Does anyone shoot without rails/rods while using a 35mm adaptor and a lens? I understand that this may put some stress on the threads and camera, but is it workable for a time or should I budget getting both adaptor and rails at the same time and wait longer? Thoughts on this?

Depends on the size (weight) of your 35mm lens. If you're only using a 50mm f/1.4 (very light weight lens) then you could probably get away without using rods.

I don't recommend it. The Letus itself is pretty heavy, plus the rails add some focus stability I think--it's so sensitive that you don't want to bump it regardless, but I feel like the rails (I have Zacuto) help. Plus, you don't want to risk messing up the EX1 threads--I can't imagine that's a cheap repair.

I agree Rob, but I still think he could do it if he was careful and used small/light weight lenses. But, yeah, I wouldn't do it either. :)