I started with a Letus flip which for me was no good, poor build quality and unacceptable light loss. I bought a Redrock M2 which I think is terrific, albeit a little heavy and have now got a lovely lightweight Brevis for more handheld stuff.

Cute little Peli case and nice and light are my initial thoughts. I have a couple of problems that I hope Dennis can talk me through, one I find my Nikon mount next to impossible to properly click into place, it should be simple and I can't imagine what I am doing wrong. It just won't go!

Secondly I can't focus with my z1 onto the diffuser screen without getting the very edges of it in shot with underscan. I think I need to somehow move the diffuser closer to the camera but not sure how to do it or if it is the correct thing to do.

As soon as I get it up and running I will start posting comparisons.

So far my M2 has given me hideous pictures and lovely pictures, though most of the blame lies with me using it in inappropriate situations and not realsing the focus was knocked!

Phil, you've got access now to the manuals etc. online. Both of those issues will be dealt with :-)

I have managed to mount my Brevis on my XDCAM HD F330. It needs a bit of space between the achromat and the Brevis but it works well. One thing you do need is a high quality monitor like the Marshall as the LCD screen on Pro cameras are awful! But with my Marshall I can see focus very well! On the end is a Zeiss t1.4 50mm, a LOVELY lens.

I havent shot anything yet as I need a proper spacer with a bit more length as I can see the screen slightly still, but I am shooting a short pilot on Wednesday with it! So i think I might have to take a couple of my old filters and smash them for those important extra millimetres!!

There is no way I can use my redrock with it, just too heavy and needs rods which I don't have yet for the big camera.

Phil:

I ve just finished with the DIY Redrock build from plans I got a year ago, and adopting designs to things I had on hand, and actually using the Brevis achromat. In order to get focusable play in the zoom with my FX1, I had to put on a five inch tube between my GG and the achromat. I also rigged a different sort of mount for everything. See photos at:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=579947#post579947

I just pit the M2 against the Brevis and wrote about it here, watch the video too

Nikkor Glass

http://gearbrain.blogspot.com/

Nice review

I second that.

Very detailed and professional review.

It'd be cool to see shootout between the Movietube, Mini35, Brevis, M2, and SGPro. With res charts and controlled lighting.

After seeing Richard's review, I choose the M2 over the Brevis. Thanks for the review Richard.

These reviews are about to get a bit more complicated as we've added a third diffuser option to the collection :-) I'll have HD footage from this latest as soon as the XH-A1 arrives. Lovers of the cinemek look will be happy. Thanks for taking the time with this Richard.

These reviews are about to get a bit more complicated as we've added a third diffuser option to the collection :-) I'll have HD footage from this latest as soon as the XH-A1 arrives. Lovers of the cinemek look will be happy.

Btw, Chris our achromat was spec'd specifically for the Brevis which has a large usable image size, but I'm glad to see you got it working OK for your application. I suspect you're just at the edge of it's optical range there!

Phil, for the record, you're our first XDcam user :-) Are you using the Marshall VR70PHDSDI?

.
Btw, Chris our achromat was spec'd specifically for the Brevis which has a large usable image size, but I'm glad to see you got it working OK for your application. I suspect you're just at the edge of it's optical range there!


Understand Dennis, but with the set up I am using, I am zooming into all of the usable area, before vignetting occurs, and able to maintain focus with my FX1. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but wouldn't I be required to have a similar distance from ground glass to end the front end of camera lens mounted with the achromat when I am using the Brevis ?? Have you tested the Brevis with FX1 yet ? I'm guessing FX1 is not as close focusing as the others.

Hi Dennis

Am using the Marshall monitor without the SDI, just using component in. Its a really great monitor. So clear and perfect for focusing.

The Brevis is much brighter than the M2. I used it today on a shoot for Channel 5/ The History Channel mounted on my XDCAM HD shooting 25p in SD mode. It looked lovely. Although a speck of dust on the GG slowed me down and I really need to get some rods as the length is quote long now that I have to have spacers between the achromat and the adaptor. I was also having a bit of a nightmare with the Nikon mount as I wasnt taking my lenses properly, one fell off!!! Dennis has upgraded them to a new version which I am hoping he has sent to me, embarrassing when a lens falls off when you are trying to focus!

The director and producer loved the adaptor.


Can anyone else in the UK please not buy one, I would like to be exclusive! (sorry Dennis!)

Phil

edit: just viewed the rushes at home, lovely lovely lovely!

I have a 480 x 800 7" LCD (16:9) (http://www.mp3playerstore.com/stuff_you_need/special/IN-700VG.htm) that has both VGA and composite inputs. I've got a VGA to component HD adapter incoming and will test this out on the A1. The LCD monitor I have does not have the contrast ratio (150), or brightness (250cd/m²) of the Marshall, and so far is just a focusing and framing guide. It is a lot sharper in VGA mode than using composite inputs, so hopefully HD to VGA will work better. Results pending, I may just bite the bullet and pick up the Marshall as it seems to be the only other option for HD monitoring under 4K.

Phil, glad to here the unit is working out for you. You'll like the new Nikon mount :-)

A did a little research on the ERG EV85 (http://www.bandprodigital.com/cgibin/eDatCat/BPDstore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=ERG-EV85)... it's supposed to be as good as the Panasonic 8.4" but w/o a waveform monitor... and it only costs $2900 (with component). It also has a flip function.

Did a fair bit of stuff with the brevis and m2 last week. On the z1 and the xdcam.

The Brevis is light, in both meanings. I love how it setups so quickly and easily on my camera and you don't need anywhere near as much light as the m2. The downside being the Bokeh suffers. To get that true film like Boken I think the option 1 diffuser is the way to go when you can light things or you are outside. inside the standard diffuser is great, it lets you use the Brevis in situations you just couldn't use the redrock in.

Phil, I posted up some XH-A1 footage from the third diffuser "Cinefuse 3". If you're looking for shallow, shallow DOF, you'll be very happy :-)

You know I am going to order that too so hurry up and get them ready! ;-) when do you expect it to be ready. It is EXACTLY what i need!! If you need someone to do some broadcast testing for you...

I shot some reconstruction stuff for a Pilot I am making for Channel 5/ history Channel using the HVX200 in 25pn mode using the Brevis.

The director and producer were shocked at how cool the stuff looked! We were going for a shaky cam super 8mm look. Would have prefered a more shallow DOF look like the Redrock though. Hopefully the new diffuser/ diffusers will do what I need!!!

The nikon mount seems to have settled in a little bit better than when I first got it too.

I just shot a training video for Godiva and in the well-lit store, things looked great. This is easily the best footage I've ever achieved using a DOF adapter. Constant brightness edge-to-edge on the diffuser, super-crisp, blends perfectly with non-adapter footage. I could get down to a bit past f4 on my 1.2 55mm before grain started to appear. Like someone previously said, bokeh suffers. I plan on ordering one (or both) of the other diffusers.

Shallow enough ? (http://www.cinevate.com/images/XHA1cinefuse2.jpg)

This is with a 50mm FD at f1.4. It's a bit soft due to both A1 and 50mm apertures being fully open, but you get the idea. The A1 is a bit noisy out of the box, so I'll do some testing with gain a -3db and NR on low. I haven't shot a single frame with the adapter off the camera...a true sign of adapter addiction.

when do you expect the new diffuser to be available Dennis?

Before the end of December. It's technically the most ambitious diffuser yet for us, so some work needs to be done here with regards to infrastructure.

how does the second diffuser (option 1) compare to this one? You still think you will be able to ship it to me this week?

Phil, Cinefuse 2 lies almost directly between Cinefuse 1 and 3 in terms of diffusion/bokeh. I did some more tweaking on the A1 tonight to figure out it's noise issues, which I believe are now sorted. Footy soon. I've pmailed you on the other issue...

Ben, it's great to hear the adapter is working well for you :-) When you say grain came up at F4, I'm assuming you meant in the store? You should be able to get up a lot higher in good light.

yea i have yet to try out the thing outside but I have high hopes for it. Although it was fairly bright in the store...in any case I seem to remember being able to get down a little farther on other lenses, and I'm fine with where I got with it that day at f4.

Dennis, what is the location of the posted A1 with "cinefuse 3" footage that you mentioned above? Thanx

The link is in "limited distribution" form the cinevate site. I figured I should at least read the XH-A1 manual before releasing footage to the wild :-) Now that I've figured out at least a few of the myriad of shooting options/settings with the cam, I'll be redoing the footage based on the new settings. There's still some time needed with the cam attached to an HD monitor, but I will have footage done this weekend. I shot the aforementioned clip with the cam literally out of the box...and although I'm quite happy with the footage, I knew it could be improved on.

Dennis, does the XH-A1 have a progressive 24p mode?

It does do 24 frames/sec, however technically it is not progressive...it's frame mode. There is a very slight res hit over 1080P, but the general consensus is that no one can tell the difference viewing the footage. With the presets that Chris just posted up (the cam and SD card can store 29 of them) you have control over 23 recording specifications. Former DVX users have already tweaked the cam to emulate the look of their old fav. and I expect there will be a large collection of presets posted up in short order.

The XH-A1 is basically the XL-H1 without SDI and a removable lens.

Dennis,

I was filming in the street in the evening with the Brevis and the HVX for the doco series and someone stopped me and asked if I was using a 35mm adaptor! I gave him your website details!

I did have some pulsing in the background of an interview, cant work out why. Could flourescent lights have caused it? I had to run the Brevis without motor. Unfortunately got all sorts of bits of grit and a couple of hairs in the shot now. Damn

I am meeting up with Wayne Kinney of SGpro fame at the weekend for a 3 way shootout between the M2, Brevis and of course the SGPro. I expect we will start a new thread once we have done it and have results and examples for people to see.

Phil,
Should be an interesting day, looking forward to it!

It should be an interesting day for sure! :)

Thanks a lot in advance Phil and Wayne.

We really need to find a GG gold standard.

That's the biggest difference between all these lower cost adapters.

Maybe I'll start working on it when my adapter comes in...

We really need to find a GG gold standard.

That's the biggest difference between all these lower cost adapters.

Maybe I'll start working on it when my adapter comes in...
Golly, you think the M2, Brevis and SGpro are low cost? *shivers*

well actually I suppose they are compared to the P+S, but still....

I agree Ben. When I began this project, it was supposed to be a $500 adapter. However, there's a magic balance between cost, and a professionalish (just made my own word) tool.

Btw, just posted XHA1 footage here. (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=81214)

We really need to find a GG gold standard.

That's the biggest difference between all these lower cost adapters.

Maybe I'll start working on it when my adapter comes in...


Golly, you think the M2, Brevis and SGpro are low cost? *shivers*

well actually I suppose they are compared to the P+S, but still....

Lower, not low. ;)

Shot some lovely, lovely stuff with the Brevis today. Up until today I have been using the Redrock for most of the interviews with a nice 500watt Rifa as a key. Today I was in a homeless shelter and there was no way I could set up my light so I had to use available. So I used the Brevis for all the stuff today.

This is one seriously good adaptor. I screwed it on to my HVX200 and I was ready to shoot in 60 seconds, no fiddling like the M2. But best of all I was able to use available light with no gain and it looked awesome. I don't mean awesome in the oversused American way where anything that is OK is awesome. This truly was AWESOME!

I got a beautiful bokeh and was able to get some absolutely terrific images. My mount is working fine now, although I still expect to get Dennis Wood's revised mount any day now. The pulsating I got the other day was because I stupidly had it on the wrong shutter speed that was matching the vibration of the GG, am new to the HVX so didn't realise it was on initially, wondered why it wasn't as bright as it should have been!

The M2 is a terrific tool, for getting lovely film like images. But you need time. I am shooting a doco series and the Brevis is perfect for quick set up times and a wonderful filmic image. Pair it with 720p on the HVX and you have a perfect setup. It truly looks a million dollars.

Sunday will be very interesting indeed seeing the SGPRO. But for just ease of setup and quality of images you can't beat the Brevis. I love my M2, and if I have time to light stuff I will still use it. Each one has a different look and are useful tools for different occasions.

Phil, I think you'll like the C3 diffuser. The new Nikon mounts are night and day better too :-)

Wayney Kinney and I met up today for our "shootout" between the M2, Brevis and SGpro. Results were very interesting.

Time permitting I hope to post the comparisons here soon.

The sooner, the better.

Phil....Lucky you explained your use of the word "Awesome" otherwise I would have thought that you meant it was just "OK".

Dennis....I saw the footage posted from your Brevis+CanonA1 and it looks very nice.
I have a neighbor that looks almost identical to the man in your sample clips.

Glad to be of help with my use of the American language ;-)

Having dated an American woman for a while I know when awesome actually meant, yeah you were OK!

I liked Spud!