Here is a little video we posted up on Vimeo a while back. It explains why you may choose a setup like the Master Cinema Series over the more “traditional” camera dangling way out in front type setup most manufacturers have said is the “right” way since the advent of the DSLR. Watch the video and you’ll get a sense of which I prefer. Yes, of course I am going to seem biased but once you get an MCS rig up on your shoulder, you’ll quickly see why it’s such an awesome setup. Anyway, check out the video over on Vimeo. I could embed it here but the Vimeo site is so purdy! http://vimeo.com/33054496

Choice. The spice of life… or something like that. We all have a choice from what we have for lunch to where we buy our polka dotted socks. So why would you choose to buy your camera accessories from LetusDirect instead of one of the “big box” stores? We work with customers every day who are trying to make this choice. Here are a few things to consider when making a decision.

There have been many forum and blog posts about a Chinese company claiming to be an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of Letus products. There is a lot of mis-information being propagated by this company and by others not fully informed. We have gone back and forth on whether we should even address this as we do not want to further advertise this knock-off company. Due to their increased efforts to spread false propaganda, we felt it was important to make this post.

In attempt to to make things more clear as to what exactly is going on, I asked Hien, the owner and originator of Letus, to give me a detailed break down. Below is a paraphrased version of what he provided. For our official “corporate” release, you can view that here.

Official statement from Hien Le, owner of Letus Corporation (paraphrased by Aaron Pinto on behalf of Hien).

Letus was started out of a garage in Portland, Oregon in 2004 by engineering brothers Hien and Quyen Le. The original adapters were milled out of plastic and when we approached our CNC guy here in Portland to see if they would build aluminum casings, he said it could not be done and still be profitable. After talking to some other US based CNC shops and getting a similar response, we began looking elsewhere.

Aperture refers to the size of the opening that lets light through the lens into the camera’s sensor. One way picture aperture is to think of the iris of your eye. When you’re in a low light situation the iris of your eye will open all the way to allow the most amount of light in. When you’re outdoors in bright sunlight the iris of your I will close to limit the amount of light let in. The aperture of your lens is opened and closed with the use of aperture blades, these blades produce the same effect that the iris of your eye produces. Aperture can also be referred to as F stop, iris, and speed.

So you have decided to shoot a film. But wait, you don’t have all of the gear you need? No problem, just ask a company to sponsor you right? They’ll send you boxes and boxes of whatever you need.

That may sound like a silly idea but here at Letus we receive “free stuff” requests like this on a daily basis. We certainly aren’t opposed to sponsoring aspiring film makers. In fact, we sponsor many people in all areas of the film and television industry.

If you are looking for a sponsorship, here are a few tips that may increase your success rate. There are no guarantees but approaching a company well prepared certainly helps.

You’ve probably heard about Gareth and his indie film Monsters. Gareth used a Letus Ultimate on the production for an incredible cinematic look. You would swear it was shot on film. If you haven’t seen this flick yet, you can check it out on Netflix watch now.

Gareth is currently featured on the Adobe site talking about his use of Adobe Creative Suite for editing and composting for his film. It’s an interesting segment so head over there now and check it out.