Letus Mini & Canon HV20 using Canon EF Lens in 24p HD

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9. Riley sings Ben

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8. Alma sings Heaven Knows

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4. My wife singing to me in the living room

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3. Canon EF Lenses Sampler Test Using HV20 + Letus Mi…

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2. My 6 year old music video 8-)

by Ronnie Silos

2 years ago

1. Letus Mini & Canon HV20 using Canon EF Lens in 24p…

by Ronnie Silos

2 years ago

I just got the Letus Mini the other day. I had about 1 hour to spare last weekend so i decided to put it to use and experiment with it. I'm lucky my kid is always game for it. Well, here's my first attempt. As you'll see, focus is a challenge especially when you are by yourself with no tripod and have to worry about your kid getting bitten by snakes. Setup is basically the Canon HV20 with the Letus Mini. I used 2 lenses for the shoot. Canon EF 16-35 2.8 Mark II, Canon EF 135 2.0. I didn't bring an SLR so I didn't get a chance to change the aperture so it's basically shot wide open. Next time, I'll use a tripod and hopefully be able to get sharper shots. Feedback always welcome. I reposted this one in HD. I hope it comes out ok. I guess I'll see when the upload finishes.

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19 Likes

Ching Sing
6 months ago
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9 months ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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1 year ago
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Jason Brooks 2 years ago

Real nice shooting mate. Lush light, focus is actually pretty good throughout (despite your self-depreciating comment!), and the whole thing is very pleasing on the eye.

Keep em coming.

jason
Peter Salvia 2 years ago

This is the exact setup my brother and I are considering purchasing, right down to the Canon EF mount. Thanks so much for posting!
Ronnie Silos 2 years ago

Hi Peter, You will be happy with this setup. Thanks Jason for the kind words!
Bob Wallich 2 years ago

The quality is amazing.
[ PIXEL VIKING ] 2 years ago

I'll be getting me a Letus Mini soon - was a bit puzzled about the whole aperture thing... So, can you put the lens on your SLR and change aperture and then mount it again on the Letus? Isn't the lens just gonna go back to fully open when removed from SLR?
Ronnie Silos 2 years ago

Hi Rico, For Canon EF lenses, once you set your SLR to aperture priority, then set the aperture, hold the DOF preview button down. detach the lens WHILE holding the preview button. The lens WILL stay at the aperture set. If you simply detach the lens while not holding the preview button, the lens aperture goes back to it's widest setting.
Kjewbee 2 years ago

Dude! You cannot believe how happy I am knowing I CAN set aperture on EF lenses!!! WHOOOOOOO
I've ordered an extreme over a month ago, so it should ship soon and was planning to use my EF lenses. I've even bought darn canon FD lenses because of the lack of aperture settings... But now... YES!
Thanks a lot!
[ PIXEL VIKING ] 2 years ago

Thanks Ronnie. Just ordered a Letus Mini to go with my Canon HG10 and Canon EF lenses and EOS 30D body.

Should be good fun and make for good use of my EOS equipment :)
[ PIXEL VIKING ] 2 years ago

Do you know if the EOS mount on the Letus will handle EF-S lenses? I could use my 17-85 IS lens then...
Ronnie Silos 2 years ago

Yes, the Letus EF mount will handle the EFS lens as well.
[ PIXEL VIKING ] 2 years ago

Good to know, thanks.
Moayad Hassan 1 year ago

I'm happy yo know about this trick :)

I have one concern though, won't locking the aperture this way cause some kind of damage to the lens in the long run? It sounds unnatural for the lens, but smart nevertheless :)
Ronnie Silos 1 year ago

When you put the camera on Av (Aperture) mode, you are locking the aperture. When you are setting it for Tv (Time) priority, you are locking the speed. All we are doing is fooling to be all manual. While locking the speed since we want 48 for 24p, we just want to dictate what the Av is also. This is very ntural for the camera. We are not by any means mechanically jamming the blades or anything. 8-) Hope this helps. Ronnie
Ronnie Silos 2 years ago

Kjewbee, looks like you are getting yours soon! I'm excited for you. I was going down the same path trying to replicate my EF collection with FD lenses, but at the end of the day, it really is not too much hassle attaching the EF lens to a DSLR to change settings. You really do not change it that much anyway in a shoot. But you are right, this really opens up to our world if you have a good investment on EF lenses already! One note, the EF 85L 1.2 original version will not work because the lens needs power to adjust the focus. My other lenses work just fine.
Kjewbee 2 years ago

Got my Letus Extreme last monday.
I made some testshots and tried to put it online yesterday but didn't work till this morning. At this moment I am replacing the video with a better version.

You can see a few pictures of the setup as wel:
vimeo.com/982093

Overall I must say those old FD lenses are not to bad at all! I have this vivitar 70-210 macro wich is amazing but a pain in the ass to focus with ;)
Steve Tenuto 2 years ago

the kid would blend in a lot better if the gun didn't have an orange tip. other than that nice job.
Ronnie Silos 1 year ago

Thanks and LOL! It's ok. Unlike Hillary, my kid was not actually in hostile territory and under sniper fire. Didn't feel like it was necessary to coumoflage the orange tip.
Sean Michael 1 year ago

Ronnie, what do you think about the Letus Mini? Would you buy it again? How easy is it to properly set up and use? I'm thinking about selling my Redrock M2 and getting a Mini instead (I also have an HV20). The M2 is a nice adapter, but requires rails and just wasn't originally intended for a small cam like the HV20.
Ronnie Silos 1 year ago

Hi Sean, I would absolutely buy it again. It just took my videos to a new level in creativity. I can setup in less than 5 minutes. And, with the HV20, it is still compact. It is built like a tank. The flip image is the only way for me. No additional monitor or flip hacks. 2 AA lasts 8 hours continuous no problem. My first 2 tests that I share here are already very satisfactory and I'm just learning this thing. You have to work for your shots but totally worth it!
Sean Michael 1 year ago

Ronnie, thanks for your reply. I agree that the flip, and the small size, of the Mini are very attractive. Looks like I will be joining the Letus Mini club soon. :)
tony ng 1 year ago

was the pulldown removed?
Ronnie Silos 1 year ago

Yes. I did a 3/2 pulldown using Final Cut/Compressor.
David Edward Therault 1 year ago

Ronnie, how essential do you believe it is to use rails with the mini? Thanks.
Ronnie Silos 1 year ago

I personally would not use it without one. I just don't trust those plastic threads. With the rails, it just feels very stable and allows me to put it on a tripod or my flowpod.
David Edward Therault 1 year ago

Thanks, Ronnie.

That makes sense.
deryck banks 11 months ago

Hi Ronnie, your video has inspired me to invest in the Letus Mini - I have a Canon HV30 and a couple of Nikon SLR lenses. I also have a Canon XM2 (Not High Def - but good cinematic look). Quick questions...
1. I can only afford one Letus converter.. should I get the mini for my HV30 or the bigger one for the XM2?
2. How did you post that video in such a big video player in such high quality? E.g. What file format? How did you condense it? What video player? etc.. I have an Apple Imac with Final Cut HD 3.5.
Many thanks for your help Ronnie!
All the best
Deryck
Ronnie Silos 11 months ago

Hi Deryck! Sorry for the late response. Been busy lately.
On question 1, I personally like the small version as the point of putting it on the hv20 is to stay stealth. However, if you have plans on using it for a bigger camera, then the bigger one makes more economic sense.
On question 2, I shot it with hv20 using 24p in speed priority using 48. I use final cut pro for editing and to do the 3 2 pulldown. and then export the video using compressor. Let me know if you want me to post the exact settings I use to convert for vimeo or if you want me to go into details on anything.
Thanks,
Ronnie
Aileen Alvira 11 months ago

Ok, now I know why God sent me to your Vimeo site. I'm here to make the non-techie comments :) This vid pulled at my heartstrings. I pictured my boys growing to be men and being in the battlefield. Like when u get into FX, it would've been cool to have Ri transfigure into an older version of himself in a battlefield and then back to the last scene with him as a child again. Yah, u could tell I watch too many movies :) I'm not an anti-war activist by any stretch of the imagination, but this was a bit of a wake up call. Thanks, I love watching your videos!
Ronnie Silos 11 months ago

Thanks Ai! Keep giving inputs like that and we may have to collaborate on a movie someday. LOl! Yeah, this was a test with no script or direction but I tried to make it just a little interesting. My dream is to make movies and music videos besides my composing and recording stuff. Someday... Sigh...
Ronnie
Peter York 7 months ago

hey ronnie, im thinking about buying a Letus extreme for my Canon xha1...only problem is i only have 2 Ef lenses as of now one is a canon ef 100-300 and the standard lense that comes with the rebel ext will i have to buy these big expensive lenses to get my image quality like this? or will the mediocre lenses i have effect the image. thanks

pete
Ronnie Silos 7 months ago

You should get some good shots with the 100-300. The standard one,hmmm, is that the 50-85 or something? With both lenses, you should be able to get some very nice looking clips. You just have to light it properly for indoor low light stuff. You may want to consider a cheap lens like the Canon EF 50 1.8 and/or the 85 1.8. I've seen some amazing images with these lenses and they are cheap enough if you arer after some nice bokeh/shallow DOF.
bryan pentecostes 3 months ago

its really really cool to see someone making good use of a canon ef lens. I really like the way this looks. thanks for sharing.

bryan