Movie Tube
 

Just got a reply from the MOVIE TUBE GUYS....looks like it will be way more expensive than the Mini35....I think I will just continure to save for the Mini35. :o(


(HERE IS THE EMAIL)
Hello Tyson Thomas,

thanks for your interest in our product MOVIEtube.
The next shipping date for MOVIEtube Pro is autumn this year. 4 MOVIEtubes Pro are already sold. Shots of MOVIEtube will be published in the web soon.
The price for the MOVIEtube Pro will be 14500.00 Euro. The price for the MOVIEtube LT about 7500.00 Euro. If you are interest to buy one please contact us via mail.
Thanks again for your interest
Best regards

Team MOVIEtube

Holy cow, 7500e just for the LT? What the heck are they thinking? Wonder what the point is of having an LT.

Yeah, I think this thing just went from "must see" to "DOA".

I agree, I was thinking they found a way to make this cheaper to sell for a way lower price, just to steal all the buyers from the Mini35. But who the heck wants to pay a higher price when the Mini35 is already superior. Also, ZGC's customer service is so incredible...they are willing to stay on the phone for as long as it takes to answer any questions about the Mini35. They also help you find used ones if the new ones are too expensive. Oh well...MOVIETUBE...what are thinking!!!!

Hmmm...that actually seems like a comparable price. Consider that the LT offers essentially the same features as the Mini35, it's a fair comparison (the Pro adds accessories and bracketry not found on either). And the price for a Mini35 setup hovers in the $9-10K USD range, just like the Movietube LT. Since no-one has apparently seen the Movietube, no judgement can be made about its performance. If it were to offer better (sharper, smoother) images or improved transmission (i.e. works in lower light), then obviously there could be a case made in its favor. As far as a cheaper version, apparently that is up to the homebuilders. It may surprise many to realize this but considering the R&D, tooling, overhead, promotional costs and above all the limited numbers of units sold, the margin on these types of items is not all that great.

Well, yeah, but...

Worldwide, ZGC has sold how many mini35's? A few hundred maybe? Yet there's tens of thousands of posts over in the homemade forum about the Agus/Aldu adapters. It's obvious that there's quite a lot of pent-up demand, but at the mini35 price point, very few customers. So MovieTube wants to come in and charge more?

At $1500 they might have sold several thousand units. At $15,000... well, I guess we'll see how it turns out. But as someone said before, ZGC is just great -- Mizell is totally the bomb. It will be tough to compete against them, especially with a comparably-to-higher-priced product.

Barry: there me tons of posts here and lots of people wanting
35mm adaptors, lenses and whatnot. I actually doubt many will
make one, buy one or actually use one.

A lot of it (no offense to anyone!) seems to be "cool to have".
Let's see:

1) How many people on this board have actually build an Agus/Aldu or similar 35mm adaptor?

2) How many people have seriously looked and bought lenses for it?

3) How many people have actually used the device to shoot a movie?

Talking about a technology is not buying or using it! I see the
same thing happening with the custom camera's we are trying
to build. Everyone wants / needs HD and a lot seem to want
1080p. I don't think a lot of people understand how much it will
actually cost in both time and money to develop such a system.

And then I would like to see how many people actually are going
to use such systems.

To get back on topic. From what I've heard shooting with the
mini35 is a much tougher job than plain DV. Due to knowledge
of lenses, smaller DOF, less light (need to add light and thus gear)
etc. etc.

So if they make an adaptor for a low price. How many will actually
sell? Perhaps quite a few in the beginning. But I suspect a lot
(50% or more?) of people will re-sell it second hand because I
doubt they understand what it takes to run such a system. The
market would probably collapse pretty soon?

Ofcourse I could be way off base here. But this is how I feel....

I think there must be a way for the big manufactures to produce a mini35 alternative as an option to their cameras. They should also be able to produce them for significantly less than 3rd party manufacturers. It's true that most people may not have a need for one, but it does solve one of the big dislikes for the dv format. If Canon or Panasonic came up with such an adapter for their cameras - I would buy into their system on that basis alone.

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : Barry: there me tons of posts here and lots of people wanting
35mm adaptors, lenses and whatnot. I actually doubt many will
make one, buy one or actually use one.

A lot of it (no offense to anyone!) seems to be "cool to have".
Let's see:

1) How many people on this board have actually build an Agus/Aldu or similar 35mm adaptor?

2) How many people have seriously looked and bought lenses for it?

3) How many people have actually used the device to shoot a movie?
-->>>

Rob, I agree with basically everything you say. I'd just point out that a lot of what you say would also apply to the camera itself... how many people have gone out and bought a DVX or an XL1, and then they try to save a dollar or two by using cheap tape or Home Depot worklights?

I think the "cool to have" factor is much more prevalent than a lot of people might want to admit. Not just for the adapter, but for the camera itself.

The thing that gets me is, so many people would complain about the DVX not offering autofocus in progressive mode... what are they going to say/do when they realize that when you use one of these adapters, you lose all autofocus, all auto-iris, all sorts of functions disappear. Accurate focus will be nearly impossible without a quality CRT monitor -- how many will get that, at $1200+?

Even so, I think there's a whole slew of interested "wanna-be's" (for lack of a better term), but I'm sure there's a relatively large market of pro's doing commercials, corporates, and indie films, who would all want access to a mini35 type of device, but who don't want to pay $10,000 for it. If it was a professionally-designed unit that delivered mini35-caliber results, and worked with still-camera lenses, and was priced at $1500, I know I'd buy one today, and I can think of probably five or six other guys in my field who would place the order the same day (and that's just guys I know in this relatively small market video town). I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of pro shooters across the country who would want/use one of these. I used the mini35 and I think it's a fabulous piece of equipment, and the look it delivers is phenomenal -- but I'm not going to pay $10,000 for it, and there's noplace anywhere near me who rents it. But for $1500, I'd buy it outright today, and be thrilled. At $2500, I'd probably still buy it, although I might gripe a little. But there's no way I'd pour $10,000 into it, when an SPX800 is selling at a retail of $19,800... it just doesn't make sense.

Interesting NEWS:

Today I got the MovieTube PRO in my hands! Is is a real amazing piece of workmanship.
It is one of four prototypes located in the area around Stuttgart, Germany.

I hope I can present some pictures an testshots soon.

dietmar

Dietmar:

That's exciting news! Please post information as soon as possible (I'm inches away from a Mini35 purchase...). The bottom line is, given the similarity in pricing for the Mini35 and the MovieTube LT, which one delivers a better image and or more efficient transmission (light loss)? Understood that the PRO has additional support but the same "engine"/image quality.

Dietmar,
as charles said, that is great news. I am also at the point of purchasing the Mini35. I look forward to seeing some footage from the MT. Is it true that the XL1 cannot be used with this system?

The prototype we use doesn't work with the XL-1 and doesn't work with the DVX100, too.

Today I atached a PD150, but with usual 35mm optics I had some kined of vignetting. Only with Highspeed optics this effect was less noticeable.

I'm very interesting in seeing the footage on a NLE, and take some framegrabs.

I keep you informed - but my second Impression was, that the PRO35 from PS ist much more practical.

dietmar

Dietmar,

whilst you are testing I would be interested to know the aperture range over which it gives useable results

thanks

I'll post more detailed information as soon as I have the footage and the report from the DOP.

dietmar