Very Lovely Philip.
I am very curious about the lenses as i've wanted to play with the tilt shift lenses for awhile.
I tried the Lensbaby and it was fun but the area that was sharp was just too small and not sharp enough. These look better.

What are these lenses and what mount do you need for them? Were you happy with them?

I seem to recall some negative reviews on the web, but they may be holding them to a higher standard than we need.

I loved what I saw from the website, but don't trust that I am getting a true sense of sharpness.

- Lenny Levy

Hi Phillip,

Wonderful footage, Im truly learning a lot from your posts and greatly appreciate them.

I am wondering if you have ever used a follow focus with the Letus Extreme, and if so, what kind would you recommend? I contacted Letus and was told they have one in the works to be produced in 8 weeks. I plan on purchasing the LE and the Letus Rails, but was unsure if any follow focus would do (M2, Cinevate, Indie?) Thanks for your help and lovely footage.

Peace and Blessings,
Hidalgo

Very Lovely Philip.
I am very curious about the lenses as i've wanted to play with the tilt shift lenses for awhile.
I tried the Lensbaby and it was fun but the area that was sharp was just too small and not sharp enough. These look better.

What are these lenses and what mount do you need for them? Were you happy with them?

I seem to recall some negative reviews on the web, but they may be holding them to a higher standard than we need.

I loved what I saw from the website, but don't trust that I am getting a true sense of sharpness.

- Lenny Levy

Hi Lenny

Way better than lensbaby. I haven't compared them to the Nikon's own versions but I love them. They are Hartblei http://www.hartblei.com/lenses/lens_35mm.htm

I have no problems with their quality at all. Did you download the 720p version?

Freakin' beautiful. Though I'm getting tired of telling you that ... why don't you shoot something crappy for once and make the rest of us feel a bit better about ourselves? ;-)

I just watch the 720p version on my projector (11' wide cinemascope screen) and it was gorgeous. My little HV20 is having serious camera envy.

Thanks Joseph. Am actually going to try out the letus extreme HV20 combo soon to see how well it performs. It will be fiddly but no reason why you can't shoot great pics with it!

Thanks Philip,
Keep us informed if you get any others. Do I recall that you have the 65 and the 80?

Do you know if the cheaper "Arsat's" are any worse? Those are "tilt-shift" instead of "TS-PC", whatever that means. I guess I'll write to them ask.

Have you tried them at open apertures - say 2.8 and 4? That's where I would expect to operate normally.

BTW largely your experience ( plus playing with the camera) that convinced me to go for it. I get mine after New Years. Thanks again for your generosity with information and examples. Beautiful work.

Lenny

I have the 80 and 65. Would love the 35mm but it is super expensive. I have ordered one of the Arsat 35mm lenses. I will report back as soon as I get it!

I shot with them at 2.8 all the time.

Happy Holidays Leonard.

P.S. Got my Letus rails today. Very solid. Am impressed. Also got a mini. Will stick on the HV20 and try it out.

Thanks, That's great to know they work at 2.8

Anyone in the UK please watch Channel 5 every night this week at 7pm to see my Religion series of shorts shot on the ex1, some with and some without the Letus extreme

I have the 80 and 65. Would love the 35mm but it is super expensive. I have ordered one of the Arsat 35mm lenses. I will report back as soon as I get it!

I shot with them at 2.8 all the time.

Happy Holidays Leonard.

P.S. Got my Letus rails today. Very solid. Am impressed. Also got a mini. Will stick on the HV20 and try it out.

Hi Phil
I am looking forward to your review of the Letus rail system. I see you currently use the Cavision system, so your comparisons between the Letus and Cavision will be greatly appreciated. I plan to purchase a rail system soon, but I will wait for your findings of these two products before I make a decision.

I personally would like to thank you so much for the generous amount of time you give to this post. I really helps me and others I am sure as well.
Happy Holidays
Dennis Kane

Hi Dennis.

Posted some thought on it on my blog!

Merry Christmas!

http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/My_Autumns_Done_Come.html

shot using the Sony's 60fps setting. Info about problems etc as usual on my blog!

Thanks and please enjoy and feel free to ask anything or comment.

Philip

Phil,
So is the Brevis + Flip still too short for proper focusing of the EX1?

Without large spacers yes

Philip.

You've moved me to tears with this masterpiece.

'cause My Autumn’s Done Come... as well.

Thank you!

I hve just found out fox news are broadcasting one of my ex1 letus religion shorts on Judaism today. Keep an eye out!

Hey Phil, I am sure you saw Jon Wolding's suggestion on the Cinevate board, but he said you should try the old achromat with the flip (the original HD achromat) as it is stronger than the one with the flip. I am sure many are anxious to find out if that gets things working.

Thanks,
Benjamin

Hi Phil! Really enjoying the updates.

I noticed on your site that you have a Steadicam Merlin. Have you tried it with the EX1 yet, and if so, how has it handled? Thanks!

Hi Phil I have been reading up here trying to get as much info about the EX1 and Letus extreme which I have on order. I would like to test mine out by filming in public. I wondered if you could give some advice on this. Every one you film seems OK but is there anything to be aware of here?

Also is there any loss in resolution using the Letus extreme. In your London film (Excellent) In a shot near the end that didnt use the letus it was way sharper compared to a similar shot using it.

Hey Phil, I am sure you saw Jon Wolding's suggestion on the Cinevate board, but he said you should try the old achromat with the flip (the original HD achromat) as it is stronger than the one with the flip. I am sure many are anxious to find out if that gets things working.

Thanks,
Benjamin

Tried the old achromat and I couldn't get focus anywhere at all. Am waiting for some official help there! Tried all sorts of configurations with spacers. Just not happening for me yet. I am very anxious myself as have just got a new cf2le and want to test it out!

Hi Phil! Really enjoying the updates.

I noticed on your site that you have a Steadicam Merlin. Have you tried it with the EX1 yet, and if so, how has it handled? Thanks!

No not yet. Am sure it will be great. Am some snowed under with 35mm adaptor stuff not had a chance but will soon

Hi Phil I have been reading up here trying to get as much info about the EX1 and Letus extreme which I have on order. I would like to test mine out by filming in public. I wondered if you could give some advice on this. Every one you film seems OK but is there anything to be aware of here?

Also is there any loss in resolution using the Letus extreme. In your London film (Excellent) In a shot near the end that didnt use the letus it was way sharper compared to a similar shot using it.

what do you mean about filming in public. are you worried about it?
piccadilly furs was my first letus/ex1 experience so it could have been better. My latest stuff has been way sharper. Have a look at some of the shots on the Kew Gardens in Winter and the Autumn's done come. The ex1 is always going to be sharper, but only in a video way!

Hi Phil Yes I am a little! I have filmed in public already and always chickened out of getting better shots. Worried I guess by possible public reaction Its in my nature to think the worst embarrassing situation will happen because it normally does. You can count on anyone out of their head on drink will make a beeline for me. I'd love to build up some confidence in this area.

Re piccadilly furs. That was the first time with the letus and some are using it as a demo! I just watched kew gardens in winter some very beautiful images. Some of my favourites was from the isle of mull. I think thats right.

Just to give some idea of who I am!

Alien wars
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=24808032

Dr who and the emperor
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=24805988

A couple of films I made. One is a fan film and the other is a concept trailer to a script I have written.

Phil, all your footage, creativity and efficiency is truly admirable. Thank you for sharing your art.

If I may ask, when are you and the EX1 going to hook up with Wayne and give the SGpro a try, SGflip and all?

sometime in the new year i think!

Just to give some idea of who I am!

Alien wars
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=24808032

Dr who and the emperor
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=24805988

A couple of films I made. One is a fan film and the other is a concept trailer to a script I have written.

impressive stuff. I miss the old style Tardis interior!

sometime in the new year i think!

Please do as soon as practicable, Phil. Thank you.

Phil, thanks for all your sharing. I'm also looking forward to that SGpro test.

done my first Brevis flip ex1 test on my blog. Results are pretty good!

Phil,

1) How did you end-up mating the Brevis and the EX1?

2) Do you have a sense of which adapter (Brevis + Flip or Letus Extreme) loses less light?

3) Any other comparisons/contrasts to make between the two adapters?

long story. But after loads of fiddling I tried basic set up one last try then it worked. No idea why!

Without a side by side comparison I couldn't say which is best in low light. I will do a test one day.

It's so difficult to choose one over the other. They have plusses and minuses. I will most likely continue to use both. If anyone wants to ask more specifics regarding their personal needs please email me and I promise to get back to you.

I am giving a presentation on tapeless workflow with the ex1 at the Broadcast Live forum in London on the 31st if anyone is around. Be good to meet you, just don't judge me on my presentation. I do pictures not words, it could be very embarrassing!!

p.s. if anyone in London fancies helping me out on Thursday next week for free I am shooting my next short at some cool locations throughout the day starting quite early. It's a non commercial short like the others, I am just doing to test and stretch out the ex1/ Letus extreme combo.

I would love to but I live in Paris (France) and won't be able to cross the channel...

Let me know if you come to Paris for a shoot or a presentation :)

Stay confident I'm sure you'll be great !

Merci Sebastien

J'adore Paris.

Ma mere est Parisienne...

OK.

These are my main lenses.

16mm Zenitar f2.8
18mm Signma f1.8
28mm Nikon F2
35 Nikon F1.4
50mm Zeiss f1.4 and Zeiss Macro T2 and Nikon 50mm F1.4
85mm Zeiss f1.4
105 Nikon f2 DC
135 Vivitar f2.3
180 Nikon F2.8
I also have one Sigma zoom which I think is 28-70mm f2.8
Two f2.8 swing tilt lenses. One 50mm, one 85mm



Phil, of your above list of lenses you have for the letus extreme, which two are your favorite..... one for wide angle and one for zoom, Thanks

I guess the 20mm wide angle and 85mm Zeiss but you need a 50mm without a doubt

Hi Phil.

Which Letus Extreme do yo have - the one with 82mm thread + step-down ring or the 77mm for direct use with EX-1 ?

Bjorn

Hi Phil.

Which Letus Extreme do yo have - the one with 82mm thread + step-down ring or the 77mm for direct use with EX-1 ?

Bjorn

I have the 77mm, much better than using step rings!

Hi Phil

I've been waiting for some user feedback on the EX and just found your thread. Stunning footage and editing, but as someone else said, you'd have probably made it look great if you had shot it on a DV palm-corder!

Like you, I also hate interlaced. In my career as a composer, I've been banging on for ten years to my directors telling them I preferred the 'look' of the Avid off-lines I worked with to the final on-line, and not really knowing why until I found out they threw away one field to save disk space!

Anyway, I'm cross-skilling to my other passion and doing camera and edit myself, currently 'making-do' with a Z1, and de-interlacing everything in FCP. Sure, it is a great camera, but I can't wait to get hold of an EX now.

I add my thanks to the others here for the amount of time and patience you have put into this thread. It has been extremely helpful.

BTW, if you ever want to release the Kew film and need original replacement music, I'd love to do it. Here is a link to a video of something I did for a movie I scored a couple of years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn_s1-l33p8

Cheers Ian

I know what you mean. When I used to cut on Avid it looked so much better with one field! So i just removed it anyway!

Annoyingly my website has had 3gb of traffic in past hour and my web hosts have closed my site fearing it was being targeted by web saboteurs!

I hope they put it back up. I paid for "unlimited bandwidth", doesn't look like I am getting it! I moved from .mac to them as my traffic suddenly went ballistic late November and since then it has been really high.

Ian. nice score. Reminded me of a cross of "Somewhere in time" and atonement. What was the feature?

Thanks Steve. The movie was called THESE FOOLISH THINGS, by first-time writer/director Julia Taylor-Stanley. Had a super older cast as well, Lauren Bacal, Angelica Huston, Terence Stamp, Jos Ackland and others. She did too good a job for a first timer and got a Royal premiere, so the critics blasted her (unfairly). Beautifully shot by Gavin Finney. The music video was put together in FCP with some (de-interlaced) footage of me playing, shot by my son on the Z1.

the music is really lovely Ian. I would love to do a dvd of Kew through the seasons, you would be perfect for it!

Phil

I think I am going to be on the Sony stand for the entire three days of broadcast forum at the end of month. Sony have hired me to answer people's questions about the EX1. Be good to meet you UK chaps who are going.

I'll definately come and say hello Phil. I will probably be there on the first day.

I'll be with a guy who is desperate for me to film with him every week at Poole Speedway doing the pickup shots from inside the track. I tried to talk him into buying an EX1 but his budget won't stretch to it and he has just picked up a Canon XHA1 from Ebay. Decent cam for £1900 he paid for it.

I pick up my EX1 tomorrow from Prestons. Trouble is I have upgraded both cards to 16Gb, and they are out of stock. So I will have a camera and won't be able to shoot anything on it! :(

Only day I have free to go up there, and I like to pick my cams up rather than the post. Thrilled and gutted equally.

that is really annoying. Can you borrow an 8gb card off them or something?

I wondered what Yevgeny meant when your name cropped up at BETT, Olympia today, and I said Sony should hire you as you were doing such a good job promoting the PMW-EX1 to folks like me, and he said "They are doing". :)

Got to see the Miller 20 tripod and can see why you like it so much. Now added to my order!

PMW-EX1 was very prominent on the stands of the two Pro video dealers I could find at BETT. One was showcasing ReflecMedia's lens/reflecting grey chroma screen using the EX1 as the main camera, although they admitted they'd only got theirs on Friday. The other had the EX1 as the main display camera with a rack full of nothing but EX1 brochures at the stand entrance.

Both were claiming that the EX1 will be more plentiful supply in 2 weeks time.

Not sure I can get a day off for the broadcast event at the end of the month(after 3 months "time out" I start a new contract on Monday and have already had to request a week out at the start of March for a conference in Las Vegas) but if I can I'll be there and will come and hassle you with questions ;-)

that is really annoying. Can you borrow an 8gb card off them or something?

That's exactly what I am going to ask when I get there. The 12 months interest free credit to too much to ignore, so I upgraded the cards and got an extra long life battery. was going to pay cash but just had a monster income tax bill through so the money had to be diverted to the Govt.

Be suprised if they don't lend me a card as I have purchased my last three cams from them and they will have hold of my 16Gb until I send the 8Gb back.

So Steve,

You are driving all the way from Dorset to Prestons?!!

Didn't take long. Just over 2 hours each way. Just got back indoors with my lovely EX1. They had one 16Gb card and they are getting more in next week so the other one will be in the post. Weather was dreadful coming back.

Now charging up the batteries for a bit of a play with it later on.

90 mins later:
I live in a house built between 1590 and 1610. As you would guess, the walls are two feet thick and the windows on the small side. To say its quite dark (but very cosy) is an understatement.

I couldn't film in there with my HVX, as it was always too dark unless the sun was streaming through the window. I have just seen the light. Literally. No I am not turning all religeous. I opened up the aperture and bam! Let there be light! I opened it right up and flicked the gain to medium. I had to close up the aperture. Most sensitive camera I have ever owned by a mile. A friend always raved about the low light capabilities of his PD150. I wonder how the EX1 compares to that cam.

Just got the clips loaded onto FCP. My HVX is still here waiting to be picked up by the new owner. I was going to do some side by side test footage tomorrow but he has rung and is on his way, which is a shame, as it would have been a good opportunity put put the two side by side and had some comparisons. And then post it on that other forum for them to rip it apart!

http://www.philipbloom.co.uk/Philip_Bloom/My_Autumns_Done_Come.html
Thanks and please enjoy and feel free to ask anything or comment.


Loved it. Is that your father? Or is the name a coincidence? He's got a great look and presence onscreen.

thanks! that is my dad. he will be very happy with that!