Speed Booster

[Chris Harding]

There was a post somewhere here about some 17-50 lenses just not working with the Adapter at all ...think it was Tamron but I'm not sure so I would look for a genuine Canon lens rather on eBay

Chris

[Randy Johnson]

I use Nikon mounts but I will try other lenses. Maybe a 28 to 75 I was looking at.

[Randy Johnson]

Well I think im sending it back, I tried it on my 80-200 it worked BUT it took away aperature control. It was wide open all the time. I think I will just put the money towardds a lens.

[Randy Johnson]

Well after further evaluation it does actually work. Apparently I need to be carefull how I put my 80-200 on it so it does let me control the aperature. So I will keep it and for now marry it to my 80-200 for big dark churches I can even use it on my 17-50 it makes it brighter and wider but does vinette BUT I can use the digital zoom to over come that if im desperate for light. Just zoom to 1.1/1.2 goes past the edges and doesnt add any artifacts that I can see.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

Sounds like a pain in the butt to use?? Why do you have to be "careful" ?? Surely you just lock the adapter on the camera and click the lens onto the adapter. What else do you have to do .... In the chaos of a wedding I don't think I would like to have to start being fussy if I want to change lenses..there just often isn't time!!

With lenses and vignetting, am I correct in saying that you cannot use lenses that are designed for APSC sensors ?? So they have to be full frame lenses ?? That sucks a bit if that's true cos the whole concept for me is to be able to use my APSC Nikon lenses on my Sony camera and it seems a bit pointless if you have to then go out and buy different FF lenses just so the adapter doesn't vignette?

Chris

[Gabe Strong]

Chris,

If you want to use the speed booster, yes you need FF lenses or they have the
potential to vignette especially at the wider focal ranges. If you want to use your APSC
lenses, you just buy the normal smart adapter and they work great. For Nikon lenses
I think the Novoflex is one of the best for using APSC lenses on the Sony NEX line.

[Randy Johnson]

Im not sure why it wasn't working at first I has kinda anxious and I think when I put it together the first time something didn't click in right so I didnt have aperture control. When I took my time and put the adapter on the camera then the lens to the adapter I heard a spring click that I didn't hear before and then it worked fine. Right not making my 80-200 wider and brighter is worth the price of admission for me so from here on in I will just try and find lenses that work with it.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Gabe

That's exactly what I'm using and it works well and no hassles. With a Sigma 18-35 F1.8 I'm pretty happy with a dumb adapter!! I can manage a DOF at 35mm and F1.8 and that's about my limit!! Anything tighter and I would struggle!! I did a wedding tonight with just the Sigma on the camera and apart from the dancing when all the lights go out, I didn't need a video light...Inside the venue I was shooting mostly at F1.8 @1/50th and the camera was hovering around the 3db gain mark only ..very respectful!!

and I can use it as a great lens on my Nikons too!!

Randy? I don't think the speed booster is worth me buying as I already have Nikon APSC lenses so I don't want to have to have a special set of FF lenses just so I can make them faster!

Chris

[Steven Digges]

Chris, it is probably not for you because your already set up with your Noxoflex.

Randy, you need to reed the instructions for the adapter. Mounting it is NOT difficult but there is a protocol for it because it has two modes.

Steve

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Steve

If I was going to go the FF route) then I would follow Chris Young's suggestion and look for some really good vintage Minolta glass but yes, for me it would be silly to go out and buy another set of lenses just so I can use a speed booster when I already have a bag full of APSC Nikon mount lenses so having them dual purpose is an asset for me.

I guess Randy needs to decide whether to work with dedicated FF Canon glass and his speed booster or look for Nikon mount lenses .. for the latter, it's probably better to just get faster Nikon mount lenses and use a dumb adapter.

Chris

[Randy Johnson]

Chris,
Im not sure what you mean by Canon glass. I dont have anything Canon I have a NEX camera and Nikon mount Lenes. I took the Tamoron 17-50 on a job today with the Speed Booster and it was great that extra stop really helped. I used the digital zoom to cover up the vinetting I only had to go to 1.2. My only issues were the same issues I would have with any converter. Manual Iris/focus and no servo zoom made for a awkward shoot if they ever released the 18-35 at 1.8 with a NEX mount I would be first in line.

[Chris Harding]

Hey Randy

Sorry! I thought you had a bunch of Canon lenses! If I'm shooting on the 18-35 with a dumb adapter I just crank the lens wide open (You are in low light and if the stock lens at F3.5 isn't going to cut it, then it makes sense to go to F1.8) So I let the camera expose for me with a theoretical fixed F1.8 lens. At 18mm you have heaps of DOF so for things like people dancing, you seldom need to change focus and I simply focus on people in the middle of the floor. At 35mm it's a little tighter but still you seldom need to change focus so the extra effort is just an initial focus and you can run the cam almost as a point and shoot.

For me, I would rather not use digital zoom at all as it does degrade the image despite what Sony says!! and instead of buying a speed booster, I'd rather put that towards a lens I can use on both my still cameras and EA-50's .... even in manual, the Sigma is awesome ... I shot virtually the entire reception last night without using a video light at all. Nice to be in a venue and your camera sits around 3 -6db gain only!!!

Chris

[Craig Marshall]

I think the Metabones 'Speed Booster' is a very misunderstood device and often purchased for the wrong reasons. Perhaps it's name is a great marketing tool but as I see it, it's real benefit is to adapt all those superb vintage Full Frame 'film' SLR lenses to modern APS-C and MFT sensors and cure the ‘Filter Effect’ along the way!

To explain: the Metabones built device will improve contrast but it also corrects aberrations cause by the low-pass/infrared/sensor cover glass filter pack (used on CMOS sensors) when fitting ‘film’ lenses on digital cameras. The fact that it also doubles the amount of light hitting the sensor is a very nice spinoff!

[Randy Johnson]

Chris,
When you say you let the camera handle the exposer do you mean through shutter speed?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Randy

Yes, that's correct but only partially!! In low light venues I just keep the iris wide open and then allow the camera to set the shutter (normally it will set it at 1/50 anyway) and the camera will also adjust iso/gain automatically.

When I'm sometimes using a dumb lens in bright light ..if I leave the iris wide open obviously the shutter will scream up to something like 1/6000 or even more so I simply close the iris until the shutter gets down to the range I want it. At weddings I'm not really phased about shutter speed as it has to be super high to affect video and as long as I can hover around the 1/100th to 1/300th that's great so really, I just turn the aperture control on the adapter until the shutter speed is in the low 100's and I'm done.

All this of course falls over if you are shooting progressive where shutter speed needs to be a multiple of frame rate ... I only shoot in 50i as it's easy simple and works for everything.

Chris