HV20 with LETUS MINI35 adapter SHORTS

[Charles Lowthian]

Hi. I will post some of my HD shorts here so potential users can see some results from the HV20 + Letus Mini35 + Nikkor glass. I'll update this post with new shorts when they are created

-NEW PARIS/FRANCE SHORTS-



Rodin



Jardin de Claude [Monet]

-NEW PARIS/FRANCE SHORTS-



"shrine" - a mini {short}



"fern" - a mini {short}



"tony" - a miniature mini {short}



"bees" - a miniature mini {short}

Hope you enjoy

[Ten Ounce]

Wow, your footage is pretty stunning. This is some of the best 35mm stuff I've seen in awhile. Great job!

[tkmslee]

What did you do in post CC?

[kafeero]

LOL
the bee one is great. Especially at the end where the beat comes in.
Great video.

[booggerg]

Awesome! Can you please post an image of your setup? Are you using rails? I'm assuming that you attach a fast prime on the Letus, the total weight would be too much to bare for the HV's lens threads? I want to get the Letus Mini but I'm concerned about its reliability and stability for run & gun wedding shooting.

[maz1989]

what lighting do you use?

[Charles Lowthian]

thankyou all for the comments

What did you do in post CC?

"fern" had no post, except for one shot (vimeo thumbnail) being pushed.
"tony" and "bees" color was adjusted in FCP - minor rgb balance shifts.

Can you please post an image of your setup?

Here is a "lol" pic of HV20 + letus mini35 & rails + rode videomic + cavision grips & lens support:



The beauty of using an adapter with the hv20 is that the hv20 is SO light! Instead of stressing the hv20 thread with the attached weight, you can hold the rig by the adapter itself. This makes it quite easy to use for 'run-n-gun' type shooting without the need for rails/rods. Though for shooting on sticks i'd advise using rails. Re: wedding shooting = attach an 18-35/28-70mm lens, one hand holding the mini35, the other for focus/zoom and you're set.

what lighting do you use?

"fern" was shot using available light.
"tony" and "bee" I used 200w tungsten paper lanterns and a reflector.

[PK Gillock]

Nice stuff! Really impressed with the quality of the image.

But did anyone else notice A LOT of wobbling in the first two videos? I mean I knew there were complaints about the HV20 having a wobble problem but those bees and Tony's head were wobbling all over the place!

lol

Seriously, great stuff. We're getting a Letus Extreme any day now and can't wait to shoot some test shots.

[Charles Lowthian]

hahaha yes the wobble - from the bobbles - are noticeable BUT NOT from the HV20 lol

[booggerg]

Charles:

regarding your wedding comment above, have you shot a wedding with the Letus+HV20? How do you brace the camera against your body? Wouldn't any outside pressure put additional stress on the lens threads?

In your setup above with the rails, How would you shoot a run n' gun with that? Do balance it on your shoulder? Or press the rods into your chest?

Also, can you transport that whole setup(minus the SLR lens of course) intact inside a case? or do you have to disassemble it? If so, how long does it take to setup? Thanks!

[Charles Lowthian]

Hi booggerg. I have not shot a wedding with it. What I was getting at is the HV20 is so light, when held by the adapter the hv20's weight doesn't seem to place stress on it's own threads.
As far as bracing it, considering the position of the lcd and locked viewfinder, you would most likely need to shoot 'hand held' holding the rig infront of you.

As for the photo, this was a joke (lol) shot. For actual run n' gun shooting, the hand grips would be slided more towards the middle for balance (and reach), and a shoulder pad attached. The tele-photo lens in the shot is more for humour, although it can still be managed on shoulder, but only for takes (not doco) as does place strain on the wrists.

At the moment (for local transportation) I'm using an aluminium drill case, which I have two pieces of foam allowing for different lenses to be packed with it. I keep the HV20 + mini35 + rails intact. Though just to point out, considering the design of the hv20's battery release, it is a chore to switch batteries, as you have to slide the adapter/hv20 off the rails support and remove the rails camera plate, making this element a lengthy few minutes

[Alex_MD]

I'm very impressed with the "Fern". Quite an ispiration! I start thinking of visiting a botanical garden
Charles what lens did you use? At what focal length it was filmed? Where did you get those rails from?

[Charles Lowthian]

Thankyou Alex I shot "fern" with the Nikkor F2.8 70-200mm VR (pictured above) mainly around 170-200mm. There was one shot with a Nikkor F2.8 55mm micro (spider closeup). The rails are the Letus Support System.

[Barnaby]

The videos are more widescreen than usual, looks fantastic! How'd you achieve this? Is it the adapter or is it done in post?

[Charles Lowthian]

Done in post.
Shot in 16:9, added 2.35:1 matte in post (FCP)
Basically "black bars" on top and bottom of screen, but kept that in mind during framing

[Charles Lowthian]

"shrine" - a mini {short}

[brockraum]

Wow, amazing work, I want your set up so bad! Did you use a polarized lens to get that stunning sky or did you just color grade?

[clanmccloud]

Really loved the footage in "fern." It was so artistic. Did you do any color correction? It looks like those fern leaves are greener than life! :-)

[Rawfa]

That is one mighty sexy rig. May I ask how much can you close down the lenses? With the sgpro I managed to get up to f22 with absolutely no issues.

[Charles Lowthian]

Thankyou all for the kind words

Did you use a polarized lens to get that stunning sky or did you just color grade?

No polarizer was used in "shrine". Just desaturated some of the color in post.

Did you do any color correction? It looks like those fern leaves are greener than life! :-)

No color correction - just pushed the vimeo thumnail shot to make it brighter. But yes, I did think I was going to saturate but after capturing, realised I didn't need to

May I ask how much can you close down the lenses? With the sgpro I managed to get up to f22 with absolutely no issues.

To be honest I haven't shot smaller than F4. Apparantly with vibrating adapters, going slower than that shows grain. But I'll do some shots and report back

[blazer003]

I don't see any vinetteing in your footage and yet that's the big knock that I hear about the Letus mini. So are you zooming past the vignette, or not having that problem, or did you forget to mention that you corrected that in post?

[Charles Lowthian]

I only zoom in far enough to crop away the adapter internal (outside of the GG image).
Vignetting on 35mm adapters depends on the lighting.
When shooting in strong sunlight, with a wider lens, you'll get it.

[Charles Lowthian]

Rodin

Jardin de Claude [Monet]

[tehellet]

I watched the Rodin video. It's cool but how unfortunate that due to your colour correcting, all the great qualities and textures of the Rodin statues are lost in dark contrasted shadows. If you did any colour correcting at all.

Beautiful images, nonetheless.

[Braceface]

Hey Chottie,
Nice footage. Those are some very poignant statues. I see a lot of misery in them.