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Letus Anamorphx Adapters on Monstro?

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Sergio Perez

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Hello all, contemplating on getting one of these to shoot anamorphic specific projects over here.

https://www.letus35.com/letus-anamorphx-pro-1-8x-adapter/

The reason I'm going with adapters is that I don't have the budget for a proper lens kit, and there are no anamorphic rentals over here. With total closure of borders with HK rental is impossible from there.

Any specific settings? Should I get the 1.8X or the 1.3X one? What are the main issues or drawmbacks of using these with conventional primes?
 
Diving into the anamorphic options on the Monstro I'm getting a bit confused. Does " Filter" with 2x, 1.3x, 1.25x means monitoring desqueeze? It does seem to have a direct influence on the pixel amount and aspect ratio on the recording.

Sorry about these probably idiotic questions but I'm a fish out of water in this, completely...
 
I actually did a test recently that I haven't published yet where I used the 1.8x against the orions. The glass is great but the housing needs some work, I was going to see if I could develop a single focus solution before all thei Covid stuff hit. First thing to note is the 1.8x is actually a 1.66x squeeze, and there's no practical was to do it in camera as reds only support 1.25, 1.33, and 2.0 right now. The "1.8x" is sharper than the orions (I tested with otus though) and the flare is orange instead of blue, but obviously the dual focus nature of the housing makes it challenging to use.
 
Also to note I tested these out with helium, and while it covered on the 55 and 85, the 28mm requires a slight crop to fully cover the 8K 4:3 S35 helium sensor size, so be prepared to crop in a bit on monstro
 
That Aivascope looks really beautiful (as your footage). At last there is a good all-in-one anamorphic adapter.
I'm interested !

At 2250, it's not cheap but it definitely looks better than the Letus and any of the competition.

Though I'm not sure it is good enough to use on full frame camera. The borders are really distorted.
 
Mike P. said:
How wide can you go with full height Dragon 6k, Bob? 24mm? 20mm? What are the requirements of the taking lens?

(Also, I presume it's single focus?)
Click to expand...

The adapter is designed for full frame. At full frame 50mm is the widest. On Red 6K Dragon I can use 35mm in 6KHD mode. And yes its single focus and small. :)

35mm test:

 
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Bob Gundu said:
The adapter is designed for full frame. At full frame 50mm is the widest. On Red 6K Dragon I can use 35mm in 6KHD mode. And yes its single focus and small. :)

35mm test:

Click to expand...

Nice!!

What about 6k 3:2... De-squeezed to 2.25:1 (7128x3160) and cropped to 2.35 (7128x3033) would be pretty awesome. Think you could get to 24mm (aka ~16mm FOV with a 1.5x squeeze)?
 
Josiah Duncan said:
Also to note I tested these out with helium, and while it covered on the 55 and 85, the 28mm requires a slight crop to fully cover the 8K 4:3 S35 helium sensor size, so be prepared to crop in a bit on monstro
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback Josiah, was planning to use it with the Otus set, but seems like a 35 is the widest one can pull of on the Monstro with the Letus. Still gives a field of view of 19mm which is not bad.

Bob, a 50 should be the widest one could go fr with the Avascope, this equals a 25mm, or a 28mm field of view? A bit limiting doesn’t it?
 
Sergio Perez said:
Thanks for the feedback Josiah, was planning to use it with the Otus set, but seems like a 35 is the widest one can pull of on the Monstro with the Letus. Still gives a field of view of 19mm which is not bad.

Bob, a 50 should be the widest one could go fr with the Avascope, this equals a 25mm, or a 28mm field of view? A bit limiting doesn’t it?
Click to expand...


Plenty wide for me. I also wanted something that was small, and sharp and sing focus. So I think Aviascope ideal.
 
Bob Gundu said:
Plenty wide for me. I also wanted something that was small, and sharp and sing focus. So I think Aviascope ideal.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, from your shots seems like it’s actually a handheld friendly solution? Josiah, can the Letus be handheldable for the type of shots Bob did? That extra width really would help in some of the stuff I shoot, heritage buildings, tourism related content...
 
Sergio Perez said:
Seems like we are back to the 35mm adapter days haha...
Click to expand...

With the Aivascope the picture quality and ease of use are not the same though.

But there are rigs on facebook's Anamorphic shooters that are really really reminiscent of these days indeed.
 
I've only fiddled with the Letus on the NAB show floor but it seemed like a good solution, nice and sharp with good flares. The squeeze ratio of 1.8x was odd though, why not push it for 2x? But if Josiah's tests prove to be accurate, they didn't even get the 1.8x right. Oh well, you would just do tests and figure out your framing in pre-production testing anyway. I have many anamorphic adapters and I planned on doing a big anamorphic video after completing my first feature film. For me, I'm really torn between the SLR Magic 2x and the Isco RED 2x projector anamorphic, both are great for anamorphic use but the SLR Magic edges towards being too modern for my tastes but is easy to use and the Isco has a clear and classic anamorphic look but the red version hardly flares at all. Much like the Letus, the SLR Magic is a more practical solution as it just screws on to the front of your lenses and the Letus is the easiest since it can go on rails. The best of both might be the newer SLR Magic 65 1.33x adapter but I haven't seen too much about it as of yet, although I wouldn't mind getting one to try myself.

Now, the problems you'll have with adapters all come down to focus being compromised, light loss, the extra time spent changing a lens to use with the adapter, and the extra effort to make sure your alignment is correct. The Letus is easier as it's on rails so you won't have to worry about alignment but all the anamorphic adapters have a focusing mechanism to them, save for the older videocamera anamorphics like the Panasonic LA7200. Depending which anamorphic adapter you go with, you'll be better served by also purchasing a compatible single focus solution, like the SLR Magic Rangefinder. The Letus adapter and the SLR Magic 65 don't have single focus solutions so you'll have to do dual focus but you'll get more coverage and compatibility with certain larger lenses and focal lengths. Lastly, you'll also have to accept that you'll need more lighting and can't get away with fast F1.4 lenses as anamorphic adapters normally require F4 and greater to get acceptable images using them. I find F2.8 can be good for certain situations but it really depends on the taking lens so sticking to the F4 rule is ideal. For really wide angle stuff, you'll either have to rent appropriate wide angle anamorphic lenses, use Sigma ART or certain Zeiss lenses with the Vidatlantic Cinemorph mod, or take a look at using modified Russian lenses from Ironglass Adapters.
 
Zack Birlew said:
I've only fiddled with the Letus on the NAB show floor but it seemed like a good solution, nice and sharp with good flares. The squeeze ratio of 1.8x was odd though, why not push it for 2x? But if Josiah's tests prove to be accurate, they didn't even get the 1.8x right. Oh well, you would just do tests and figure out your framing in pre-production testing anyway. I have many anamorphic adapters and I planned on doing a big anamorphic video after completing my first feature film. For me, I'm really torn between the SLR Magic 2x and the Isco RED 2x projector anamorphic, both are great for anamorphic use but the SLR Magic edges towards being too modern for my tastes but is easy to use and the Isco has a clear and classic anamorphic look but the red version hardly flares at all. Much like the Letus, the SLR Magic is a more practical solution as it just screws on to the front of your lenses and the Letus is the easiest since it can go on rails. The best of both might be the newer SLR Magic 65 1.33x adapter but I haven't seen too much about it as of yet, although I wouldn't mind getting one to try myself.

Now, the problems you'll have with adapters all come down to focus being compromised, light loss, the extra time spent changing a lens to use with the adapter, and the extra effort to make sure your alignment is correct. The Letus is easier as it's on rails so you won't have to worry about alignment but all the anamorphic adapters have a focusing mechanism to them, save for the older videocamera anamorphics like the Panasonic LA7200. Depending which anamorphic adapter you go with, you'll be better served by also purchasing a compatible single focus solution, like the SLR Magic Rangefinder. The Letus adapter and the SLR Magic 65 don't have single focus solutions so you'll have to do dual focus but you'll get more coverage and compatibility with certain larger lenses and focal lengths. Lastly, you'll also have to accept that you'll need more lighting and can't get away with fast F1.4 lenses as anamorphic adapters normally require F4 and greater to get acceptable images using them. I find F2.8 can be good for certain situations but it really depends on the taking lens so sticking to the F4 rule is ideal. For really wide angle stuff, you'll either have to rent appropriate wide angle anamorphic lenses, use Sigma ART or certain Zeiss lenses with the Vidatlantic Cinemorph mod, or take a look at using modified Russian lenses from Ironglass Adapters.
Click to expand...

Thats why the Aivascope is ideal. Single focus, no light loss, sharp, and rails if you want to.
 
Cause renting can quickly cost as much as owning the adapter (which if you're an owner/op, can actually generate revenue for you across all your current and future cameras and most lenses).

And Orions cost more than REDs... especially used REDs. For a 3 lens set (~$27500), you could get a Helium, Gemini, Dragon-X, or be in the used-Monstro ballpark.... For one Orion lens you could get an Epic-Dragon package, Scarlet-W pkg, Raven pkg, or Komodo. So saying 'just get real anamorphics' doesn't necessarily make financial sense.

Conversely, a more cost effective strategy would be the reverse; buy a 3 lens set of Orions and rent whatever camera package is needed for whatever project comes up. That would actually be a cheaper rental cost, future proof, and open up your market to include any camera that can be adapted to PL!
 
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