panasonic gs400 and the Letus32A at DVinfo.net

Jelle Poupaert · December 18th, 2005, 04:37 PM

Hi

I saw some posts where people requested some more video shot with the letus, so I thought I'd share some of mine:

http://s52.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...K181OKZ27KHWDO

This is in fact the first time I use the letus, I just got it last week. The first time it was sent to me, the ground glass fell out and broke somewhere on the way between the US and Europe so I had to send it back to Quyen, who immediatly offered to fix it! Great service!!

The video is really shaky because I'm turning the focus all the time like crazy, it is sooooooo difficult to frame nicely when everything is upside down in the viewfinder and trying to focus on what you want. I dont know if i'll ever get used to it. There's some of the edge of the ground glass visible, which didn't show during shooting but we all know in the meantime that the LCD has a safe area too. I used a canon fd 1.4 lens.

Anyway I have an amateur film project coming up and hopefully we'll have some more time to focus and frame the shots. With a tripod :-)

have fun!

ps. It's just a coincidence I filmed some in a lingerie shop, don't look for anything behind that :-)

Ken Lamug · December 18th, 2005, 04:45 PM

i have a gs250 and being that its a small camera, everytime i adjust the focus on the lens the video shakes! it is best if the optical stabilization is turned off... but still quite a challenge to keep the footage steady.

Carl Jakobsson · December 18th, 2005, 05:09 PM

I had the same problem with a NV-GS200. Fortunately, my adapter is very heavy so it compensates a bit... :)

Declan Smith · December 18th, 2005, 05:18 PM

I have the letus on the XL2 and also found that the video shakes when focussing. This is due to the letus outer body not being fixed to the thread that screws into the Camcorder lens, thus when you rotate the relatively stiff focus ring on the SLR lens, the letus moves around.

I guess the reason for this was to allow you to align the letus to your camera, but I sure wish there was a way to fix it once it was lined up. I found on a recent shoot that I had to tighten the tripod fully, hold the letus as still as I could with one hand whilst focussing with the other.

I'm sure this feedback will help Quyen improve the Letus, which is a fine adapter.

Ben Winter · December 18th, 2005, 05:40 PM

Rod support is your friend.

Declan Smith · December 18th, 2005, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben Winter

Rod support is your friend.

I agree. The SG35 comes with rods and is very smooth to use, makes all the difference to stability.

Jonny Dee · December 18th, 2005, 06:01 PM

I'm guess that you are using a 50 mm by the very shallow DOF. When i first got my letus that what I used aswell. It was frustrating sometimes to work with such a narrow lens so I decided to go out and spend a little more on nice fast 28mm. The shaking is much less noticable because the longer the focal length the more exagerated every little movement is. The DOF isn't quite as dramatic with it but still very good.

Ken Lamug · December 18th, 2005, 09:45 PM

unfortunately the Cavision miniDV rod support is out of stock at BHphoto and i have searched everywhere for an alternate option and yet have been able to find one. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated, as i'm sure cavision is not the only one that makes these universal rod supports (i hope).

Jelle Poupaert · December 20th, 2005, 06:05 AM

Did anyone find a nice solution to cover and protect the macro lens of the letus when it's not attached to the cam? Would a 58mm lens cap fit on the male thread?

Ken Lamug · December 20th, 2005, 06:29 PM

buy one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

it fits the letus and the 50mm lens perfectly with about 2" more space above. It is quite snug in there so it doesnt move. I'd just leave the lens on the letus since its the only place i really use that lens on. keeps it clean and dust free when not in use.

December 18th, 2005, 04:37 PM	#1
Jelle Poupaert New Boot Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 13	panasonic gs400 and the Letus32A Hi I saw some posts where people requested some more video shot with the letus, so I thought I'd share some of mine: http://s52.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...K181OKZ27KHWDO This is in fact the first time I use the letus, I just got it last week. The first time it was sent to me, the ground glass fell out and broke somewhere on the way between the US and Europe so I had to send it back to Quyen, who immediatly offered to fix it! Great service!! The video is really shaky because I'm turning the focus all the time like crazy, it is sooooooo difficult to frame nicely when everything is upside down in the viewfinder and trying to focus on what you want. I dont know if i'll ever get used to it. There's some of the edge of the ground glass visible, which didn't show during shooting but we all know in the meantime that the LCD has a safe area too. I used a canon fd 1.4 lens. Anyway I have an amateur film project coming up and hopefully we'll have some more time to focus and frame the shots. With a tripod :-) have fun! ps. It's just a coincidence I filmed some in a lingerie shop, don't look for anything behind that :-)

December 18th, 2005, 05:40 PM	#5
Ben Winter Trustee Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Hollywood, CA Posts: 1,675 Images: 1	Rod support is your friend. __________________ BenWinter.com

December 20th, 2005, 06:05 AM	#9
Jelle Poupaert New Boot Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 13	lens cover Did anyone find a nice solution to cover and protect the macro lens of the letus when it's not attached to the cam? Would a 58mm lens cap fit on the male thread?

December 18th, 2005, 04:45 PM	#2
Ken Lamug Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 45	i have a gs250 and being that its a small camera, everytime i adjust the focus on the lens the video shakes! it is best if the optical stabilization is turned off... but still quite a challenge to keep the footage steady.

December 18th, 2005, 05:09 PM	#3
Carl Jakobsson Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 122	I had the same problem with a NV-GS200. Fortunately, my adapter is very heavy so it compensates a bit... :)

December 18th, 2005, 05:18 PM	#4
Declan Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Gloucestershire, UK Posts: 187	I have the letus on the XL2 and also found that the video shakes when focussing. This is due to the letus outer body not being fixed to the thread that screws into the Camcorder lens, thus when you rotate the relatively stiff focus ring on the SLR lens, the letus moves around. I guess the reason for this was to allow you to align the letus to your camera, but I sure wish there was a way to fix it once it was lined up. I found on a recent shoot that I had to tighten the tripod fully, hold the letus as still as I could with one hand whilst focussing with the other. I'm sure this feedback will help Quyen improve the Letus, which is a fine adapter.

December 18th, 2005, 06:01 PM	#7
Jonny Dee New Boot Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 16	I'm guess that you are using a 50 mm by the very shallow DOF. When i first got my letus that what I used aswell. It was frustrating sometimes to work with such a narrow lens so I decided to go out and spend a little more on nice fast 28mm. The shaking is much less noticable because the longer the focal length the more exagerated every little movement is. The DOF isn't quite as dramatic with it but still very good.

December 18th, 2005, 09:45 PM	#8
Ken Lamug Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 45	unfortunately the Cavision miniDV rod support is out of stock at BHphoto and i have searched everywhere for an alternate option and yet have been able to find one. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated, as i'm sure cavision is not the only one that makes these universal rod supports (i hope).

December 20th, 2005, 06:29 PM	#10
Ken Lamug Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 45	buy one of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1 it fits the letus and the 50mm lens perfectly with about 2" more space above. It is quite snug in there so it doesnt move. I'd just leave the lens on the letus since its the only place i really use that lens on. keeps it clean and dust free when not in use.