Digital Video - March 2008 - (Page 12)

INSTANT EXPERT BY NED SOLTZ OPTICS OPTIONS IMAGE-ENHANCING ADD-ONS AND ADAPTERS ITEM/ CONTACT COMPANY MSRP WHAT IT IS SPECS Brevis35 HD Cinevate $1,000 and up. 35mm adapter system. www.cinevate.com 35mm adapter system. The Brevis35 is a front-mounted adapter to facilitate use of 35mm lenses. This allows for cinema-style shooting, particularly in limiting depth of field, which is difficult with standard camcorder lenses. Cinevate sells an adapter with the mount for a specific camera and a mount for Canon, Pentax, Nikon or Minolta lenses. Letus offers three configurations, including economy (aluminummilled body), mini (for small cameras like the Canon HV20) and extreme. The extreme model flips the image. You need to supply your own rails, mattebox or other accessories. Letus35 is an excellent budget option and has a significant following. The quality is first-rate, and users who opt for this highest-end solution often pair it with high-end lenses like Zeiss primes. This is a total system that most users tend to rent. Rental rates run around $300 per day and up, depending upon your market. It doesn’t get any better than this. Pricing varies depending upon the package. Redrock has just begun offering an optional flip module to combat the dreaded upside-down image. M2 is also often found in rental houses. Letus35 Letus $900-1,200. www.letusdirect.com $7,500 plus $2,500 for camera adapter. P+S Technik Mini35 www.pstechnik.de 35mm adapter system. M2 Redrock Micro $2,500 for HD package. 35mm adapter system. www.redrockmicro.com Fixed 35mm lenses Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta Used, $10 and up. You can find bargains in used lenses from the pre-autofocus days. Just check the mount and take your chances online. I’m suggesting eBay and Craigslist as two places to start looking for used 35mm lenses. www.eBay.com; www.craigslist.com Converter Lenses 16x9 $500 and up. Wide-angle and fisheye converter lenses for your fixed-mount small- and full-size camera lens. Quality of glass is excellent. Remember that all these lenses make your camera front-heavy. Be careful of stress on your lens and if working on a tripod, be careful to adjust balance. www.16x9inc.com Converter Lenses Century Precision $500 and up. Options Century Precision is now a division of Schneider Optics. They offer a full line of adapter lenses for small- and largerformat cameras. If you are working in a project destined for theatrical presentation, it is worth renting Zeiss primes for use with a compatible adapter like the P+S Technik. As a division of filter maker Schneider, the glass is excellent. In this product, as well as in all other add-on products, watch carefully for any vignetting at the widest angle. www.schneideroptics.com Prime Lenses Zeiss $ Very expensive www.zeiss.com Any DP will tell you that there’s a difference. Prime lens, by the way, means single focal length. You usually don’t zoom-in while making films; you dolly. Once again, this is a product you will most likely rent, and lens rentals can start at $400 per day, depending upon your market. S4/i Lenses Cooke Optics $ Very expensive. Again, a product that will most likely be rented. Cooke is a standard in the industry. Note that Cooke is now offering a set of prime lenses for the Red One camera for about $20,000. Cooke and Zeiss offer zoom lenses, but cine-style shooters tend to opt for primes if at all possible. www.cookeoptics.com Red Camera Zoom Lenses www.red.com Red Digital Cinema No discussion of lenses for cinema-stye shooting is complete without reference to the Red One. Red promises to revolutionize filmmaking and the zoom lenses offered for the camera are truly at breakthrough prices, considering the prices of comparable glass. Now if we only knew who makes them $6,500-8,500. 18mm-50mm and 50-150mm zoom lenses for the Red One. 12 dv march 2008 www.dv.com http://www.cinevate.com http://www.letusdirect.com http://www.pstechnik.de http://www.redrockmicro.com http://www.eBay.com http://www.craigslist.com http://www.16x9inc.com http://www.schneideroptics.com http://www.zeiss.com http://www.cookeoptics.com http://www.red.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2008

Digital Video - March 2008 Contents DV Update Q&A Fest Circuit Instant Expert LP-Micro Light Fusion F2 Drive PPFP-3N Bag Ego Digital Imaging Light KE-79CC Boom & Fuzzy Close-Up: Honoring George Spiro Dibie, ASC Food Fight Key Thoughts on Chroma key DV101 Dynamic Duos First Look: A Big Serve Cameras & Courtrooms Ad Index Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2008

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