Anaconda_ Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Hey all, While looking to buy a second metabones for my b-cam, I came across this: https://www.amazon.com/FOTOMIX-EF-M4-AF-II-Panasonic/dp/B071V5B5PM?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B071V5B5PM&pd_rd_r=GT3M11BDKY2PSXM6B0WQ&pd_rd_w=SYidk&pd_rd_wg=S6jGH&psc=1 I know this one isn't a speedbooster, but the metabones on my a-cam isn't a speedbooster either, so it's not like I'll miss that functionality. I also don't need autofocus, although this does say it works, I'm hesitant to trust it.. For me, as long as it can control the aperture, I'm golden. At that price, I feel like there must be a catch, but have never looked into metabones alternatives, so don't know what to look out for. What are your feelings on an alternative that's so cheap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirozina Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 If you don't need AF then give it a go. I've got 3 Metabones adapters for EF-E-mount + a speedbooster and it's not all happy stuff. The speedbooster is soft around the edges (actually it curves the focus plane inwards pretty harshly at the frame edges) of the frame unless you stop down a lot and one of the adapters doesn't have parallel faces so the focus plane is tilted. All 3 of the standard adaptors have different thicknesses so infinity is off on lenses with fixed end stops. The body of the adaptors is first rate in terms of dimensional tolerances but the machining quality of the undersides of the flanges is poorly done and requiresshimming and grinding to correct them for thickness and flatness. I use an engineering surface plate and dial guage to check parallelism and a micrometer to check thickness. Shouldn't be necessary with high cost market leading products like this...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 20 minutes ago, Shirozina said: If you don't need AF then give it a go. I've got 3 Metabones adapters for EF-E-mount + a speedbooster and it's not all happy stuff. The speedbooster is soft around the edges (actually it curves the focus plane inwards pretty harshly at the frame edges) of the frame unless you stop down a lot and one of the adapters doesn't have parallel faces so the focus plane is tilted. All 3 of the standard adaptors have different thicknesses so infinity is off on lenses with fixed end stops. The body of the adaptors is first rate in terms of dimensional tolerances but the machining quality of the undersides of the flanges is poorly done and requiresshimming and grinding to correct them for thickness and flatness. I use an engineering surface plate and dial guage to check parallelism and a micrometer to check thickness. Shouldn't be necessary with high cost market leading products like this...... Would you be so kind as to share some before and after examples? Did you purchase all three at once and only discover the defect afterwards? Why didn't you send them back for replacement? How is it that three adapters are all of such poor quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaconda_ Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Wow that sucks, can’t you go to Metabones and get them to sort it out, your right, market leaders should deliver quality products. I’ve found one of these on eBay from the manufacturer. My camera and lenses are listed as compatible, so I’ve put in an offer. It says 8 days shipping, and they have a 30 day returns policy, so hopefully I’ve got nothing to lose. Once it’s arrived and I’ve had a play with it, I’ll post back. I can also do some comparisons with the Metabones, but I would assume if this can control the aperture, there will be no difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangenz Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Anaconda_ said: Hey all, While looking to buy a second metabones for my b-cam, I came across this: https://www.amazon.com/FOTOMIX-EF-M4-AF-II-Panasonic/dp/B071V5B5PM?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B071V5B5PM&pd_rd_r=GT3M11BDKY2PSXM6B0WQ&pd_rd_w=SYidk&pd_rd_wg=S6jGH&psc=1 I know this one isn't a speedbooster, but the metabones on my a-cam isn't a speedbooster either, so it's not like I'll miss that functionality. I also don't need autofocus, although this does say it works, I'm hesitant to trust it.. For me, as long as it can control the aperture, I'm golden. At that price, I feel like there must be a catch, but have never looked into metabones alternatives, so don't know what to look out for. What are your feelings on an alternative that's so cheap? I wouldn't do it. They change the name, same device by the looks. Actually crashed my camera and had to pull the battery. Half worked with one lens, and worse than not working on the others. There are some ones that have a brand reputation for working I think, but otherwise don't touch it would be my sad advice. 46 minutes ago, Shirozina said: I've got 3 Metabones adapters for EF-E-mount + a speedbooster and it's not all happy stuff. How did they respond? I think their rep pops in here every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shirozina Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 17 minutes ago, jonpais said: Would you be so kind as to share some before and after examples? Did you purchase all three at once and only discover the defect afterwards? Why didn't you send them back for replacement? How is it that three adapters are all of such poor quality? I purchased them individually and I only discovered the non parallelism on one recently. I had previously contacted Metabones about the thickness variations and they sent out some shims to correct the thickness. All now work perfectly. Their main use is for stills (architecture) where there is a higher need for perfect parallelism and thickness when using them on wide shift lenses and for video it's perhaps not so critical but still..... I could gripe more as well! - the hex headed bolts that secure the flanges are also of poor quality so if you do have to remove them to add shims you will undoubtedly chew them up and not be able to reuse them. I sourced a new set from Ebay which work much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaconda_ Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Just an update for those interested. The product in the top post recently arrived and I used it on a shoot yesterday. Works like a charm and I'd definitely recommend it. Weirdly though, the first time I put my Sigma 18-35 f1.8 on it, when I zoomed in the aperture changed to f4 on the long end, then back to 1.8 of the wide. I took the lens off, then straight back on and it fixed the problem. This also happened the first time I put this lens on my Metabones though. EDIT: The autofocus does work too, which of course comes in handy from time to time, although I'll never use it for video work. noone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 57 minutes ago, Anaconda_ said: Just an update for those interested. The product in the top post recently arrived and I used it on a shoot yesterday. Works like a charm and I'd definitely recommend it. Weirdly though, the first time I put my Sigma 18-35 f1.8 on it, when I zoomed in the aperture changed to f4 on the long end, then back to 1.8 of the wide. I took the lens off, then straight back on and it fixed the problem. This also happened the first time I put this lens on my Metabones though. EDIT: The autofocus does work too, which of course comes in handy from time to time, although I'll never use it for video work. Could you share some video samples? I wouldn't trust anything less than a $50 UV filter on my lenses, so I'd be very skeptical of a speed booster for only $121, especially one with only two reviews at Amazon, one of which says it didn't communicate with their camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anaconda_ Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 34 minutes ago, jonpais said: Could you share some video samples? I wouldn't trust anything less than a $50 UV filter on my lenses, so I'd be very skeptical of a speed booster for only $121, especially one with only two reviews at Amazon, one of which says it didn't communicate with their camera. Sure, I can upload some, but I'm not sure what you want to see. It's not a speedbooster, so there's no glass between your lens and sensor... it's just a gap. This is just an adapter to put EF lenses on MFT body. In camera I can adjust aperture and like I said, AF seems to work well, but it's not something I use, so that's just a nice bonus. Let me know what you'd like me to test with it, and I'll shoot some random clips today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 5 hours ago, Anaconda_ said: Sure, I can upload some, but I'm not sure what you want to see. It's not a speedbooster, so there's no glass between your lens and sensor... it's just a gap. This is just an adapter to put EF lenses on MFT body. In camera I can adjust aperture and like I said, AF seems to work well, but it's not something I use, so that's just a nice bonus. Let me know what you'd like me to test with it, and I'll shoot some random clips today. My bad, but I'd still proceed with caution. Let us know how it works out for you after using it for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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