getting hot spot.

April 5th, 2006, 06:46 PM	#7
Forrest Schultz Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atwater, CA Posts: 246	haha, sorry bout that http://dvxuser.com/articles/35/ about light loss, dont tell me, pictures are worth a thousand words

April 5th, 2006, 08:52 PM	#9
Forrest Schultz Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atwater, CA Posts: 246	Also in that article, all the shots and footage and still grabs of the Letus35 were done using the unflipped letus35. the written part of the article was about the flip version, which does take up alot more light. but look at the old letus35 grabs compared to the SG35. those were done with the older, and lose a fair bit of light. alot in fact. if you get yourself a good beattie screen, then you will be getting almost no lightloss, am i correct? thats what Dan states with his MPIC. which uses a beattie intenscreen. anyways, if you can make that screen oscillate. then your pretty much set. ttyl

April 7th, 2006, 08:21 AM	#15
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	Steven, how would you define "well made"? I'm interested in your point of view. It's not something often discussed in the current crop of adapters.