35 mm adaptor
 

what are the big 35mm adaptors out there? any reccomendations?
i have been reading about the letus and the sgpro.

also, i am doing weddings and event videography as well as shooting my own personal shorts. I have the canon wide angle adaptor. but after putting it on.. it makes the camera way too front heavy for handheld and wont balance on the merlin. so i am thinking about selling it and getting a 35mm adaptor, but I have read that i lose about 1.5 stops. anyone using a 35mm adaptor for weddings?

What would you do? wide angle or 35mm adaptor?

oscar, a 35mm adapter and wide angle adapter address two completely different areas of image acquisition. a wide angle adapter will increase the field of view, and a 35mm adapter will give you control over depth-of-field (or selective focus). there are quite a few 35mm adapters out there, including the ones you mentioned, the cinevate brevis and the redrock m2. the 35mm adapter attaches to the front of the lens, just like the wide angle adapter, and the film lens attaches in front of the 35mm adapter. this actually makes for a much more front-heavy setup than simply screwing on the wide angle adapter. i'm not saying that you absolutely can't use a 35mm adapter for event-type work, but here are some things to consider:

- at least a 1 stop loss in light from the 35mm adapter alone
- additional light loss from the lens up front (varies by lens)
- longer initial setup times
- front heavy rig
- limited to manual focus (i think a follow focus setup would be a necessity for event-type work)
- limited to the zoom range of the film lens up front (no zooming with primes).
- depending on the adapter, you might have to view/capture the image upside down, making accurate framing without an external monitor a little more adventurous.
- ciritical focus is a little more difficult to achieve without an external monitor.

IMHO, a wide angle adapter would be far more useful than a 35mm adapter for run-and-gun event work. however, regardless of the impracticalities, if the shallow DOF film-look is what you're after, a 35mm adapter will get you there.

Oscar,

Since you are in Canada, you should look at the Brevis. It is from Canada, So you won't get tax and there is a link on thier site that shows a wedding setup. here is the link of the video. Shot with a XHA1:

http://stillmotionblog.com/?p=85

The Brevis, loses the least light of all the 35mm Adapters out there