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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Letus Gimbal

TreScot? Scotts C,D,P . There goes rhymin' Simon. Who will be the first to know?
 
Note Suwanchote said:
wait some of you are expecting yours tmr?
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As yet another indication of the very personal nature of the way Letus has handled this, I think a couple people (looks like a Scott contingent) have asked to get their units in time for specific projects and Letus has rushed things to come through for them. Gotta love it.
 
Terry VerHaar said:
As yet another indication of the very personal nature of the way Letus has handled this, I think a couple people (looks like a Scott contingent) have asked to get their units in time for specific projects and Letus has rushed things to come through for them. Gotta love it.
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wow I'm glad I jumped into this then!
 
scott devitte said:
Hi all, I just received confirmation that I will be receiving my Helix tomorrow. Two days ago after finalizing my order with James at Letus for a three axis Helix, I was packing up my tripods and heads for a shoot in La Habana, Cuba, one of which is a Gitzo gt4552ts with the new RRS fh350 and ta-3-lc-hk leveling base.

The interesting thing about this combo is that the head accepts an Acra Swiss plate on the camera and the head attaches to the leveling base by a built in Acra Swiss on the bottom into the leveling base receiver. Both positions have a really strong latching lever. This allows me when needed, to quickly put a Cinevate Duzzi slider equipped with Acra Swiss plates top and bottom in between head and leveling base, for a really nice, sturdy, lightweight multipurpose travel rig.

As I removed the head from the leveling base and tripod, I remembered somewhere in the thread that the 3 axis has an Acra Swiss plate.

Wow, I could just slide the 3 axis into the leveling base. What a great place to rest it between takes- secure, locking, up off the ground.

Wow #2 I could actually pan and rotate the camera on the leveling base. Too bad it won't tilt.

Wow #3 I ran to the computer and looked at pics of the fourth axis underslung. Yes! Add a plate to it and mount it on the leveling base- Voila- electronic fluid head!

Back on the phone to James-"what do you think?" "let's run it by Aaron" Aaron- "I'll get back to you"

Two hours later. He had fabricated the needed part. Fanf....tastic! I asked him, do you have a an Acra Swiss receiver that I could put on the Helix mounting plate that would let me quickly remove the camera to use on my shoulder mount rig or fluid head that accepts the plate? "I'll get back to you"

15 min later- "Tag tiny receiver and dovetail kit is what you want"

One last thing- " I saw matte box rails on the JEB video..."we got em- Helix rod adapter"

Is this a a fabulous rig? Is Equipo Helix taking the world cup? They just keep working with everybody like family. Amazing service.

I'll put up pics tomorrow when I get the Helix.
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This is so awesome! Looking forward to pics. I'm off to google the hardware you mentioned. Sounds like I might be investing in Arca Swiss and possibly selling off my Arri dovetails!

ETA: Okay, snap, I didn't realize that "TAG" refers to Letus' "touch and go" mounting system, which is apparently compatible with Arca Swiss standard dovetails hardware as well as Really Right Stuff!
 
:grouphug:Okay, just to show what kind of classy wonderful people we are in bed with, I just got a call from Portland, with the word that the Maestro needs one more day tweaking and fussing and breathing life into his creation. Promised for Saturday. Makes you feel real special to realize what a great Papi we have.
 
I've got my deposit in for batch #2. Can anybody give me a quick opinion on two things: 1) Should I get the on-board battery or just power off my v-mounts? 2) Do you think the 4th axis is worth it?
 
Bob Gundu said:
Any chance these gimbal motors can do motion control or timelapse moves? That would be the icing on the cake :wink:
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I was thinking the same thing, Maybe with that new Edelkrone Slider plus pro and some software?
 
Jason Ano said:
I've got my deposit in for batch #2. Can anybody give me a quick opinion on two things: 1) Should I get the on-board battery or just power off my v-mounts? 2) Do you think the 4th axis is worth it?
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Yes get the onboard, oh by the way it looks like just the larger battery is going to be offered in the future, and read my posting above, if you do use this a lot on tripod or slider it really makes sense to have it. Any way it is dirt cheap for what you get, and you don't have to use it.

Yes on the 4th axis for the incredible flexibility it adds.
 
Jason Ano said:
I've got my deposit in for batch #2. Can anybody give me a quick opinion on two things: 1) Should I get the on-board battery or just power off my v-mounts? 2) Do you think the 4th axis is worth it?
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I can only say that, even though I'm spending money I "shouldn't" to get this rig, I opted for both the onboard 5400 wH batteries (a pair) and the 4th axis. The onboard batteries will power BOTH Helix, AND the Epic AND accessories and give a pretty good bang for the buck in terms of watt hours and weight. But I also plan on using a belt V-mount tethered. I just wanted the versatility of both.

I plan to use my Helix a lot on a crane as a remote head, and having the versatility that the 4th axis provides in that sense is very valuable to me, even though Hien's demo of the unit at Cinegear makes it clear that inverting the Helix 90 degrees so that tilt motor becomes pan is a viable way to do unobstructed crane operation once a mounting solution for the tilt handle is accomplished.
 
Perhaps there's a second Group Buy in the works that would have a selection of goodies to go with this awesome piece of gear . . .
 
Zeb B said:
Perhaps there's a second Group Buy in the works that would have a selection of goodies to go with this awesome piece of gear . . .
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+1 OUTSTANDING idea.... incredibly interested.... I've jumped ship from another group buy which has freed up some resources. I'm really impressed with this, but not just the product but just how amazing they appear to have been in the process.
 
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