[David Forrester]

For what it is worth. I studied this issue years ago and snubbed the Letus adapter. Why? The Letus is too expensive. 2: It has a rotating disc or a vibrating disc and the image is definitely affected. 3: The image has quality and resolution losses and with an already marginal HDV image, you want all the help you can get – not a lesser amount. 4: Get a Sony FS100, the image clearly outperforms a Z7 (I have the Z5 as well – so have some understanding of your dilemma).

The Pros and Cons: For the FS100 you need to get good optics – most still lenses work very well – choose them carefully; The Z series has 12 or 20X zoom, ND’s. The Z7 has HDV – not the best. PROS with FS100: You will have AVCHD a far better codec than HDV; more choices in paint settings; choice of any optics your heart desires; more sensor latitude; outboard recording; shallow depth of field, but not extreme as in a FF sensor (my Canon 5D is a pain in the ass to follow focus up close with a f 1.4 or 2 opening), but on the FS100, a S35 sensor, the balance is perfect.

It really was a DSLR killer and it has met with great popularity. Some even claim it approaches the F3. This might be a time to upgrade.

Then there is also the KiPro Mini external recorder that can give you better results for the Z7 – but that is a $2,000-$3,000 add on when you look at rod rail support, battery, charger and CF cards. The KiPro will output 1920 x 1080, 10 bit, 4:2:2 in Apple ProRes (4 qualities) or AVID (3 qualities) from either camera, but it reads from an 8 bit source. HDV is 1440 x 1080, 8 bit, 4:2:0 – not the best. AVCHD is 1920 x 1080; 8 bit; 4:2:0 and can record 60 fps in HD – better. The Kipro reads the sensor with your paint profiles and records to high qualities with 422 color space. You might not see much improvement upon immediate review – but when you start to edit it in post – that is when the magic happens – clean clear shots and it stays that way. No banding, better resolution etc. but does nothing for shallow DoF – which is a camera issue. So there is an option.

At the end of the day, if you want really good stuff, and a pleasant DoF, the formula is: S35 sensor; good camera; high quality output > the KiPro or equivalent. And a nice touch: the KiPro gives you 2 extra audio analog inputs or 8 more via SDI which is nice.

Lots to think about.

Cheers,
Take 5