Aputure Lens Regain anyone?

[BTM_Pix]

Has anyone got one of these?

I'm in one of those flip flop decision modes between one of these and the Metabones speedbooster with AF.

To be honest, I'd have bought the Metabones already if anywhere had them in stock but now I think the lack of availability might have done me a favour.

Basically, because of the amount of Nikon glass I have, I have the original Nikon speedbooster but now I need an EF mount version for the LS300 and also for my other MFT mount cameras and obviously the AF was a big attraction. (for Face Detect AF testing natch ;))

Not being able to get hold of one has had me revisiting the idea of the Lens Regain and weighing up the pros and cons I'm now leaning towards it and forgoing the AF.

Aside from no AF, one downside is that it has slightly less of a reduction than the Metabones (0.75 vs 0.71) but on the LS300 that is less of a concern because of the S35 sensor size.

The bulk factor is another issue that concerns me, particularly as it appears that you have to have the handle active to change aperture. Again, less of an issue with the LS300 as stealth isn't really its strong suit but it is a concern with the GX80 !

The upside of it with that really nice controlled A/B focus pull and being able to operate focus remotely if the camera is on a gimbal or jib is probably far more useful for me than an AF capability.

The other upside is thats readily available unlike the Metabones and the £200 saving wouldn't go amiss either.

With that £200 saving it gets me most of the way to the Kipon Baveyes AF reducer so I could have the best of both worlds albeit with two pieces.

So, has anyone got the Lens Regain and is it as good as it appears?

And ditto, has anyone got the Kipon and is it a decent performer?

 

[andrgl]

One major warning:

Regain steps focus motor. It's not as smooth as pulling mechanically. Do not for one second think this is a good substitute for a wireless follow focus.

 

I made this mistake and ended up selling my set, as the focus transition looked ugly when focusing short distances.

 

[BTM_Pix]

Yeah, I'm being entirely realistic about its performance vs a grown up version.

I'm basically looking at it as a £300 speedbooster with a £150 remote focus control as a bonus feature.

Just simply being able to quickly move from two defined focus points remotely has a practical application for me for what I'll use it for with the LS300 so anything above that is a win for me.

The transitions as seen in this demo will be ok for me I think. No way I could justify the expense of a full blown system.

 

[Kisaha]

The second utility, in the end of a whole shoulder mount system, seems exceptional for me.

When a little while back I did a similar research about the system, I read a lot of comments with QC and usability complaints and then stopped looking further into it.

If it works as advertised, it is an excellent solution, and maybe worthwhile for our LS300 (we have the Metabones right now). I would love to hear from actual users here.

It isn't an A++ wireless focus system, but for simple jobs, it maybe worthwhile, and the crop factor ain't that bad either..