Hi,

It will replace the current tube resulting in the same length.

We would like to share these 2 pictures showing the SGpro rig with flip module:

http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/341...7235565_rs.jpg

http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/343...7856409_rs.jpg


Footage is looking very good indeed, below is a quick grab:

http://aycu27.webshots.com/image/325...9143918_rs.jpg

We are currently shooting some footage to upload soon.

All comments welcome!

Can you mount it downwards so this setup is not so tall?

Hi,

No, it would hit the 15mm rods.

If SG pro users like myself are prepared to redesign their rod support system at own risk, would it be technically possible to mount the flip module upside down?

I am thinking of a two layered solution like the one shown on the Letus Extreme page.

Still excited,
Tom

SGpro r3 flip module footage
 

Hi guys,

We have managed to upload a few shots we took last weekend with the SGpro r3 and the new flip module. I'm no camera man, so forgive the shaky footage :) We want to go and shoot some better stuff, but time was against us this month, and British weather is mighty cold! As in my other post, we are looking for UK shooters to meet to test the flip rig.

Shot with the Sony FX1e in 25p, using Canon FD lenses. The FX1 had either ND 1 or 2 on all the time.

We decided to shoot where we did because the scene gives some good elements to test the rig. The plants in the foreground are a good test for sharpness and detail, the balcony rails are a good test for distortion and the bright sky and distant background being a good test grain and chroma aberration.

Please pay particular attention to the 'bokeh rendition'. This is something we have worked very hard on, to achieve realistic bokeh.

Download link (4 minutes, 66MB wmv, 600x337 with music) please right click and 'save as' (sorry for the bad choice in music):
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/new%20footage...lip_module.wmv

Below are a few grabs:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/flip01.jpg

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/flip02.jpg

Example of the SGpro's 'bokeh rendition'
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/flip03.jpg

And a pic of the complete rig (missing from the pic is the tripod connection plate):

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGpro_flip_package.jpg

Please let us know what you guys think. We are launching the new shoot35 website on Thursday, showcasing the latest footage and new packages :)

The bokeh looks great!

1. What is the approximate light loss for the SGPro w/flip?
2. What focus gear is on that rig? RRM?
It doesn't look like (as nice as) the ones on your site.

Thanks Jon,

Total lightloss from the SGpro + flip module is just over 1 stop. We could have designed the SGpro with less lightloss, however this will compromise the 'bokeh rendition'. We have designed the SGpro towards the best quality image and aethetic.

The gear is our latest type 1 lens gear.

That's what I like to hear. I always appreciate adapter builders who understand the delicate balance.

SGpro r3 with flip module and new EX1 fix- grabs and footage
 

Hi Guys,

Here we have the results from a lot of users requests for improved performance with the Sony PMW-EX1. As most of you know, the EX1 is a problematic cam when hooked up to an adapter, mainly in terms of edge to edge sharpness. We have worked hard on the fix and this results in edge to edge sharpness even with the EX1's iris wide open at F1.9! The new achromat kit for the flip module will be £49 and available in about 3 weeks. We also have an upgrade kit coming to use the EX1 non flipped, again with great edge to edge sharpness!

Below is a image of the EX1 setup on the SGpro using our latest rods support system:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGpro_flip_ex1.jpg

The EX1 is an amazing camcorder, easily the sharpest cam we have used so far, it really was a pleasure to use! The Fujinon lens is F1.9 throughout the zoom range, so no light is lost once zoomed into the 35mm frame - great! The LCD is also very good, with this and the peeking function, focusing was fairly easy.

We went and took some shots at Brighton Marina village using the new achromat, our own flip module and a variety of Canon FD lenses. Unfortunately the weather was very gloomy, in fact we had to finish early because it started snowing - typical UK weather..hehe. Also, I was a bit of an idiot and have the gain set to +9 from the previous night which added a little noise - DOH!.

Here is the link to a 2 minute clip. It is a 164MB WMV file (please right click and save as):

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGproflip_EX1_fix.wmv

VLC player seems to crash so please use media player if on a PC.

Below are some grabs:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/ex1_frame01.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/ex1_frame02.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/ex1_frame03.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/ex1_frame04.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/ex1_frame05.jpg

All comments welcome!

Do you have screenshots that are full res? Also, do you have any fullsize footage from that day with you panning and tilting?

And did I miss you dropping the price of the SGPro? :)

Hi Jeremy,

I don't have any panning or tilting shots, but I'll try and get some full res grabs up tonight.

The SGpro has been £399 for some time (£299 without rods support).

SGPro flip vs Redrock flip on EX
 

Thanks for sharing this, it's a setup I might end up with very soon! In my opinion it looks slightly better than the redrock flip+HVX 200 tests I've seen. It seems to have have slightly less chromatic abberation seen in edges on the frame.

It's really a close race between the Redrock and the Sgpro. I saw on the Redrock page their flip module is currently not recommended for Sony Z1 and EX...

BTW, is it possible to have the flip module upside down, so that the Sony EX is below the adapter level, not over it?

Hi,

Yes it is, however you would need to purchase a z raiser of some sort, maybe from zacuto or geardear. Here is a photo of it setup like this on the new z7:

http://www.peter-hoare.co.uk/Z71.jpg

Wow !!

Ordered my SGPro late Sunday night (I am talking around 11pm at night) - it turned up on Tuesday early afternoon !!! :)

What were you people doing on Monday, sitting on your hands ? ;P

Seriously, great service, I have never bought anything online that had such a pain free and rapid turnaround.

Now to set it up . . . . .

Hi Lee,

Glad to hear the unit arrived safe and sound. Yes, we have really work to reduce our lead time but I think it has paid off :)

Did a mod achieve all the SGpro threads into this one thread?

One quick question, I am plugging a Canon HV30 into the SGPro, the Canon has 43mm threads - so I need to step up from 43mm to 72mm to interface the SGPro.

I couldn't find a simple 43mm to 72mm step up ring but I managed to get what I needed by using 4 step up rings (!!)

43 - 46
46 - 52
52 - 62
62 - 72

Do you think this ok, or is it better to use a single (and slimmer) ring ?

Lee,

It will be fine, the extra distance actually helps with vignetting for a small cam like the HV30.

Cheers! Good to know that about vignetting. I also have a method to remove any vignetting I might pick up.

Once the camera / adaptor and everything is set up, shoot a few seconds of a flat white card. When you capture your footage, don't forget to capture this flat white card footage also.

The footage of the flat white card will have the very same vignetting the rest of footage has.

In your editing program inverse the flat white card footage (black to white / white to black) and use this as a mask to slightly adjust the vignetted areas of the proper footage.

I usually use either 'levels' or 'curves' in After Effects, works very well and is fast and easy.


Hope that all makes sense !

An affective method, yes. Remember that you will need one mask for each of your lenses.

Yep! I just shoot a bit of white once everything is set up.

If you want to use the SGPro with a Canon HV20 / HV30 you will need an additional 3mm of shim, in addition to all the supplied ones, to get the Camera to the correct height.

Made my own, works great.

SGPRO on JVC 111
 

Just got a sgpro kit, looks really nice so far.
hooked it up to my jvc hd111, looks crazy but does the trick, bout to do a shoot shall put up info / pics once got some footage done

Ryan

I'd rather not deal with vignetting at all, but thanks for the white card method - sounds like a good idea.

Lenny Levy

Yeah, works really well, I am sure someone could write a script to automatically reduce or remove vignetting based on this method.

I spent years, prior to using a 35mm lens adaptor, trying put in subtle but convincing grain and vignetting into my CG work (mainly for TV advertising) to make it more like film ! :)

Anyhow, shot my first bit of test footage today, looks very nice to me, sharpness is great, I will upload it to Vimeo tonight . . .

Unfortunately, that's not something I think most of my clients would want to get into. If its your own footage its OK , but to tell people - Here let me shoot an extra white card which you need to keep track of to correct every shot - wow that would not go over too big.

Lenny levy

Lenny, don't use the white card method. :)

Lee,

Why are you saying don't use it now - because of my considerations?

Do you use a SGPro ?

My personal preference is to set up an adaptor to a camera so that the image is as clean as possible and also to choose the limited range of lenses which enable this.

To go to the time and trouble of purchasing any 35mm adaptor known to be good, then not go the extra mile to set it up properly or hamstring it with troubled lenses, seems to me to be rather pointless.

...........

Lee - Yes I own an SGPro rev 2 and now a flip adapter with it and the EX-1 achromat, as well as a Letus Extreme and a Brevis.

SGpro rev 2 / 3 ...
 

Is there a frame rate limit to these units ... what I mean is at what speeds do they spin and what's the difference to the upcoming SGBlade? Are the units silent? Is there shake?

New footage! SGblade's GG1 - EX1 & new non flipped achromat!
 

Hi Guys,

As some of you know, last weekend we hired an EX1 to test out the prototype 'GG1' glass disk element that will be an option in the upcoming SGblade. GG1 offers low lightloss with the ability to stop down the 35mm lens and use high shutter speeds without seeing grain.

We filmed a lot of landscape shots, panning and tilting across skies and using wide lenses - all things adapters hate :) The lenses aperture is mostly between F4 - F8.

We also used this as an opportunity to showcase our new non flipped achomat that works great with the EX1 (currently EX1 users can not use non flipped). We hope to bring out this upgrade very soon.

Anyhow, enough talk, here is the link to the footage - please don't use VLC player, it seems to soften the footage badly:


164MB:
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/SGbladeGG1_EX1_nonflipped.wmv please right click and 'save as'.

Below are some grabs from the footage:

http://www.sgpro.co.uk/frame01.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/frame02.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/frame03.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/frame04.jpg
http://www.sgpro.co.uk/frame05.jpg

Wayne.


Assuming there has been no post-shoot adjustments, am I imagining things or have you shot over by about half to a stop. By this I speculate that the light transmission of your new groundglass must be pretty good given that the texture does not seem to be passing aerial image.

pretty clean ...
 

The footage looks pretty clean and crisp. I would like to see more! When will the SGBlade be ready for delivery?

Hi Bob,

Yes, shooting is certainly not my thing, but I try :) You have a good eye, I have selected the GG finish to be right at the point before any aerial image pass through. There are also coatings applied to increase light transmission.

Dean,

We shoudl be sending out 5 beta units to 5 testers this month. Once we are happy with feedback, we will go into production.

Full res
 

Hi Wayne,
Looks good but is it possible to upload a full res version to Vimeo....1920 X 1080?
Best wishes
H

Hi Henry,

I am attempting this now, working on the best settings from Premiere.

Leonard, care to comment on the differences? I've looked at footage from all three, and keep on coming back to the SGPro as having the nicest image and most natural looking bluring to out of focus.

Hi Wayne,

What experiences have you from customers using the SGPro with JVC hd cameras? We have a Letus with our JVC and just can't get sharp images out of it as the point of focus is so minute on the macro scale.

We are looking to replace it and it'll probably stay with the JVC kit as a package here.

Also, do you have any plans to produce a relay for direct fitting to cameras with detachable lenses?

regards
Stuart Campbell