Should I save up for an XHA1 or a Letus Mini?
 

I've got two HV20s and I'm wondering - should I save up for a XHA1 as my next big purchase or go with a Letus Mini adapter. I really like the 35mm look, especially for documentary interview shoots, but I'm a little worried about grain being introduced at low light - and of course, the Letus 35 will increase the Fstop by .5...

Both.
 

Get whichever one enables you to make the most money and distinctive material on imminent shoots so that you can then buy the other.

You clearly want them both.

Jus.

Ah, well, see, that's the problem.

I've yet to make a single dime on my video work. I went straight into documentaries (my education is in journalism, my job in marketing - I needed something to scratch the itch) and even if I do eventually sell my big feature, that's a turnaround time of years.

In fact, I think one of the reasons I'm antszy for a new toy is that it's been so long since I had an excuse to go out on a shoot, working almost entirely in post-production for months.

Spend some money on lights?

Yes, the lighting has more impact than a shallow DOF.

There are many award winning docs shot on 1/3" cameras without adapters. Personally, I'd buy the best camera for my money. If you want to soften the background, use some Hampshire Frost in a frame behind the interviewee.

That would be great, but unfortunately, I do most of my work on documentaries.

While it's great to get people into a studio where you can control the lighting and spend hours lighting the scenes just right, I'm often in situations where the person I'm interviewing only has an hour to do everything, I'm working with just myself or with myself and one other person, and it's in their office or something like that. I use a bounce-board when and where I can, lighting when I have the time.

But for most cases, I absolutely cannot control the lighting. It is one of those things that is outside my ability to control. Which is why I seriously want to try picking up a 3CCD camera if possible.

A 35mm adapter, on the other hand, works great for one-on-one interviews... I may not be able to control the lighting but it wouldn't be too much of a problem to control the DOF. I'm a bit ticked off, for example, that a whole lot of the time I've got backgrounds in my interviews which are in focus and thus are a bit distracting.

Ideally, I would get both. I suppose I'll just save up money to do exactly that - buy everything at once: the XHA1, the Letus Extreme, and some new sound equipment.

Maybe I should quit my job and go into videography full time... except I hate weddings.

Just curious - how come you got TWO HV20s when you are so much in need of other gear? No offence... :-)

Do legal depositions. So much more fun! :)