Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

By Mikaton, basically a copy of the Metabones £400+ speed booster.

Any one purchased one of these for there EA50? does it have a blue spot in the middle? if so, can you give me some feedback on it? does it reduce the f stop by 1? They cost approx £130 to buy in the UK via ebay so i'm definitely interested.

EBAY DESCRIPTION
Shenyang Zhongyi (former Mikaton) focal reducer / speed booster adapter is designed for Canon FD lens to Sony NEX E mount APS-C camera bodies.

APS-C sensors magnifies images by 1.5x. The adapter reduces focal length by 0.72x magnifaction to near 1:1 in APS-C cameras, e.g. 50mm x 1.5 x 0.72 = 54mm.

It also allows more light to enter the camera sensor, can reduce exposure time to about 1 stop.

Suitable for most common Canon FD mount lenses.

Caution: Blue spot occurs when the lens is shot to light sources.

See this problem:

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

James

After all the issues Steve has had with his Metabones adapter do you really want to jump in and buy a Chinese speed booster that already has a known issue (the blue spot) I still have a totally useless FOTGA adapter on my shelf that is so poorly engineered that it wouldn't even fit on my camera despite lots of modifications. I bit the bullet and grabbed a decent Novoflex from Germany and they are perfect.

You might be lucky and get one in the batch that actually works correctly but I doubt it ...Here they are AUS$200 which is a lot of money to toss in the bin!!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

You're right Chris ... £125 (cheapest I found). It's still a lot of money, but certainly not £400.

I'm so desperate to give it a go, and get another F stop in one my FD zoom lenses as I currently use it with a normal FD-NEX adapter at f3.5 (which is really f4.5 due to the adapter).

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Hey James

Seriously the blue spot would worry me first!! I'm using a non speed booster (Novoflex) which are pricey too from Germany but well worth the price. I just use generic zooms on the adapter and have a Tammy 17-50 F2.8 constant so ceremony and speeches and then my Tokina 11-16 F2.8 (also constant) for wides and both are awesome and plenty fast enough so far wherever I have worked and the IQ is brilliant!

I have a feeling that the lens element in that adapter is not that good ...it's pointless putting a super pro Canon lens on your EA50 and then spoiling everything by sandwiching a low quality piece of glass between them ... the video you posted isn't exactly pristine!! I seriously would look for other alternatives ..it's useless getting a 1 stop gain and poor image quality!!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Chris so your manual focus'ing with those lenses?

I see the Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 constant, is available on a Sony mount which means you can use the LA-EA2 for auto everything!

Any way you can forward me on to some sample footage of the Tamron and Tokina? any videos you watched yourself before buying those lenses?

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Hi James

You are lucky..it's Summer there and chilly Winter here ..yes Perth does get cold enough to halt the wedding season so I haven't used the Tamron at a wedding yet .. Just around the house the Tammy looks a lot sharper than the Stock Sony lens so I'll upload when I do my next wedding with the Tamron.

I only focus ..the EA-50 will run sweetly in auto in a sorta aperture priority mode ...At receptions I simply leave the iris at F2.8 and the camera adjusts shutter and ISO for me very accurately too!! I'm an ex film photog before AF was used on medium format cameras so I have no problem manually focussing at all.

Outdoors I will simply stop down if the shutter speed gets a bit high!! It went to 1/4000 the other day during a property shoot!!!

I have used the Tokina a lot for Realty work and it's a magic lens inside a house..at 11mm you have a massive DOF so you can often lock the lens at 2.5' and just film and everything is sharp as a tack..using the Sony zoom in auto inside houses was a pain for the AF ..it really doesn't like to try and focus on white walls going into white ceilings ..there is not enough contrast for it to work so I would often get fuzzy walls/ceilings ... I actually bought the Tokina for Real estate photography as they like everything super wide and it does an amazing job there ....

I don't want a Sony mount cos with a Nikon mount I have a lens set for my D90 for stills and really AF is not a biggie at all!!

I however do see your issue ..You have Canon lenses so you might as well use them. With weddings however the extra little bit from between F3.5 - F4.5 on the Sony zoom compared to a constant F2.8 makes a massive difference ... At receptions I lock my ISO/Gain at 21db and use a video light as a fill and with the F2.8 it's seldom on or very dim ..with the stock lens I need light all the time.

As Craig has already posted the new Sigma F1.8 constant is very nice but crazy prices here still (best was $1499) My Tamron was under $300 !!!

When I get a minute I'll post a comparison clip around the house between the Tamron and the Sony lenses for you.

Chris

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Again, I'll bring in the idea of the Canon 17-55/2,8 IS.

It's lightweight, has a good focal range, f2,8 constant and on top has image stabilisation which I like very much. It's not a cheap lens but the best bang for the buck incl. IS. I use the Metabones Smart Adapter II, which makes it a automatic lens (no AF!!) including aperture and image stabilization. It's a great piece of gear and I don't have any issues with it, as a lot of my colleagues here too.

I borrowed the lens from a friend, but plan to buy one soon as it is the allround lens, that I was searching for.
I think I'll sell the kit lens then.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Couldn't resist ...

Just saw this new review of the LensTurbo speed booster. And bought one!

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Hey James

We expect a full review and comments from yourself when it arrives ... is this made by the same guys???

Should be interesting and the price is really good too!! Metabones over here are almost $600!!!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

No worries, i'll give some feedback on this lensturbo as soon as I get it.

May be even a video sample with it on and off.

I'll conduct the test on my EA50 and NEX 5N using my Canon FD f3.5 constant aperture zoom lens which I now hope will drop to f2.5 after this speedbooster is applied !

Let's see what happens. Fingers crossed ...

P.S. yep it's made by the same guys. They do the speedbooster in MANY different mounts.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

I would be vary wary of using any other brand focal reducer as the genuine article provides not one but six optical benefits:

1. Ultra high Speed:
a. Get an extra stop!
b. For example, it will convert an F1.2 lens to F0.90!

2. Field of View is Increased:
a. No crop factor for MFT and APS-C cameras
b. Your 24mm wide angle FF lens becomes a 24mm lens again

3. MTF is Increased:
a. Chromatic aberrations are reduced

4. Physical length is Reduced:
a. The focal reducer is shorter than the ‘dumb’ adapter
b. Your overall lens/camera length is shortened

5. Telecentricity is improved:
a. Moves the ‘exit pupil’ further from the image plane
b. Improves corner illumination and reduces sensor artifacts such as colour variations caused by pixel crosstalk

6. ‘Filter Effect’ is Cured:
a. Solves digital photography’s ‘dirty little secret’
b. Corrects the aberrations cause by the low-pass/infrared/sensor cover glass filter pack when using ‘film’ lenses on digital cameras

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

I understand Craig.

But for a fraction of the cost of a Metabones (£125 vs £400), this lens adapter is worth a shot if you ask me.

I can always try and return it with the loss of postage. Or sell it on with a little loss via ebay, so shouldn't be a problem if i'm not happy!

And most importantly ... Metabones hasn't released an FD to NEX adapter yet!

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

James, you could be lucky as some Asian clones can be nearly as good as the originals. There are some amateur comparisons of the 'Lens Turbo' with the 'Metabones' available on the net but given the design pedigree of Caldwell and Bittner, the Canadian opticians who calculated the specifications for the Metabones unit, I would be very cautious.

PS: Caldwell and Bittner's current project is to design a complete new range of HD lenses for Panavision's new 70mm digital 'Cinema' camera and that's not a commission which would have been awarded lightly.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

That's what I love about eBay! Don't like it? put it back on eBay.

Many years ago, I bought a 'sight unseen' P&S still camera from a lady who was selling off her boyfriend's stuff (and knew nothing about cameras) When the camera arrived, I added batteries and found the sensor was a goner and I had paid $60.00 for a doorstop! However I put it back on eBay and made sure the listing said it was faulty and needed a new sensor chip ...people fought to buy it and it sold for $71.00!!

So James if the adapter works well you win ..if it's terrible, put it back on ebay and you might even make a profit so you will also win.

Even if the seller in based in the UK, the item might still come from China or thereabouts so it will take a bit of time ... China to Australia is at least 3 weeks delivery yet I can get something from the UK in a few days!

We wait with bated breath!! I assume these guys also make a Nikon to NEX ??

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

@ Craig

Your right ... although Caldwell and Bittner spent hard hours grafting the specifications. It only takes another person half as clever to simply plagiarize the original and sell it at a fraction of the cost.

It happens all the time!

If Metabones had a FD to NEX out already, I would of saved up the extra money and bought it ... but they don't. Mitakon already do!

@ Chris

I hope I won't need to put it back on ebay. I'll see if that bluespot problem exists in my shooting conditions. I'm just seriously craving for my Canon FD zoom to perform better in low light!

And yes, ebay does have it's moments! you just never know who's willing to pay over the odds for your item. It's a bit of luck too.

And in regards to the Nikon fitment. Yes they make loads of different fitments. Zhongyi (formerly Mitakon) are actually well known for some awesome prime lenses. Philip bloom's reviewed one of their Hyperprimes I believe that comes in NEX E mount with a F stop of 0.95! Costs around £500-600 in the UK brand new.

Type in keywords: NIKON NEX FOCAL REDUCER in ebay and it should come up.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Interesting observations.

Can only say I have been using a Zhongyi Lens Turbo on a bunch of Minolta Rokkor MD mount lenses both prime and zooms on an FS700 and have never seen this 'blue spot' issue. Since reading these posts I tried a variety of shoot / lens / light combos and cannot replicate the issue at all. Maybe it just works well with some brands of lenses and not so well with others.

The major problem with this lens turbo adapter is it is too short in length to maintain parfocal zoom tracking with known parfocal lenses. After measuring and calculating the correct flange back distance and then shimming the front mount of the adapter for the correct back focus distance it now performs 100%. Hitting infinity at the end stop and tracking focus throughout the zoom range.

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Received my LensTurbo speed booster literally 30 minutes ago.

Good sturdy adapter with a nice high quality looking glass inside.

Done a quick test on my NEX 5N on a tripod facing my PC keyboard in a room with 1 window. Test was done at f3.5 @ ISO100. My lens is a constant f3.5 macro zoom lens by Canon in FD mount.

Any way, enough talking ... see for yourself and turn the quality up to high definition.


I am very happy with this purchase! Glad I went for it in the end.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Come on James - give us a little more than a keyboard!! Glad you are happy so far but it would be nice to see what it does on some people shots indoor and outdoors and some general low light and high light shots too. Especially on your EA-50 rather than the NEX5

Hopefully you will take a wander around inside and outside today ...It's only 8:15pm here so in the UK it's a little after 2pm so you should have lots of stuff to shoot in various lighting ??

I would also try shooting in bright light (It is Summer there!) and see if you get the weird blue light ...I would also try some indoor shots and purposely shoot something like a bright table lamp and see if that causes the blue piece in the middle too. For reference if you use the EA-50 give a comparison too and the speed rating using the same shot with and about and the gain/iso increase/decrease. That would be neat!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

I'll get round to doing a proper 'non-scientific' test on the EA50 this weekend.

The nex 5n was next to my PC so I quickly done a test on that to see if the image does look brighter and if the image gives me more view at the same distance. So far it looks very good. I pointed it at a bright light source as your right it's sunny here today but didn't see any blue tinge. I think it all depends on what lens your using so don't get me wrong if I throw on a different FD lens I may get the blue tinge.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

BAD NEWS

The chinese Zhongyi / Mitakon Lens Turbo DOES NOT FIT my VG20 or EA50! but fits my NEX 5n!?

I have purchased a M42 mount in the past that didn't fit my VG20 due to the pieces that slot in to the mount being too thick.

This lens turbo has the same problem! It was tight when trying to turn, so I didn't force it ... last thing I want to do is break the mount on my EA50 or VG20.

Now i'm back to square one! Need to find a way to lower the f stop on my FD lenses for use with my EA50 :-(

I will be contacting the seller for a refund as he didn't say it's not compatible with the EA50 in the auction description on ebay.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

I'd be very careful buying the Metabones if I was you. Both the regular 'smart'
adapter and the speed booster exhibit some strange behavior. Mine suddenly won't
communicate with lenses that it used to control just fine. Suddenly it freezes the
camera up and you can no longer control iris. Have seen enough others having the same
problems that I don't think it is a coincidence. They have had me return it twice to update
the firmware, but that has not helped.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

GOOD NEWS!

James, if you are referring to the Lens Turbo not fitting your VG20, please do not refer to it as a 'speed booster' as I think you'll find that term is a trademark of Metabones.

The Metabones 'Speed Booster' does not have this problem. The Metabones will fit your VG20 (and presumably EA-50) if you set it up correctly. Setting up the back focus of any well designed optical product is a standard procedure. (eg: broadcast spec ENG lenses)

The Metabones products are factory supplied with the back focus arbitrary set and you need to adjust it to suit your camera. Mine arrived as a tight fit on the VG20 too so here's the procedure:

1) simply unscrew the little grub screw on the rear connecting ring
2) using the black metal surround, rotate the rear glass element clockwise approximately two full turns back inside the chassis.
3) fit the 'Speed Booster' to your camera
4 fit your FF prime lens to the speed booster (eg; a 50mm)
5) open the iris as wide as it will go
6) rotate to focus ring to infinity.
7) check distant object are in focus
8) adjust the rear glass element +/- one quarter of a turn either direction until distant objects are in focus.
9) once correctly set, re-tighten the grub screw.

Note: you may need to apply an ND filter or raise the shutter speed so your image is correctly exposed whilst adjusting the back focus.

FYO, I'm using the 'passive' C/Y to NEX version of the Speed Booster to connect my Carl Zeiss prime lenses to the NEX VG20 and NEX 5N. Other brands of 'focal reducer' may or may not have a back focus adjustment.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Hi James

That is indeed a bummer plus it's highly unlikely you will buy a Metabones after all the hassles Steven had with it. I think the Chinese adapters simply don't have the correct tolerances to fit all Sony cameras. The FOTGA adapter I bought also wouldn't fit onto my EA-50 ...I think just poor engineering as both my German Novoflex adapters go onto the camera like they were a lens..smooth as silk and accurate and no gaps or play...beautifully machined and made!!

Maybe you just should do what I'm doing and get a decent manual adapter and get a few faster lenses. Do you use the Canon zoom on other cameras?? You could also sell that to fund a faster lens as Canon's seem to fetch a better price too!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

@Craig

Amended my post to highlight it's the Lens Turbo I was referring too and not the Metabones.

On the Lens Turbo, I don't see any way I can rotate the connector ring to make it fit. I just think as Chris mentioned it's just a poorly machined adapter that doesn't fit the WHOLE NEX range although the descriptions in all the Lens Turbo auctions claim it does!

As previously mentioned I bought a poorly machined M42 to NEX adapter a while ago, that didnt fit my VG20 or EA50 but fit my NEX 5N. They must of used the same template for this Lens Turbo.

They need to realease one that fits the EA50 and VG20! or Metabones needs to come out with a FD to NEX adapter.

@Chris

I want a faster lens but I just don't know what to get without spending ridiculous amounts of money.

The FD lenses I have are really sharp and have been compared to the 'L' series by Canon.

I really thought I finally found a solution with this lens turbo ... well I did, if my main camera was my NEX 5N, but no, its the EA50 that remains my main work horse so I need an adapter that fits that!

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Hi James

Again..bummer!!

I found that the first lens I bought (Sigma 24-70 F2.8) was not wide enough on the EA-50 for weddings..If the priest decides to walk towards you you just cannot go wide enough to be practical so I ended up with the Tamron 17-50 which is certainly fast enough for Church ceremonies and has enough reach at 50mm for the couple's vows . I'm quite sure something from Canon in the 17-55 range at F2.8 would be perfect with the standard adapter but pricey!!! My favourite is still my Tokina F2.8 11-16 ...it is way, way sharper than the Sony lenses and absolutely brilliant and it ends up on the second cam almost always. I was also looking at the bank balance and contemplating a longer Tokina but shucks they are pricey but very very sharp lenses!! Seriously forget about having any auto function ..the EA-50 handles exposure with a dumb lens on the camera very well indeed ..all you worry about is focus (now and again I have to stop down if I'm going outside and the shutter speed screams up to 1/6000th ..I'm using Nikon mounts so my adapters have an iris ring on them (manual) ... Take a look at a few Tokina Canon mount lenses in the 17 -500 or 55 range they are really good and 3rd party lenses for Canon are usually way cheaper than Nikon mounts too!!

Chris

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

I'd like to mention the Canon 17-55/2,8 IS again, as it was called above.

I am using and testing it for 4 weeks now and it will be my main lens on my forthcoming documentary. I use it with the metabones Smart Adapter II on the EA-50 and I am very happy with this combo.

I will use it for 2 documentaries in germany and bosnia this year. I like the range of the 17-55 and the image stabilizer works like a charm too. I use it wide open or stopped down to f4/f5,6 and I like the quality it gives me much more than the sony kit lens does. It is not really a cheap combo - but I will begin filming in two weeks. No time for experiments left. I'm still testing different profile variations but I like what I can get right now...

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

mitakon lens turbo. Still doesn't fit the nex-ea50? This post wasn't updated anymore. I was interested in this adpater because the speed booster is much more expensive.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Don't waste your money.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Stick to the genuine article, it is worth every penny.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

thx, for the answer. I will go for the metabones. So if resume correctly:

you get fullframe (wider) lens. A 24mm lens becomes a real 24mm lens.
You gain some light, better in low light.
And the blurry background (DOF) ? That's going to be also more blurry with the metabones?

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

A 24mm lens is always a 24mm lens.

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

yes, but on APS-C sensor it becomes less wider because the crop factor. that's what I mean

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

The EA-50 has a crop factor of 1.5 so a 24mm lens actually IS still a 24mm lens but has the field of view of a 36mm lens. Using the Metabones it's field of view reverts back to 24mm and if it's a booster too, your lens becomes one stop faster. As already mentioned by Tom, make sure you buy a lens for a full frame sensor otherwise it will vignette. I must admit with the cost of the Metabones I gave it a miss as autofocus won't work properly anyway so wouldn't it be much easier to get a wider and faster lens and shoot in manual???

If you have a 24mm F2.8 lens plus a speed booster you end up with a 24mm FOV and around F2 right???

Surely it's a LOT easier (and cheaper) to just have a manual 16mm lens on the camera that is F1.8 .. you get the same result for less money.

When I still had my EA-50's my goto lens was my Sigma 18-35 F1.8 ...cost me $700 for the lens and $15 for a dumb adapter .... That would a LOT cheaper than using a Metabones UNLESS of course you already have a huge selection of Canon lenses at home begging to be used ???

Re: Canon 'FD' to NEX - Speed Booster / Focal Reducer
 

Chris,

I have 2 fast prime lenses from samyang (rokinon) a F1.4 85mm with eos mout (I have a dumb eos-nex adapter for this) and a F1.5 24mm ED AS I F umc.

The reason I asked this whas to become a wider field of view and a more blurry background with this lens.
But the 24mm lens has a emount so I can't use a metabones for this (nex to nex is impossible)

And sony still didn't make a fullframe shouldercam like the nex-ea50. No, the FS7 is not a replacement for nex-ea50 for me.