Unreliable iris while using Metabones adapter

[Peter Walsh]

Hi,

I'm just wondering if anyone else is having difficulty with the iris of their lenses stopping down or even closing entirely when using the metabones adapter on their FS700. I'm in full manual settings under consistent light and the iris just clicks down on me sometimes. I reset a few times and they usually settle in and perform well, which I just don't understand. I use EF mount with the Metabones. Twice this has happened at inopportune times and I've had to go back to the kit lens while shooting for clients just to keep things moving along. I'm grateful for any thoughts on how to improve the reliability.

[Bo-Ming Tong]

Would you mind letting me know if this is Metabones Mark I, Mark II or Speed Booster? What was the lens used when this happened? And what was the firmware version number of the adapter? Thanks.

[Peter Walsh]

Hi thanks,

It happens with the Metabones, EF to E-mount, version Mark II while using a Sigma 1.4 30MM; a Canon EFS 2.8 17-55 . It does not happen with the FS700 kit lens which makes me think it could be an issue with the adapter.

[Bo-Ming Tong]

Would you mind going to

MENU > OTHERS > VERSION DISPLAY

and let me know the LENS/MOUNT ADAPTER VERSION?

Does the iris erratic behaviour occurs only with the Sigma 30/1.4, or with the EF-S 17-55/2.8 as well? Thanks.

[Peter Walsh]

HI

With the Sigma, the iris has both closed down entirely and stopped down. With the Canon the iris has stopped down and "hunted" for the right f-stop.

I'm not sure what you mean about the menu choices. What website are you referring to there? Thanks for your help.

[Bo-Ming Tong]

There is a MENU button near the power switch on your FS700. Then you find the OTHERS tab and under it the VERSION DISPLAY menu item. I think this blog explains it with pictures very well.

Digital cinema in the last frontier: Metabones EF to NEX firmware....

If we turn off auto iris (by pushing the IRIS button on the side of the camera until the letter A disappears next to the displayed aperture value), were we able to control the aperture of the EF-S 17-55/2.8 successfully as expected?

[Peter Walsh]

Thanks. It says: LENS/MOUNT ADAPTER: Ver. 11

There is a chance that the iris was set to automatic and in the 'fog of war' during the actual shoot this was overlooked. I know the difference, I just don't remember the settings at the time of the issue. I hope this is just a stupid mistake on my part and that there is nothing wrong with the lens or the adapter. I have a few shoots over the next week. For the benefit of any others, I will report back on how the lenses and adapter perform. Thanks for your help.

[Gabe Strong]

My blog does have the step by step on this. From what I understand, Sigma lenses have a bit
of trouble with the Metabones smart adapter. I had the EXACT symptoms that you did Peter.
Well, kinda. My 50-150 Sigma would randomly work fine and other times you couldn't control
the iris. Every single other Sigma lens I tried on it would randomly 'iris down' in the middle of
a shoot when I didn't touch anything at all! It was frustrating to say the least. If I remember my
messages back and forth with Metabones correctly, you want version 15 or higher on your adapter!
Version 11 is an older firmware version and needs to be updated. Good news is, it works
just perfect when you get the firmware updated, I haven't had a single problem. Well, I did,
but that was because I didn't understand the adapter 'defaults' to 'green power save' mode
which does not display your focus distance or zoom position. This saves your batteries a bit.
If you want that info displayed, you just have to start the camera up with the 'wide open' button
pressed in while starting the camera up. It's worth the wait to get the firmware updated, I think
the Metabones adapter is one of the best things I have in my camera bag.....the Zume adapters
are pretty neat as well though....:-)

Gabe Strong
G-Force Productions.
www.gforcevideo.com

[Bo-Ming Tong]

The Sigma iris reliability problem was fixed with adapter firmware version 12. If you PM me I will reply with Metabones' address for you to get a firmware update. Please write a note say "Sigma iris problem. Firmware fix required."

[Bo-Ming Tong]

There was a change introduced in version 14, when AF was introduced. "Green" mode is the new default, but unfortunately some features important for video are in the other, non-default mode, causing inconvenience to cinematographers. For example, auto iris during video, distance display and zoom indicator display are missing in "Green" mode. The default is changed because AF needs to be the default mode.

[Peter Walsh]

Thank you both. I will get the upgrade. At least I know now that I wasn't shooting in automatic!

[Peter Walsh]

Bo-Ming,
Your email is not associated with your account on this forum as far as I can see. Please contact me directly or provide way to reach you. Thanks

[Bo-Ming Tong]

Email sent!

[Gabe Strong]

Originally Posted by Bo-Ming Tong

There was a change introduced in version 14, when AF was introduced. "Green" mode is the new default, but unfortunately some features important for video are in the other, non-default mode, causing inconvenience to cinematographers. For example, auto iris during video, distance display and zoom indicator display are missing in "Green" mode. The default is changed because AF needs to be the default mode.

Yeah, it's not really a problem once you know about it. I just didn't know about it and
wrongly assumed that the firmware update had 'killed' the ability to have focus distance and
zoom position display. But I finally figured it out and wanted to post it on my blog as well as the
ability to check firmware verion. With the new firmware, the Mark II is really a treat, I love it!
I found a old Tamron 28-105 F2.8 (Canon EF mount) online at a camera store. It was in great
condition so I bought it. Works absolutely perfectly on both my VG-20 and FS-100 with
Mark II adapter. Autofocus even works on the VG20 in stills mode. Just a really nice
job on the updates to the Mark II.

[David Elkins]

Just to add to this, I rented an FS700 and Metabones adapter for the past week and I was having similar issues with the changing iris. This was with Canon L glass, and specifically seemed to be problematic with a 1.4x extender (Mark III) and 70-200 f2.8. It would appear the lens just stopped communicating with the camera. The only way to restore it would be to power cycle the camera or remove the lens from the adapter and re-mount. It would work for a few minutes and then I would have to do this again. A serious pain. This was with a Metabones running Version 14. Not sure how to tell if it is a Mark I or II.