Inspired by Ian Lim, the idea was to streamline the form factor and have something truly handheld and yet utilize 35mm lenses.

The HV30 is an INCREDIBLE cam for its price. Everything they say about it is true (and more!). I can see using this cam for controlled lighting situations and the bright outdoors. It performs very well indoors but stating the obvious, no match for a three chipper.

The Brevis is an incredible piece of engineering. Solidly built and delivers on all of its claims. The most crucial thing of course is light loss and it's a mere half stop on the Brevis (with the flip). Take note that I'm coming from the original Letus and difference is as clear as night and day.

The clip below was shot using the HV30 on cine mode, DV wide with a Brevis flip and a combination of lenses.

HV30 Brevis


Thanks to Patrick for introducing me to the Brevis and Jeff Erie for teaching me how to lock exposure.

let's sort that link out for you...

http://www.myweddingvid.com/videos/hv30_brevis_001.wmv

That's a nice piece - hard to believe it's a sub $1,000 camera. What is the music you used?

Hi Jason,

Gorgeous as usual (wouldn't expect anything less).

How did you find focusing using the HV30's screen or, are you using an external screen?

How about rails, or, are you keeping it neat?

Any chance of a pic of your setup?

Ooh.. nice job buddy. U must be using 2 cameras with 2 guys I guess? The brevis rig would make a nice B cam.

Awesome footage Jason. You have me interested in trying that setup now too. I love how your work is always so consistent, in terms of quality, and always has your look to it no matter what tools you use. To me, that is the mark of a true artist.

Patrick

whoa! we want one! :D

Thanks Ricahard for fixing the link.

Eroc, it's - David Gray - This Year's Love. But this wasn't a real clip for the client. I slapped it all all together and put on a song just to show how the brevis and hv performed.

Hi Jason,

Gorgeous as usual (wouldn't expect anything less).

How did you find focusing using the HV30's screen or, are you using an external screen?

How about rails, or, are you keeping it neat?

Any chance of a pic of your setup?

If there's a way to put pictures within the post, somebody tell me please :).
IN the meantime ...

http://myweddingvid.com/images/hv30brevis.jpg
http://myweddingvid.com/images/hv30brevis2.jpg

Pardon the pictures. I had no SLR on hand so I settled with a camphone.

First, no external screen, that would weigh it down severely. I wanted a truly handheld rig.

There are rails yes. Not so much as to support but so I can have something to hold it with. I did not use the supplied rails as it looke big and clunky. I would understand using it for a full production setup but not for weddings. It's intimidating as it is so I wouldn't want to increase the form factor.

What I did was use the rails of my old Letus setup (smaller, lighter), but used the Brevis to rails mount sent by Cinevate.


I need the rods to extend just a bit to the lens. My shooting/focusing is unorthodox. I don't use a follow focus so what I do is wrap my pinky and ring finger around one of the rods and use my thumb and and index to focus manually (my right hand is cradling the rig all the while).

Thanks Alistair!

Ooh.. nice job buddy. U must be using 2 cameras with 2 guys I guess? The brevis rig would make a nice B cam.

Since it was my first time shooting with it, yes, there were two other FX1s doing the job. But bride preps were mostly shot using the Brevis/HV30.

Here's my ultimate dream, to be able to shoot the whole wedding, in whatever lighting condition, with 35mm lenses.

Awesome footage Jason. You have me interested in trying that setup now too. I love how your work is always so consistent, in terms of quality, and always has your look to it no matter what tools you use. To me, that is the mark of a true artist.

Patrick


Thanks Patrick! The dinky rig is awesome for setup shots with controlled lighting. Remember that I shot in DV mode, I believe it'll be more spectacular with you shooting 24pHDV.

Inspired by me? I'm truly honored, Sir Jason... Haha, congrats on your new gear!

woah! for some reason that Brevis+Flip looks small mounted to your HV30.. I've always thought it was big.. which is why I got the Letus Mini...

Beautiful clip Jason.. When shooting with the Brevis, how far do you have to zoom in on the HV30 to bypass the vignette on the ground glass?

Hey Yang, Jasons shown us his setup. It would be great if you showed us a picture of your Letus/HV20 combo? I think a lot of us would be interested in seeing how they compare.

Cheers

I don't have pic of my setup right now but Letus direct shows the HV20 attached to a Letus Mini..

http://www.letusdirect.com/cart/images/D/letus-mini-hand-held.jpg

Jason,
The videos are loading VERY fast!!! I see that you are using netfirms as your host server; is that some kind of streaming video package you have???

Jason,
The videos are loading VERY fast!!! I see that you are using netfirms as your host server; is that some kind of streaming video package you have???

Hey, nope, nothing special about my hosting package. Perhaps the clip is small and short?

Ironically, I'm having problems with Bluhost now.

woah! for some reason that Brevis+Flip looks small mounted to your HV30.. I've always thought it was big.. which is why I got the Letus Mini...

Beautiful clip Jason.. When shooting with the Brevis, how far do you have to zoom in on the HV30 to bypass the vignette on the ground glass?

The next pic I post I'll put in an FX1 in a frame so you can see how small it is. I was also thinking that route, but didn't want to limit myself to the cameras I would be using

I'm still feeling it, but I sometimes push with one more slight zoom once I go past the ground glass in the cam lcd. If I stop just after, I always find myself zooming in post.

Thanks!

Jason: What is the maximum aperture you're able to shoot at on the HV30 to be able to fill the image from the GG without vignetting?

Jason: What is the maximum aperture you're able to shoot at on the HV30 to be able to fill the image from the GG without vignetting?


HI, I'm fortunate in a sense that I don't encounter any vignetting even at full open.

(The vignette in a couple of shots is actually because of the lens itself. I have a crummy 24mm which I settle for because it's the only one I can find here)

Jason.. what I meant was what is the maximum aperture you can achieve on the HV30's lens? I'm assuming you have to apply a healthy does of zoom in order to fill the frame with the GG's image. When you zoom-in with the HV30, your maximum aperture decreases...

I didn't realize this before buying the Letus.. and now I understand the zooming part is the main reason why these DOF adapters are so poor in low light..

With good enough lighting, I can keep to f2.8

I'll verify if I can go more open than that. I switched the rig to an FX for a shoot this week. :)

Top work as usually Jason.

Just ordered my brevis today and a HV30 isn't too far away.

I've seen some amazing footage using that combo and yours has helped tip me over the edge to make it happen.

What length are the rails that you're using?

Cheers,

Matthew.

Eight Inch cavision rails. =)

Eight Inch cavision rails. =)

Cool. Thanks Jason.