just got it. Will try it out over the week

also check out this http://web.mac.com/philip.bloom/Bloo..._Roadshow.html

you can see me AND buy me drinks. How cool is that?

UPS admit picking it up and losing it. Ho Hum. Got a loan unit finally

Letus to Announce Ultimate for Sale
 

Just heard that Letus is going to post the Ultimate for sale on their site tonight with some other goodies.

I just posted 3 new blog entires with the infamous "Ultimate Autopsy" as one of those entries. Check out the inner workings of the Ultimate. @
http://web.mac.com/stevecahill/Steve...e_Autopsy.html

Oh man. I'm tempted to use my credit card now....

It does look nice, but $4500 is a ball buster, the internals looks like the adaptor cost wise
to manufacture around $500...

Looks like a great opertunity from that Company in India copying all the other video goodies
and putting them on Ebay to be able to copy the Ultimate and sell it for less than $1000 ...

You may be correct in that assumption, but you have to find all the parts, spec them and or manufacture them. The time to do all this is $$$. Not to mention copyright issues, patents, intellectual property of Letus and taking food from the table of the inventors.

I challange you to purchase the adapter and then supply a list of the vendors that manufacture the parts that make up the Ultimate. Not a easy task.

Wow Steve, that is one hell of a video! So sharp! unfortunately i'm never gonna be able to afford one =(

Yes its a great clip, and the adaptor seems to work perfectly. But the price is way over the top for the majority of shooters on here. I personally feel they are alienating many of their customers by charging so much for it.

Sell 200 at $4500 = $900,000, or sell 2000 at $1800 = $3,600,000

Keep the price down and make bigger bucks.

Steve

Yes, I'm not condoning the practice, but its not hard to see that India and China do this type of stuff every day....

If your in the manufacturing business its not hard at all to find all of the pieces you need
for this setup...

In my industry there are " second source " companies that come around every week with
exact copies of hardware that are very very hard to produce, offering the second source
product at drasticly reduced prices... it suprises me how good some companies are at reverse engineering.

If the Ultimate was being offered at a price point where a second source company could not
make much of a profit then it wouldn't be such an easy choice for a knockoff as the profit
margin wouldn't be enough incentive...

But with a price differential of $4500 assembly to ~ $500 in parts... I think you get the picture... I'm betting it wont take long...

Steve nice piece on Life Lion they are great people.

When you used the Century Fisheye in the chopper was it on the EX1? And no problems? I am ready to order and your video could push me over.

I actually think the price differential helps to separate the men from the boys, so to speak. When everyone and their cousin can afford this high quality gear, it becomes a little harder to sell yourself. Not all clients can differentiate the value of a skilled craftsman, so if Joe Bob can deliver HD video content to their cousin for 1/5 of what I charge, just because he has an HV20, or even an EX-1, it becomes a harder sell.

I just think that there are too many people on this board that expect the cost of entry to be low enough to allow everyone a chance to have the most professional gear available.

Does the Ultimate seem like a big price jump? You betcha? Will I buy one? Maybe. Its still a hell of a lot cheaper than a RED One or a P+S Technik, but if it really is the holy grail of adapters and if it can help to differentiate me from dozens of other owners with cheaper 35mm adapters in the area then it is worth the price.

My two cents.

BE

i am betting it will take long.

Have you seen the Redrock rip off from India? It is not good!

The problem most people have here is they are looking at it in comparison to the current price of the extreme, m2, brevis etc. This is for a different market, this is for the p & s, movietube pro market. If amateurs want to get it then up to them, it is leagues ahead of the rest. Once you use the Ultimate it is hard to go back.

If you cant afford it don't complain. This is a company who are not being greedy, they are branching out to a different market, if they were being greedy they would sell it for even more. The more it costs the more likely the rental market will snap it up as, this is the ridiculous part, things like this are only really taken seriously in that market over a certain price level.

Quality gear costs money. It is still dirt cheap compared to the opposition in the category yet still blows them away.

Seriously they aren't being greedy. These guys are ambitious, not greedy.

Phil,

In all fairness, it's easy to say that when you are able to get it for dirt cheap if not free from them.

If Letus gave me sick discounts and freebies, I would defend them to the death. Let's face it, 35mm adapters are really made for the low budget indie film makers. If you have the means and the money, you won't be buying a 35mm adapter. You will use a film camera or a Red. It's that simple. btw I don't agree with ps technik and movietube prices so don't think I'm just bashing letus.

I'm just tring to figure out how you can go from $1,500 to 5k and think you are going to market to the big wigs.

It's like what hyundai is trying to do with their gensis that is over 50k marketed to the upper class which will NEVER do well. Who would pay 50k for a Hyandai when they can get a bmw, audi, lexus...etc?


Just my 3 cents

I am very disappointed in the price considering I thought it was going to be like 3000-3500 durring NAB, knowing that usuallu NAB pricing usually drops a little by the time it reaches the street I was awaiting this instead of bying the Extreme per Phils input to just wait for the Ulimate, However am shocked at this new price... and Yes I agree Movietube price is pretty out there as well.... I just do not understand the pricing on these 35mm devices...Now that Red has been proven if you start to evaluate buying an EX1/3 and then buying a Letus Ultimate, then buying glass... you are walking a fine line on extra cost for a RED.

FWIW in realistic terms a RED One package is probably over 35k.