Another Letus "detail" test at DVinfo.net

Steven Dempsey · April 11th, 2007, 10:55 AM

The biggest weakness of 35mm adapters is their inability to resolve detail in wide shots. I'm here to tell you that the Letus Flip Enhanced can do just that. I am really impressed with the detail retained in distant subjects.

Here is a test featuring 3 lenses (28mm, 50mm, 100mm) shooting across the other side of the lake where I live. I am thrilled with the usability of these shots instead of having to deal with the nightmare of mixing shots from the adapter and the stock lens.

So, unlike what you are used to seeing with these adapters, the purpose of this test is to see how well the Letus performs outside of the confines of shallow depth of field. Okay, I threw in two token shots of flowers :)

Softness is to be expected with these adapters but as softness goes, this is less pronounced than what I've seen with other adapters. There is also a little vignetting because I was not zoomed in enough but it's minor and outside the safe zone.

There are two versions here:

Full res 1080: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest1080.wmv

or for those with slower computers:

720p version: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest720.wmv

Obviously, the full detail can be seen in the 1080 version better. These files are relatively small to download (a little over 40mb a piece)

Eric Weiss · April 11th, 2007, 11:29 AM

awesome! in fact, the softness and vignetting adds to those particular shots.

looks like i will be investing in nikon soon too. :/

what frame rate are you shooting at?

Steven Dempsey · April 11th, 2007, 11:30 AM

24 fps, always.

Eric Weiss · April 11th, 2007, 11:46 AM

The A1 is my first 24f cam. I'm not getting that nice, fluid movement that you achieve on mine. While I'm shooting, it's really choppy. Upon playback it's better, but not really "fluid" or "film like." I'm also using vegas 7.
Any suggestions? I know the cam is fine. It's gotta be me.

Steven Dempsey · April 11th, 2007, 11:51 AM

Not sure I can help you but would you do me a favor and create a new thread for that problem? I want to try to stay on topic.

thanks.

Will Griffith · April 11th, 2007, 12:02 PM

does the flip enhanced have a 1.9 magnification like the Letus XL ?

Steven Dempsey · April 11th, 2007, 12:11 PM

No, it is not a fixed magnification, you can zoom in or out as far as you want.

Will Griffith · April 11th, 2007, 12:18 PM

thanks.

it would be nice to see another misty morning
park scene with that setup.

Eric Weiss · April 11th, 2007, 12:20 PM

on topic, the red flower towards the end is pulsating on both wmv streams.
i thought it was the wind or shadow at first.

is the cam having issues with that color or is it the encoding?

it's also slightly on the orange flowers and very bad bleed/pulse on the edge of brick red house.

anyone seeing that?

Chris Barcellos · April 11th, 2007, 12:29 PM

Steven: I know this may be a bit more theoretical than you may want to go, but I've seen some beautiful stuff you've shot sans 35mm adapter in both SD and HD. Are you thinking that a 35mm adapter is another tool in your arsenal to be used in certain situation, or do you consider it a step as a complete replacement for your future film making. Just curious as to what direction you see that particular technology going.

Edit:

1. I posted this question at the office before I came home to look at the footage. Wow. Very nice.

2. Vibrating red flower- In the next to last and last scenes, I note that the red flower, for lack of a better word, vibrates on both of my lcd monitors. This is similar to a scene I filmed with a red bucket in which I had the same problem. Are you seeing that on your monitor two, or is that just my settings. Saw it with VLC and Windows media player, using .m2t file you provided.

Chris Barcellos · April 11th, 2007, 01:36 PM

Here is an example of red bucket taken with my Letus35a (no flip) and the HV20. Are you seeing vibration.

Will Griffith · April 11th, 2007, 01:39 PM

The XL2 would do this on certain shades of red. It seemed
to be a DV compression problem because it was not there
when viewing raw s-video.

Eric Weiss · April 11th, 2007, 01:51 PM

chris, yes. same artifact in the bucket.

could this be from the rotating glass inside the letus? the pulse seems very consistant. the bleed and pulse on the house has it the worst.

i just cranked up the red on my A1 and shot a red plastic cup (without an adapter.) other than being super red..it looked quite nice.

it's curious that will had this on the xl2 as well. will, was that with the letus?

Will Griffith · April 11th, 2007, 01:53 PM

nope. stock lens. but it looked exactly the same.

weird.

Steven Dempsey · April 11th, 2007, 01:53 PM

OKay guys, just so we don't get too sucked into the red thing. There are certain reds that do not fair well in DV and HDV. The use of Nikons, in my experience, pumps up the chroma somewhat and I was using my VIVIDRGB setting for these tests. Clearly it is too intense for the codec to deal with.

You will see the same problem with all other HDV cams and all other DV cams. It's just the nature of the format.

April 11th, 2007, 10:55 AM	#1
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Another Letus "detail" test The biggest weakness of 35mm adapters is their inability to resolve detail in wide shots. I'm here to tell you that the Letus Flip Enhanced can do just that. I am really impressed with the detail retained in distant subjects. Here is a test featuring 3 lenses (28mm, 50mm, 100mm) shooting across the other side of the lake where I live. I am thrilled with the usability of these shots instead of having to deal with the nightmare of mixing shots from the adapter and the stock lens. So, unlike what you are used to seeing with these adapters, the purpose of this test is to see how well the Letus performs outside of the confines of shallow depth of field. Okay, I threw in two token shots of flowers :) Softness is to be expected with these adapters but as softness goes, this is less pronounced than what I've seen with other adapters. There is also a little vignetting because I was not zoomed in enough but it's minor and outside the safe zone. There are two versions here: Full res 1080: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest1080.wmv or for those with slower computers: 720p version: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/letuslenstest720.wmv Obviously, the full detail can be seen in the 1080 version better. These files are relatively small to download (a little over 40mb a piece) __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

April 11th, 2007, 11:30 AM	#3
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	24 fps, always. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

April 11th, 2007, 11:51 AM	#5
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Not sure I can help you but would you do me a favor and create a new thread for that problem? I want to try to stay on topic. thanks. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

April 11th, 2007, 12:02 PM	#6
Will Griffith Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tennessee Posts: 164	does the flip enhanced have a 1.9 magnification like the Letus XL ? __________________ will griffith producer/editor

April 11th, 2007, 12:11 PM	#7
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	No, it is not a fixed magnification, you can zoom in or out as far as you want. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

April 11th, 2007, 11:29 AM	#2
Eric Weiss Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Philly,PA Posts: 360	awesome! in fact, the softness and vignetting adds to those particular shots. looks like i will be investing in nikon soon too. :/ what frame rate are you shooting at?

April 11th, 2007, 11:46 AM	#4
Eric Weiss Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Philly,PA Posts: 360	The A1 is my first 24f cam. I'm not getting that nice, fluid movement that you achieve on mine. While I'm shooting, it's really choppy. Upon playback it's better, but not really "fluid" or "film like." I'm also using vegas 7. Any suggestions? I know the cam is fine. It's gotta be me.

April 11th, 2007, 12:18 PM	#8
Will Griffith Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tennessee Posts: 164	thanks. it would be nice to see another misty morning park scene with that setup. __________________ will griffith producer/editor

April 11th, 2007, 12:20 PM	#9
Eric Weiss Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Philly,PA Posts: 360	on topic, the red flower towards the end is pulsating on both wmv streams. i thought it was the wind or shadow at first. is the cam having issues with that color or is it the encoding? it's also slightly on the orange flowers and very bad bleed/pulse on the edge of brick red house. anyone seeing that?

April 11th, 2007, 12:29 PM	#10
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Steven: I know this may be a bit more theoretical than you may want to go, but I've seen some beautiful stuff you've shot sans 35mm adapter in both SD and HD. Are you thinking that a 35mm adapter is another tool in your arsenal to be used in certain situation, or do you consider it a step as a complete replacement for your future film making. Just curious as to what direction you see that particular technology going. Edit: 1. I posted this question at the office before I came home to look at the footage. Wow. Very nice. 2. Vibrating red flower- In the next to last and last scenes, I note that the red flower, for lack of a better word, vibrates on both of my lcd monitors. This is similar to a scene I filmed with a red bucket in which I had the same problem. Are you seeing that on your monitor two, or is that just my settings. Saw it with VLC and Windows media player, using .m2t file you provided. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos Last edited by Chris Barcellos; April 11th, 2007 at 01:17 PM.

April 11th, 2007, 01:39 PM	#12
Will Griffith Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tennessee Posts: 164	The XL2 would do this on certain shades of red. It seemed to be a DV compression problem because it was not there when viewing raw s-video. __________________ will griffith producer/editor

April 11th, 2007, 01:51 PM	#13
Eric Weiss Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Philly,PA Posts: 360	chris, yes. same artifact in the bucket. could this be from the rotating glass inside the letus? the pulse seems very consistant. the bleed and pulse on the house has it the worst. i just cranked up the red on my A1 and shot a red plastic cup (without an adapter.) other than being super red..it looked quite nice. it's curious that will had this on the xl2 as well. will, was that with the letus?

April 11th, 2007, 01:53 PM	#14
Will Griffith Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tennessee Posts: 164	nope. stock lens. but it looked exactly the same. weird. __________________ will griffith producer/editor