Brevis or Letus35 for HC-1

[Nick Rinaldi]

I'm trying to make decision. Letus35 or Letus35A or Brevis.
I don't need the achromat for the Brevis. The camera will be handheld alot.
Which adapter is better suited for this small camera. Image quality is a high priority.

[Daniel Wee]

Have you considered the Go35Pro? I think it has pretty good image quality. For me, the Letus series just doesn't seem to be cutting it from the quality point of view. Many of the footages I've seen from it are soft and seems to have some kind of strong color cast. I could be wrong, mind you - but this is just my current impression.

The Brevis has low light loss which is good but the bokeh looks a bit odd to me, I can't quite put my finger on it. Some have called it "greasy". I think there are a couple of other good and cheaper options coming up which looks to be competitive.

Daniel Wee

[Mikko Parttimaa]

I don't think Go35Pro is the best choice for HDV, as it is static it might get a bit too grainy. If you plan to downscale to SD it would be a great choice.

If money isn't a problem I would choose Brevis hands down. Seems a lot more professionally built and as the HC1 isn't the best low light camcorder the low loss of light would help also. The bokeh is ugly with the standard diffuser but this can be fixed with the alternative diffuser coming soon.

[Jim Lafferty]

I have two people shooting HDV with the Go35Pro. The grain is there, but in their words:

Sony A1U -- I haven't looked at it on a HDTV yet but from the camera LCD and my 17" laptop monitor, it looks like grain is noticeable at f4 or smaller depending on the lighting situation. Doesn't seem to be a major problem for me since I don't anticipate using at anything less than f4...Overall I'm very pleased with the adapter.

Sony Z1 -- I have used P+S Technik Mini35, and personally own a Kinomatik Movietube, and I must say your GO35Pro is on par with them in terms of sharpness of the footage I get.(What a great job you have done there!!!!!) Since it's a static adapter, I had expected some grain issues, but GO35Pro is very much acceptable even in HDV mode!!!! Light loss is also minimal.

Email me at info@go-35.com for footage samples and other requests.

[Dennis Wood]

Mikko, "ugly bokeh"...ouch. Actually the standard diffuser is a very close match to film bokeh from f2.8 and up based on our own tests using 35mm 100ASA film. There are quite a few lenses out there that are unacceptably soft at fully opened apertures..with noticeable differences as they are stopped down to the f2.8/f4 range. For max sharpness, for example, on the HVX, several users have reported that using f2.8 to f4 (in that case on a Nikon f1.4 50mm) and F4 or so on the HVX made a big difference in sharpness. The standard diffuser excels in that situation.

For folks who want max DOF at fully opened apertures (and don't mind using the lenses like this), the diffuser option is the appropriate choice...with no grain, and a closer film match from f1.4 to f4.

[Nick Rinaldi]

I got a canon FD type lens which the Go35Pro does not support , so I ordered the Brevis. I'll give my impressions of it after I try it out.

[Ben Winter]

The Go35 doesn't have an FD mount? Wow...seems like someone's missing quite an audience there...

[Mikko Parttimaa]

Dennis, yes of course. I was a bit inaccurate there, sorry for that.

[Jim Lafferty]

Originally Posted by Ben Winter

The Go35 doesn't have an FD mount? Wow...seems like someone's missing quite an audience there...

Or to look at it another way: with the money you save buying the Go35Pro over a series of other adapters, you could buy it and add a great condition Nikon F prime, and still come out ahead.

Of course, it would be nice to support the Canon FD but it's not in the cards at the moment. I have plans to get there, and also add the PL mount to the list, but that's not for some time -- perhaps with the introduction of the Go35Pro version 2 :)

- jim

[Dennis Wood]

Mikko, no worries :-)

Jim, keeping things simple has advantages...no moving parts, one mount to worry about...etc. etc.