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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

Zeb B said:
Evening Guys,
I've been busy shooting with the Helix over the last couple days. It has been a bit of a challenge with the weather but I've got enough footage now to put together an edit over the holiday weekend. I'm working closely with the good folks at Letus and can say that the little gem is getting dialed in. My shooting style has been to take it to the edge of application to stress test it to uncover any flaws or discovery application opportunities. All good

Once I get an edit that represents the capabilities of Helix and doesn't embarrass me (wink) I'll post 'er up!

Cheers and happy 4th!!

-Z
Click to expand...
Throw us a bone Zeb! One or two shots as a teaser...
 
PC Greene said:
You guys don't mind losing 1.5 stops in the dark? I'm really torn on motion mount...

Thank you,
Click to expand...

You wouldn't use it low-light no. But for outdoors, it totally negates a MatteBox. And eliminates that terrible green cast of having too much ND. We love ours.
 
PC Greene said:
You guys don't mind losing 1.5 stops in the dark? I'm really torn on motion mount...


Thank you,
Click to expand...

not really, not with Dragon and a fast lens. and some lights. if I'm shooting in the dark, it's usually with lights on hand.

however, it is a supplement - not necessarily a total replacement, for the reason you cited. it doesn't work with every single application. But I have the PL motion mount, and it's great. I want the Canon, too. For general outdoors shooting, it is fantastic. I imagine that for applications like Helix, getting rid of filters will be awesome.

No unscrewing, no-rebalancing or knocking your rig out of balance while swapping filters. just a touch of the LCD and you can make easy adjustments and fatten up that negative with no impact on your rig. It's quite ideal, actually.

Glad you are getting some footage up, Zeb. the waiting has been a little tough.
 
Philip Lanyon said:
Order placed! any updates from the few out in the wild? Terry? Scott? Scott? Scott?

Now that its been a few days with them, have you had a chance to mess around? Any thoughts? This is a big investment into something I have not even seen proper Epic footage from, I think we are all eager to see.
I decided to jump on board due to Hien and the whole Letus team attitude, there is really something special happening there and i'm excited to be a part of it.

I'll get some footage up as soon as mine comes. Could be another week or two, fingers crossed it comes early.

If anyone wants to play around with it here in Vancouver, PM me.
Click to expand...

I had to send my Helix back to Letus for adjustments and they received it last Wednesday. I'm hoping to get it back here in Seattle before the holiday weekend so I can give it a go again.
 
Nick Morrison said:
You wouldn't use it low-light no. But for outdoors, it totally negates a MatteBox. And eliminates that terrible green cast of having too much ND. We love ours.
Click to expand...

Nick - holding lens filters is really not the original nor main purpose of matte-box. As the name suggests - it is primarily used to "matte" the lens and control the light hitting the lens. Most pro MB's have an actual inserts matching your focal length to eliminate all but the light in the field of view of the lens (flags do this as well if you use all four)...
It is unfortunate that these days many are using MB's as filter holders only... (myself guilty as charged on some occasions)

:sifone: Peter
 
Peter Majtan said:
Nick - holding lens filters is really not the original nor main purpose of matte-box. As the name suggests - it is primarily used to "matte" the lens and control the light hitting the lens. Most pro MB's have an actual inserts matching your focal length to eliminate all but the light in the field of view of the lens (flags do this as well if you use all four)...
It is unfortunate that these days many are using MB's as filter holders only... (myself guilty as charged on some occasions)

:sifone: Peter
Click to expand...

Fair point! Nonetheless, still loving our Motion Mount. For outdoor shooting, we think it's superb!
 
F5 / 55 with Helix

F5 / 55 with Helix

Big question. I'm about to pull the trigger but still wondering about F5/55 compatibility. While I've no desire to ever float an Alexa or Amira for that matter because of weight, the Sony's definitely have a manageable weight. Will there be an upgrade option for a longer Sony compatible plate? When? How much?

Thanks,
 
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Ned Wilson said:
Big question. I'm about to pull the trigger but still wondering about F5/55 compatibility. While I've no desire to ever float an Alexa or Amira for that matter because of weight, the Sony's definitely have a manageable weight. Will there be an upgrade option for a longer Sony compatible plate? When? How much? Thanks,
Click to expand...


Hein has assured me that the F5/F55 will work fine with this version of the Helix. I'm still sure if that will mean using the battery plate with the protruding XLR plus or the body-mounted XLR connector behind the removable battery plate. You don't want the Helix not able to do the 360-spin for low-mount shooting. But the F5 is quite a bit longer than an Epic for sure.
 
Peter Corbett said:
Hein has assured me that the F5/F55 will work fine with this version of the Helix. I'm still sure if that will mean using the battery plate with the protruding XLR plus or the body-mounted XLR connector behind the removable battery plate. You don't want the Helixn not able to do the 360-spin for low-mount shooting. But the F5 is quite a bit longer than an Epic for sure.
Click to expand...
that should mean the FS700 will work also correct?
 
Zeb B said:
Evening Guys,
I've been busy shooting with the Helix over the last couple days. It has been a bit of a challenge with the weather but I've got enough footage now to put together an edit over the holiday weekend. I'm working closely with the good folks at Letus and can say that the little gem is getting dialed in. My shooting style has been to take it to the edge of application to stress test it to uncover any flaws or discovery application opportunities. All good

Once I get an edit that represents the capabilities of Helix and doesn't embarrass me (wink) I'll post 'er up!

Cheers and happy 4th!!

-Z
Click to expand...

Zeb, where about in SoCal are you? I would like to stop by and take a look if it's possible.
 
Paul Kalbach said:
I believe he's being kept in a secret undisclosed location for now...
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Unless I miss my guess, it is impossible to keep Zebber in an undisclosed location...
 
My sincere request to Hein,

I'm feeling really pissed off, however decided to stay calm,

You know how embarrassed I'm every-week in front of my team when I have to inform them " Sorry Fella's, Just received an email few minutes ago from Aaron and he stated that your gimbal will be ship this week".

Really? three Times Aaron?...

Please accept my sincere apologies, however I refused to accept Aaron's weekly excuses now on. This causes me tremendous amount of funds (toward third party gimbal rental).

I don't even feel like contacting him anymore, however I decided to stay calm and sent him my last email, "Send when its ready".

Now my fair request is, please let me know my true shipping date so my team can plan accordingly. I already know there are changes, however I need to know all plans/changes ahead in this forum not when I send him email to check my order status.


Note: Now to all fellas'... please pay attention before posting any negative comment. Again I will be renting a gimbal for July 3rd, 4th and 5th just because Helix supposedly be shipped (3rd time) last week . Thanks you Letus
 
Nick Fury said:
Unless I miss my guess, it is impossible to keep Zebber in an undisclosed location...
Click to expand...

Tru dat

in PDX having a local craft IPA before heading home on the red eye with a beta Helix to continue testing. Will be in Diego for a few. Hit me up at: zebtao at gmail if you are a serious buyer and want to cop a feel

i know that fine folks @Letus have a bunch o Helix put together and they're doing final testing. I was there again till 1am last night. They are pulling continuous double shifts to get this little game changer ready to dance. The firmware is getting tuned-up almost daily. All good.

Soon . . .

ps: Kwan dude. I would give you a hug if you were here right now :-)
 
Scott Pultz said:
Beta? I thought that we were purchasing production units...
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You're correct on both counts. I paid for the unit I have - and the unit I currently have might have some test thingies on it or some little details that might change in the next day or so . . . making it a very near production final model but strictly speaking a "beta" unit. Mostly what is changing at this point is the firmware/profiles. That is going to be an ongoing project - like with RED
 
Nothing these days is ever "final" insofar as communication is widespread and instantaneous, and companies have to keep ahead of competition. Being willing to change, update, upgrade is important to a company's success. Ask RED. It is never "done."

Trends in business call for continuous improvement of the product, rapid prototyping, customer involvement, etc. The latest business management technique is called Minimum Viable Product (MVP) whereby you get a product into the market that will compete favorably but hasn't yet thoroughly finished development. I don't think that is what Hien and his crew at Letus were intending to do, but he is a very astute and open-minded business man and by getting the designs out to interested folks on REDuser and then getting early production units into the hands of a few real customers, they have accomplished what this technique was designed to do; they have seeded the market with people invested in their success and they have gotten extremely valuable feedback so they can continue to iterate their product development.

Which brings us to now. I spent a few days with my unit and, in that time, a few improvements were made in Portland. Wisely, they called my unit back right away to make these tweaks sooner rather than later. Zeb is in the same boat only he traveled to Portland to do it all first hand! Letus has also taken the large amount of feedback they have received into account for developing the next model of the product, the larger capacity unit which they already alluded to at NAB but which I can't yet talk about. They are also applying many of these improvements to the base unit that current buyers will receive. And, they are actively working on the software end which is where a whole lot of exciting things will happen.

If you have an order in for a Helix, you are joining the team. And... IMO, you won't be sorry; you will love the product and you will enjoy the ride. This is a piece of equipment that just "feels right" when you hold it. You are buying into a system and this is just the beginning. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
 
Terry VerHaar said:
Nothing these days is ever "final" insofar as communication is widespread and instantaneous, and companies have to keep ahead of competition. Being willing to change, update, upgrade is important to a company's success. Ask RED. It is never "done."

Trends in business call for continuous improvement of the product, rapid prototyping, customer involvement, etc. The latest business management technique is called Minimum Viable Product (MVP) whereby you get a product into the market that will compete favorably but hasn't yet thoroughly finished development. I don't think that is what Hien and his crew at Letus were intending to do, but he is a very astute and open-minded business man and by getting the designs out to interested folks on REDuser and then getting early production units into the hands of a few real customers, they have accomplished what this technique was designed to do; they have seeded the market with people invested in their success and they have gotten extremely valuable feedback so they can continue to iterate their product development.

Which brings us to now. I spent a few days with my unit and, in that time, a few improvements were made in Portland. Wisely, they called my unit back right away to make these tweaks sooner rather than later. Zeb is in the same boat only he traveled to Portland to do it all first hand! Letus has also taken the large amount of feedback they have received into account for developing the next model of the product, the larger capacity unit which they already alluded to at NAB but which I can't yet talk about. They are also applying many of these improvements to the base unit that current buyers will receive. And, they are actively working on the software end which is where a whole lot of exciting things will happen.

If you have an order in for a Helix, you are joining the team. And... IMO, you won't be sorry; you will love the product and you will enjoy the ride. This is a piece of equipment that just "feels right" when you hold it. You are buying into a system and this is just the beginning. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
Click to expand...

Awesome post. Thanks Terry!
 
Terry VerHaar said:
Nothing these days is ever "final" insofar as communication is widespread and instantaneous, and companies have to keep ahead of competition. Being willing to change, update, upgrade is important to a company's success. Ask RED. It is never "done."
Click to expand...

Sincerely Agreed,

Everything begins and ends with the client and now a days wining isn't hard for the companies (over competitors). All they must do go beyond what their clients want and should always improve their product to make it better tomorrow for client than its today (like RED did).

If the company's vision is not describes their destination well (where they heading), then I am not interested
 
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