Tag Archives: speedbooster

Accessories, Announcements, Camera News, Development, Featured

Chronos Camera m43 Lens Adapter with Speedbooster Support!

November 17, 2021 admin Leave a comment

The two existing Chronos cameras, the 1.4c 720p at 1502fps & the Chronos 2.1 -HD 1t 1080p 1000fps are identical when seen from the outside but very different inside as they contain different sensor and memory boards. However one constant is that both use the C mount as the default for lens adapters. The camera usually comes with a Canon EF or Nikon F mount adapter depending on the buyer preference which screws on the C mount thread and allows for support of classic lenses from Macro to telephoto.

One request from the community has been the support for other lens mounts like Micro 4/3ds which lets you adapt a variety of lens mounts and the much coveted speedbooster adapters which allow a 1 f-stop improvement in light gathering for micro 4/3ds systems. Today Krontech, the company behind the Chronos high-speed camera is introducing a passive Micro 4/3rds adapter for both the Chronos 1.4c and 2.1-HD and uses the body screw terminals near the lens thread mount to place a solid connection that allows such lenses. → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Announcements, Camera News, Media Showcase, Previews, Slowmo Samples

Canon C70 Slow Motion is finally pushing the envelope!

September 28, 2020 admin 8 Comments

We consider the Canon C70 as the real successor to the 5D Mark II which started the ILC DSLR revolution. It ticks almost all the boxes for a vast array of users and does so on a somewhat realistic price point. We get a Cinema caliber sensor in S35 format at 4k Cinema and UHD that is capable of producing 16 real stops of dynamic range. The camera actually is using simultaneous dual gain technology to merge the exposure from both settings into an amazingly beautiful progression between light and dark.

The Canon C70 Slow Motion Mode has real 120fps 4k with HDR and full Canon dual pixel AF technology and even can crop to Super 16mm to record 180fps at 1080p and 2k resolution to provide you with that extra oomph which was sorely needed in Canon land. The camera does have some drawbacks but it is so good out of the box that we may have an avalanche of switchers to the format from Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic.

Canon C70 Main Features:

Super35 Dual Gain Output (DGO) Sensor
4K 120p, HDR
2K Crop 180p/1080p HDR Capture
Canon Log 2, 3, PQ & HLG Recording
RF Lens Mount / EF Mount with Adapter
DIG!C DV7 Image Processor
16+ Stops of Total Dynamic Range
Built-In ND Filters / Auto ISO & Gain
Dual Pixel CMOS AF & EOS iTR AF X
1 BNC Timecode / 2 Mini-XLR Audio Inputs
Dual SD Card Slots, LUT/Long GOP Support
$5,499.00 MSRP Pre-order at Adorama
Estimated release date of December 2020.

As you can see the camera is a powerhouse for a vast majority of users. Studios can use it without problem for paid projects as an A or B cam for a C300 Mark III for example or just build an army of C70s to cover events from many angles. The camera performs great in low light with ISO 25600 being the first initial noise bump that may need Noise reduction software in post but below that, a 6400 ISO shoot should be extremely clean.

Canon C70 Slow Motion Component:

120fps 4k and UHD
180fps 1080p/2k Super – 16mm Crop
4k 50/60p
Resolutions:
4096 x 2160p up to 119.88/120 fps
3840 x 2160p up to 119.88/120 fps
2048 x 1080p up to 179.82/180 fps
1920 x 1080p up to 179.82/180 fps
All with up to 4:2:2 10-Bit capture.

The image quality at 4k 60p and 120p is excellent, we see crisp detail and the codec options are plentiful enough to deliver a good to excellent image in those modes.

However, the 1080p and 2k with a Super 16mm crop loos soft and mushy. Compression is not that bad but detail is sacrificed from what we have seen. We need to wait for more samples but the ones we have seen make us believe that it looks more like soft 720p upscaled than real 1:1 pixel capture. 4k is immune to this but not 2k and below.

Canon C70 Slow Motion Footage Samples:

We found some samples and we made sure to copy the time stamp so they should start playing at that point. We find the quality in 2k to be passable but it is not very detailed which makes us think it is not really a 1080p or 2k signal but a soft upscaled one.

Canon EOS C70 – In-Depth Review & Test Footage by CVP:

CANON C70 Full Review – A small but powerful beast from Canon! by Giannis Saroukos: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Accessories, Firmware/Software, software

Metabones Updates Adapter Firmware!

July 14, 2016 admin Leave a comment

Metabones the company that brought you the speed booster and one of the first to offer electronic lens compatibility including AF for Canon lenses on mounts like Sony E Mount and Panasonic/Olympus micro 4/3rds has updated the firmware on these to have better overall compatibility with AF modes on newer cameras.

Slow motion shooters on Sony, Panasonic and other slow motion capable cameras are big fans of these adapters and speed boosters because it allows compatibility with their Canon EF glass collection. Furthermore the speed boosters enable wider field of view and an extra stop of light which is always needed when shooting high speed footage.

The firmware fixes some AF Native vs Green compatibility issues that propped up in the previous update for Sony users. The new update defaults to the standard green mode as the Native did nothing to improve features or performance.

Other Important info for the update: “Users of Sony’s contrast-detect AF and early phase-detect AF cameras are advised to configure your adapter to “Advanced” mode using the procedure in the User Manual section of our web site (http://metabones.com/article/of/green-power-save-mode) to get a significant AF performance improvement. In addition, we have made “native” AF-C slightly better and added C-AF support for Olympus OM-D E-M1, although an AF-C performance bottleneck remains in the lens’ inability to execute a series of fine maneuvers with minimal latency as commanded by the camera body.”

Download link for Firmware updates:
Select your product from this page according to your mount and follow their instructions.

Be sure to follow the instructions precisely as you update the firmware. If you are unsure how to do it; contact their support team here for guidance. Also check the video below by The Camera Store TV regarding these adapters in action.

Metabones Speed Booster Hands-On Field Test by TheCameraStoreTV:

Full Press release for the firmware by Metabones Below:

Vancouver, Canada, June 30, 2016: Metabones® thrives on constructive criticism by the community and the press, and customer feedback was the driving force behind the fastest phase-detect autofocus (PDAF) across the widest selection of EF-Mount lenses on the Sony phase-detect trio (A7 Mark II, A7R Mark II and A6300) through a series of incremental firmware improvements last year, a feat that still held just as true with the release of “native” AF firmware last week. This accomplishment was the cornerstone of Metabones’ “Ubiquitously Fast Autofocus” vision, providing the broadest range of mirrorless cameras with fast still-photo single-AF when using adapted EF-mount digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) lenses. It began with fast AF on Panasonic launched in tandem with the 0.71x EF-MFT Speed Booster ULTRA last July, followed by fast AF on the Sony phase-detect trio and Olympus cameras last year. An EF lens on A7 Mark II, A7R Mark II or A6300 focused so quickly that it was virtually indistinguishable from a genuine Canon DSLR under some use-case scenarios. Nevertheless, Sony’s contrast-detect AF cameras such as A7S Mark II and early phase-detect cameras such as A6000 still took seconds to lock using an EF lens, and that remained the final frontier to conquer before we could lay claim to be ubiquitously fast. With Metabones “native” AF firmware, these other cameras got an order-of-magnitude boost in AF performance. “Native” AF was also an order-of-magnitude faster than Sony A-mount lenses on Sony LA-EA3 adapter on these non-phase-detect and early phase-detect Sony cameras. With the “native” AF firmware release, “Ubiquitously Fast Autofocus” was fait accompli and our vision had become reality.

“Native” was an informal term referring to a different version of the lens communication protocol which unlocked extra features such as direct manual focus (DMF), Eye-AF (A7 series), fast contrast-detect AF (faster for all Sony cameras except the phase-detect trio), continuous video AF, zoom position and focus distance display. Metabones did not make any representation of further performance improvement for the Sony phase-detect trio of cameras from “native” AF. Quite on the contrary, our previous announcement stated that “native” AF might have lower performance than the original “Green” mode phase-detect AF, which had been the fastest since last year. There was no performance regression in the sense that the user could configure the adapter to have the old behaviour (“Green” mode) back with a simple procedure. Hindsight being 20/20, switching the default mode from “Green” to “Advanced” was a mistake, and we apologize to affected A7 Mark II, A7R Mark II and A6300 owners who were inconvenienced by this change. Based on your input, we are releasing a new Metabones App 2.4 (E-mount v52) with the default mode reverted to “Green” again. V52 cannot be safer to install because no new features are activated and there are no changes in operation without you first opting in. Users of Sony’s contrast-detect AF and early phase-detect AF cameras are advised to configure your adapter to “Advanced” mode using the procedure in the User Manual section of our web site (http://metabones.com/article/of/green-power-save-mode) to get a significant AF performance improvement. In addition, we have made “native” AF-C slightly better and added C-AF support for Olympus OM-D E-M1, although an AF-C performance bottleneck remains in the lens’ inability to execute a series of fine maneuvers with minimal latency as commanded by the camera body. Metabones App 2.4 is available immediately for download from Metabones’ web site. We will continue to listen to your feedback as we have always been, because your input sets the direction of our future development efforts on “native” AF technology using adapted DSLR lenses.

Accessories, Camera News, Reviews

Kipon MFT to EF Adapter v2.5 Review!

September 18, 2015 admin 46 Comments

NEW Update: Kipon has released Firmware 2.5 fixing a lot of adapter issues. Scroll below for new info!

This mount adapter converts Canon EF and EF-S lenses to a micro four thirds mount and permits electronic aperture, auto focus and image stabilization on lenses that support it. Cameras that use a MFT mount like the GH4 and Olympus OMD can now use Canon glass with all the features bundled with the lenses.

We are doing a full review of the Kipon MFT to EOS EF Autofocus Lens adapter that will be evolving over the coming weeks and months due to compatibility that may change and improve in the future. The following is a first impressions and v2.5 firmware performance that can you get out of it in it’s current state.

First Impressions:

The adapter arrived over the weekend and while it came from China it was pretty quick with only about a 9 day wait. Packaging was good and adequate. The price paid was $298 on eBay from one of the vendors that sell these other places like Adorama sell it here for $309 which is very good also with the piece of mind of an easy return if necessary. Adorama link here!

The build quality is solid with what appears to be all metal construction. Color is pure black with no hints of chrome except for the lens release latch. The space tolerance on the mount is solid with no noticeable play in between the camera and the adapter and very minor play depending on the lens attached from the adapter to the lens, this is normal as lenses may vary widely when it comes to build tolerance. It has a tripod mount in the adapter very similar to those used on the metabones speedbooster and adapters.

There is a micro USB port close to the lens release latch that looks to be included for the possibility of firmware updates. We contacted Kipon about this and other issues with the adapter and will update this review when we hear back from them.

We used the Panasonic GH4 with both firmware 2.0 and 2.2 to test the adapter. It blends in well with the camera and it is sturdy enough to handle a large lens like the Canon 400mm f5.6 USM L which has one of the fastest autofocus mechanisms in the EF mount.

One Problem we noticed is that when you attach a lens to the adapter there is no re affirming locking sound as present in other adapters. Careful examination showed that it is clicking in place but the sound is barely there. It is better to have a click sound that is easy to recognize while changing lenses in the field. It is no detriment to the adapter performance wise but it is annoying not to be able to have assurance that a lens is locked in place properly unless you twist back to check.

The lens focused on targets far and close easily by using the GH4’s built in contrast Autofocus. Changing the target to shady places did increase the focus time or even cause the focus to give a few false positives. An AF false positive is confirmation of focus when the image is out of focus. This probably has to do with the way the adapter tricks the GH4 and other m43 cameras to autofocus with a Canon EF lens.

Within a few minutes a warning message came to the screen that attachment to the lens failed. This usually occurs by having play in between the lenses and mount and or dirty contacts. Contacts were cleaned and it made no difference, also lens play was a non issue with the 400mm L lens, it had no play at all.

Our best guess is that the adapter is somehow not supplying power to the lens as consistently as a real EF camera and the message will pop up randomly. It occurred a few times with the lens but nothing to extreme. Get used to this if you have this adapter, it will come up when you least expect it.

The AF speed was ok around 1 to 2 seconds depending on the target sometimes 1/2 second or 1/4 second when the lens travel was small. Accuracy was pretty good but hardly something you can use for action or sports photography. The speed is not fast enough to compete with the m43 native lenses on the GH4 with it’s extremely fast AF or Canon or Nikon cameras with Phase AF for that matter. If you wanted to replace your camera body with a GH4 or similar and use your Canon lenses for action this is not the adapter you are looking for.

More EF lenses:

So we liked the performance on the 400mm 5.6 L and had some more Canon EF glass lying around to test.

EF 100mm f2.8 Macro USM lens: This is a fairly common lens in the EF world and one that should pose no problem for the adapter. Right off the bat we encountered trouble.

The camera twitched and the screen started lowering the light levels and upping them again with a random pattern. Pressing buttons or dials seemed to do little difference. We had it in Manual Photo mode and a fully open aperture with a shutter of 1/80th. The iris opened and closed crazily and focus started to hunt without half pressing the shutter. Taking the battery out and turning off the camera/re-attaching the lens made no real difference.

What seemed to fix it was a change to Video mode. For some reason the lens works well in video mode with AF, aperture and normal operation, but in photo mode it goes haywire. AF in video mode works pretty close to what you would expect from video on the GH4, a little slower than native lenses but perfectly acceptable.

on to more lenses we went with the 70-300mm EF IS USM

This lens has been out there a while but it is still relevant as a good lens today. However the adapter hated this lens. The only thing that worked was the image stabilizer in photo or video mode and the aperture in video mode only. It never auto-focused and while the motor tried it could never move the ring. We think this lens requires a voltage higher than what the adapter may provide. It could be other reasons but no way of knowing with no documentation or feedback from Kipon yet.

As it turns out it was all downhill from there, we provide the following table with the compatibility of the adapter with the lenses we had in hand as of June 8th 2015. This may change in the future with a firmware update.

As you can see it is a hit and miss and hardly what you could call a dependable piece of gear. The fact that it works fine on the 400mm L lens tells us that the adapter is not defective but the actual firmware has a ways to go to offer full compatibility with the large range of EF lenses. “This list has been heavily changed with firmware v2.5 see below”

We threw in a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 VC lens in the mix and it was a horror show. The only thing that work was the iris aperture in video mode. AF failed and all sorts of flickering in the image preview occurred along with no image stabilization engaged. This IS mode VR for Tamron works by half pressing the shutter before capture or by being engaged at all times in video mode. None of this worked in this lens. It seems the further you stray away from Canon lenses the harsher the results with this adapter.

In contrast the Metabones speedbooster adapter which lacks any Auto Focus capability works fine with Aperture and image stabilization on all the lenses tested. If metabones offered autofocus it would be a dream adapter but as of yet that is not the case for micro four thirds and Canon speedboosters.

In the end we are unable to recommend or claim failure of this adapter at this time. It feels that it was rushed to market without adequate testing and compatibility. It needs a lot of work to get to a level where you might feel comfortable to use it on any mission critical work.

If you are not fond for experimentation you should pass on this adapter. It could very well work on other lenses but it may not. The good news is that a USB port is in there for future patches most probably which may fix and improve the hardware over time. This is a good decision and something metabones has been doing for years.

Update 6/9/2015: Word from Kipon regarding our questions: “Thank you very much for your information, we will improve this adapter in future, the adapter has a USB port probably to be able to improve compatibility via firmware, we will upload the update process link in our website.

Best Regards “

Update 6/24/2015: Kipon has added a lens compatibility List based on their own testing. It leaves a lot to be desired. Hopefully it will have a download update soon to improve compatibility across more lenses.

You can find the list here:

http://kipon.com/en/articledetail.asp?id=81

Update 9/15/2015:

Kipon has added firmware 2.5 for the Kipon MFT to EOS EF adapter and has improved response for AF, camera/lens compatibility issues and more.

You can find the update here and you will need a Micro USB cable to perform the update. It does it very quickly and we had no issues updating.

New Firmware 2.5 new results from our testing:

FW 2.5 Notes: As you can see a lot of improvement has been made and the adapter now works flawlessly with many of the lenses. A few exceptions like the Tamron 17-50 DI II 2.8 VC has good aperture support but focusing works sometimes and others it does not. Also VC or IS in this lens will not turn on in any mode. This lens has to be said works perfect on Metabones adapters with latest firmware and VC works aswell.

The 38-76mm Canon for some reason focuses in continuous mode in photo mode and can become a nuisance, its an old lens but the video mode is more stable. This lens will not focus fast or very accurate on any mode but works.

Big surprise was the 50mm 1.4 as it now works mostly but still focus is hit and miss and you need to close the aperture to f4 or more to get real focus confirmation. However iris and focus works.

The 70-300mm EF IS USM had the most improvement with Excellent performance at all zoom ranges across the board very close to what it feels on a Canon body and IS works great also.

Lost of good and many improvements across the board we now feel more comfortable taking this adapter for real shooting situations and or paid gigs. Test your lens collection in advance!

Old Veredict: To early to call this adapter anything, we’ll keep you informed as communication and compatibility improves as Kipon has hinted at. It shows promise and it is first of it’s kind and these kinds of issues go with the territory. The hardware is solid but the software needs work.

New Veredict Firmware 2.5: The adapter works much much better, you no longer have that erratic aperture and focus behavior that will force you to turn off the camera in order to get rid of it. Most lenses are now usable but we did find a few issues that still remain to be resolved. However the adapter is now much more usable and we can recommend it if you can live with the remaining issues. We encourage Kipon to continue firmware development and improve the lens list compatibility. However Metabones with their latest update has almost no issues and while it is more expensive it allows AF and aperture control with IS enabled even on many Sigma and Tamron lenses. If you have the Kipon adapter however this is good news as their engineers are fixing issues and are making it more dependable every day!

Hi Speed Cameras