Letus35XL, which uses relay lens on XL1(s) XL2 and XLH1, is on the final stage. I am working on back focus adjusting now and hopefully will have them available for order in 2 weeks or so. The computer that I am using to capture video, upload websites ... is down so I can't upload any video or picture of the unit now. Projecting price for the unit is $850 and will take 1-2 weeks for delivery. Anybody interested in betatesting this unit, please email me for pricing, thanks.

Quyen

congrats on the relay unit. your genius never ceases to suprise me. id like to upgrade my letus to the relay unit soon. looking forward to seeing the unit and the footy... now hopefully when i show off my xl1s with letus and a long zoom lens i wont get : "thats a cool looking leaf blower" comment. is it a flip too?

ive been strongly debating getting your flip version.. but i knew it would be worth the wait.. consider this my preorder...

Congrats Quyen, your work always impresses me. I know this unit will be very attractive to all the XL users. And a HD100 version around the corner? Kreep it up, Quyen.

Anychance the relay lens can be sold seperatly for those of us who work with an M2?

Letus35XL is of course flip version. It's a lot more compact than the Letus35 Flip. Again, no rod support needed. I don't know how the M2 is made so I cannot make a relay lens system for it. I think P+S sells the relay lens separately, you probably can buy this to put on your M2. This unit has:
- Flip part to turn the image rightside up
- Back focus adjustable
- IRIS control
- Support bracket
and all other updates that the newer Letus35 has.
Thanks.

Quyen

sounds wicked cool :)

Ah, I know P+S has em, but knowing you, yours would be cheaper (and most liekly better!)..

Also, despite the fact I bought an M2 over a Letus, I would love to have the Letus brand on something I own :)

Ah, I know P+S has em, but knowing you, yours would be cheaper (and most liekly better!)..

The mini35 is an amazing piece of engineering, built with incredible quality and durability. Don't knock it. No matter how good, a $800 product is not going to be of the same quality. It's also 1/10th the price though, so something even remotely comperable for that price is amazing.

Count me in...I want one as soon as it's available.

Are you going to make an HD100 version?

Yes. I think Wayne has already mentioned HD100. It will be next, thanks.

Quyen

This does inevitably sound awesome =)

Which lenses would you guys recommend for this setup? By that I mean this new Letus 35XL unit... If I had to settle on 2 or 3 various lenses for allround filming purposes, still with cost efficiency baked into the price, since I am not made of money, which should I go for? I have a Canon XL2 PAL.

regards,

Andreas Rylander

Yes. I think Wayne has already mentioned HD100. It will be next, thanks.

Quyen

Is there a waiting list I can get on? :)

Does this adapter go directly on the body of the camera, or does it need to be added to the lens itself?

right on the body. the adapter has a relay lens

Andrew, given that I purchase this Letus35XL for my XL2 PAL, what lenses would you buy for it? o_O


...reasonably priced.

for my letus i have:
50mm f1.4 (2 of them still coming in the mail)
50mm f1.8 (2 of them)
28mm f2.8 (2 of them)
135mm f2.8
70mm-200mm f3.5

You want the fastest (brightest) lens you can find.. lower f #
You will want a 50mm (1.8 is good, 1.4 or 1.2 are better) for oyur normal shots (the 50mm is comparable to how we see.
you will want a telephoto lens. I like my 135mm but i love being able to zoom with my 70-200mm.
also look into a wide angle.. id like to get a fisheye soon but the 24mm or 28mm is great for tight shots. If you look on ebay you'll find lots of expensive lenses. Wait it out until you can find yourself a great deal. Ive found lots in pawnshops and even got my 2 50mm 1.4 for under $50 for both.
I use the canon fd mount because i love canon glass.. The letus is an amazing addiditon to your cam and lets you take advantage of the lower price of oudated slr lenses.

Thank you so much :D

Will look into it... probably buy the new letus and get some nice 50 mm and tele aswell =) FD of course =)

Thanks ^^

I should add that getting a Canon FD to M42 screwmount adapter was the best thing I did--lenses are so much cheaper (although harder to find) and are of great optical quality! I got a 28mm wideangle m42 for 30 bucks that is simply fantastic. In fact it's the only M42 mount lens I own so I just leave the mount adapter on there which essentially makes it a Canon FD lens.

Hello Quyen,
Congratulations on the Letus35XL! I look forward to seeing footage from it.

How do 35mm lenses compare to the standard H1 lens? Is the quality of the glass up to snuff, or is it even better? And how will the 16:9 aspect ratio mate with 35mm lenses? Thanks.

I should add that getting a Canon FD to M42 screwmount adapter was the best thing I did--lenses are so much cheaper (although harder to find) and are of great optical quality! I got a 28mm wideangle m42 for 30 bucks that is simply fantastic. In fact it's the only M42 mount lens I own so I just leave the mount adapter on there which essentially makes it a Canon FD lens.

Ben,
How much did it change the focal length for you? I know that you like tinkering that way and moving the GG up and down the plastic pieces (but I am afraid too).
I too have a lot of screwmount lens, so I might try this route - does it work with any screwmounts?

Glenn Gipson

One of the limitations of the 35mm adapters is it will depend on SLR lens' resolution. I believe H1 is redesigned to work with HDV and I am sure it's very good since my XL1 has good image. I've heard that mini35 is soft when it's wide open, I am not sure if anybody here has any sample of mini35 with XL1 at wide open? I will post my images when my computer is up and running, thanks.

Quyen

any specs on the relay lens? how fast is it?

My relay lens has similar spec as mini35 relay lens. How fast is it? I don't have the answer for this, let the betatesters test it out, thanks.

Quyen

How much did it change the focal length for you? I know that you like tinkering that way and moving the GG up and down the plastic pieces (but I am afraid too).
I too have a lot of screwmount lens, so I might try this route - does it work with any screwmounts?Leo, I'm not sure exactly how it affects the focal length but if you had the depth of focus numbers it could be determined if infinity focus is still available. All i know is that it seems to work quite well for me without having to fuss with the distance of the GG.

My relay lens has similar spec as mini35 relay lens.

Quyen

Do you say that based on?

And to the 1/2" chip Sony's XDCAM-HD series or even to the 2/3" chip GV Infinity or GY-HD7000?

Based on Construction and Measurements, thanks.

Quyen

Sorry Quyen, I really admire your efforts, but to say that you would have to know the specs of the P+S lens and they don't publish it. Even if you would have one in hands, you wouldn't be able to tell enough to make a similar one.

Leuname Ereh

If the demand on the 1/2" chip Sony's XDCAM-HD series or the 2/3" chip GV Infinity or GY-HD7000 is high, I will make some for them.

Michael Maier

To know the spec of a lens like mini35 relay lens is not that hard since I have spent a lot of money and time into it. There are some things you should look at when you want to learn the spec:
- Distance from the last element to CCDs
- Diameter of that element
- Maximum/minimum IRIS opening.
- Ratio

When compare the spec, it's not necessary to compare quality here. For example 1 Canon FD lens and 1 Vivitar FD mount lens have the same spec of f2.8 doesn't mean that they have the same quality. I will let the testers tell you what quality my relay lens is.

Thanks.

Quyen

Leo, I'm not sure exactly how it affects the focal length but if you had the depth of focus numbers it could be determined if infinity focus is still available. All i know is that it seems to work quite well for me without having to fuss with the distance of the GG.

That is interesting. Great to hear, I want to get one myself, and not having to fiddle around with the grommets and white plastic is a bonus. Got any new footage with the lenses?

Leo, a bunch of shots in my movie "broken minds" were shot with the 28mm M42. The in-car shot, for example, as well as a few shots in the bedroom by the desk.

http://media.frozenphoenixproductions.com/brokenminds_hi.mov

the letus35xl pics are up www.adapterplace.com
im so anxious to get my hands on it

the letus35xl pics are up www.adapterplace.com
im so anxious to get my hands on it

All I see is the normal flip version. Not the XL.

my mistake.. its only a new pic of the new flip version.. sorry

I know some of you want to see the pictures of the Letus35XL to see if how big it is, how will it look on the Camera, so I uploaded the pictures of my prototype here. The final unit will look very close to what you see here, thanks.
http://letus35.com/35XL.JPG
http://letus35.com/35XL1.JPG

Quyen

Looking great! One thing that may be a problme to me is the wire going from the battery housing to the motor. I seem to get my cables caught on everything and this would likely be no different. Any chance we'll see some type of hardware integration? Not necessarily integrating the batteries into the housing though.

I can custom made the plug for it if it's what you like. Please keep in mind that this one is not the final one and the final unit's picture can be slightly different. Thanks.

Quyen

looks good quyen. More compact than i expected. It will be alot easier getting those tight shots now. Shooting in cars has been a challenge with the 16x lens

Can't wait!!! :)

I want one...now!!!

Maybe this is a silly question, but can someone explain the advantage of having the Letus in a relay configuration? How is it superior to the standard fixed lens + Letus configuration? Does it let in more light? I use a PD170 + Letus35a, and I'm starting to feel vaguely jealous of the XL... ;)

Excellent work, Quyen!

Maybe this is a silly question, but can someone explain the advantage of having the Letus in a relay configuration? How is it superior to the standard fixed lens + Letus configuration?

The adapter looks great. But my opinion is that it won't be superior in anything. Maybe less light loss. But sharpness and resolution will most likely be not as good as the Canon 20x. Neither will be level of distortion or chroma. Just think, Canon is a big company with years of experience in optics. If anybody could go out and make a better lens for much less than them for a XL2, everybody would be doing it. Not even Optex, which also had years of experience in optics and actually made lenses adventured in making a lens for the XL series. They knew that to make something good would cost a lot and people would most likely not pay for it. What they did was convert an existing Fujinon lens. A relay lens needs more than just focus the GG image in the CCD. I don't mean to rain on Quyen's parade here. I really hope I'm proved wrong and the relay is awesome and sharp, so I can buy the HD100 version when it comes. But I'm realistic and know of the difficulties of making a lens. Besides if it was easy and cheap, we would have dozens of different companies like Optex (I know they went under), Cavision, Tiffen, Century and even Fujinon or Canon, making a set of primes for the XL series and for the HD100. Because the demand for it is sure there, specially for that cheap. Why do you think we don't have it?
If the flip version was $600 and the XL version will be $800, the relay is $200. For $200 a pop, XL and HD100 primes would sell like hot cakes. You can barely buy some Nikons for this price and a lens for 35mm is much, much easier to make than a lens for 1/3”, specially if you are talking 1/3” HD in the case of the HD100. A lens for the HD100 would have to resolve over 120 lp/mm. That's a though spec to meet. A relay is basically a prime lens designed to focus on a flat plan.
Not really a simple thing.

Oh god Quyen, you are a genius!!! :D
PLEASE make sure you film something to show it off, I can't wait!! I am biting my tongue till it bleeds over here =)

I know some of you want to see the pictures of the Letus35XL to see if how big it is, how will it look on the Camera, so I uploaded the pictures of my prototype here. The final unit will look very close to what you see here, thanks.
http://letus35.com/35XL.JPG
http://letus35.com/35XL1.JPG

Quyen

If the flip version was $600 and the XL version will be $800, the relay is $200. For $200 a pop, XL and HD100 primes would sell like hot cakes. You can barely buy some Nikons for this price and a lens for 35mm is much, much easier to make than a lens for 1/3”, specially if you are talking 1/3” HD in the case of the HD100. A lens for the HD100 would have to resolve over 120 lp/mm. That's a though spec to meet. A relay is basically a prime lens designed to focus on a flat plan.
Not really a simple thing.

I have faith in you Quyen. :)

I know some of you want to see the pictures of the Letus35XL to see if how big it is, how will it look on the Camera, so I uploaded the pictures of my prototype here. The final unit will look very close to what you see here, thanks.
http://letus35.com/35XL.JPG
http://letus35.com/35XL1.JPG

Quyen

Excellent job, looks awesome. The thing that bothered me about a lot of these prosumer D.O.F. adapters is the fact that they added glass on top of glass. Not so with this Xl X2/H1 option.

I would think that since the distance between the ground glass and the CCDs is set and does not change, the lens would be a lot easier to make, i.e. no complex moving parts. All you need really is an achromatic triplet, right?

I would think that since the distance between the ground glass and the CCDs is set and does not change, the lens would be a lot easier to make, i.e. no complex moving parts. All you need really is an achromatic triplet, right?

My thoughts exactly. I would think once you have the proper distances figured out a relay lens is a fairly simple design. Whenever Quyen is ready he has my money.