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Metabones lens speed booster adapter, focal reducer
  • 873 Replies sorted by
  • Apparently the patent is up in two months, maybe they were granted use or paid?

  • @apefos

    As you are aware I have been running similar simulations of this type for a while, you might recognise those type of diagrams from their white paper. The issue is that a focal reducer also reduces back focal length/track length, but with anamorphic there is only reduction in the horizontal dimension. So although a similar scheme can be found it wont be exactly the same for this reason.

    Also no flares of course

  • Does the multi-aspect ratio sensor of the GH2 offer any advantages with the Metabones Speed booster over other cameras without a multi-aspect ratio sensor?

  • It's too early to get excited about this new product. But I do wish that f/2.8 FF and ASP-C zooms can perform well with one more stop gain and less crop factor!!!

  • @Vitaliy Yes, I agree! We need to push them to make Pentax to m43 version or offer us three parts, integrating m43 mount, one glass, and final piece - lens mount of choice. Would be excellent solution.

  • @pchristoph

    It can be also modular structure with included macro extension rings that you can place instead of glass part.

  • This adapter may introduce more optical distortion and infinity focus and other issues as it sounds too good to be true.

  • I guess I will have to dust off my legacy glass collection again, after all, if my 50/1.4 is suddenly a F/1.0, that's a pretty serious piece of glass and at a nice focal length as well.

    @DanPV I'm not sure, but assuming that the original lens is wide enough and sharp enough, you should have a lens that is wider than you would have on a smaller sensor.

    Another interesting aspect is the increased value of FF glass. For example, my Sigma Ultra Wide ii 24mm is sharp edge to edge on FF, so it becomes more interesting to have those kinds of lenses. A full-frame constant aperture F2.8 suddenly becomes faster and sharper? Wow!

    Modular structure: I think Vitaliy's comment foreshadows what we will hopefully see in the knock-off market--a modular approach with even more flexibility.

  • @Psyco

    correct me if I am wrong, but the Tokina 11-16mm is NOT a full frame lens and thus would not benefit from this adapter.

  • Tokina 11-16mm is NOT a full frame lens and thus would not benefit from this adapter.

    It'll perfectly benefit from this adapter, m43 version :-)

  • Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS :)

    Compared to Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0, it would cover wider (12mm) and longer (39mm) ends and support image stabilization.

  • @stonebat

    Btw, much cheaper F2.8 zooms with optical stabs exist.

  • Yes. Tamron zoom. But will the adapter's firmware support iris and IS control on 3rd party lenses?

  • @stonebat

    As far as I know it works. As it is same protocol. All manufacturers of lenses reversed it in same manner.

  • The Tokina making a nice 15mm/f2 equiv on m43 is pretty exciting.

    ...but not as exciting at a Sigma 8-16mm for a whopping 11.2mm/3.5 equiv! Won't that be some sort of record? It'd be a touch wider than the FF 12-24 Sigma. And maybe sharper?

    I'm picturing a rash of nauseating Terry Gilliam wide pans. And it excites me!

    And whoever mentioned anamorphic: there's nothing saying you couldn't slap an anamorphic adapter on the other end! I wonder what IQ would be like?

  • I emailed metabones and after congratulating them, asked about making a Pentax 'K' or M42 lens to MFT speed booster adapter. Response was interesting. Email reply simply reads: "We are under estimate" Not sure what to make of it.

  • @Micah do you mean this Sigma lens? because it's already out. or didyou mean another Sigma lens?

    WHAT??? 8mm at RECTILINEAR - is that even physically possible??? with SpeedBooster on a GH1 this would become 8mmX0.71X1.86=10.56mm (assuming that GH1's and GH2's video crop factor is 1.86).

    EDIT: I wonder if this lens has a manual focus control?

  • @Micah no, there's nothing keeping you from also using an anamorphic adapter you'll just be in the same predicament that current full-frame owners are in where none of the available adapters, except perhaps the Panasonic, allow for any but telephoto taking lenses. With the Panasonic you can at least use a normal lens but not a wide angle but will need to modify it for manual focus or find very large, very rare diopters.

    "Real" movies haven't been shot in full-frame 35mm for a very long time (VistaVision). For general purpose, full-vocabulary narrative filmmaking (meaning being able to shoot anything from a wide master to ECU, not just multiple flavors of CU and/or super compressed, Tony Scott wides where you're master is shot from a room over or down the block) you would likely have to try and get ahold of Ultra-Panavision 70 (65mm) or the 65mm version of Technirama lenses to really combine this and anamorphic.

  • Still thinking about the slightly larger sensor of the GH2--I'm thinking it would give you more room to correct the distortion in a wide lens, since the cam probably won't interact with the speedbones optics.

    Looking forward to turning my Panny 14 mm into something below 10mm.

    Wondering whether the adapted lens is more hyperfocal.....

  • @DrDave you need an APS-C lens to use this adapter, Panny 14mm wouldn't work, it doesn't cover the "extra sensor space" (and no M43->M43 speed booster will exist)

  • @lenuisible It's not going to be a 10mm, it's still going to be a 14mm, still. The adapter will mean a M4/3 camera like the GH2 sees it closer to how a 5D sees a 14mm. The focal length of the lens doesn't change.

  • @kronstadt It covers APSC for about a 12mm equivalent, so if the m43 adapter retains the same .71x factor it'll be about an 11mm. Think 8mm x 0.71 x 2.0 crop factor = 11.36

    However, I wouldn't be surprised is something else were in store for m43, since there's room for even more condensation of light with the smaller sensor. It would mean an entirely different formula for the optics, but that gent from Coastal Optics seems to have done the impossible quite handily in the past. I expect miracles!

    Perhaps a .5x and another stop of light? We can dream, can't we?

  • @Micah The M4/3 version uses the same multiplier in the optics.

  • Great news. I like the positive spin they've put on the product title: 'Speed Booster' sounds more sexy and more expensive than 'Focal Reducer'.

  • That's not spin. It actually makes the lens faster.