Letus Relay for EX3 at DVinfo.net

Phil Bloom · February 9th, 2009, 02:14 PM

This morning I received from Hien Le of Letus, the B4 pro relay and very excitingly the long awaited EX3 relay for Letus adaptors.

It's really nice. F1.5, a little bit shorter than the Pro relay, certainly longer than the Compact relay. It looks really neat on the EX3.

i will try it out for the first time on a shoot tomorrow. Can't wait. Will report back!

Ed David · February 9th, 2009, 08:06 PM

please let me know how much light loss it is vs letus ultimate attached to the stock lens and if the image is sharper.

thanks!

Bob Hart · February 9th, 2009, 09:03 PM

Phil.

If you get time in your busy schedule, will you do a little experiment for me.

Offer up by hand or jig the appliances together on rods if you can, the EX3 relay with Letus Extreme attached, to a 2/3" camera. You may not be able to get back far enough into the B4 mount as the EX mount lugs may foul on the sides. If this happens can you just hold a piece of paper behind the relay lens as a screen at the focal plane (sensor position) and measure the diameter of the image area. An 18mm circle drawn on the paper will make this easier.

I'm interested in seeing if the wider full frame of the Extreme groundglass can be relayed by the 1/2" lens to the 2/3" sensor without the corners going soft or brightness falling off.

If the 1/2" lens will do this, it might not be a big engineering deal to cross-configure the EX3 relay with a B4 mount so users can have that option.

You may bring in a side. If you can get a clean frame top to bottom then a recentered Extreme should work in this configuration to the SI2K. Chances are, being fine tuned to the EX3 the 1/2" relay will go slightly soft in the corners to 2/3" or even vignette.

Dean Harrington · February 10th, 2009, 05:35 AM

Phil,
The SGBlade ... will the relay fit?

Phil Bloom · February 10th, 2009, 02:29 PM

Hi dean mate! How are you?

No it won't fit without serious mods.

Got some more pics up of it

Philip Bloom Blog Archive More pics of EX3 Letus Relay

Will try Bob!!!

Dean Harrington · February 10th, 2009, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Bloom

Hi dean mate! How are you?

No it won't fit without serious mods.

Got some more pics up of it

Philip Bloom Blog Archive More pics of EX3 Letus Relay

Will try Bob!!!

Will have to look into that relay to lens connection! How does it attach?
I'm doing well ... thank you very much. Just got off a couple of corp. gigs shooting SD. I'm still playing with the EX3 ... waiting for the SGBlade. Hope to get some zeiss primes in front of the blade!
all the best ... let me know when you are in Tokyo again.

Micheal McAlexander · February 12th, 2009, 03:49 PM

okay why do you need this with the Letus adapter... I;m a little confused about the purpose.

micheal

Jason Davenport · February 12th, 2009, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micheal McAlexander

okay why do you need this with the Letus adapter... I;m a little confused about the purpose.

micheal

Google it.

Mitchell Lewis · February 12th, 2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Micheal McAlexander

okay why do you need this with the Letus adapter... I;m a little confused about the purpose.

micheal

You don't need it. Almost all of the 35mm adaptors on the market bolt up to your cameras current lens. But with some cameras, like the EX3 for example, you can remove the lens from the body. So Letus built a replacement for your camera's lens that mates perfectly to their 35mm adaptor, they call it a "relay lens". This comes with some advantages. Because it's not a zoom lens they can use very little glass inside. This means that the relay lens is shorter than the EX3 lens, which helps with the balance of your rig over the tripod. In the case of the Letus rely, the image is sharper (less glass inside) and it has a lower f-stop than the factory lens, which helps make up for some of the inherent light loss that comes with using a 35mm adaptor. Finally, if you frequently switch between shooting with and without an adaptor, it makes the switch easier. Really the only negative with a relay lens is the additional cost. Letus hasn't announced the cost of the EX3 version yet. We're all hoping it's not too astronomical.

Phil Bloom · February 15th, 2009, 05:59 PM

I did a web commercial last week with Suresh Kara of DocuMovie using the EX3/ Relay/ Ultimate and it was AWESOME.

here is my blog with some pics. We will be releasing the spot very soon for you to see.

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Shooting a commercial spot on EX3/ Relay/ Letus Ultimate

here are two screen grabs. Go to the blog for more!

Mitchell Lewis · February 15th, 2009, 06:13 PM

Footage looks great Phil! Very sharp! I'd love to purchase a new relay for our EX3, but I'm still crossing my fingers that the price will be "affordable"....what ever that means.

What is your current logic for running the Ultimate "snorkel up" instead of down? I haven't tried that configuration yet.

Phil Bloom · February 15th, 2009, 06:17 PM

no real advantage to snorkel up, just personal preference...i do think it is going to cost this relay. Having both the pro b4 relay and ex3 relay in my hands and there is little difference in quality. ex3 one is a tad shorter and different mount, but is also f1.5. I would expect it to come in around the 4k mark, maybe less.

It's a lot of cash but this is a high quality piece of glass. When you hold it you can feel the money in it's weight...The cinevate one is much cheaper, i haven't seen it and it may work on all adaptors. It is rather long though...

David C. Williams · February 15th, 2009, 06:27 PM

I'm curious as to how it performs without the flip? Flips on some brands reduce CA and increase sharpness, but also add a stop or more.

Does removing the flip increase light and sharpness? Can you even remove it?

Phil Bloom · February 15th, 2009, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David C. Williams

I'm curious as to how it performs without the flip? Flips on some brands reduce CA and increase sharpness, but also add a stop or more.

Does removing the flip increase light and sharpness? Can you even remove it?

the letus is one solid piece of milled aluminum. you cant remove it. Also the total light loss of the ultimate with its flip is just half a stop and it suffers no CA and as you can see has cracking sharpness. Have a look at Ultimate with B4 relay on pdw700 grab here...

Mitchell Lewis · February 15th, 2009, 06:34 PM

I seem to remember Letus saying that they were surprised to find that their flip actually added sharpness. (I'm just repeating what they said) The Letus Ultimate that Phil is using is a one piece design. You can't use it without the flip, and I don't think the relay is designed to be used with anything other than Letus adaptors.

February 9th, 2009, 02:14 PM	#1
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Letus Relay for EX3 This morning I received from Hien Le of Letus, the B4 pro relay and very excitingly the long awaited EX3 relay for Letus adaptors. It's really nice. F1.5, a little bit shorter than the Pro relay, certainly longer than the Compact relay. It looks really neat on the EX3. i will try it out for the first time on a shoot tomorrow. Can't wait. Will report back! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 9th, 2009, 09:03 PM	#3
Bob Hart Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: PERTH. W.A. AUSTRALIA. Posts: 4,476	Phil. If you get time in your busy schedule, will you do a little experiment for me. Offer up by hand or jig the appliances together on rods if you can, the EX3 relay with Letus Extreme attached, to a 2/3" camera. You may not be able to get back far enough into the B4 mount as the EX mount lugs may foul on the sides. If this happens can you just hold a piece of paper behind the relay lens as a screen at the focal plane (sensor position) and measure the diameter of the image area. An 18mm circle drawn on the paper will make this easier. I'm interested in seeing if the wider full frame of the Extreme groundglass can be relayed by the 1/2" lens to the 2/3" sensor without the corners going soft or brightness falling off. If the 1/2" lens will do this, it might not be a big engineering deal to cross-configure the EX3 relay with a B4 mount so users can have that option. You may bring in a side. If you can get a clean frame top to bottom then a recentered Extreme should work in this configuration to the SI2K. Chances are, being fine tuned to the EX3 the 1/2" relay will go slightly soft in the corners to 2/3" or even vignette. Last edited by Bob Hart; February 9th, 2009 at 09:09 PM. Reason: added text

February 10th, 2009, 05:35 AM	#4
Dean Harrington Major Player Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Tokyo Posts: 898	SGBlade ... Phil, The SGBlade ... will the relay fit?

February 10th, 2009, 02:29 PM	#5
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	Hi dean mate! How are you? No it won't fit without serious mods. Got some more pics up of it Philip Bloom Blog Archive More pics of EX3 Letus Relay Will try Bob!!! __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 12th, 2009, 03:49 PM	#7
Micheal McAlexander Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Frostburg, MD Posts: 47	newbie alert okay why do you need this with the Letus adapter... I;m a little confused about the purpose. micheal

February 9th, 2009, 08:06 PM	#2
Ed David Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 119	please let me know how much light loss it is vs letus ultimate attached to the stock lens and if the image is sharper. thanks!

February 15th, 2009, 05:59 PM	#10
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	I did a web commercial last week with Suresh Kara of DocuMovie using the EX3/ Relay/ Ultimate and it was AWESOME. here is my blog with some pics. We will be releasing the spot very soon for you to see. Philip Bloom Blog Archive Shooting a commercial spot on EX3/ Relay/ Letus Ultimate here are two screen grabs. Go to the blog for more! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 15th, 2009, 06:13 PM	#11
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	Footage looks great Phil! Very sharp! I'd love to purchase a new relay for our EX3, but I'm still crossing my fingers that the price will be "affordable"....what ever that means. What is your current logic for running the Ultimate "snorkel up" instead of down? I haven't tried that configuration yet. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor

February 15th, 2009, 06:17 PM	#12
Phil Bloom Trustee Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 1,939	no real advantage to snorkel up, just personal preference...i do think it is going to cost this relay. Having both the pro b4 relay and ex3 relay in my hands and there is little difference in quality. ex3 one is a tad shorter and different mount, but is also f1.5. I would expect it to come in around the 4k mark, maybe less. It's a lot of cash but this is a high quality piece of glass. When you hold it you can feel the money in it's weight...The cinevate one is much cheaper, i haven't seen it and it may work on all adaptors. It is rather long though... __________________ Philip Bloom Cinematographer, Director, Filmmaker www.philipbloom.net

February 15th, 2009, 06:27 PM	#13
David C. Williams Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: melb.vic.au Posts: 447	I'm curious as to how it performs without the flip? Flips on some brands reduce CA and increase sharpness, but also add a stop or more. Does removing the flip increase light and sharpness? Can you even remove it?

February 15th, 2009, 06:34 PM	#15
Mitchell Lewis Trustee Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Kennewick, WA Posts: 1,124	I seem to remember Letus saying that they were surprised to find that their flip actually added sharpness. (I'm just repeating what they said) The Letus Ultimate that Phil is using is a one piece design. You can't use it without the flip, and I don't think the relay is designed to be used with anything other than Letus adaptors. __________________ Sony EX3, Canon 5D MkII, Chrosziel Matte Box, Sachtler tripod, Steadicam Flyer, Mac Pro, Apple/Adobe software - 20 years as a local videographer/editor