Over the past three years, my team and I have shot two feature films, 20 shorts, and over 100 commercials on the DSLR platform, using Redrock, Zacuto, and Cinevate rigs. All of them performed well, but none of them seemed to fit me, my soul, and how I liked the rig to feel on my shoulder or how it converted like film cameras. I was missing that motion picture camera familiarity. As a direct result of this exploration, Hien Tu Le, owner of the Letus Corporation, and I designed and engineered a new line of gear that gazes into the future of the DSLR platform. The Master Cinema Series.
This equipment is designed and priced for every filmmaker to enjoy, no matter what your budget. Whether you are lensing a wedding, documentary, music video, commercial, or full-length feature, this is your form factor.
Together, we professionalized this workflow based on how the industry masters have shot for decades. We married 20 years of movie-making experience with four years of DSLR photography into one powerful gear system.
The future of DSLR Camera Technology
DSLRs are never going away. Rather, the platform is just getting warmed up. In the fall of 2008, it was our first glimpse into the future of camera technology with the invention of the Canon 5D. Everything will shrink to the point where it will be just a sophisticated chip on the end of a wonderful piece of glass. The new DSLRs that are coming out in the fall of 2011 and the spring of 2012 will rock your socks off! We are embracing all of them with our rig technology.
The owner and gear engineer of Letus, Hien Tu Le, his incredible team, and I have designed a rig series that allows your camera to morph from one form to another effortlessly. There is no other system out there that uses film production as its benchmark. Video is still a baby whereas film has brought about decades of development and we have capitalized on these that fit the platform.
Letus Master Cinema Series
Why buy the Master Cinema Series over another rig?
SPEED – this system converts and creates more set-ups in a day than any other rig.
WHY? Experience and understanding of what it takes.
QUALITY DESIGN – we have incorporated the best from the best in the motion picture world. With a lifetime guarantee on the rig, we stand behind the product.
BATTLE TESTED – I think that speaks for itself, we roll out in extremes.
QUICK TO CONVERT – the MCS baseplate is the lynchpin, you snap in and out. Fast and efficient; time is money.
FORWARD THINKING – this system is designed to grow with technology, advancements, and new cameras, you name it. But the precursor to this is that film has been around for almost a hundred years and that system is still what drives the production end of things and the Master Cinema Series is film. No matter what Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc., develop in the future, this gear set will conform to fit. It is future-proofed.
Why design a rig?
There are plenty out there. We waited and after four years of everyone making rigs, pieces, and parts to turn the camera into a DSLR, which it already is, we designed gear to turn the camera into a system that looks and feels like a 35mm Motion Capture device. So, whether you are using Still glass or Cinema glass, the Letus Master Cinema Series Rig is balanced.
It puts the power back in the hands of the Cinematographer / Operator. You are now one with the camera. Our forward-thinking design incorporates EVF technology to shrink your footprint. We have also adapted this form factor to handle Cineroid, Zacuto, and the Small HD DP-4.
This is a system. One that has taken the best from Panavision and Arriflex and molded it into a form factor that works with the DSLR platform. It deals with all the quirks and cons, as well as balancing a rig that fits your soul.
Our goal is to inspire filmmakers globally, with a form factor that will push your creativity, expand your scope and increase your speed. We’re turning a still camera into a movie-making machine. Turning a still camera into a movie-making machine.
ADVANCED FORM FACTOR FOR FILMMAKERS
Run-and-Gun Cam
First-Person Cam
ShoulderCam
StudioCam
By Shane Hurlbut, ASC
Director of photography Shane Hurlbut, ASC works at the forefront of cinema as a storyteller, innovator and discerning collaborator, who brings more than three decades of experience to his art. He is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the International Cinematographers Guild/Local 600, and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
