It’s that time of year again when we are asked 10 times a day if we are going to be at NAB. For the past 5 years the answer has always been: Yes, we’ll be there but just to meet people. We won’t have a booth.

This year that changes. Yes, we will be there and yes Letus WILL have a booth at NAB 2012. Booth C12449 to be exact. If you want to come visit us, you can get a free exhibitor pass with code LV3651. That will save you $150 and get you into the show at no charge but you must register before March 30.

So why a booth this year you ask? Letus is about quality products not the glitz and glamor of marketing madness. If you have ever been to NAB, you know how much money some companies drop into wowing you. I won’t use any names but one in particular that comes to mind starts with an “S” and ends in an “ONY”. One step into the veritable city of a booth and you begin to wonder how may AUDI R8′s you could buy with the budget they spend on a single trade show.

For us, NAB has always been about meeting new and existing friends. It’s a time to say hello face to face and chat. This year we decided that would be easier if we had a central place to do so. Normally I would work over at the B&H Photo booth (as they display a lot of Letus products) but that has always been a challenge working around the B&H crew. They are a great bunch of people but there is only so much room to get around in that oddly shaped booth.

We invested in a small, no-frills booth for NAB this year. This will allow an easy place for everyone to meet and chat. We’ll of course have some of our latest products there too including a brand new one called the Letus Helix! The Master Cinema Series will also be on display along with the Letus Follow Focus and Letus Matte Box.

So if you are heading to NAB this year, stop in and say hi! Booth C12449. If you read this post before March 30, register with code LV3651 to get into the show free.

Hope to see you in Vegas April 16 – 19!

We have officially launched our new support site. Our new support site is faster, easier to navigate, and mobile friendly. Check it out here.

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.

Our number one most requested accessory has finally been completed! Introducing the Letus Follow Focus. The highest quality follow focus you can buy for under $600 (forecasted price). There is not a piece in this system that has not been custom designed and built. Not a single “off the shelf” part was used. Everything is completely made from scratch to our precise specifications. We also CNC mill every component and do not resort to cheap plastic or metal casting in our production process.

We are proud to announce the release of our Talon and Hawk line of DSLR camera accessories. This is a full line of products for the HDSLR video market including a carbon fiber viewfinder, telescoping support rod systems, hand grips, shoulder mounts, and a DSLR cage.