Speedboosters

[ernesto]

Hello,

I have seen that there are lots of NEX adapters of a new category called Speedboosters. They claim to adapt the image projection from the full frame for which they were designed to the APSc format, plus increasing maximum aperture by 1 stop.

This sounds more than great, so before buying I would like to know users comments on these almost Magical adapters. I am sure they will have limitations although I do not know them yet.

I use LM lens on a Sony Nex 5100 camera, currently ussing a normalk adapter which multiply the focal length by 1.5.

Any feedbak would be very usefull!
Thanks in advance

Ernesto

 

[Lss]

I think I have seen several such designs/brands. The ones by Metabones are in any case very highly regarded. I haven't tested them, but would not hesitate to buy one for my Sony A6000 if I had lenses that I wanted to use with one. Unfortunately, one can't be made for Leica M lenses.

The promised magic is pretty much true. The focal reducer indeed "creates" a wider-angle lens with added speed. It is not a dumb adapter ring like the one you have used previously. Think in terms of a reversed teleconverter instead.

 

[rogue_designer]

I think they make sense when adapting some full-frame lenses to apsc or micro four thirds cameras. Especially for video where the resolution is already limited and any optical errors are going to be minimized. That is how I use the Metabones EF adapter to my Panasonic GH4 for 4K video (full-frame canon glass to m4/3).

For full resolution photography, that extra lens element is unlikely to help things.

 

[pixelvandal]

I agree, for video work these are great. Whilst i have not use the genuine 'metabones' speed booster (a bit rich for my blood, id rather just buy the A7 for an extra few hundred) I have used the Zhongyi Lens turbo for FD lenses (and adapted m42 to it) as well as the RJ focal reducer, from RJ's online store on ebay, user name JINFINANCE. from what i understand the coating in the RJ adapter is better than the lens turbo, but the lens turbo has a version II out which has solved some of the earlier issues. The problem is, since westerners have learnt the name lens turbo, they have started putting that branding on even cheaper versions of the adapters which are complete crap. The RJ adapter has been well received online (mostly)

ANYWAY, my point being, YES they do work, YES they are great for video where sharpness isnt critical, but getting that extra stop and wider focal length is always welcome, For stills, i find it fun to shoot on a NEX body, its not as sharp as a dumb adapter, but so what, sharpness isn't everything, most of the time. They are also slimmer than the dumb adapters which is an added bonus. The downfall is, while they magnify the lens and add an extra stop, they magnify any flaws a lens may have, edge sharpness etc, which is why so many people find them unacceptable. use a decent lens on it and it performs...decently. great for portraits with that extra stop (and who cares about blurred edging then)

there are about a million comparisons online, but in my research, i've found the order of quality to be.
1.Metabones
2.lens turbo 2/RJ's
3.lens turbo original
4.everything else.


For the RJ's adapter, i paid 87USD including postage! you cant go wrong for a bit of fun! my 2 cents.😛

 

[taemo]

i have a zhengyi lens turbo II for my fuji xe2 (ais mount) and works great.
happy with the results with my cv 20mm, 28mm 2.8 ais and 200 4 ais.
only caveat is that it has a 0.75 crop factor.
but performance wise, very similar to the a7r that i had

 

[harpofreely]

I use a Metabones SpeedBooster Ultra for Canon FD / FL to Fuji X-mount on my X-E2; with additional non-optical adapter rings it also works for Nikon F and M42, which is a pretty huge range of legacy glass. The mechanical fit and finish is great and I've always been happy with the image quality. It doesn't seem to add flare or change the character of the bokeh, and is very neutral in character. If I want the last word in resolution (as far as the x-trans sensor goes) I switch to the native Fuji lenses but 90% of the time I'm shooting Canon FD and Pentax Takumar glass with the SpeedBooster, and basically feel like I have a tiny and awesome full-frame. It wasn't cheap but it's one of the best investments in glass I've ever made. Some samples on my Flickr

 

[L. M. Tu]

I have a Metabones Speed Booster to use Nikon SLR lenses on Sony APS-C e-mount cameras and camcorders, and I think it's a fantastic invention. In my experience, the adapter introduces a minimal loss of resolution while the extra stop of speed and, above all, the ability to regain the wide-angle view of my collection of old lenses have been extremely helpful. Since I have been shooting more and more video and fewer and fewer stills, I am staying away from full-frame photo cameras, because it seems to me that the newest and most exciting developments for video shooting are in cropped-sensor ("Super35") camcorders, with the new Sony FS-5 as an example, and the Speed Booster is just a great addition to my kit.

 

[andybrown]

Hi,
I have a Pixco Speedbooster which was very cheap, but is still very good for general photography.....but, I found when using it to copy 35mm negs in front of a diffused light, each image had a blueish disc on it, which I thought at first was a sign of the sensor in my Nex 7 going south, but after trying an ordinary adapter on the Nex and finding no blue discs realised it is the glass in the Pixco.
I don't suppose there is any way to get rid of the discs, but Istill like the gain in speed and the fact that a 50mm lens becomes one again.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

I have the Metabones SpeedBooster Nikon to Sony E.

High images quality, a bit heavy and bulky so I don't use it much. Design by the optical rock-star Brian Caldwell. He opines that it may actually increase image quality vs. using an adapter without glass; I can't see it, but the IQ is very good.