The Guerilla device is based on a static element design. It means you'll see static grain across the whole image (at times) and especially any amount of dust in the optical chain will be visible as well. A static adapter is an exercise in Clean Room style discipline. Indeed, you can see some specs of stuff in their (Guerilla35) footage. If it's a still tripod shot though, you probably wouldn't notice. The design is fine for experimenting, proof of concept/ability, and projects that you can risk failure on, but not anything you'd want to hedge a production with an important client on.

Bottom line is a static design is still a powerful tool that can be used to serious creative advantage, but the history on the alt imaging board in general, has evolved to moving element design as being the holy grail. Rightfully so. The Micro35 is based on a moving element design.

I believe the guerilla35's expense comes from precision optics of ground glass.

Heh heh. I don't know about that. And, we are officially off topic now.

Just out of curiosity anyone know if the mini35 is based on static or moving element?

The mini35 is rotating, I thought the micro35 was stationary, but I guess it isn't (according to Barry Green at dvxuser), the agus is rotational and the guerilla35 is stationary.

the mini35 looks like a bouncing ball hitting walls.. its not like a spinning disk like the micro is .. (if you can imgine what im saying)....

no..... no I can't :-P

Think "Spirograph" :)

(well, kind of)

<<<-- Originally posted by Jonathon Wilson : Think "Spirograph" :)

(well, kind of) -->>>

haa.. thats a good analogy.. think of the old atari game , PONG... the ball goes from the bottom left to top right and so forth and so on... it dose not turn circular like a cd on a motor...

It's hard to believe that kind of approach would work!

welp thats how the GG spins in the mini.. i have flown it and worked with it several times... "chas" papert can probably back me up on that ... the GG is smaller than the size of a CD ...

ok... visualize the cd on a spindle.. the hole is right in the center so the cd spins circular.. well imagine the center hole is skewed to the left (or rigt) and not on center.. now trhe CD will spin "wobbly".. or off center... this is how the GG in the mini rotates...

does that make sense? i know my terminology is off here.. dammit jim im a cameraman not a scientist... :)

Hmm... the price for the mini35 is still a crime though. Thank goodness there are alternatives.

guides
 

Hi James

do you have any information about the guides?
would be nice to hear somthing from you and you're work
Thank you and thank you for all the work around the micro35.

and can you give me any information about the follow focus
and the mattebox thank you

The spirograph thing does work... Les Dit, and Dan D. and others have built them and discussed them on these pages... You only need to move the image in a circle of a few mm to blur it enough to remove the surface properties.

The way these things work is through the magic of 'eccentrics': Here's a hypothetical example to communicate the concept:

Imagine you've got three pencils stuck into a piece of styrofoam in a triangle. Now you stick three straightpins (like for sewing) into the erasers of the pencils -- straight up and down, but offcenter. For simplicity, say you put the pin very near the edge of the eraser:

Now, you take a piece of mylar film (which will be the ground glass in this case) and put three holes in it for the pins to go through.

NOW... if you rotate the pencils together (using a belt which wraps around them), the tops of the pencils rotate, and makes the pushpins all move in a little tiny circle (a little smaller than the size of the eraser head). Notice that as you do this (in your mind), that the mylar film is also being moved in this same circle.

If there were a hole in the base and the whole thing was on its side, you'd have the basics of how the Mini35 moves its ground glass.

(This is hard to explain without pictures).

Jonathan - you are burying the lead! You have a sweet web site with a lot of great info regarding DOF, building these adapters, etc. I hope you don't mind that I pointed it out!