hi everyone. just wanted to share a work in progress of a music video shot using a sony vx2100 with a letus35 using 50mm and 28mm canon fd lenses.

here is the raw unfiltered footage (magic bullet will be added for the final output), cropped to 2.35:1:
http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/001_Emily_235x1.mov

we just shot the outdoor portraits and candids over the weekend, as well as background plates for our cg shots. we will have another shoot with the female interest in the next couple of weeks (still casting).

i was going to wait until everything was done, but then thought that it might be fun to share the experience.

i forgot to mention that we overlit for magic bullet. here is the first pass with magic bullet:
http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/001_Emily_Sharp_24p.mov

for some reason, it does not work streaming with safari, but it works if you download, then play. quicktime 6 or better.

That's blazin A.J.! You've done the Letus and its core of owners proud!

they sound a lot like hot hot heat

cool song

edit: by the way, how deep is the depth of field on the 28mm?

edit #2: Go Canada!

they sound a lot like hot hot heat

cool song

edit: by the way, how deep is the depth of field on the 28mm?
thanks for the positive comments, guys!

yeah, they are a really really good band, and i would not be surprised if they make it big. they are based in san diego, so i really must ask them what's with the canadian flag. ;-P

the dof on the 28mm is much thicker than the 50, but it was a bit of a pain to use because it was a full stop darker than the 50. we had a 250, a bunch of 100s and a 500watt light source. the 500 was too much, and the gels we had made no difference (we were shooting with ghetto home depot lights, so no french doors), so we did not use it at all. we also used a bunch of torch-style lamps as fills.i wanted to shoot the wide shot with a fast 18, 20 or 24, but i did not win any of my ebay bids for those lenses. :-/

Awesome, thanks for sharing that. That aspect ratio seems to work really well, and the MB treatment has got a good glow to it. Inspiring to see the Letus35 at work!

AJ,

I cruised around your site a bunch, great stuff. What post-processing stuff did you do to create the look in doftest.mov? I like the vignetting and the colors. Also, was the lens flare real or enhanced, as the car (well, SUV) drives up?

Thanks and keep it up!

AJ,

I cruised around your site a bunch, great stuff. What post-processing stuff did you do to create the look in doftest.mov? I like the vignetting and the colors.
hi bill, and thanks! i used magic bullet for that one. i don't remember the values for the vignetting, but they are up there (nearly maxed out, i believe). i am not sure which look suite preset i used, however. if i can find the fcp file, i'll let you know.

AJ,

Also, was the lens flare real or enhanced, as the car (well, SUV) drives up?

Thanks and keep it up!
the lens flare is real. this was my very first time using the letus35, so i was not zoomed in enough, and that's probably why there's a bunch of distortion on the lens flare. i'm guessing it would've looked much better if i had it set up properly.

also note that i flipped the image vertically, but not horizontally, so the car is driving on the left side of the road... hehehe. noob mistakes.

Hehe

I liked the lens flare, and that there was so much of it. I actually didn't notice the car being on the wrong side of the road; it just looked like a narrow street to me!

Thanks for the info; I'll play with Magic Bullet to see what I get as well.

Thanks for posting this, I'm hoping to start filming my musc video with similar lenses soon so this gives me a good idea of what to expect.

It looks good, also nice to see what Magic Bullet can do -
I noticed that you used two different lenses, that is a nice touch, did you attempt the 100mm, 85mm or even the 135mm? I am interested to see these shots as well.
Good jobs!

It looks good, also nice to see what Magic Bullet can do -
I noticed that you used two different lenses, that is a nice touch, did you attempt the 100mm, 85mm or even the 135mm? I am interested to see these shots as well.
Good jobs!
hi mandy. i only used the 28 and the 50. the 35-105mm zoom lens i had lost too much light at f3.5. i wanted to try other lenses, but like i said, i lost out my bids on ebay... damn you ebay!!!! ;-P

What is the speed of your lenses? I'm not surprised that f3.5 won't work, but I'm hoping to be able to use the letus35a indoors without significant added light (besides existing practicals). I'm not worried about my f1.4 50mm working, but it is hard to find fast wide lenses for anywhere near an affordable price. Heck, I haven't even seen wide lenses with anything better than f2.0! Have you tried the f3.5 zoom outdoors in bright light?

I like the video enough to put forth a critique if you want to hear negative issues, if not then don't listen to this:

The guitar solo did not LOOK like it was synced-up. Was it?

Your lights weren't too bad overall, especially considering home depot as your supplier. I think you understand the basics and I kind of liked the hard sources after you used magic bullet. It seemed to match a "look". I think your only big problem was that the key on the singer was too close. The intensity ramped up to much when he moved close to the microphone. I think he was genuinely overexposed by a full stop when he was close. Perhaps you could have bounced the key off the back wall to tone it down and diffuse it a bit? Maybe the 500w light would be okay if it was bounced.

As a disclaimer, please don't feel bad about "issue" comments. I'm not saying I could do better, just trying to help with what I see.

Except for the lighting ratio being off on the singer, I am very excited by seeing the quality of the shoot. I have a VX2000 so I am very encouraged. I think my Letus35a is being shipped as I type this message.

I think the 28mm was more than wide enough. Maybe a bit more would work, but I like the lack of barrel distortion. I think the .7x screw-on WA adapter I currently use is not even as wide as that shot and it has more distortion.

My other question, besides the speed of your lenses, is a confirmation that you used 16:9 mode on the VX2100. I was not bothered by any lack of resolution in your video, so I may try shooting that way with my camera. I have been concerned that I might lose too much resolution. You don't have a Century Optics anamorphic adapter, do you?

hi marcus, and thanks for the comments! i'm also having a very very difficult time finding fast canon fd lenses. anyone in dvinfo-land using the letus with the nikon mount? if so, is it easier to find fast lenses for the nikon version?

re: footage of the f3.5 zoom in outdoor light, i do have some footage. you can find it here:
http://www.infinite-studios.com/movies/letusclip.mov
it was a bright day but the sun was fading (peeking in and out of cloud cover).

re: synch, yeah, some shots still need to be tightened up. for part of the solo, the band actually reversed the audio track of the guitar, so they were not able to play it for me. there are also a couple of shots where the synch is not perfect, and i will be tightening these up in the next edit. i am also going to be taking away a lot of the shots to include the new footage we shot (the band outdoors, with cg elements currently being added) and more footage we have yet to shoot (a female actress).

re: the lighting, yup i wasn't 100% happy with it, but it's not bad. i did not know how far to blow them out to compensate for magic bullet, but i guess we went too far. i really wish we had some french doors and darker gels to better diffuse the key. good idea with bouncing the 500 as a key instead of the 250 straight up... i wonder if that would have been better.

as for your last question, i shot in 16x9 with no anamorphic adapter. i used a varizoom 7" 16:9 tft monitor cropped to 2.35:1, matted in fcp and cropped in quicktime pro.

Your 28 is one f-stop higher than your 50? Does that make your lenses an f1.8 50mm and an f2.8 28mm? I have an f1.4 50mm and an f2.0 28mm on the way. The 28 was twice the cost of the 50mm lens and is more than half an f-stop slower. I tried to bid on a decent 24mm, but those are going way over $200 or even $300. Oh, I chose the Nikon mount for my in-transit Letus35A (with large GG mod).

Okay, it's officially unfair for a band to have music that can't be played by a human being! I actually did lol at that one. You know, I kinda like the mundane look of the video as it is. It looks like the music sounds, simple 60s-influenced rock. Of course, video of a pretty girl probably wouldn't hurt.

I thought of a cheap way to add diffusion to a light. I use fluorescent lights and some battery-powered spots, so don't try this on a hot light. I used a white plastic grocery bag inflated over a harsh light and it softened it perfectly.

Bouncing a light depends a lot on the room itself. It makes a light much more diffuse and less powerful from any one direction. It is a great way to bring up the light level overall, and if it is done from one side of your subject it can also act as an accent light. I would still use some direct lights to highlight the subject, but with the bounced light as the fill, you could then get away with less power in their faces to bring out the detail. Remember that video has a very narrow exposure range, so we can't have a severe ratio between highlights and shadow. I think the lighting I liked the best was of the keyboard player's hands and the up-angle shot of the bass player. Those shots look great. You know, this kind of lighting is exactly what DIDN'T work before 35mm adapters were available. I am dying with anticipation!

Okay, let me do some math (not my best subject). Without an anamorphic adapter, you used a 720x480 camera in 16:9 mode which is about 75% of the full 4:3 pixels. Then, you cropped down to 2.35:1 in post which is about 75% of 16:9 resolution. This should equal something like 56% of the full 480 lines of resolution, in the neighborhood of 270 lines by 720 horizontal. Still, it looks good! Amazing.

Is that wedding video in Hawaii? I'm in Honolulu and the wedding party looks local. I also do weddings sometimes, and now I know what to expect. Thanks for the clip. Do you think a polarizer would take away too much to shoot with that lens in fairly strong daylight assuming I'm not adverse to using a bit of gain?

Mahalo (thanks) again!

yes, it's a 50mm at 1.8 and 28mm at 2.8. i just lost out on a bid on a 24 for just about $300. insane.

the wedding footage was actually shot here in san diego, ca. the bridal party was filipino, so that's probably why you think it was shot in hawaii. ;-P

yeah, i was worried about the resolution as well, but i really wanted to use a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and i figured that if it didn't work, i'll just keep it at 16:9. planning for an fx1 or hd100 early next year, which should make things even more interesting.

with regards to the polarizing filter, i'm not sure. i strongly suggest that you take a lot of test shoots and take your letus35 apart and clean it thoroughly. for the first few uses, some metal/plastic filings will loosen up and will get in your gg/optics. there are other threads here about cleaning tips and quyen is awesome about giving you advice as well. lastly, unless you are using a flippable monitor or hacking your lcd to flip the image, shooting upside-down will take a lot of getting used to.

Well, I feel confident that my f2.0 28mm will do the job considering your f2.8 was overwhelmed by a 500w light. I suspected that it would be a good idea to wait for fast wide lenses in order to get shallow. I figure that I can get shallow DOF with the onboard lens if I want to go extreme telephoto, but the adapter will be the only thing that can handle wide. I like a slightly-wide shot, but I think the 28 is more than enough for me. I also ordered a 35mm length lens at an impressive f1.4 for less than $150. I think it may actually be the length I prefer the most as it should be similar to my current WA adapter that I cherish. From your images, 28mm should be just fine for my wide shots. I'm not even sure 28 or 24mm lenses come in f1.4.

Don't forget that the FX1 and almost any other 1/3"ccd camera is about 3 f-stops slower than the VX2000. You may be forced to bleed the cash necessary for fast lenses, or at least get used to fl 50mm which is easier to find. A friend has an FX1, but it won't power-up and is in the shop. I will do tests as soon as it gets back in who-knows how many weeks.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have q-tips, rubbing alcohol, lens paper, and two cans of compressed air at the ready. I did not order the anodizing in case it was contributing to the grit problem.

BTW, I figured out why dust is such an issue with these adapters. Imagine the consequences of getting dust on your CCDs or film! That is exactly what is happening if dust gets on the ground glass or screen. A bit of dust in an area that is not in focus isn't such a big deal. Dust on the imaging screen in perfect focus IS a big deal. I'll bet camera manufacturers will eventually begin making these adapters with a the lens necessary to focus on them (relay lens?) as part of the camcorder. The benefits of a large imaging screen are just too significant. Until then, we will need to do a lot of housekeeping. Heck, I suspect that my 35mm adapter is going to live on my camera so that should help keep outside particles down a bit...

I'll bet camera manufacturers will eventually begin making these adapters with a the lens necessary to focus on them (relay lens?) as part of the camcorder. The benefits of a large imaging screen are just too significant.

I considered this but my money is not on camera manufacturers making these at all, rather on their moving to large CCD's or CMOS. No need for a screen/GG when you have a 36x24mm sensor! :P

I'm not even sure 28 or 24mm lenses come in f1.4.

Off the top of my head, there's a Nikon Nikkor 28mm F1.4 and a Canon 24mm F1.4. Sigma makes a 30mm F1.4 and a 20mm F1.8 (!). So yes, they're out there! :)

IS Sigma the one with the FD mount?

Sigma makes their lenses in many different mounts. So usually you can buy a given lens with either a Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, or Sigma mount.

http://sigma-photo.com/

Be careful, the DC's and the newest versions (under a different acronym) give a very small image circle as they're intended for digital cameras with small sensors. If you use these lenses for a whatever35 device you'll think something is wrong and creating lots of vignetting. But it's just the lens doing its intended job.

Hi AJ, great video!

I kinda galloped through this thread, so forgive me if I missed it - but what host did you use Magic Bullet with?

I have AE 6.0 Win XP, and Magic Bullet consistently gives me "unknown error 512" after processing maybe 90 frames.

Have you had any problems like that?

Hi AJ, great video!

I kinda galloped through this thread, so forgive me if I missed it - but what host did you use Magic Bullet with?

I have AE 6.0 Win XP, and Magic Bullet consistently gives me "unknown error 512" after processing maybe 90 frames.

Have you had any problems like that?
hi alex. i'm using magic bullet editors v.1 with final cut 5 on a mac. no problems with it so far (crossing fingers).