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Letus Mini 35mm Lens Adapter on Sony SR11 – Video Blog and Quick Review
I have used the Letus Extreme, Elite and Ultimate 35mm lens adapters. I use them almost everyday in the Boston area for broadcast television, features for sports and sit down interviews for documentaries. I am very happy with them and until now, I had never tried the Letus Mini.  I borrowed a Mini from a friend to test with my Sony HDR-SR11 AVCHD camcorder. I used only one lens, the Nikon 55mm f1.2, full manual. I mounted the adapter on a Vinten Vision 3 tripod and used spring number 3 for balance. I did not use any rod support system. I did not need it in this set up. Many of you who read my web page would ask the obvious question… why not just use an HD DSLR camera to shoot this type of stuff? Well, my answer is simple. Use an HD SLR if you own one. You can shoot in 1080p full raster, different frame rates, and use the expensive image stabilizing auto focus “L” series glass. But if you already own a small HD camcorder and do not want to spend more money on another camera body, then buy the Letus Mini. You get what you pay for. This adapter is a baby Letus Extreme. Built to last with solid metal and includes super sharp optics. Many of you may have a few manual lenses sitting around in the attic collecting dust. If you want to get the shallow depth of field “filmic” look in your home videos or possibly professional images, the Letus Mini might be the answer for the long run. I still recommend a full sized Letus adapter if you are operating a larger camera like the HVX 200 or the PMW-EX1, but the Letus Mini is perfect for the smaller “handycams”.
I did a review on the Jag35PRO adapter almost a year ago, and I love it for its price. You can watch the JAG35PRO video here and read the detailed blog here. It works and many people are shooting great content with a Jag adapter. But, there are no mirrors or prisms inside the Jag to flip the image. The JAG35PRO that I tested was made from plastic and the adapter was light hungry. I found the vibrating motor to be a bit fiddly as well. The Letus Mini is also much sharper than the JAG35PRO in my tests with the same Nikon lens. The Letus Mini preformed quite well in fading light and even with its solid build, I found it easy to move around without support rods.
I shot tonight during golden hour in one of my favorite places. I have shot video blogs at this stream before, including the JAG35PRO video, and I never get tired of it. The changing seasons in New England always presents something new for me to shoot. And when the sun is setting, the shadows get long and the place is blasted with orange beautiful light.
Having trouble viewing this video on my site? Try VIMEO instead by clicking here. Please feel free to post any questions or comments below. You can get more information on the Letus Mini and order it at a new lowered price at Letus Direct. 34 comments to Letus Mini 35mm Lens Adapter on Sony SR11 – Video Blog and Quick Review |
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Copyright © 2012 Tom Guilmette - All Rights Reserved |
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That was fantastic Tom! I’ve always been iffy about those 35mm adapters… I find most of the stuff I see ends up with the centre area in focus and the outer areas of the picture get blurry, but I didn’t see that in this vid. Loved the musical pick as well!
Cheers!
-@humangobo
the letus mini was much sharper than i expected. i forgot to mention in the blog: i set the camera to manual focus and got the ground glass sharp. i set the exposure to manual and set it to work off the front manual dial so i was in full manual control while shooting. i was able to adjust the sr11’s iris with the dial. the sr11’s focus was locked and not adjustable on the fly.
the sony hdr-sr11 has been discontinued, and i hope sony kept these manual features in the next updated models.
How many stops do you estimate you lost with the mini? Solid video as usual. Thanks.
The letus mini only loses half a stop.
i would say about half a stop, maybe sightly more.
Amazing example. I shoot with the Letus Elite and I absolutely love it.
Do you edit with Final Cut? How do you handle that with AVCHD. When i bring in AVCHD it typically takes twice as long as real time. 1 hour of footage takes 2 hours. Its miserable.
yea, i use final cut pro. and yes it has to be transcoded to apple pro res during the import process. it does take a little longer, but not that big of deal for me. there will be native support for avchd footy soon i’m sure.
Great review Tom, as always. As you know I have the Sony HDR-SR11 and have been enjoying using it along with a Jag35Pro and Canon FD lenses. I considered purchasing a Letus Mini at one point so I wouldn’t have to deal with flipping the image in post, and the fact that the mini doesn’t lose as much light but have since eliminated it as a potential purchase.
It is going to be interesting to see what happens to the lower end 35mm adapters now that DSLR cameras such as the Canon T2i are out and in some cases less expensive.
yea, the 35mm lens adapter market took a hit due to DSLRs for sure. since some manufacturers have lowered the prices on adapters, the market has fired up again.
Does the SR11 have manual focus? I am really looking into to getting one. (:
Yes, you can program the dial wheel to control focus. It is a great little camera.
Nice! Thats exactly what I wanted to hear! (: Thanks!
yes, it has manual focus. you use the touch screen to adjust it or assign it to the sliver dial under the lens of the camera.
Hey buddy! Nice job as always! It seems like every project, no matter what format you’re shooting it on, seems to get better and better. I am simply amazed by the quality of work you put out. You and Phil are such role models.
I’ll be sure to stop by the booth at NAB! Can’t wait!!!!!!
looking forward to meeting you chris. see you at NAB
why did you choose Sony Hdr sr11? why not difference camcorders and different brand? dose Sony Hdr sr11 has crazy features on this things?
the hdr-sr11 was cheap as it was discontinued. i am a big fan of sony products. the sr11 is a great little camera. plus it has manual control and an 1/8 inch mini mic input.
Thanks for article. Just right after I discovered letus mini, there’s your article on the mini, and my cam is also SR12 (same as SR11 but bigger hd), cannot be more helpful!
I’m only a hobbist and on a budget, I’m debating on spending $400 for the letus mount brackets, instead to use that money to buy a real lens. In your experience, having the lens and letus mounted onto the cam then onto the tripod, do you feel need for additional stability support? I have no idea how much the lens and letus weight, and it looks sort of top heavy. Also, for someone who has never had a real lens, could you recommend one (just for generic purpose) in that price range, possible with manual iris?
Really appreciate the article and the video.
you will not need support for the letus and lens as long as you keep the lens small. i recommend an old manual AI nikon nikkor 50mm f1.8 (about $50) off ebay for your first lens.
ahahaha. Your crazy tom! But that looks amazing!
Have you looked at MPEG Streamclip to transcode to ProRes before bringing the footage into FCP? IT may be faster/better, and can do batch processing. Also, it can flip the footage 180˚, you know, if you are using a cheaper DoF adapter.
i know phil bloom chats about streamclip, but i have never used it. will get on that soon. thanks for info.
Did you ever try the Modo35 DOF adapter from italy? It has a stunning performance for low money!
i have never tried it.
First let me say thanks for opening conversation on this adapter and camera. I own the SR12 model. What have you been using for sound capture? Did you loose use of the mic when using the dial for focus? It appears the adapter would block the mic direct line of sight, does it? How effective was the mic? Any good recommendations for wireless mike options compatible with the SR12. Thanks so much for inspiring INDI guys and more.
i used the 1/8 inch mic input on the sr11. it should be the same on the sr12. the mic does not go away when using the dial for focus or exposure.
i use sony v1 wireless systems.
I have red one camera and I want to use canon lenses, does your adabter work for red one camera?
red only has the nikon adapter. looking into the birger mount. link: http://www.birger.com/
Hi Tom, Can you tell me please what is the story with rod support system? the letus mini have 7-8 kg weight,and on your photo I saw only tripod. Is it ok to keep letus mini and lens without any support just on the thread,or you do recommend rod support system?
Regards
Christian
Weight of the letus mini on their website is 1 pound 9 oz = 0.708738078 kilograms
Said he didn’t need rods in the text of the post.
Thank you for the video – really appreciate it. I’ve settled on the LetusMini out of the Jag35 and Brevis – putting it on a Sony CX550VE.
Can you recommend which lens mount I should go with? Canon or Nikon etc? I’ve not got a photography background so the lenses I buy overtime for this would be purely for video production on the adapter – seems good condition Canon lenses are all sub $50 on ebay??
Thank you.
Grabbed a few lenses on ebay to play with; Canon Vivitar 70-210mm f1:3.5 macro zoom, 135mm f3.5 and 50 mm f1.8 ‘prime’ lenses. Excited to see what comes out the end
I’m planning to get one of this and should I get a FD or EF lens? I’ve doing a lot of research on the Jag and really like it with the FD lens but came across this letus with better 1/2 stop of light loss.
Please help me out on the lens.
I am selling my Letus Mini adapter with Nikon AND canon mounts ($1,200), an HDR-XR500v ($900), Indisystem compact mount,
Matte box, two sets of Carbon rods, Overhead handle (All $1,100) and an assortment of lenses. Nikon 28mm 2.8 ($160) Sigma 50mm 1.8 w/Macro ($300) Zeiss ZF.2 50mm brand new ($730) Canon 80mm-200mm 5.6 ($120)
I’d be willing to sell all together to give someone a GREAT deal but will sell separately.
$3,700 for EVERYTHING.
Prices listed for items are what they cost NOW, not what I paid for them. Meaning this is a $4,300 set up $600 cheaper than is possible any other way.
I’ll also include 6 brand new full size batteries for free.
Urah27@comcast.net if you are interested.