Tag Archives: adapter

Accessories, Announcements, Camera News, Development, Featured

Chronos Camera m43 Lens Adapter with Speedbooster Support!

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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, Hardware Development, Media Showcase

Canon EOS R Is a Good Start But Lacks Frame Rates!

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People waited with extreme patience for the Canon Full Frame Mirrorless line for several years. The Verdict? Pretty good start but feels like a mid-range product.  It lacks IBIS stabilization on the body sensor which has become one of the most coveted features for camera enthusiasts. It lacks dual card slots and most important of all for us it is 2014 frame rates for a camera of this class.

The camera does shoot 4k up to 30p but it has the same crop that has made the Canon 5D Mark IV a bad proposition for videographers that want 4k footage. The crop is 1.7x which is essentially a Micro 4/3rds sensor size with a speed booster but without all the benefits of those bodies like IBIS and very low rolling shutter with the added benefit of better frame rates. This feels for all intents and purposes like a base product for a line that needed to be released to compete but is still evolving technologically.

Canon EOS R Main Features:

  • 30.3MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • DIGIC 8 Image Processor
  • UHD 4K30 Video; C-Log & 10-Bit HDMI Out
  • 1080p Full HD up to 60fps
  • 720p HD up to 120fps
  • Dual Pixel CMOS AF – 5,655 AF Points
  • 3.69m-Dot OLED Electronic Viewfinder
  • 3.15″ 2.1m-Dot Swivel Touchscreen LCD
  • Expanded ISO 50-102400, 8 fps Shooting
  • Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, SD UHS-II Card Slot
  • Multi-Function Bar, Dual Pixel RAW
  • EOS EF Lens compatibility with adapters including ND

Canon EOS R Slow Motion Features:

Frame Rates: 3840 x 2160p at 23.98/24/29.97 fps
1920 x 1080p at 23.98/24/29.97/59.94 fps
1280 x 720p at 29.97/59.94/120 fps

Frame rates are capped at 720p 120fps which is so 2011 in some instances and quite unacceptable for a camera in this price range. The 60p max at full HD is also something that was all the rage back in 2013 but now feels geriatric by comparison to Sony, Nikon, Fuji and Panasonic products.

Canon EOS R Sample Video – Lake Natron by CanonUSA:

Canon EOS R System: Video Controls and Operation by CanonUSA: → Continue Reading Full Post ←

Accessories, Firmware/Software, software

Metabones Updates Adapter Firmware!

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Metabones speedbooster m43 Ultra

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.

 

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Announcements, Camera News

Canon 80D Improves but ignores 4k and slowmo!

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EOS80D

The EOS 70D was a big upgrade from the 60D in that nearly everything was better from the AF for stills, performance and live view Autofocus.  The Canon 80D just released improves even more on the 70D than ever before by using a truly exceptional AF stills module with 45 all cross type points. This is 1D level performance in a 1k USD price range.

They include a sensor that has Dual Pixel CMOS AF same as the recently released EOS 1DX Mk II which is a 5x more expensive camera.  This is in our view the killer feature of the 1DX Mk II and of the 80D as it becomes a true usable video camera with reliable autofocus. Previously unimaginable in either handycams, other video cameras and DSLRs.

Video wise aside from Dual Pixel AF which we expect to work as well as the one in the 1DX MKII, there is 1080p 60fps video in .MP4 format.   Yes that is the maximum frame rate you will get here.  Where is 120fps? Where is 4k? Nowhere to be found.  Sadly while there is a lot of value here there is little in the way of adoption from users of mirror-less Sony or Panasonic cameras that have 4k and higher frame rates for years.  It does have a headphone and microphone jack well positioned which is a first for the line and makes it a pretty good 1080p capture machine.

The 135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens released today with the camera is built for video with ultrasonic focus with a STM (stepping motor) for smooth and quiet movie AF.  There is a very strange product released alongside the lens is the Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 which is built specifically for the introduced lens.  It allows smooth motor based quiet zoom in and out for the first time in a canon SLR lens.  It is unclear at this time if this adapter will also work on future lenses or this is a one time release.

It finally brings the zoom feature into the SLR space in a usable through physical dials and controls or the camera interface via wifi.  Expect zoom shots to come back in rage into videos produced with the 80D.  80s and 90s zoom fans rejoice.  It has it’s uses for sure and it would be ideal to allow for customized truck zooms so that the subject seems to warp forward independent of the background.   Ramp zooms are cool but no confirmation yet.

EOS 80D AF with the new 18-135mm lens Canon USA:

EOS 80D Introduction video by Canon USA:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj2O7ZUS_Xk

Slow motion Verdict?

Sadly the Canon 80D with all of it’s new features it is hardly a video shooters dream. 4k is missing altogether, the 1080p 60fps mode is so 2013 it is not even funny and the camera sensor while revolutionary with the Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus is hardly a switchers dream.  WHy did canon omit these features? The Canon 1DX MkII is now the flagship camera and 120fps at 1080p plus 4k up to 60fps is included in that camera.  It is the sign of things to come to the Canon line but as for including it in an enthusiast DSLR; that is a step to far. The EOS 5D Mark IV or the EOS 7D Mk III should bring these features into the fold to be competitive.  Autofocus is now in play as a feature across manufacturers and Sony already showed it’s cards with the Sony a6300 which in our view it is a much better value of a camera with 4k and 120fps full HD slow motion.

Canon EOS 80D Dual Pixel CMOS AF Demos:

Canon innovates but sure does take it’s sweet time.  If you do not need 4k of slow motion features then the Canon 80D is a good upgrade in stills and video from everything before on their price range; and you get the continuous video Autofocus as the real icing on the cake here.

The EOS 80D has an MSRP of $1199 body only and $1799 for the Body plus the 18-135mm Lens kit.   The PZ-E1 Adapter has an estimated price of $149. For the entire kit with powered zoom you will have to pay $1948  USD .

What about the also announced G7X Mark II?

They also introduced the Canon G7X Mark II 1″ Sensor camera with fixed lens which has 60fps Full HD as it;s frame rate ceiling also. It is a mild refresh to a crowded category of cameras that Sony has more than well covered with the RX100 Mk IV which has impressive 4k and slow motion modes at some extra cost.  Canon is doing a lateral move here and there is nothing of interest for high frame rate shooters. MSRP $699

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB9_7Idrt78

Both the EOS 80D and Powershot G7X MkII will not be features in our camera guide as they lack higher frame rates in HD resolution.

Accessories, Camera News, Reviews

Kipon MFT to EF Adapter v2.5 Review!

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KiponReviewv25
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!

Leave your comments below if you have success or compatibility issues with this adapter on your camera/lens combination. HSC-

Accessories, Announcements, Availability, Development, Media Showcase

Kipon AF Adapter for Canon EOS EF Ready!

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KiponMFT_EFAdapter

A few weeks ago the Kipon full Auto focus, Iris and IS enabled EF to M43 adapter was announced. Many huge doubts lingered to it’s effectiveness in Auto Focus as any other AF adapter for the likes of Sony cameras for example take several seconds to lock onto a target.  The Kipon promises to be a seamless adapter for Canon EF lenses on Micro 4/3 system cameras like the Panasonic GH4.

Today it released a few videos showing the Auto Focus AF capability of the adapter in action and it is very impressive to say the least, it also works with EF-S lenses which is a plus.

Kipon AF EOS to M43 Adapter Test Video One – Canon 24-105mm:

Kipon AF EOS to M43 Adapter Test Video Two –  Canon 40mm STM:

Kipon AF EOS to M43 Adapter Test Video Three –  Canon 70-200 f4 IS:

The videos clearly show that the focus ability is determined by the camera body AF system.  If placed on a GH4 it should inherit that camera’s very fast AF response.  This is great news for Micro 4/3 system converts from Canon.  All your lenses that up till now used a Metabones adapter without AF will now be able to be fully utilized.  Metabones sure would make good use of this technology. They should license the technology in the adapter by Partnering with Kipon and deliver a speedbooster with full AF for M43.   Since many of the speedbooster M43 adapters are firmware upgradeable with a built in Micro USB port, it could be made available to current owners at a license price. The game has changed in M43 adapter land and Metabones needs to catch up.

The bad news for slowmo:

The AF could in theory work with M43 cameras in slow motion mode but that will be limited as in the case to the GH4 at 60fps in 1080p.  The 96fps mode is Manual focus only in the body which means this adapter is of no real use while in that mode.  However if used in regular modes you can use the AF and lock on a target and then change to 96fps mode and start recording.   In the end however until a GH4 successor offers AF during high speed video it will remain a MF affair.   Slow motion capture is mostly about MF as you need to usually plan the shot ahead of time. The Iris and IS control on the lenses will be useful for all modes including slow motion so that is  a major plus.

For the upcoming fps1000 this adapter does nothing more than a regular passive or dumb adapter as the fps1000 will have a non electronic M43 mount.  Your EF lenses will work on that camera but you are better off grabbing a cheaper non electronic adapter for it and manipulate the IRIS on another camera body.

Price $:

The official market price for this adapter is $285 USD  and will be on sale starting May 10, 2015. Since the company is based in Shanghai, China you will need an importer to deliver it to your location. That usually means relying on eBay dealers.

>Link to Kipon M43 to EOS EF Adapter on eBay<

We found a first seller that has the adapter listed for $339.00 That is just under a 19% increase from the release price.  However that includes free expedited shipping to the US.   And that doesn’t include a potential customs tax on importing the item.  We expect these adapters to find their way to US and European shores later in the year where they can be acquired from a local seller at a slightly higher price.

HSC will get this Adapter when it becomes available in quantity this year. Our collection of EF lenses will be happy to have a go at it. Thanks for reading!