A1 and the letus35A
 

Ok, so here are 2 indoors tests I did with the XH-A1 and the Letus35A.
Technical information:
- Shutter 1/50
- 25F
- Iris f2.0
- Lenses Nikon 50mm f1.8 and 28mm f1.8

http://rapidshare.com/files/6614892/...us35A.mpg.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/6617051/...5A_BW.mpg.html

Tomorrow I’m going to try to duplicate these exact same shots using the A1’s stock lens.

P.S – I’m having problems with my monitor. Stuff shows up ok on premiere and then it looks different in some other media players. I really don’t know what is right and what is wrong. Some places it looks overexposed and some places it looks exposed just right. I can’t really tell what will show up for you guys (the heavy mpeg2 compression doesn’t help either).

P.S#2 - I hate using 35mm adapter indoors!

Links don't work... :-(

Does anyone know what is the best way to post large files without loosing too much quality to compression? I see Disjecta posting 3 minute HD quicktimes that are like 60mb. Whenever I try something like this I end up with a 300mb monster file. So I end up having to post crappy DIVX that are not really worthy of evaluation.

I just tried them right now and they are working. When you click on it it redirects you to another link where you have to choose between "free" or "premium". You click on "free" and then you'll see a clock going backwards with the remaining time it will take for you to receive the file.

Recently, I see he (Steven Dempsey) was posting in Windows Media high definition files, that looked tremendous. So he is evolving things. On the PC side, I know I got better renders of Quicktime files by using the Quicktime Pro upgrade.. Never have been able to do anything decent with the Premiere Quicktime renders. Always got a washed out look. I tried uping contrast with some success, and I am sure the guys that do this regularly have learned a trick to do it....

I'm using premiere pro. I'm trying to export a quicktime file now but it always looks more pasty than the original file. I read around the forum this is common issue. i'm trying different codecs to see what can be done.

The problem with windows media is that not everybody will be able to see on the internet.

Non color corrected HDV version right here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/6639182/...us35A.wmv.html

Sorry, mac-dudes...windows media.

Man, Rafael, that's too close! Love the wide-angle in your corridor though. What kind of lenses do you use (especially in the last shot)?

Steven

the Lenses were a Nikon 50mm f1.8 and a 28mm f1.8. If the weather is good the day after tomorrow I'm planning test the A1+Letus outside...where it usually displays it's best results.

Can you get rid of the corner vignetting?

About that, I don't if it was too dark for me to notice it or it simply didn't show on the lcd. I only saw it on the pc. Actually if you display the footage on a tv screen you won't see it.

double post

Hi Rafael. I don't see the backwards clock, just this message and a table of charges:

"You have reached the download-limit for free-users. Want to download more?"

Nothing against your video, which of course I haven't seen, but I'd rather not pay to download it, thanks.

Richard

Doesn't the A1 have underscan on the lcd?

That is really weird. I just clicked the link right now and it gives me the option to download for free or to create an acount.

Rafael, by any chance was your footage shot with the Letus Flip Enhanced?

And would the Letus Flip Enhanced be the best Letus adapter to pair with the A1, given the camera's inability to flip the LCD image? Is there any image quality loss due to the flip this Letus performs?

Hi Ben, I used the regular Letus35A. I cannot say for sure, but I read a couple of time that the letus flip looses more light and it's almost as big as the Sony FX1 (I'm quoting Mcgregor here), which limits your movements and forces you to work with a tripod or a heavy duty steadicam. I bought a steady stick and it handles the A1+Letus35A+heavy lens very well (it's able to handle 30 pounds).
As for quality loss I can say the image certainly gets softer than the original and I also notice a bit of barrel distortion on the edges. But other than that it works like a charm. It looses more light than the brevis35 and the M2, but hey, these 2 adapters are almost triple the letus's price.

Thanks Rafael, good to know. So how do you plan on flipping the image?

Also, I have seen and held the Flip Enhanced. I'd say it's around 5-6 inches (13-15cm) thick without a lens, and doesn't weigh more than a pound or two (uh, I don't want to convert that to metric!). So unless I'm mistaken it's nowhere near FX1 size.

Do you still think it sounds like it'd be hard to use with the A1?

I think the image flip is done with a prism, and according to the website "light loss is about 1.5 stop plus SLR lens' light loss." Is this too much light loss, in your opinion?

On ebay you can find lots of really cheap portable monitor that flip the image you can hook up on the A1 (you can easily find one for 50$).

As for the letusflip, in my opinion is too big and heavy for hand held shots. It would put way too much stress on the camera's thread. And besides, if you ad f1.5 stops light loss to say a f1.8 lens we are already talking about more than f3 light loss. With the regular letus you minimize that to f2.5.

Thanks again Rafael.

I am really hoping Canon will update the firmware to provide an LCD/CCD image flip. Coupled with a Letus 35A - wouldn't that be a winning combination.

No problemo. I'm crossing my fingers for Canon to read all these posts all over the web about a flip lcd function. It would sure make a lot of people's lives easier. But I gotta tell you, THE one thing I really miss about my ex-FX1 is the huge ass LCD. That thing was amazing. The A1's feels like a toy lcd compared to the one the FX1's...but all the rest the other way around ;-)