hi everyone. i just want to post a review on the letus35, which i bought at www.adapterplace.com

i originally became a member of this board because of the work of agus and the agus35, way back when. i was waiting for someone to make an affordable production model, and i finally bit the bullet with the letus35.

first of all, the buying process was easy. i emailed the maker (quyen) to ask some questions, and was surprised with how quickly he replied, and how informative he was. quyen is very accommodating, and answered all the questions i had to ask.

quyen was kind enough to pay for next day shipping, as i needed the adapter for a saturday shoot (i bought it on a tuesday). i purchased the black anodized version with the canon fd mount for my sony vx2100.

test footage:

http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/doftest.mov

the above clip was my first time using the unit. i also used magic bullet look suite. notice the vignetting. i did not have the unit set up correctly, and when i tried adjusting it, i dropped it. the GG fell out, so i cleaned it and placed it back in the housing... no damage done.

http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/doftest3.mov

this was shot the next morning in my backyard. nice shallow dof. magic bullet ls warmish filter. note that there is no longer any vignetting because i have the unit setup properly.

http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/doftest4.mov

test footage of a friend smoking a cigarette. magic bullet tropico wash filter. note the dust. i cleaned everything after this, and noticed scratches on the 28mm canon fd lens i was using, then i noticed a spec of dust in the adapter, between two pieces of glass. i tried to get it out with compressed air, but i could not reach it. i emailed quyen about it, and he responded with a solution that i will be trying before my next shoot.

also, while i was cleaning the adapter, i did a stupid thing and scratched/chipped the gg. fortunately, it was on the outer end, and i was still able to use it for my shoot this past saturday. quyen was also nice enough to let me know that he would send me a replacement for no charge. awesome customer service!

http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/PrepAngie.mov

footage from the saturday shoot. magic bullet ls sharp filter. there are about 4 specs of dust visible in the footage. 3 are from hairline scratches in the lens i was using, and 1 is from the aforementioned piece of dust in the adapter.

in summary:

- i love this adapter... in fact, i'm going to buy 2 more for my other 2 cameras
- excellent customer service
- very solid construction, very well built
- packed professionally, with peanuts and shrinkwrap
- i wish there was documentation to show how to clean it and set it up properly
- i sometimes forget to turn on the gg during a shoot, but that's user error, and actually a good thing because it means the gg is not loud, and the vibration is not too intense
- some light scratches in the housing of the black version i purchased
- single spec of dust that i have yet to clean out
- shooting upside down takes a lot of getting used to

It looks nice but I wish you would have some shots without cc so I could know what regular footage looks like.

What f-stops and time of the day you shot that? It looks underexposed. Was that on purpose? Is yours a Letus35 or already the Letus35a?

i'm seconding the request for raw, unfiltered footage. it's hard to judge the adapter's out-of-the-box output when the footage has been altered in post-production.

Could you please post a pciture of the letus35 (your one) as i've only seen the pics of the old one (the non anodised ones)

Thanks

Anhar

michael, the first clip was dark, and yes, underexposed. it was just past 7pm and there was not much available light... but you know, new toy, must test. i was using a 28mm canon fd lens at f2.8. not sure if what i got is the letus35 or the letus35a... maybe quyen can shed some light on this.

re: requests for raw clips without mb, i will post them tonight.

anhar, i would love to post a picture, but my digital camera is dead (nikon coolpix... i will never buy a nikon again). i like the look of the black version. it matches with the battery housing and the camera, and looks very professional.

Your unit has a better lens but not quite Letus35A, thanks.

Quyen

Good review

You just gotta watch that exposure!

How long did it take for you to get it?

yeah, i'm a noob when it comes to 35, so i was just happy to get something recorded... i really do have to bone up on some learnin' when it comes to exposure. any good online resources?

lloyd, it took about two days with usps overnight shipping. i think quyen got it in the mail a bit late. either way, i got it in time for my shoot. i can't emphasize the awesome customer service enough, guys.

Your unit has a better lens but not quite Letus35A, thanks.

Quyen


When will tha Letus35A start shipping?

Quyen told me I'm getting the 35a version. I order mine last thursday.

I'm in Canada, so I think it's taking a little longer due to customs...

but yah, I should have DVX footage of the 35a soon

edit: I think the new version just has a new achromat

Quyen told me I'm getting the 35a version. I order mine last thursday.

I'm in Canada, so I think it's taking a little longer due to customs...

but yah, I should have DVX footage of the 35a soon

edit: I think the new version just has a new achromat



Lloyd, when you receive your Letus35a could you post a pic of the inside for me to compare to mine? Quyen isn't sure which one he sent me.
I'm also in Canada and the shipping was pretty fast, about a week.

sure... hopefully mine comes tomorrow if yours took a week. I'm in Vancouver, and I believe Quyen is in Oregon, so we're really close

it's going to take about 2 hours to upload, and it's using the bitjazz.com codec but this should be the best 35mm reel-stream footage ever seen on the net...make sure you have the bitjazz.com codec installed to view, and the file is 148megs!

give it 2 hours to upload on our ftp

dv3productions.com/HD_dvx/Letus35_SHEERIVDEO.avi

another thing i forgot to add to the review is that i wish there were lens covers for both ends of the letus35 when shipped, as i often shoot on the field in a mixed environment (letus35, straight dv), and not having lens covers exposes the letus35 to dust and scratches.

also, i just purchased 2 more units, and i should have more footage up soon. i know i promised some unfiltered downloads, and those are coming. my apologies, it's been really busy here.

which codec needs to be installed???

i wish there were lens covers for both ends of the letus35 when shipped

I strongly concur. Even putting it in my lens box isn't enough to make me sure my letus35 isn't getting scratched.


Also, on my website, check out "Common Sense And You". It was shot completely with the Letus35.

bitjazz.com has a free codec READER, get and install

it doesnt work obin

Can't get it to go either, even after the installation of the reader.

what happens after you install the codec, can you see anything? did you restart your computer after you installed the codec?

Doesn't work for me either -

After installing the codec and rebooting, the following occurs:

When I play in windows media, it loads up but just doesn't play (You hit play and nothing happens)

Same thing in VideoLan. Open it up, no video window appears.

When I play it in Quicktime Player, I get the error that Quicktime is missing software required to display the movie.

Obin, before installing on my Mac it just showed the Quicktime progress bar and a prompt that Quicktime may be missing software. After installing the reader, re-starting, I now get a black window along with the progress bar and no such prompt but I still get no picture or sound.

Wouldn't a frame from footage (or a few) be more than self explanatory for all? (preferably of a resolution chart)

ok... so i promised unfiltered footage. well, i was able to go out today and use the new letus35 that quyen shipped to me on friday. no magic bullet this time, i just picked some random clips.

this is using a tokina 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.8 zoom lens.

i spent a good amount of the prior evening cleaning the dv lens, letus35 lens, and fd lens, and wouldn't you know it, by the time i get shooting this footage (about 5 hours into the shoot), there's dirt on the lens.

here it is (quicktime 6+, 12mb):
http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/letusclip.mov

enjoy.

A.J., that lower right quadrant is very mucky indeed. What "element" do you think it is on? Hmmm... G

Also, on my website, check out "Common Sense And You". It was shot completely with the Letus35.

FUNNY! How'd you do the girl getting hit by the car? That was awesome!

ok... so i promised unfiltered footage. well, i was able to go out today and use the new letus35 that quyen shipped to me on friday. no magic bullet this time, i just picked some random clips.

this is using a tokina 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.8 zoom lens.

i spent a good amount of the prior evening cleaning the dv lens, letus35 lens, and fd lens, and wouldn't you know it, by the time i get shooting this footage (about 5 hours into the shoot), there's dirt on the lens.

here it is (quicktime 6+, 12mb):
http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/letusclip.mov

enjoy.

I find the dirt on this adapter to be totally unacceptable. Do all models suffer from this problem? I would buy one of these if it wasn't for the dirt and debris I'm constantly seeing in the images. Is this simply user error?

Just a note about this thread, a trolling post and some responses to it have been pulled. Thanks,

I find the dirt on this adapter to be totally unacceptable. Do all models suffer from this problem? I would buy one of these if it wasn't for the dirt and debris I'm constantly seeing in the images. Is this simply user error?

i have to clear something up about this.

- the first letus35 that i bought did have one spec of dirt inside, between the square lens (is that the achromat?) and the outside lens.

- the 2 newer letus35's i purchased afterward did not have dirt on the inside.

- the latest footage (using one of the 2 new adapters) has dirt on the outside tokina lens due to a waterfall scene i shot prior. this is my bad. user error indeed. i have footage prior to the waterfall shot that does not have any dirt on it.

so basically, there was dirt inside 1 of the 3 letus adapters i bought.

A.J., did you use a magnet on the LCD to shoot?

hi glenn, no i did not. the whole day i shot with the image upside-down. my impression is that the magnet trick does not work with the sony vx-2100. as i'm not willing to open it up to physically modify it, i'm thinking of getting an external tft or lcd and mounting it upside down. any recommendations?

hi glenn, no i did not. the whole day i shot with the image upside-down. my impression is that the magnet trick does not work with the sony vx-2100. as i'm not willing to open it up to physically modify it, i'm thinking of getting an external tft or lcd and mounting it upside down. any recommendations?

No, I don't have any recommendations, this is all new to me.

i'm thinking of getting an external tft or lcd and mounting it upside down. any recommendations?

What's your price range A.J.?

What's your price range A.J.?
if i can get a great solution that is flippable (because i don't always shoot with the letus35), that would be ideal. how much would i pay for that? around $500 maybe.

i have to clear something up about this.

- the first letus35 that i bought did have one spec of dirt inside, between the square lens (is that the achromat?) and the outside lens.

- the 2 newer letus35's i purchased afterward did not have dirt on the inside.

- the latest footage (using one of the 2 new adapters) has dirt on the outside tokina lens due to a waterfall scene i shot prior. this is my bad. user error indeed. i have footage prior to the waterfall shot that does not have any dirt on it.

so basically, there was dirt inside 1 of the 3 letus adapters i bought.

hold the phone. i just took apart the letus from my vx2100 last night to clean the lenses for a test shoot today. the 35mm lens had some water marks from the waterfall (as predicted), and there was no dust or smudge marks on the outside lenses of the vx2100 or the letus35 adapter.

however, there were a few small dust particles inside the letus35, between the macro and the achromat. there were also small bits on the GG, which i removed using compressed air. i checked the second letus35 unit that i purchased and i saw the same thing. these appear to be from the housing (possibly shards leftover from the machine work that were loose but not fully detached until after i received the units.

any detailed advice on how to clean this without breaking the units?

also, note that i have the black anodized versions of the letus35. is this issue exclusive to these units?

FUNNY! How'd you do the girl getting hit by the car? That was awesome!

We filmed the girl skipping across the street, then a separate shot of the car rolling across the screen. Then we took photos as plates for the girl getting hit by the car--about 5 photos of her in different positions as if she was getting hit. Then, frame by frame, we put her cutout body in front of the car and tracked it so she remained in the front, and composited it all together.

We filmed the girl skipping across the street, then a separate shot of the car rolling across the screen. Then we took photos as plates for the girl getting hit by the car--about 5 photos of her in different positions as if she was getting hit. Then, frame by frame, we put her cutout body in front of the car and tracked it so she remained in the front, and composited it all together.

ha. I never wouldv'e thought that. That was great.

Regarding the Monitor thing - I have a cheapo 12 volt LCD tv/monitor. It comes with an astounding bunch of features, here being a "flip" option left<>right and the all important up<>down . . PLUS I get to "frame" that which I want to see when the video is cut! It sits bolted to my DV-RigPro and I just love it.

Grazie

Hey Graham, what's the model number? Thanks.