About half way through this thread Phil mentioned he would make a list of some of the "neutral" Picture Profiles he uses. Has that materialized or did I miss it?

I actually shoot pretty much at neutral. I think for the letus on i shoot at sharpness 0, cinegamma 2 and saturation up 1 notch. This is something I need to fiddle with.

I think someone somewhere has posted some very nice recipes. Anyone know where they are?

http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=110902

Bill Ravens TC2 on p7 seems to work really well.

regards

Paul.

Phil, Hi:
I know you have said you shoot neutral and color in post and I'm wondering if you color correct and or use Magic Bullet on EVERY take.

on everything. i am going to start using Bill Ravens picture profile settings from now on , but I will always grade.

Phil...

Glad you like the PP settings. I set these up for inherent grading in post, maximizing the dynamic range during capture but, I'm thinking I was too aggressive on the gamma level settings.

really good work Bill. You make things easier for us all!

new entry on my blog that shows ex1 rolling shutter skew, but also how nice the footage can look handheld running around a lot!

As ever, inspiring work, very filmic. I enjoyed something more dynamic for a change.

Presumably the vignetting was added in post.

yep! graded with magic bullet looks

Phil:

To add to the blog coment left for you regarding your Vegas trip: (based on a number of my trips to Sin City with big video cameras over the years)

1. Don't take your camera in any of the casinos without prior arrangements. They have zero sense of humor about this. Most of the security guys will run you off even from being in proximity to the hotel fronts, even if you're on the sidewalk, so set up off to the side.

2. The median strips always seem to have the best views, but the kindly police officers will remove you. And if you come to their attention, they will start asking pointed questions about video permits. This can be a bad thing.

3. Look for the pedestrian overpasses along the strip. Almost every one has a pretty good vantage point right at the top of the stairs.

4. There are a billion people walking on the strip on fairly narrow sidewalks. Keep your camera footprint small, and watch your gear carefully.

5. The lighted fountain show at the Bellagio is great, but you need to stake it out early, pretty much right after the prior show ends, if you want a ringside vantage point. Most of the other big roadside shows (like Treasure Island or the volcano) are tough to shoot from the street without making advance arrangements with the casino for camera access.

6. A pretty good video excursion is to start with the classic Vegas sign, then get a ride to the Luxor Pyramid. From there, you can walk the length of the strip in a couple of hours, shooting most of the big resorts along the way.

7. It's a desert. Take some water with you!

Have fun...

I have been to Vages half a dozen times and its very ture what Bill has said. I got asked if I had a permit and I was a tourist! It didn't go down to well when I asked the copper "are you for real"? It was because I was on a small tripod and an FX1 at the time, compared to everyone elses little handycams.

If you have the balls, sit at the front of the roller coaster on top of the Stratosphere. Or the other ride which pings you up the final bit on top of it.

Also the New York roller coaster is pretty cool. The interior of the Bellagio is nice, as is the Venetian, where I stayed. They were filming Get Carter with Stallone whilst I was there and I got to watch a bit of it being filmed. Rubbish movie though and not a patch on the original.

So much to see and do. Food is great and very cheap in certain places. They want to keep you in their casino so almost give it away.

Not so sure if that's really true anymore, at least in the mainstream hotels on the Strip. That used to be the cliche: $5 prime rib buffets, so you'd feel like you could spend more time at the tables, because you were virtually eating for free!

In the last few years, though, almost every casino I've stayed in has instead gone to the competing chefs and high end restaurants as a way to draw diners and make even more money. Most of them have little sandwich bars or one "family" restaurant that's less pricey, but it's still not cheap!

Fair enough. Last time I was there was 2002. We ate at the Golden Nugget in the big seafood bar and it was great. Loads of food on the buffet. Lobster, oysters, crab, help yourself!

Times change though.

And, if you get away from the newest and fanciest casinos, the food prices seem to go down in direct proportion to the distance from the Strip...

Letus E1 Fixed
 

Received the Letus EX1 new acromat that fixes the edge to edge. Did a quick test showing the fix with a sample movie @ http://web.mac.com/stevecahill/Steve...Blog/Blog.html

Results are excellent!

Steve,
thanks for the demo on the new Letus acromat for the Extreme that fixes the edge-to-edge softness.

This just turned this package into quite the 35mm setup.... unreal.

I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing more from you and Phil.

Well done ...
 

Just the results I had hoped for!

I did some food cinema on the ex1 last week. Mostly shot 1080p with some 720p overcrank stuff.

You can see some of the shots cut together for the hell of it (the clients have given me permission to post this, the actual footage is being edited, graphically played with then stuck on hd plasmas in movie theatres).

but best of all, i am posting for the first time UNGRADED!!! some of it is underexposed and it pains me to do it, but what the hell!. Also look under the rolling shutter section for the finished lithuania news item. mostly shot letus free and handheld.

all on my blog

anybody see any reason why i should have two ex1s?

Yes bro...
One to give me when you swing though Arizona! LOL

Event shoots. Of course you would need another camera operator.

sorry has problems with the compression. forgot to do it in h264 and it looked bad. uploading again now, about 5 mins for the sd version. little longer for 720p version

been offered an ex1 at a very very good price that i would be crazy to turn down. maybe keep one permanently letused up and the other naked?!

Now there's an idea!

Hey, did you get the new Letus achromat for your Extreme that fixes the edge-to-edge focus?

so tempted by that z7, but i think keeping the second ex1 makes more sense. especially as so much work i am asked to do these days is with the ex1. I can even do two camera interviews now with two ex1s and two letus extremes. now thats pretty cool

My shoulder mount test for the ex1 is now online on my blog. Enjoy!

Oh and don't forget to listen to my interview with Larry Jordan for Digitalproductionbuzz.com here: http://www.digitalproductionbuzz.com/LiveThisWeek/

it says 6pm, am assuming that is a USA time of some sort!

Cheap shoulder mount
 

Phil,the cheap shoulder mount on your blog,i've got the same one,does work well.Best of all,i got mine on ebay,£18 plus £14 p&p.It came from china and got here in about 3 days.The translated instructions had me in stitches.
So if anyone else wants a stupidly cheap shoulder support that works well,get on ebay,it's well worth 32 quid.

get it. you can't go wrong for that price!

just picked one up ...
 

can't pass up a good deal!

I did a ww1 drama shoot using 2 ex1s yesterday for Blackbox Media based out in Wales.

Some was shot with Letus Extreme, some without. Here are some screen grabs.

Doing an edit together of some footage today

here are some behind the scenes photos. thanks to mark dawson!

Those shots look amazing Phil. I notice you got hold of your wide adapter - how do you find it? My supplier still says he's waiting - I'll have to start chasing that up.

Paul.

Phil you are the winner........of the silly hat competition! ;)

Great pics there. I see you have the Sony wide angle adapter. Where did you get it from? I need one asap.

Was it a pain to be tethered to the sound man in such tight circumstances? Was there a reason he didn't record sound seperately? Cost? Post prod?

That is the coolest hat ever!!

Recorded sound in camera due to costs etc...no problems at all. Chris was very good. I didn't know he was there and we ran down trenches a lot!

Beautiful shots ...
 

Looking good there!

Fantastic as ever Phil: What gamma settings are you using now? I was just reading that the most latitude for post is got with Cine2 and always thought the opposite.

thanks! cine 1 i think, but i need to check. I use bill ravens settings.

Phil, that wide angle. Where did you get it?
Cheers
Steve

Mitcorp in Brentford

Thanks I will give them a call.

Steve you beat me to the Silly Hat comment. I like both the hats, especially the "helmet".

Great shots.