Letus Extreme, XHA1 and Softbox at DVinfo.net

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 12:42 AM

Have I mentioned how beautiful soft light is?

http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/tarasoftbox720.wmv
720p version..

http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/tarasoftbox1080.wmv
1080 version

I refuse to take this adapter off my camera :)

It's about 160mb...sorry it's so big but I'm thinking there's no point in putting up little compressed files...that won't represent the footage very well.

Bill Busby · October 3rd, 2007, 01:26 AM

"Windows Media Player cannot connect to the server. The server name might not be correct, the server might not be available, or your proxy settings might not be correct." Damn!

Bill

*edit* false alarm. Must have been some server gremlins or somesuch :D

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 01:51 AM

Not sure what the problem is Bill...just uploaded the 1080 version...surprisingly similar in size. See revised first post.

Oh, nevermind...didn't see the edit to your post. :)

Toenis Liivamaegi · October 3rd, 2007, 03:19 AM

Steven, some great footage indoors... what mm were the wide lens?

As an A1 owner myself I`m interested that on what f stop can you shoot with A1 with the Extreme attached? I wonder if it can get close enough to 36mm wide SLR frame without zooming in too much so it would give some additional advantages in low light.

One more thing how come that the red armchair isn`t blocky at the edges? All my A1 footage of red objects show some nasty blocking specially on diagonals, maybe due to some settings.

Thanks in advance,
T

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 10:57 AM

Toenis,

You can zoom to the full frame size on the Extreme so you can definitely get what you are looking for. Others refer to it as "Vistavision" in terms of motion picture field of view. I am using the Academy size on these shots to approximate the field of view of 35mm motion picture lenses. Not a big deal one way or the other, I just prefer it that way myself. The light loss is minimal between the two.

The f-stop setting varies. Another cool thing about the Extreme is you can use the full range of the iris on the Canon itself, depending on the light, including engaging the built in NDs, which is not possible on some other adapters. The flexibility is quite nice.

These adapters shine when you use light creatively. As much as it is great to be able to shoot with just practicals in a room with the low light capabilities of the Extreme, it just looks ugly to me. One of the best investments one can make is some basic studio lights. So really, I don't care if I'm losing a stop here or a stop there, I just adjust my light level and keep my subjects as sculptural as possible.

Regarding the red chair? Not sure how I got away with that but there are some tonal shades of red that do better than others and I guess this one slipped under the HDV radar :)

Chris Barcellos · October 3rd, 2007, 11:19 AM

Steven:

I'm trying to get a handle on the Extreme, for use with HV20 and FX1. 35A achromat set up just barely get enough zoom to avoid vignetting with these cameras using Nikon 50 F1.4, but I experience some vignetting with wides.

I am hoping that Extreme has a bit stronger optic set up to allow a bit more zoom. Can you comment on that with respect to your A-1 and 35a and FE prior experiences ? Not getting a response from Quyen in his thread announcing the Extreme.

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 11:23 AM

Yes, I can. The FE frame is not a uniform rectangle because of the way the glue is keeping it together. It's also a little off center so you do have to zoom in quite a bit to avoid any kind of vignetting.

With the extreme, the build is of a much higher quality and the frame around the GG is very precise allowing you to actually zoom out more than the FE and still get no vignetting. There are no uneven glue marks or anything like that on the Extreme. It looks and feels like a pro piece of equipment so I would say the differences between the FE and the Extreme are stark.

Josh Chesarek · October 3rd, 2007, 11:32 AM

Steven, as always I really liked your video. Did you have a dolly for those shots or was that your Merlin?

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 11:34 AM

Josh, I had a short dolly track set up

Thanks

Steve Mydelski · October 3rd, 2007, 11:58 AM

Steven,

Are you shooting that indoor footage at -3db even with the LetusEX?

Steven Dempsey · October 3rd, 2007, 12:00 PM

Depends on the situation but in these shots, it was set to 0db

October 3rd, 2007, 12:42 AM	#1
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Letus Extreme, XHA1 and Softbox Have I mentioned how beautiful soft light is? http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/tarasoftbox720.wmv 720p version.. http://www.pinelakefilms.com/XHA1/tarasoftbox1080.wmv 1080 version I refuse to take this adapter off my camera :) It's about 160mb...sorry it's so big but I'm thinking there's no point in putting up little compressed files...that won't represent the footage very well. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/ Last edited by Steven Dempsey; October 3rd, 2007 at 01:51 AM.

October 3rd, 2007, 01:51 AM	#3
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Not sure what the problem is Bill...just uploaded the 1080 version...surprisingly similar in size. See revised first post. Oh, nevermind...didn't see the edit to your post. :) __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

October 3rd, 2007, 10:57 AM	#5
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Toenis, You can zoom to the full frame size on the Extreme so you can definitely get what you are looking for. Others refer to it as "Vistavision" in terms of motion picture field of view. I am using the Academy size on these shots to approximate the field of view of 35mm motion picture lenses. Not a big deal one way or the other, I just prefer it that way myself. The light loss is minimal between the two. The f-stop setting varies. Another cool thing about the Extreme is you can use the full range of the iris on the Canon itself, depending on the light, including engaging the built in NDs, which is not possible on some other adapters. The flexibility is quite nice. These adapters shine when you use light creatively. As much as it is great to be able to shoot with just practicals in a room with the low light capabilities of the Extreme, it just looks ugly to me. One of the best investments one can make is some basic studio lights. So really, I don't care if I'm losing a stop here or a stop there, I just adjust my light level and keep my subjects as sculptural as possible. Regarding the red chair? Not sure how I got away with that but there are some tonal shades of red that do better than others and I guess this one slipped under the HDV radar :) __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

October 3rd, 2007, 11:19 AM	#6
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Steven: I'm trying to get a handle on the Extreme, for use with HV20 and FX1. 35A achromat set up just barely get enough zoom to avoid vignetting with these cameras using Nikon 50 F1.4, but I experience some vignetting with wides. I am hoping that Extreme has a bit stronger optic set up to allow a bit more zoom. Can you comment on that with respect to your A-1 and 35a and FE prior experiences ? Not getting a response from Quyen in his thread announcing the Extreme. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

October 3rd, 2007, 11:23 AM	#7
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Yes, I can. The FE frame is not a uniform rectangle because of the way the glue is keeping it together. It's also a little off center so you do have to zoom in quite a bit to avoid any kind of vignetting. With the extreme, the build is of a much higher quality and the frame around the GG is very precise allowing you to actually zoom out more than the FE and still get no vignetting. There are no uneven glue marks or anything like that on the Extreme. It looks and feels like a pro piece of equipment so I would say the differences between the FE and the Extreme are stark. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

October 3rd, 2007, 01:26 AM	#2
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	"Windows Media Player cannot connect to the server. The server name might not be correct, the server might not be available, or your proxy settings might not be correct." Damn! Bill edit false alarm. Must have been some server gremlins or somesuch :D

October 3rd, 2007, 03:19 AM	#4
Toenis Liivamaegi Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Tartu, Estonia Posts: 579	Steven, some great footage indoors... what mm were the wide lens? As an A1 owner myself I`m interested that on what f stop can you shoot with A1 with the Extreme attached? I wonder if it can get close enough to 36mm wide SLR frame without zooming in too much so it would give some additional advantages in low light. One more thing how come that the red armchair isn`t blocky at the edges? All my A1 footage of red objects show some nasty blocking specially on diagonals, maybe due to some settings. Thanks in advance, T

October 3rd, 2007, 11:32 AM	#8
Josh Chesarek Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 978	Steven, as always I really liked your video. Did you have a dolly for those shots or was that your Merlin? __________________ Simple Thought Productions - Life @ 30,000 Words per second

October 3rd, 2007, 11:34 AM	#9
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Josh, I had a short dolly track set up Thanks __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

October 3rd, 2007, 11:58 AM	#10
Steve Mydelski Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Franklin,TN Posts: 32	Steven, Are you shooting that indoor footage at -3db even with the LetusEX?

October 3rd, 2007, 12:00 PM	#11
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Depends on the situation but in these shots, it was set to 0db __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/