I'm not one of the more experienced pros on this forum, but so far I am delighted. It did take some time to get - about 10 weeks, but I'd say it was worth the wait.

Wayne has been great, never ducked my emails.

The engineering seems top notch and there's a lot more to it than I anticipated. Setup was, to my surprise, quite easy even without documentation.

I will try to post some stills using an HC1 when my memory card arrives.

BTW, I'm using a Nikon 28-200 AF lens and had to tape the aperture wide open. Anyone know a better way to do this? Seems there is no manual aperture control.

Wayne, did you tested the new version with an HVX200? Or you worked much aimed to SD?
Waiting for some footage.
Thanks.
Cheers

Hi,
Yes we are working on this. We may have found a local HVX200 user, and we are eager to test ASAP. The SGpro is HD ready.

Hi,

Are there any HVX200 users around the London area wanted to test SGpro? Im eager to get the SGpro up and running with this cam. It would need to be local so I can travel, im based in Brighton, East Sussex.

Anyone interested, please let me know!

OK guys,

I promised to post a picture of the SGpro rig, so here it is:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro.jpg

On the unit is the nikon mount, next to the unit is a Canon FD, Olypmus and Exakta/Topcon mounts.

Not pictured is the included shims to adjust the height of the sliding plate.

You've come a long way! It looks awesome, right up there with the M2 for style. Excellent job.

Stuff like this gets me all giddy inside. I seriously might consider selling my pimped-out Letus for one of these (I don't like the bokeh with my beattie, but the lack of light loss is unbeatable). Keep up the great work Wayne.

WOW looks GREAT...

is that QR plate the one used for the manfrotto 501/503 heads?

if so - can u tell me what that holder is? I've been looking for something like this for a while and don't know where else to look - did u have that part machined?

Thanks for your replies guys, we are very happy with the support.

Justin, its not a manfrotto head, but a quick search found a similar manfrotto head here:

http://www.adorama.com/BG3273.html

looks sexy!! :)

Hi,

Thought I would share some of my customers footage shoot with their DVX and SGpro using Canon FD fit lenses.

NO CC.

Konica 30-80mm Zoom, F4.0

http://img279.imageshack.us/img279/8779/image08ys.jpg

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/9248/image10qu.jpg

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5159/image25mb.jpg



OK both of the these videos were shot with a Very low quality F2.8 28mm Lens.

http://www.stickypod.com/videos/uploads/969/Window_PAN.wmv

http://www.stickypod.com/videos/uploads/969/Run_then_YArd.wmv

Heres a Grab from a best lens, the FD 50mm F1.4:

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/3526/image35pj.jpg


Footage:

Konica F4.0 "50mm" in the zoom range.
http://www.stickypod.com/videos/uploads/969/dad_on_phone.wmv


Zesnar 200mm F3.5.
http://www.stickypod.com/videos/uploads/969/outdoor_RAck.wmv



This is with a 50mm F1.4:

http://www.stickypod.com/videos/uploads/969/50mmFocusing.wmv

w-o-w.... congrats wayne!

hi wayne. good footage!
what about that blue bleeding (sorry if it's not the appropriate term) in some high contrast part of the image? like around the camera cord in the Window Pan shot.
is it a lens thing? thanks!!
dan

When i first saw that I was shocked. We have now learned is the cheap 28mm lens in use.

More footage will be posted soon.

Ok, great!
Thanks!

wow... very nice and professional... when is the flipped version going to come out?

wow... very nice and professional... when is the flipped version going to come out?

Yeah...and an XL relay version?!?!?! ;)

Hi Wayne,

We'd be very interested in testing the SGpro with you. We have an HVX200e and are based in Brick Lane, East London.

Feel free to give me a call on 0870 143 1969

Joe Murphy
The Complete Works

I too would be very interested in testing the SGpro with my HVX. I'm based in the east London/Essex area. Send me an email if you're interested.

Carl Burke

Hello,

I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel Morgen over the last couple of days, he is the director of the short film SOLO that can be found on this site. He bought down his DVX and we went out and shot some footage with the SGpro.

Main lenses used were a 28mm F1.8, 85mm F1.8 and a 75 - 210 F3.5 zoom.

Here is a 13MB wmv file, the video is 2 minutes long:

http://www.sysmicfilms.com/wayne/sgpro_dvx100.wmv

Please let me know what you all think.

Looks pretty awesome Wayne. A little edge blur but no BD or CA. Would be nice if there was sound on it to hear how loud the motor is, esp with a hot mic like the rode videomic.

I guess those were all with the lenses fully open? I find bokeh tends to look a bit hazy with a fast lens fully open unless you have a high diffusing gg, but the price for that is more light loss. What is the grit finish on the gg? What is the light loss like? How high can shutter speed go before grain/flicker show up?

Cheers
Andy

Thanks for your comments, Andy!

All shots with the 28mm lens were wide @F1.8 as we had not tripped the lens to allow aperture control, however the shots with the 85mm and 75 -210mm zoom were stopped down a fair bit.

The lightloss from the SGpro is about 1/2 a stop. Note this does not include the light loss from the actual SLR attached.

great footage wayne! the sgpro seems great!
can't wait to get mine!
bye!

A little edge blur but no BD or CA.

Im glad you pointed that out. We found something new on the DVX, something we assumed different, and thats the DVX's tripod hole is actually off centre in relation to its lens, we had always assumed it was central! This was not a problem in the original SG35, since the support was left/right adjustable, however the SGpro support is not to keep it as rigid as possible. So the DVX was not aligned straight with the SGpro, hense the soft edge in 1 side. I will maching mounting holes offset 9mm ready for the dvx before shipping the units.


How high can shutter speed go before grain/flicker show up?

Just a tad above 1/500 s, but depends on shooting conditions, sometimes higher.

Hi Wayne,
Your adapter footage looks incredible. The detail in the clouds are so nice-that's something I haven't really been able to capture with the beta g35 (light loss maybe?) But the diffusion looks great, compared to the raw g35 footage I get. That footage looks like it has a lot of potential for color grading:) Do you have any footage with an xl2? I would love to see. 35mm adapters rock!

-Koa

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes im meeting up with my XL2 tester next month!

Looks great! although, you forgot to flip the image horizontally, because the bus, was driving on the wrong side of the road, or something.

What brand of lens was the 28mm F1.8?

Wayne, definitely looking very nice! Well done.

Aaron

Nice looking footage. Did you have a focus knob attached or just using the lens?

Thanks guys.

The 28 was a Sigma 28mm F1.8 aspherical MF (i love this lens).

Cole, if you mean a follow focus, then no.

Looks great! although, you forgot to flip the image horizontally, because the bus, was driving on the wrong side of the road, or something.

Just re-read this...that's funny bill (assuming you're trying to be).

Very nice and sharp Wayne. There's noticeable fall-off in some of your sky shots (particularly top left) and more so with your 70-200 in the last shot. As you fade out it is very apparent. Is this resolvable in your opinion..or a reality of diffusers with slower lenses?

Dennis,
Yes the falloff and soft edge are due to the dvx not being aligned. The dvx's tripod hole is 9mm off centre, so I will machine new mounting holes on the sliding plate clamp to account for this.

Do you know off hand how far off the XL mounting holes are from center of lens? I'm running into this same problem with my adaptor I'm making.

About 23mm

cool, thanks!

When is this coming out?

Also, with an adapter like this, are the aparture and focus settings moved to the 35mm lens, or do I still need to focus with the camera? From what I understand, I focus on the ground glass with my video camera and focus on the subject with the 35mm lens.

Can someone please explain this to me.

Hello Floris,

The SGpro is now released.

Yes you are correct, once you have set your camcorders focus to the ground glass, you then use the SLR's focus ring to focus on your subject.

Aperture control is different, as you can use both the SLR's aperture and the camcorders iris to control exposure. Adjusting the SLR's aperture will influence the resulting Depth of Field (closing down gives a deeper DOF). Each lens has a sweet spot to get the best out of them.

Thanks for your fast reply. Another thing I would like to know is about the focal lenght. When using the SGpro, I guess the focal length will be dependend on the 35mm lens I use? Or can you also work with the focus op the camera? It sounds unlogical but I just want to make sure.

Also, how are the results with HD video and what are the main disadvantages? Every system has disadvantages, which is no problem, as long as you know them and can work you way around them / with them.

Thanks for your participation here. Greatly appreciated!

Hello guys,

Just took some pictures of the army of the first 9 SGpro's that will be 'going over the top' next week, brave little fellows.

So I thought I would share these pictures with you guys. I am very pleased with them. I am interested in your opinions on the overall look of the units. We should be getting alot of footage coming in very soon.

Look forward to your comments!

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_01.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_02.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_03.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_04.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_05.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_army_06.jpg

looks like they're sleepy :). Are they shipping ready units? What mount options(camera&lens-both) come with single unit?

Hi,
Yes these will be shipping this week.

Lens Mounts available (mounts are interchangeable):

Canon FD
Canon EOS/EF
M42
Contax
Leica R
Leica M39 Screwmount
Minolta MD
Nikon
Olympus OM
Pentax K
PL mount (yet to be finalized)

The SGpro can be connected to the popular 72mm cams (dvx100, fx-1, XL series) and others via a step ring.

Hey Wayne, it looks great. Really professional looking. Any ideas of how much extra for a PL unit?

oooohhh...
gosh i'm drooling...
:-)

Hello,

This was posted on DVXuser by my customer, I thought I would share with you guys:

I received my SGPRO this morning, and wow!! it's a real solid and professional bit of kit. thought you guys might like to see it all setup and ready to go, will shoot some tests over the weekend and post links to footage. First impressiona are very good. The adapter is very solid, and so far makes a very clean and solid image.

cheers

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGpro_dvx01.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGpro_dvx02.jpg

Very nice Wayne. The SG has earned the word PRO at the end of it. Looks like something out of Hollywood.

Hello,

I just received some footage shot with the SGpro and DVX100, actually its with this rig:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGpro_dvx01.jpg

Here is the footage, its 20MB (please right click and 'save target as')

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/sgpro_dvx100.mp4

Some of the shots were not zoomed in enough, so you see the black frame.

Would like your feedback!

nice as usual. This lens was something about FL=50mm...? Do You have some fisheye footage(FL<20)?

I beleive there is some footage of brighton on the sgpro.co.uk website which uses a 28mm lens.

cheers

Dave

Thanks guys,

Well, my customer that shot this has an amazing collection of lenses, i know he has a 16mm Nikon. I'll see if he can shoot something.