AX100 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter: possible? at DVinfo.net

Piotr Wozniacki · June 10th, 2015, 03:41 AM

As some of you guys may know, I'm after a series of unsuccessful neck spine surgeries (my spinal cord is still pressed on - cervical stenosis), so I'm unable to handle the rig I have gathered over the last several years. I'm trying to sell it in order to recover at least partially the money I had invested, but in the case of the Letus 35mm adapter I used to use with my EX1 (in order to create DOF compatible with my other S35 camera, the Fs100), selling it is almost impossible now when everyone can have shallow DOF using DSLR or a large sensor video camera :( Therefore I've been thinking if - assuming I will buy myself an AX100 or JVC 200 camera (4k for being future proof), both 62mm filter thread - it would be possible to use my Canon FD vintage glass with the Letus 35mm adapter fixed to it? I know it may sound like a silly idea, but considering the JVC's 4k is 150 Mbps it looks a nice cam, albeit with a small sensor - would be nice to transform it to 35mm camera with a Letus (same with the AX-100, only the advantages of using the Letus would be smaller as it already has this large 1" sensor)...

What do you guys think - is it possible at all? At least the cash invested in the Letus would not be totally wasted! Opinions welcome:)

Piotr

Piotr Wozniacki · June 11th, 2015, 01:44 AM

OK - I understand well why nobody's even interested in this subject; the 35mm adapter's era is gone and forgotten. But since I already have one (and it's almost impossible to sell for a price that would satisfy me a bit), along with nice vintage glass - I'm seriously thinking about testing it with the Sony AX100, X70 or JVC HM200 (all of these 4k cameras have 62mm thread lenses).

I talked to LetusDirect and they say it's totally possible - the only thing I need is a 62mm thread ring, which - in its Letus Elite version - cost $100 plus shipping. Of course Letus would never say that, but perhaps some of you guys knows whether a general purpose step-up ring from 62mm to 77mm (the size of achromat in the Letus) would suffice to connect the Letus with any of those 3 cameras?

Such a general purpose ring I could buy locally for an equivalent of some $5-10, so the risk in case the results are not satisfactory would be none. Whereas $100 plus shipment from the US to Poland is going to be a serious investment for such an uncertain experiment... What do you think?

John Mitchell · June 11th, 2015, 09:17 AM

Piotr - i think whether the ax100 would focus correctly through the achromat on the projected image is really the only question. However at f4 on a 1" sensor you can still achieve decent DOF and I'm not sure given your stenosis adding all that extra weight to the front of a handycam would be ideal..
But for $5 -$10 certainly worth a look..

June 10th, 2015, 03:41 AM	#1
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	AX100 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter: possible? As some of you guys may know, I'm after a series of unsuccessful neck spine surgeries (my spinal cord is still pressed on - cervical stenosis), so I'm unable to handle the rig I have gathered over the last several years. I'm trying to sell it in order to recover at least partially the money I had invested, but in the case of the Letus 35mm adapter I used to use with my EX1 (in order to create DOF compatible with my other S35 camera, the Fs100), selling it is almost impossible now when everyone can have shallow DOF using DSLR or a large sensor video camera :( Therefore I've been thinking if - assuming I will buy myself an AX100 or JVC 200 camera (4k for being future proof), both 62mm filter thread - it would be possible to use my Canon FD vintage glass with the Letus 35mm adapter fixed to it? I know it may sound like a silly idea, but considering the JVC's 4k is 150 Mbps it looks a nice cam, albeit with a small sensor - would be nice to transform it to 35mm camera with a Letus (same with the AX-100, only the advantages of using the Letus would be smaller as it already has this large 1" sensor)... What do you guys think - is it possible at all? At least the cash invested in the Letus would not be totally wasted! Opinions welcome:) Piotr __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

June 11th, 2015, 01:44 AM	#2
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Re: AX100 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter: possible? OK - I understand well why nobody's even interested in this subject; the 35mm adapter's era is gone and forgotten. But since I already have one (and it's almost impossible to sell for a price that would satisfy me a bit), along with nice vintage glass - I'm seriously thinking about testing it with the Sony AX100, X70 or JVC HM200 (all of these 4k cameras have 62mm thread lenses). I talked to LetusDirect and they say it's totally possible - the only thing I need is a 62mm thread ring, which - in its Letus Elite version - cost $100 plus shipping. Of course Letus would never say that, but perhaps some of you guys knows whether a general purpose step-up ring from 62mm to 77mm (the size of achromat in the Letus) would suffice to connect the Letus with any of those 3 cameras? Such a general purpose ring I could buy locally for an equivalent of some $5-10, so the risk in case the results are not satisfactory would be none. Whereas $100 plus shipment from the US to Poland is going to be a serious investment for such an uncertain experiment... What do you think? __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

June 11th, 2015, 09:17 AM	#3
John Mitchell Contributor Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 873	Re: AX100 and Letus Elite 35mm adapter: possible? Piotr - i think whether the ax100 would focus correctly through the achromat on the projected image is really the only question. However at f4 on a 1" sensor you can still achieve decent DOF and I'm not sure given your stenosis adding all that extra weight to the front of a handycam would be ideal.. But for $5 -$10 certainly worth a look..