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Letus on a Scarlet

A

Adrian Sims

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Just putting this out there for the budget conscious, although I don't even know if it's possible:

A Letus Ultimate on a Scarlet

I shoot Red One 4K and occasionaly drop down to 3K for 50 frames-per-second stuff but lose some shallow depth of field in the process. I'm thinking you could use 35mm lenses to a Letus Ultimate (lose half a stop of exposure) to a Red lens on a Scarlet when you need a shallow depth of field. Remove the Letus rig for your wider or deeper DOF shots and just shoot with the Scarlet mounted lens (PL, B4 CL or whatever). Could give the Scarlet crew all the following -

* Shallow depth of field at 2K or 3K - 2K is easier for your edit suite to crunch after all
* Use your 35mm glass (via Letus) without swapping the mount on the Scarlet "brain"
* 120 fps for slowmotion (light permitting) with shallow DOF
* Redcode 42 and all the benefits of a RAW workflow
* Less wear and tear on your Scarlet lens mount

Years back I looked into buying a Sony EX1 with Letus, but I went RED because I wanted RAW workflow and the flex of color grading RAW (which by the way rocks when you really get under the hood). As to resolution, I would have been happy with 2K, so 4K was a nice cherry on top. So fellow RedUsers be patient, as I'm sure there's more than one way to skin this Scarlet cat!
 
I suppose there is nothing stopping anyone from using a 35mm adapter on Scarlet. Just use it with an appropriate lens that you can attach the adapter to. I'm sure there will adapter solutions for the fixed lens Scarlet as well.

But if you will often need 35mm DOF, I would think the S35 Scarlet would be a much smarter purchase decision? I know it's $5000 more than the 2/3" Scarlet, but a top notch 35mm adapter system is going to be nearly that. The Letus Ultimate is $4500.

Also, and this is where we get into speculation, we don't have all the performance specs yet. The 2/3" Scarlet has a sensor with 3.2 micron sized receptors, the S35 Scarlet has 5.4 micron receptors. To me, this says the smaller Scarlet will be a bit less sensitive and will have a lower native ISO rating. So you may not fare as well vs. the S35 Scarlet if the 35mm adapter also makes you lose a stop or so on top of that.
 
Maybe go for S35 Scarlet and get 2/3 adapter for stereoscopic? :wink:
 
Somehow I don't really see the Letus Ultimate as a choice for the budget concious... I mean, like Jeff said, it's more than $4,000. But a Letus Extreme or similar adapter could be great.

Also, Cinevate is coming out with a 2/3" relay adapter, that would be a very nice option - but still pretty expensive all considered (I think it was $2,500 last I heard).
 
wonder how will 35mm adapters and their screens keep up with 3K resolution
 
Granted, it may not make sense for someone to buy a new Letus when they could put that money into glass (Red or otherwise). I'm just thinking of the indie crowd who may already have invested in a Letus and have a swag of 35mm glass to go with it. The Scarlet-Letus combo could be perfect for them, partcularly if they can't stretch their wallet to a fully kitted Red One or Epic.

I'm sure it won't take long for techno-mavericks like Philip Bloom to put the combination to the test when the Scarlet is with us.
 
Petr Dvorak said:
wonder how will 35mm adapters and their screens keep up with 3K resolution
Click to expand...

methinks it will be hideous. the fixed lens scarlet is said to be around 30mm-240mm...if your indie enough to use a 35mm adapter, i don't see how this camera wouldn't be a steal...and give you incredible results.
 
Let me just say that I personally hate 35mm adapters. They are a pain in the ass to work with, in my experience, and I think it will undermine most of the benefits of shooting with Scarlet in the first place.

Firstly, the Scarlet is 3K resolution, but you will be taking a significant resolution hit by passing your image through a ground glass. And secondly, the Scarlet is very small, but that benefit is eliminated by an adapter mounted on the front that effectively doubles it's size.

This means that the 5K S35mm Scarlet footage, which is already THREE times the resolution of 3K, will look way, way sharper than your 2/3" Scarlet. And that will be on a much cheaper tripod because the camera will weigh half as much.

So in my opinion, the 35mm adapter is only a reasonable option if you already own one. But if you don't, you should definitely go for the larger sensor. And even if you do own the adapter, I would sell it to someone with an HVX200 and buy the S35 Scarlet.
 
Uh ... I am wondering about the matter, that the DOF shall be less when shooting with a higher framerate and smaller resolution. What is the Red doing when I shoot with more frames and smaller res? Doesn´t it still use the whole chipsize?

DH
 
on fixed Scarlet is only one resolution yet - 3K

and yes camera with 35mm adapter is frankencamera - but its amazing entry tool to get into 35mm DOF world and find out what a regular 35mm lenses can do. Hence I am building just for fun DIY adapter for may old one miniDV cam :construction:
 
I'm sure you could...but....

This is EXACTLY what I was hoping NOT to have to do!!!!

In fact, it is ONLY that I want to avoid. I don't even want video quality (unless it's free) that is better than you get from any consumer AVCHD.

But I want to film with "still photography DOF", with my normal cheap Canon lenses. If there was a camera with 1/3" CMOS chips that would allow that, I'd buy it in an instant!!

Lucky for me the 5D mk2 is just around the corner. It's funny really... it has everything I want: FF sensor, Canon mount, records full HD at a fairly high bitrate, low noise at high ISO, priced for high end enthusiasts/consumers...

They build all that into an SLR camera... and then you can't set aperture manually? =)

Oh, well... still my best bet by faaaaaaaaarr...
 
Julio Quintana said:
Let me just say that I personally hate 35mm adapters. They are a pain in the ass to work with, in my experience, and I think it will undermine most of the benefits of shooting with Scarlet in the first place.

Firstly, the Scarlet is 3K resolution, but you will be taking a significant resolution hit by passing your image through a ground glass. And secondly, the Scarlet is very small, but that benefit is eliminated by an adapter mounted on the front that effectively doubles it's size.

This means that the 5K S35mm Scarlet footage, which is already THREE times the resolution of 3K, will look way, way sharper than your 2/3" Scarlet. And that will be on a much cheaper tripod because the camera will weigh half as much.

So in my opinion, the 35mm adapter is only a reasonable option if you already own one. But if you don't, you should definitely go for the larger sensor. And even if you do own the adapter, I would sell it to someone with an HVX200 and buy the S35 Scarlet.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. Years ago I bought a Letus adapter and loved shooting with it for about 5 minutes. Then the upside-down viewfinder, unbalanced weight and focusing got old real quick. I know there will always be a good market for those things, I am just not in that segment. When Scarlet was announced last NAB, I was extremely excited. Even though the DOF on 2/3" is not the same as 35mm, it is much better than 1/3" which I am shooting now. I would love the S35, but that is out of my budget and I really have no need to shoot 5k.

Come on Summer '09...
 
Petr Dvorak said:
wonder how will 35mm adapters and their screens keep up with 3K resolution
Click to expand...

Not well... Hence why the Letus Extreme and Ultimate are so pricey and they're designed to handle up to full HD, not 3K, which is 2.5X the resolution of 1920x1080!

I understand the desire for 35mm on the ultra-cheap. I used to be a 35mm adatper user myself. But seriously, if you can avoid using an adapter, you will be better off. I say suck it up and buy the S35 Scarlet and put a Nikon or Canon mount on it and go for it. Otherwise, hold off... Rent the camera you need for your shoot. Renting a Scarlet is going to be cheap, like renting sub $10K HD camera.
 
jim-box said:
CAUTION about 35 mm adapaters for scarlet!!!
The vibrating glass into the adapters at 120 FPS will make the vibration SLOWER.
Could be a trouble.
Click to expand...

I even noticed that with Brevis and hvx200 at 60 frames over 24p, then after being around RED ONE, I just stopped using.

But there's German 35mm adaptor that doesn't have vibrating glass.
 
That zoom is cool. Is it possible to buy it separately? Is there any auto focus feature?
 
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