F0.74 – The new Metabones Speed Booster – BMCC & BMPCC versions from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.
There is need of Megapixels, need of miniaturization and there is obviously the need for speed! If you want to go as fast as it gets you could try to emulate Andrew from EosHD (Click here). He used the [shoplink 43225 ebay]Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Ai lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink] in combination with the new Metabones Speed Booster. Yes, he used tw NEW adapters just announced at Metabones site (Click here). The bad news is that they work on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema camera only because they will obstruct the mechanical shutter of the Olympus-Panasonic MFT cameras 🙁
Key features
- 0.64x Speed Booster for BMCC with 1 ⅓ stop increase in effective aperture (F1.2 to F0.80)
- 0.58x Speed Booster for BMPCC with over ⅓ stop increase in effective aperture (F1.2 to F0.74)
- Sensor 1.53x crop effective on BMCC
- Sensor 1.74x crop effective on BMPCC
- On Blackmagic Cinema Camera: true APS-C field of view from DX lenses (180° fisheye remains as such)
- Adds stepless aperture ring
- Nikon F-mount (compatible with legacy AI/S and modern G)
- $489 + shipping/tax
- Availability start of December 2013
Andrew writes:
Well the world has turned on it’s head once more. Suddenly a smaller sensor is an advantage. Remarkably a small sensor is now a hit in low light. This magic comes at a very small price… There’s some ghosting and reflection to watch out for but it occurs only very occasionally in real world shooting.
—
Links to the Nikon Ai f/1.2 lenses on eBay:
[shoplink 43225 ebay]Nikon 50mm f/1.2 Ai lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 43005 ebay]Nikon 55mm f/1.2 Ai lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
[shoplink 43226 ebay]Nikon 55mm f/1.2 Ai lens (here on eBay)[/shoplink]
55 Responses
Also worth noting is that these adapters don’t work on regular MFT cameras because they apparently obstruct the mechanical shutter.
Maybe they could work with GX7 in its silent mode 😀 …
They are not designed for the full size MFT sensor, and they cover only smaller sensors of BMCC and BMPCC. Even if we could somehow shoehorn this onto a GX7 it is meaningless because we would be getting awful corners. That it does not even mechanically mount is good design (intentional or otherwise).
“Note that this new 0.58x Speed Boosters will only attach to BMPCC equipped with a Micro-4/3 mount. They cannot be attached to standard Micro 4/3 cameras.”
Oh yeah? Well, thank you very much Metabones.
No reason to get so upset.
What they’ve done is taken advantage of the much smaller sensors the Blackmagic Design cameras have vs typical m4/3 and the lack of shutter which gives more space. So this is great news for Blackmagic Design camera owners!
I know, there’s simply no space in a “standard” m4/3 camera. Nevertheless, Metabones has been slow with x0.71 Speed Boosters for m4/3. There’s only five of them and none has electronic contacts.
miroslav you whine like a child, grow up
Some of you might be disappointed that regular MFT cameras are deprived of an exciting new product. However, I would look at this from a different perspective and argue that this is not the case.
Panasonic GH2 in 16:9 aspect ratio. sensor size = 18.8 x 10.6mm
+0.7x Speed Booster, effective sensor size becomes 26.9 x 15.1mm (slightly bigger than Super 35)
Panasonic GH3 sensor size cropped to 16:9 = 17.3 x 9.7mm
+0.7x Speed Booster, effective sensor size becomes 24.7 x 13.9 (Super 35 size)
BMCC sensor size = 15.81mm x 8.88mm
+0.64x Speed Booster, effective sensor size becomes 24.7 x 13.9 (Super 35 size)
BMPCC sensor size = 12.48mm x 7.02mm
+.58x Speed Booster, effective sensor size becomes 21.5 x 12.1 (slightly smaller than Super 35)
Bear in mind that BMCC and BMPCC are smaller than standard MFT to begin with. The new Speed Boosters merely bring the full benefit of standard MFT back to them. Panasonic and Olympus have always had the 0.7x Speed Booster to turn into Super 35.
a very small market…how many are they going to sell… 5 maybe…I am sure the Blackmagic people and owners are happy
Id wager more than half the BM owners will buy in, and obviously this will create a greater desire for this product within m43rds proper.
Just a matter of time until the void is filled
Exactly, while it may be a very small market, I bet a very high percentage of owners of Blackmagic Design will be getting this! So in terms of actual turn over it might be reasonably high for such a niche product.
BMPCC owners with NIKON lenses ONLY again!! WHERE is the CANON mount???? BS!
Hmm. I think they will only offer a few adapter models (not THAT many different ones – Only the more popular / better selling types). And because there are quite alot people out there operating with a blackmagic camera, the market is not THAT small I think.
Also nice: We will see for sure more used (standard) speedboosters on the market within the next few weeks (Because many people are changing to the special editions – So indirectly also nice for Panasonic and Olympus MFT users ^^.)
Thats a nice way to think about it, hope it works out with second hand units hitting the market. For sure the BMPCC adaptor has a protruding rear element but the BMCC adaptor doesnt. I am pretty sure it would fit on a Lumix or Oly camera but it will of course vignette. Digital Bolex should also be a winner here.
Metabones please get on with making the EOS-M43 18×13 sensor version black magic, we are waiting.
I wish you could edit replies here, I make too many typos;
Metabones please get on with making the EOS-M43 18×13 sensor version, we are waiting
Both of the special Blackmagic Speed Boosters have a protrusion. The photo at EOSHD doesn’t show the BMCC and BMPCC adapters, it shows the regular NF-MFT Speed Booster next to the BMPCC Speed Booster. The Metabones website has pictures of both adapters: http://www.metabones.com/article/of/metabones-nikon-g-to-bmcc-bmpcc-speed-boosters-available-starting-today
you are right, I stand corrected, thanks.
Interesting!
If someday a fully electronic shutter becomes standard for normal MFT cameras, I want an 0.58x Minolta SR/MC/MD version!
+1 I dont mind fiddling with the camera to make it work (eg cut away some parts), a 0.5x-0.6X speedbooster for minolta lenses would be awsome
There is need of Megpiaxels?? Never heard of that, is this a new technology? 😀
amazing, Does it work with Panasonic GM1 ???
it has no shutter mechanism
There IS a mechanical shutter, though only for 1/500s and slower exposure time, on the GM-1.
It has a different type of shutter mechanism. I wonder if it would work?
In some of the hands-on videos I’ve seen, the GM1 was shown turned off without a lens attached and it had the shutter closed. On EOSHD it says that the protrusion of the special Speed Boosters is just a few millimeters away from the sensor area. So the GM1 shutter behaves a little different and you’d probably need to mount the Speed Booster while the camera is on and remember to remove it before turning the camera off.
But what is the effective quantity of light collected by the sensor? In Metabones’s documentation, they explain you that the telecentricity is improved indeed in corners versus full frame if you look carefully. In fact, a quick drawing will show you that in the centre, much more light is touching the sensor far from the normal to surface. And digital sensors don’t like incident beam light out of normal. So what a f/0.75 really collect??? f/1.2? f/1.5?
For instance, I did a comparison between the 12-60 at 12/2.8 and fisheye at 8/3.5. Comparing light collected at the centre and assuming the aperture of the 12-60 is right, I found the fisheye was collecting f/3.8. Not a big deal (0.12 stop) but it is easy to loose stops even without very large aperture.
Yes, there is pixel vignetting. The lens can collect more light through but the sensor can’t take it all. You won’t be getting the full benefit of the extra light gathering capability, however you do get the full benefit of shallower depth-of-field.
Why do they spend so much time on such a small market, when they could probably sell thousands of times as many adapters for M42 and micro 4/3? There are still a LOT of M42 lenses out there vs. what they have chosen to adapt. Is there some technical problem that allows them to adapt all sorts of other manual focus legacy lenses but not M42?
There’s probably no market in the US, M42 having a reputation of being Communist tainted 🙂
And then why worry poor sods with blind trusts like mr. Reee who want to spend thousands of dollars for 0.95 Voigts. , and offer everybody the same for a couple of hundreds?
It would be un-American, and Chinese traders say ‘bad for commerce’. 🙂
EOS->M42 adapters are also readily available
You could put a M42 to FD adapter on the FD Speed Booster.
That’s my plan>
But where are the speed boosters? Disappeared off the face of the earth. They must have recalled them as they don’t fit the e-m1. So why not have new ones out now and retro fit the returns later. Mitakon has missed a massive opportunity. Or are they one and the same. Which would account for them being in release lock step.
With all these adapters speeding up FF lenses and others, why not make a mft lens with “build in” speedbooster in the first place? Then you could get thr Kubrick /0,7 native mft lens.
Because you will still lose light vs just having a full frame sensor. This gives greater flexibility
It is a bummer the Canon FD Speed Booster doesn’t work on the EM-1. Hopefully they can update the design soon.
I predict DIY modification tutorials in order to drill that new metabones into your waiting pana/oly mouth…ehh mount.
The FD/m43 speed booster has vanished. That means they have sold the entire production or they have recalled them. I think it was a recall. I would have thought they would have been back on sale by now, that is new modified ones and then retrofit the old ones later.
Should work with GX7 in electronic shutter mode
yeah…… until you forget to turn on silent shutter and it destroys the fragile shutter mechanism.
Lensrentals blog has a test of these 2 speedboosters.
They sound great, for what they are.
“0.58x Speed Booster for BMPCC with over ⅓ stop increase in effective aperture (F1.2 to F0.74)”
I gather the reason for that “improvement” is that BMPCC has smaller sensor, not really 43-sized sensor.
They stated a long time ago that the only reason they could not do it with Olympus/Panasonic cameras is because the rear element of the adapter would protrude too far into the camera and hinder the shutter.
While I would love a .58 adapter, I can live with a .72 that is currently available (assuming they fix the EM1 compatibility issue).
But, by focusing on Blackmagic only, the lens designer Brian Caldwell is able to make the smaller image circle as good as possible. I was stunned by the published MTF curves, with the new Speed Boosters the MTF is increased pretty much across the entire frame from center to edge (of the smaller sensor). Granted these are simulated MTF and real world results may be lesser, but impressive nevertheless.
As others have said, the real question is how well this could work with the GM1 and GX7’s electronic shutters, how awful is the vignetting and what benefits does it bring in real life (specs vs real life light gathering/sensor capabilities).
I wish they could release other mounts too. Also a Tilt Shift Speed booster would be an awesome idea and more or less a definitive solution for wide angle T/S.
What i do not understand in relation to metabones vs m43, is why they do not release some mainstream adaptors such as om or fd ( i know fd has been released, but it’s always out of stock), please give is the om speedbooster
Just buy an OM to Nikon adapter, then you can use OM and Nikon lenses on the speedbooster.
These speedboosters sure throw a curve ball for all those who think that f-number is the one and only factor that governs the collection efficiency of a lens-camera system.
Isn’t it wonderful! It is really nice to see reducers finally migrating to normal photography. Reducers, i.e.: speed boosters, have been used for years for astrophotography in conjunction w/ telescope. Now finally arriving for normal lenses, WOW!!
Yes its Always fun with new inventions.
Focal reducer is very old invention, much older than digital photography.
Indeed. I’ve a few of them for use with my telescopes, the oldest one dating back to the 1980s, and it wasn’t exactly new back then either.
Yes, I do remember using a reducer with a film camera on a telescope in about the same era, maybe even a little earlier. I still have one of those reducers and by today’s standards it was truly a crappy piece of glass. You can see the bubbles and “ripples” in the glass… but it did work! Now we get to see whether the new reducers are any better?
I ment the speedbooster, not an old binocular.
In astrophotography, incoming light beams are nearly perpendicular to sensor surface. Putting some beams slightly off the normal is not a big issue (even more if the focal reducer from the sensor, leading to a small deviation). In the case of “wide angle” lenses with reducer near the sensor, I want to see the result (effective light gathered by sensor, coma, chromatic effects…).
Yes, wide-angle and near fisheye lenses will be a true test of the new reducers. It probably isn’t the quality of the reducer but simple physics that will be the deciding factor AND the quality of the glass in front of the reducer…
WHERE IS THE CANON>M4/3 MOUNT VERSION??? SILENCE AGAIN METABONES!!!