DOF adapters

[Stephen J. Williams]

Anyone shooting weddings with DOF adapters? They seem a little cumbersome but the footage looks amazing.
I just ordered the DIY M2 Guide from redrock. hopefully it will go together ok.

[Jason Magbanua]

Originally Posted by Stephen J. Williams

Anyone shooting weddings with DOF adapters? They seem a little cumbersome but the footage looks amazing.
I just ordered the DIY M2 Guide from redrock. hopefully it will go together ok.

Truly cumbersome. But truly awesome images.

I use them from time to time so does Still Motion. Ian Lim too for his engagement/save the date sessions.

[Ethan Cooper]

I just ordered one today for use on a bridal shoot in mid May. I'll have to play with it some to see if I think I can use it on a wedding day, but I think it should be just about perfect for a bridal shoot. We'll see. I'm a little nervous about he learning curve, but after seeing Ian Lim's latest wedding trailer I had to get one and try.
Why do I still get so excited about buying this kinda stuff?

[Jason Magbanua]

Because we're all techno geeks Ethan =)


What did you get and for which camera?

Learning curve is low. You know what you have to do, it's just telling your hand to turn at precise increments which is a killer.

good luck.

[Ethan Cooper]

I got a Letus Extreme and rails for use with a variety of cameras for a variety of applications, but for the shoot in May I'll be using it with a HV20 since I prefer to use my FX7 on the stedicam. I'm not worried about light sensitivity with the HV20/Letus combo since I'll be outside with it most of the time anyway for this shoot. I figure that during a wedding the Letus setup will be used for exteriors, and any outside bride and groom stuff we're lucky enough to get the day of. I don't imagine I'll get much out of that setup indoors since you have the double whammy of light loss through the adaptor and poor low light performance of the HV20. We'll see.

If I fall in love with the adaptor, I'll keep it around for future gear upgrades which hopefully will include some new camera gear that is better in low light. I'm actually kinda hoping Sony or Canon surprises us at NAB with a decent low light and affordable (under $3500) camera. If something like that comes along I can see a world where I'm using the adaptor a great deal. Until then it'll have to be a specialty device for when the right situation presents itself.

Of course all this is said as someone who hasn't tried the gear out yet. It's just what I'm thinking going in.

[Jason Magbanua]

you mentioned for a variety of cameras. I don't have the extreme yet but isn't one model specifically for use with just one camera (or at least with the same diameter).

correct me if i'm wrong but it wasn't the mini you ordered? how are you hooking it up to the HV.

Thanks. Need to ask cause I'm on the verge of getting a mini.

[Ethan Cooper]

Jason,
I decided against the Mini because it's only designed to work with the smaller HV20 sized cameras. Only the LEX was designed to be used with both the larger and smaller cameras. I also plan on upgrading my gear in the coming year or two depending on what is released and would prefer to have an adaptor that was scalable upward.
The only place I see an advantage for the Mini is that when paired with the smaller cameras and a lightweight lens you can probably get away with going handheld.

As far as I understand it, all you need to make the LEX work with cameras of different sizes are the proper step-up (or is it stepdown) rings. I think. Maybe.
**EDIT**
I see on the Letus site that they sell special kits for the HVX200 and EX1 but these appear to consist of a step-up ring and replacement achromat that attach to the LEX. I'm contacting Letus tomorrow to see if I need to order anything specific to pair it to my cameras. I don't see this being a problem.

If you know you only want to use it with your HV20, then the Mini is probably the better choice for you.

[Jason Magbanua]

Thanks Ethan,

Please let us know waht Letus tells you. Getting the mini is very limiting. And It's almost as expensive.

[Ethan Cooper]

Sometimes limiting isn't such a bad thing. How does the old saying go? Jack of all trades, master of none.

It appears to me that the LEX has a native thread size of 72mm and that you can buy step-up rings directly from Letus that take it to 77mm or 82mm.
I'm assuming to make it fit my smaller cameras that I'd do the opposite and buy step-down rings to fit my camera's threads. I guess.

[Ian Lim]

Way to go, Ethan! :D

[Ethan Cooper]

Thanks Ian, it's all cause of you big guy. At least that's what I'll say when it all goes terribly wrong and my wife is steaming mad. You ever had 100lbs of angry Cajun woman attack you before? It's not pretty.

And Jason I'm probably wont hear back form the guys at Letus till tomorrow, but it does appear that you just need the proper step-down rings to fit whatever camera you are using. For the HV20 it takes 3 rings.... unless you wander over to Cinevate's site and order their 2 piece 43-72mm ring. Gotta love message boards and web searches. I'd never find this stuff otherwise.

I hope I don't regret ordering all this stuff before NAB.

[Patrick Moreau]

Like Jason mentioned, we use adapters quite a bit. In fact, most weddings have two for use throughout the day. They certainly are cumbersome but that factor goes way down as you get used to them. We use the brevis with flip/rails/follow focus and it is a very solid setup that is good handheld or tripod mounted. The footage is certainly worth the hassle.

We have two recent clips on our blog that have quite a bit of brevis footage:
1. a La Vegas photographer shoot out that is about a week old
2. a trailer I am posting now from a wedding we shot in Cali this weekend

Why is it that nobody seems to have heard of Brevis? It is in the same range, has excellent optics, very low light loss, and is very solid.

Patrick

[Yang Wen]

I think if you are able to manage the adapters it is a solid advantage over your competitors given that such things are not very common right now. As people mentioned, the image you get from them are a league of their own and can only make your work stand out from your competitors. That is, if you use them properly like the Ian and Patrick and all the other great work we've seen done with them.

[Patrick Moreau]

The question I still haven't answered is whether the client notices a difference when we use the adapter. I have been using these for about a year and I'm still not sure how many couples really notice- but it does make a substantially better product in my eyes, so that is why we stick with them. The full body-mounted steadicam makes big difference to our production and clients always mention loving that footage right away.

Patrick

[Ethan Cooper]

Well now you've opened up a big philosophical question that runs through my mind all the time. At what point does the client no longer notice the extra effort given be it using a complex system like a Brevis or Letus or hours of extra color correction and audio clean up. In my mind I've come to the conclusion that a lot of what we do is subconscious to the general public who is viewing our work. They may not know or understand why a stedicam's motion draws them into a piece, appreciate the subtlety of selective focus, or comprehend the use of color to convey mood but they do understand that what you're doing is different and the work speaks to them on a deeper level because of all the effort. I do think that certain clients of mine get it and those are the ones I get excited about.

but it does make a substantially better product in my eyes

And you have a pretty darn good eye. I'd keep trusting that if I were you.

On a different topic I looked at the Brevis long and hard, but decided against it because it's even more cumbersome than the LEX once you add the flip module and all that. Ideally I would have selected the Letus Mini for it's size and weight in the hopes of foregoing rails all together since I much prefer to work handheld but for the reasons I stated before I went with the LEX.
When you're working with your Brevis handheld, are you just holding the unit by the rails or do you have some other type of device to aide in this?