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Activity › Forums › Panasonic Cameras › HVX200 Letus Extreme “AMONG US” short

  • Lars Wikstrom

    December 31, 2007 at 6:46 am

    Thanks for posting this. I use the M2 by RedRock to get the same type of DOF. Do you have any experience using the M2 to compare the 2?

    You have the same lenses I do and that answered one of my questions with your 24mm. On my M2 using the 24mm I have a slight vin-yet (How ever it is spelled) where I have a slightly brighter center and darker edges. I can see the same results as I get in your fist 2 opening shots with your 24mm in the skyline.

    The other would be if the Letus Extreme is over all bright then the M2?

    Your shots look great by the way, good job. Clean and Sharp

    Thanks,

    -Lars

  • Emre Tufekci s.o.a.

    December 31, 2007 at 11:43 am

    Hey Lars,

    I have not used the letus extreme but I do know the light loss is .5 stops (hvx 200 rates at 200-250 asa) as opposed to 1.5 stop loss with redrock (100 ASA).

    There are many reasons why you might be getting vignetting, its hard to diagnose without knowing your set up and achromat but, lack of edge to edge sharpness is very common with the M2.

    Letus extreme also has an upright image which is quite a help.

    Hope this helps.

    Emre
    http://www.productionpit.com
    Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avidexpress HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Steadicam OP/Owner.

    “Creative cow is udder madness.”

  • Douglas Villalba

    December 31, 2007 at 1:00 pm

    Hi Lars,

    Emre answer most of your questions, but I’ll tell you what I know about the M2.

    My friend owns one. We shot a commercial with it and even with a truck of lights is was hard to use it without putting the gain up to 6 dbs. In real life it looses 2 f stops do to the lenses maximun aperture of f 2.8.

    The edge to edge focus is very hard to achieve, and vignette is also a problem.

    With the Letus you don’t have this problems, but you get a whole set of different problems. Using an f stop higher that f 5,6 will in most cases causes a noise pattern. I don’t know what causes it, but it is there. So that means that if you need to close the DOF to get more into focus you have to use another method but you can’t go past f 5,6 without paying the price.

    The good news is that there is way around it. With the Letus on my HVX200 I can zoom from 18.8 mm to full 55 mm without loosing quality. That means that were I would need a 50 mm to get the shot I need, but need more DOP that I am getting at f 5,6 then I could use a 24 mm and zoom the camera from 20 mm (my standard zoom setting) to 40 mm and get the same angle. The extra DOP is achieved also because the 24 mm infinity is a little further than 5 feet.

    Another no no with Letus is speeds higher that 1/120th of second. At higher speeds you stop down the vibrating GG so then you see the GG grain pattern.

    I haven’t found a solution for that so far. It is not a big deal for me because in most cases I stay at 180′ (1/48th second)

    That friend of mine that owns the M2, bought the Letus and to solve the Letus deficiencies also bought the SG and a new Letus attachment to convert the M2 and SG to a flip.

    Earlier this year at NAB Redrock Micro was displaying a flip for the M2, but so far they haven’t release it. They are provably working on some new technology. I know that thet build nice equipment so they are provably waiting to have something perfect before they release it.

    I hope this helps.

    Douglas Villalba

    https://www.dvtvproductions.com

    dvillalba@dvtvproductions.com

    G5 QUAD 4.5 GB RAM, Decklink HD Extreme, HVX200, FX1, A1 & HV20

  • Lars Wikstrom

    December 31, 2007 at 9:34 pm

    Thanks for the reply. Edge focus has not been a problem for me but I totally hear you about bringing in a truck load of lights and still need to bump the gain to 6db. I had to do this on my last shoot. My big problem with the 24mm is the brighter center and the vignette that it causes. Looking at your second shoot I can see almost the same results that I get in the skyline.

    I wonder how they get the .5 loss vs the almost 2.0 light loss on the M2. I have heard from someone else that they tried on the Letus and it was brighter then the M2, a major plus for switching.

    Is there any noise or vibration felt / heard from the Letus? I am so curious to test it out before I buy one.

    If you can get a hold of the M2 and do a head to head with same lighting, lenses and post the 2 that would be great. I know a lot of people are wondering.

    -Lars

  • Emre Tufekci s.o.a.

    January 2, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    If I am not mistaken Letus has a 14 day no questions asked return policy. You might want to check it out from letus.

    Emre
    http://www.productionpit.com
    Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avidexpress HD w/Mojo,UVW-1800,DSR-25, Adobe Premium CS3.Steadicam OP/Owner.

    “Creative cow is udder madness.”

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