Hah, pretty funny.

Really Funny.

Hehe,
Watched that like 5 times, pretty funny!!! You certainly dont see any grain or flickering from Quyen's adapter, image looked great.

Wayne.

Very funny. P.S., it's "ditty".... Diddy is a producer from New York who just changed his name again.

OK anyway we can get maybe 30 sec to one minute of DV footage with the adapter. Yousendit.com can handle it and one minute would be about 250 meg. Also what kind of GG are we using in this? Plastic? Or maybe the 1500 GG glass from Thorlabs? Just wondered...Thanks

Craig,
Some raw DV footage uploaded would be great! I beleive the GG is a microscope slide ground with 600 grit silicon carbide.

Thanks,
Wayne.

I just got my Letus35 and I must say I am deeply impressed with the build of the thing. Syringes? Microscope glass? Nah, it can't work! Well I have not had a chance to strap it on the xl but with my 85mm 1.8 on it you can see the grain all dissolve with the flip of a switch. I got it anodized so it looks damn slick. I'm waiting on my step down ring and i'll be takin' it for a spin tomorrow. I buy a lot of stuff and this may be some of the best money i've spent.

Below is 3 seconds test of HD clip using Letus35 and some modification by Obin.

http://www.letus35.com/letus35HD.wmv

Thanks Obin.

Quyen

It seems like we are all in the running of delivering the first serious test footage. As pretty as it all looks until now, pretty doesn't bring much when you're preparing a difficult shoot and you have to know exactly what the strong and the weak points of the adapter are.

I know it is in a different price league than the p+s adapter, but that shouldn't change our critical attitude towards it. I got the feeling this small fellow deserves better.

We will be conducting our own tests shortly using the LetUs35.
As far as the two recent clips are concerned, can it be identified where the SPECKS are comming from?
Ben and Obin?

Ben, in the RAIN FALLS ON UMBRELLA scene there are some specks/dirt(?) visible. Same with the most recent clip from Obin. Is this coming from the lens that is attached to the LetUs35 or the LetUs35 itself?

Curious...

I originally thought those specks were on the condenser/PXCL lens in the adapter, but it turns out they were actually on my GL2 lens, lol. You have no clue how frustrated I am now that I've realized I could've simply wiped it off.

After I opened up the Letus35 and cleaned it out myself it's spotless inside. Quyen shipped me a version before he had his compressed air, but now that he has it he's mentioned all models he ships now are clean.

Great; thanks Ben.
Oh and by the way: nice clip!!
For what it was, it was very well executed.....except the scene with the main character inside with the microwave oven (edit: "TV", not MW oven, just watched the clip again) in the b.g.?? Wazzup wid dat??? GET SOME LIGHTS!!!!

;-)))
Just fooling around, like i mentioned, it was very cute, and well put together.

Hey Ben, I have the same problem with spots on the CMOS on my Canon D20 Digital still camera. It is incredibly frustrating. I can just imagine how difficult it is with video, when photoshoping the spot out is not as easy an option. For me it shows up most when photographing blue sky at higher F-stops (f16). Try opening your iris all the way and see if you notice a difference.

Good to know its not the adaptor though. Mine is in the mail :)

Jon

Oh, and another thing, regarding your clip, Ben:

The guy-catches-paper-scene: was that filmed backwards and reversed in post?

Looks very good!

yea I noticed that to.... maybe a different GG would help. But the last clip was impressive...

"For me it shows up most when photographing blue sky at higher F-stops (f16). Try opening your iris all the way and see if you notice a difference."

Imagine filming with an f stop 11, a wide angle convertor and two filters in a mattebox and how dust relates to the burning point. I can tell you. I feel much better now, always having a can of compressed air in the bag...

It looks sort of silly on a shoot, but I guess It's worth it.

Noooo, I meant the dust was actually on the outside of the GL2 lens, meaning if I had seen the dust while we were filming I would've just had to unscrew the adapter and wipe off the GL2 lens with a paper towel or whatnot. Having dust or dead pixels on the sensor must really suck though.

And yes, that newspaper scene was filmed backwards and reversed in post.

We tried lighting him on that TV scene but it really takes some talent (talent and equipment I don't have) to make him effectively lit so that the light isn't identified as light coming from light fixtures in the house, which would've taken away the effectiveness of cutting the power. If we had more time to do it I would've taken the steps necessary to light him properly, and I would've waited until the next day during sunlight to film him walking out onto the patio and knocking his head on the door--I get a lot of video noise because of those low-light conditions. And I should've shot it without the adapter too--I didn't need DOF there and I would've gotten a cleaner shot overall. But whatever. I feel good about the product as is.

It seems like we are all in the running of delivering the first serious test footage. As pretty as it all looks until now, pretty doesn't bring much when you're preparing a difficult shoot and you have to know exactly what the strong and the weak points of the adapter are.

I know it is in a different price league than the p+s adapter, but that shouldn't change our critical attitude towards it. I got the feeling this small fellow deserves better.

Maybe I'm dense but I really have no idea what your point was. On the one hand you're saying the Letus35 is still an unknown in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and that despite it being less expensive than the Mini35, reviewers shouldn't cut it any slack. (I personally think that considering the price, a reviewer should absolutely consider what they get for the money, which, with any of these adapters, is a heck of a lot)

On the other hand you say this small fellow deserves better.

???

If we had more time to do it I would've taken the steps necessary to light him properly...

Hey, no need to justify it to me at all; I probably shouldn't of posted my comment (which was just meant as fun). Sorry.

I did really like it.

Cheers.

You wrote:

"Maybe I'm dense but I really have no idea what your point was. On the one hand you're saying the Letus35 is still an unknown in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and that despite it being less expensive than the Mini35, reviewers shouldn't cut it any slack. (I personally think that considering the price, a reviewer should absolutely consider what they get for the money, which, with any of these adapters, is a heck of a lot)

On the other hand you say this small fellow deserves better.

???"

My point was: testing the adapter thoroughly, is the only way to show that it indeed is an indecrible design and you really get an awful lot for what you pay for. Especially compared to the 'high-end' adapters.

Perhaps, this IS a high end adapter in terms of results, at a really low price. You can only prove that after rigid testing. But I have the feeling it will be proved.

In that sense, the small fellow really has is better by not cutting slack.
Perhaps I should study more on my English. 'Cutting slack' was the wrong choice of words, I think. It seems too harsch. Let's rephrase it as 'positively critical'.

Yes, I look forward to testing it. We may not be named Kubrick, but we shure can be perfectionists.

I'd just like to say that the concept of a 35mm is so simple that all it takes is a sturdy design to make people happy about it.

While Quyen's adapter is indeed impressively well done, be sure not to drop it. The PXCL is kept where it is simply by means of friction; throw enough inertial force at it and you'll completely push it out of place, and the only way you'll be able to return it to its original position is by unscrewing that side and sticking a pencil underneath it to push it back up. Or maybe you'll get lucky if you hit it from the other side to relocate it, but then you risk damaging other areas of the adapter. The screen, while very impressive functionally, is suspended using plastic sticks of the sort you'd expect to find in the center of a pizza box. Hot glue was my savior, and that's all I'll say there.

I like Quyen's adapter very much, and it's design is uncannily clever. But, like any other piece of video equipment, it's fragile, and you have to be careful with it and treat it gently.

Basically that was my "not cutting it any slack" part. In my personal opinion, any profressionally machined adapter will stand up to accidental force 10x as well as Quyen's, but excuse me if I don't plan on dropping it from 10 feet. Just be sure to screw on the adapter before you attach the camera to the tripod, otherwise you're probably setting yourself up for a tumble.

Also, I should inform Letus35 owners that it's ideal to go to Radioshack and purchase a spool of 16 gauge wire and splice the Letus' battery pack cord to make it longer. I find it improves the stability of the adapter's connection and makes generally mounting it easier to have the cord long enough so the battery pack can be taped/velcroed/ziptied to the side of my tripod rather than adding weight to my camcorder's screw threads. To Quyen: you could easily add connectors to the wires so a 6' extension cord could be plugged in-between the battery pack.

Kurt, thanks for the explanation, I get it now. Also I actually didn't see Ben's statement about cutting some slack so I didn't "get" the context.

Hey Ben,

Once again, nice job. I just watched it again and I'm impressed, you are a sharp guy, especially for a youngster :)

What F-stop was your 35mm lens at for the shot outdoors when the protagonist is waiting for the newspaper and the house is visible in the background? I know it must have been fairly stopped down because the house was just barely out of focus, which I thought was classy and not overdone.

"shot outdoors when the protagonist is waiting for the newspaper"

very nice indeed! my favourite also.
and good comments on the hardware!

What F-stop was your 35mm lens at

~2.1f I believe? It's a Canon FD 1.4 50mm. I still wanted people to easily relate to where he was and recognize the house in the background from the wide shot. I really only touch the aperture when there's enough light out to do it, the GL2 royally blows in low-light conditions.

Also, I'd like to note that it's nearly impossible to pull focus with Quyen's adapter without shaking the image--the adapter simply isn't rigid enough to keep even the slightest touch of the lens from bending the assembly somehow. I'm considering a rod mounting system to support it, or simply doing all my focus pulls with my Nikon D screen adapter, provided I can't sell it.

That's an inconvenient limitation

I think Ben's unit is defective. Does any other unit have the same problem? If any unit shows any abnormal sign, please let me know so we can take care of that, thanks.

Quyen

Boy I crack myself up...

Turns out that it's just my whole tripod assembly that's not too stable. Any slight touch of my camera on my tripod sends it shaking, so pulling focus is very difficult for me. Just make sure your camera is securely fastened to the tripod and make sure the tripod is heavy enough, and you should be OK.

Sorry Quyen! I thought it was the adapter but it's just my setup.

You can check just by using the camera handheld. With the first adapter I built I thought I had a real flexi-flyer until I realized I had the image stabilization on! Once I turned it off I saw that my homemade adapter was indeed quite rigid.

I am unable to post footage as of now but will try to clearly explain the situation. It seems that even after the vibrating GG on my Letus35 is switched on, I still get a static pattern of some sort that moves with the camera lens as I track.
This is not to say the grain doesn't noticeably disappear once switched on, as it does.
Is this the result of the GG not being adequately ground down? I've double checked to make sure it is not in the lens of the Canon FD I shot through.
The pattern is not horrible but is definitely noticeable in tracking shots. On my 20" monitor the effect is is glaring.
Thoughts from anyone on that maybe the glass needs re-grinding?
I'll do my best to get footage up.

Eric,
Do you notice any dirt on the glround glass when it is not in motion? It maybe the case and the dirst is not disappearing? Is the effect uniform over the entire frame, or just one area?

Wayne.

entire frame, I have the same issue, much worse with a 2.8 24mm then it is with a 1.4 50mm on the front, I am trying to track down and help with the cause of this issue, I am thinking if we have the vibrations faster/bigger it will help..not sure yet...

You could check the shutter speed on your camcorder. If its set to fast it could pick up the grain of the glass. But in this senario the grain shouldn't be static or uniform...

Eric,
Do you notice any dirt on the glround glass when it is not in motion? It maybe the case and the dirst is not disappearing? Is the effect uniform over the entire frame, or just one area?

Wayne.

Yes, all the optical/glass elements are clean.
The pattern is fairly uniform and covers the entire image. Interesting point with shutter speed, however, Jonny.
I did run through a gamut of shutter speeds with nearly identical results, the pattern still remains.
Would any of you suggest swapping out the GG with one of a finer grain?

I'd like to get this footage up. Any suggestions on where to upload video files so eveyone, including , Quyen, can take a look?
( Sorry, I've been making DV projects for a while now but have never put anything on the web). Thanks.

Well give www.yousendit.com the video... It will take a gig...
As far as the GG. I got a 1500 grit 2 inch GG from, Thorlabs for 15.00 I believe. The image looked good BUT I understand Optsigma has even a better 1500 grit GG. Not sure of the price...

Thanks, Craig. If this is the problem I'll look into that.
Also, I want to say that this problem aside, the adapter, for the money, is promising.
Considering Quyen got something out for purchase as opposed to talking about it (my forte) I think he did a very decent job.
I'm sure we'll be seeing a pitch perfect Letus35a? Sometime in the near future. Good job, Quyen.

Eric Brown

Thank you for bringing this up. I will look into that. Any video footage yet? One of possibilities I can think of is one or more of the white parts is too tight or trapped in the rubber parts. You can try this:
Take out the front part then use your fingers gently move the GG plane around about 3mm off center for about 4,5 times.
Also use clean water to gently rub the glass using your finger, then use soft cloth to clean it if the glass has any dirt.
Put it back and try again.
I don't see any grain if I use shutter speed of 180 or less with DV. I don't think HD will affect grain problem but I can be wrong.
Please post let me know if you have any success.
Also your macro size is 72mm, so you should use the cardboard mod on the other Letus35 thread. Thanks.

Quyen

Eric, Obin,

Did you turn the image stabilization off? I think you did but it won't hurt to ask, thanks.

Quyen

it's off

It really looks like the gg is not moving fast enough and the camera is "seeing" the grains that are now much larger in size and softer then if the gg motor is off...I don't know how to fix this, would weight on the gg make it better? I have used 4 AA cells on the unit and it's better, but still doing the same thing, and this is somthing you can see at 1/48 shutter...it really shows up on a wall or sky shot, less detail in the image shows the "screendoor" effect....the spinning units don't do this because the gg is spinning at a high speed?

lets get this issue fixed, as this adaptor is amazing, and very good for HD

This video is made using XL1-s and Letus35.
http://www.passouno.net/SPOT.ZIP
Thanks Giuliano Parodi.

Quyen

That looks really good.

It looks very good indeed. And yet, color abberation. It's the only bad thing I can say.

Am I expecting too much? Or is this an issue that can be fixed?

[QUOTE=Obin Olson]it's off

It really looks like the gg is not moving fast enough and the camera is "seeing" the grains that are now much larger in size and softer then if the gg motor is off...I don't know how to fix this, would weight on the gg make it better? I have used 4 AA cells on the unit and it's better, but still doing the same thing, and this is somthing you can see at 1/48 shutter...it really shows up on a wall or sky shot, less detail in the image shows the "screendoor" effect...

Obin, this describes my experience down to the last detail. Are you using an XL2, Sony, DVX? Quyen, I will try your suggestions and see if this works.
Thanks!

It's a little too soft and too shallow for my tastes. But delicious footage nonetheless.

Kurt August,

Color abberation can be improved and we are working on this issue.

Eric,

Are you using XL2? what setting are you using? Did you see grain on white walls, the sky, or everything? I will test it myself later this week to see if I get the same thing.

Thanks

Quyen

Hey, Quyen.

Yes, it is the XL2. Settings are:

-3 gain
1/48th shutter
24p
16:9
f1.8

These were intial settings. I've stepped through different f-stops and shutter speeds and the effect remains. I've also tried the OIS on and off and this doesn't change it either.

I'll attempt the loosening of the gg as you suggested and the cleaning and get back with a post sometime today or tomorrow.
Thanks, Quyen.

I am getting MUCH better results with the 4 AA system now..I will post some HD test shots with the reel stream setup

still I think we need to re-think the plastic that holds the GG mount as I think more rubber would allow for the GG to "move" a bit more and really get rid of the "screendoor" effect on this unit, improveing it 1000%!!

Quyen???


maybe use some of the rubber from a CD-ROM mount? it's VERY soft and would allow for more play in the GG ...

BTW I made a rail mount for the unit and it's SO MUCH BETTER , you can touch the lens, focus etc and the thing does not move at all, no image shake in the shots from pulling focus now!

anyone who has the unit NEEDS to do this mod, take it to a professional level.

Obin,

Thank you for your suggestions. I will do all the possibility to get the GG plane to spin faster. Do you have a picture of your rail mount? Thanks.

Quyen

HD test in a min...compressing it now

Quyen, keep in mind that you will be dealing with LOTS of HD cameras soon, every glass element you have in your unit will have some results on teh final image, I know your unit is not that much money, but put the best glass in it you can afford, we will all see the results in HD ;)

That looks really good.

Actually I think it looks way too soft. To the point where shots look out of focus.

Quyen Le, could you post a clip shot with the lens stopped down, so the DOF wouldn't be so shallow? Then we can have a better idea of the sharpness of the adapter. As shown in this video, it basicaly not usable for my applications. If you project that, it will look like it's all out of focus. Just not sharp enough.