Mount for focal reducers? Sigma 18-35mm wide open?

[pietz]

im about to order the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 + a focal reducer to go with it. because of the budget i'll go with one of the cheaper focal reducers from ebay, because from the tests i've seen they deliver comparable results to the Speed Booster.

 

since these focal reducers are available for pretty much all mounts, including canon EF, is there any reason i should go with a Nikon mount anyway? its the only option for speed boosters because those dont come in an EF flavor, but many of my colleagues have canon lenses, so it would make sense for me to get it as a EF combo.

 

that would also mean shooting exclusively wide open. has anyone had experience with the sigma when at full aperture? or do you think it make sense to invest the extra $350 for the metabones speed booster?

 

thanks,

pietz

[andy lee]

if you get an EF mount lens turbo/speedbooster you can use  Canon Glass on it  - shoot wide open and use Tiffen NDs on the front,

 

if you get a set of ND2, 4 ,8 and 16

 

stack them to get the exposure you want and retain the narrow dof of shooting wide open !!

[pietz]

so there wouldnt be any advantage of the nikon combo over canon, correct? i thought i read something that is possible with nikon lenses but not with canon glass. thats why im asking, but im probably just mistaken...

[Somnang]

Not to be off topic, but where are you ordering from? I'm currently interested in the EF mount version. I'm in NY and both Adorama and B&H are OOS. Amazon is charging $100 than what the two stores are listing it as. 

[Ben Prater]

 

that would also mean shooting exclusively wide open. has anyone had experience with the sigma when at full aperture? or do you think it make sense to invest the extra $350 for the metabones speed booster?

 

thanks,

pietz

 

Pietz -- what camera are you using? I can't imagine wanting to be stuck shooting wide open all the time. If you are using a "dumb" adapter, you'll be forced to remove the lens to reset the aperture. The advantage of the MFT Speedboosters is that they are a using "smart" mount, so aperture signals make it from the body to the lens. 

 

The reason to get a Nikon-mounted Sigma 18-35 is so that you can use a "dumb" (cheap) adapter and still be able to set your aperture manually without removing the lens. You can still use the lens on a EF camera with a simple Nikon-EF adapter. 

[andrgl]

These are probably all the reasons you might not want to go EF/non-Metabones:

• None of the other focal reducers (that I've seen,) have an aperture ring.
• You'll need a spare Canon body with you at all times if you want to set the aperture on all non-manual EF lenses.
• You can mount Nikon lenses on Canon bodies, but not the other way. F-mount lenses can be more flexible.
• None of the other focal reducers (that I've seen,) have a tripod mount. Mounting the adapter to your rig provides increased stability for long lenses.

As much as I would recommend you buying the Metabones and Nikon lenses, choose free EF lenses.

[Ben Prater]

Pietz -- what camera are you using? I can't imagine wanting to be stuck shooting wide open all the time. If you are using a "dumb" adapter, you'll be forced to remove the lens to reset the aperture. The advantage of the MFT Speedboosters is that they are a using "smart" mount, so aperture signals make it from the body to the lens. 

 

The reason to get a Nikon-mounted Sigma 18-35 is so that you can use a "dumb" (cheap) focal reducer/adapter and still be able to set your aperture manually without removing the lens. You can still use the lens on a EF camera with a simple Nikon-EF adapter. 

[Giulio Cosmo Calisse]

Wouldn't the 16-35 give you heavy vignetting?
Or does the focal reducer simulate APS-C rather than full-frame?

[Mozim]

The reason to get a Nikon-mounted Sigma 18-35 is so that you can use a "dumb" (cheap) adapter and still be able to set your aperture manually without removing the lens. You can still use the lens on a EF camera with a simple Nikon-EF adapter. 

 

I don't get this part. How can I set the aperture manually without removing the lens when using a cheap adapter? As far as I know, the Sigma 18-35mm does not have a manual aperture ring - including the Nikon-mount version. I know that mounting a Speedbooster between the camera (GH3 for example) and the lens allows you to change the aperture because the Speedbooster has built-in aperture blades. But how am I supposed to change the aperture on the lens when the lens relies on electronic communication with the camera? 

[andy lee]

you cannot control the apperture as it is fly by wire

[Mozim]

you cannot control the apperture as it is fly by wire

 

That's what I thought, thanks!

 

Any chance you guys know if the direction of the focus ring is the same on both the Canon and the Nikon version? Or is it the other way around for the Nikon version? 

[pietz]

different people, different stories. let me summarize and please correct me if im wrong:

 

1. Yes, the manual aperture control was what i heard about Nikon glass and its true in general, just not for THIS lens. so if im going with a dumb adapter, it really doesnt make a difference for this lens if its Canon or Nikon mount.

 

2. Additionally because Canon EF has a shorter flange distance i wanted to go with it. then i could have connected another adapter to the focal reducer and use Canon and Nikon lenses with one focal reducer.

 

3. So the original Speed Booster gives me aperture control of the lens itself and for cases where this doesnt work manual aperture control inside the speed booster.

 

4. GH4 (what i would be using) + focal reducer + Sigma 18-35mm might vignette a little of what i heard, which fades away completely when using 4k, because of the additional crop. wow, i never thought i would admit the fact that there is a benefit in the additional crop :D

 

so in the end i would go with a metabones speed booster, but only if it existed as an EF-M43 to have all the benefits on my side: aperture control, can connect the lenses of my colleages, connect nikon glass with an additional adapter, have manual aperture for those nikon lenses and a tripod mount. but since theres only a Nikon F version some of these benefits would fade away for me personally, thats why im having trouble to pay the high price...

 

any other recommendations?

[aldolega]

There is no electronic m4/3 speedbooster yet. All of the boosters currently available are "dumb", in that there is nothing electronic going on. However, the Metabones (and possibly now some of the off-brands, not sure) DO have a clickless aperture control ring built in.

This is possible because Nikon lenses use a little lever to communicate aperture position to the body. The Metabones interfaces with this lever and gives control of it via a ring on the adapter.

Your most-compatible option is to get a Nikon-mount lens, the Metabones speedbooster for use on the GH4, and a simple Nikon G-EF adapter ring (many are available with the same type of aperture ring as the Metabones) for use on your friend's Canons. You will have on-lens control of aperture on both systems, but no autofocus on either.

Going with an EF mount lens will give you AF and in-cam control of aperture on the Canons, but no aperture control on the GH4- you would have to remove the lens, put it in a Canon body, turn the body on, change the aperture, hold the DOF Preview button down while turning off the body, remove the lens, and re-mount it to the GH4... every time you need to change aperture.

[pietz]

There is no electronic m4/3 speedbooster yet. All of the boosters currently available are "dumb", in that there is nothing electronic going on. However, the Metabones (and possibly now some of the off-brands, not sure) DO have a clickless aperture control ring built in.

This is possible because Nikon lenses use a little lever to communicate aperture position to the body. The Metabones interfaces with this lever and gives control of it via a ring on the adapter.

Your most-compatible option is to get a Nikon-mount lens, the Metabones speedbooster for use on the GH4, and a simple Nikon G-EF adapter ring (many are available with the same type of aperture ring as the Metabones) for use on your friend's Canons. You will have on-lens control of aperture on both systems, but no autofocus on either.

Going with an EF mount lens will give you AF and in-cam control of aperture on the Canons, but no aperture control on the GH4- you would have to remove the lens, put it in a Canon body, turn the body on, change the aperture, hold the DOF Preview button down while turning off the body, remove the lens, and re-mount it to the GH4... every time you need to change aperture.

 

thanks for the explanation. can you confirm that this lever works with the sigma 18-35mm?

 

ok i might hold on for a while then. $450 for the speed booster sounds like a lot of money if i dont get all the benefits i hoped for. on the other hand shooting only at f1.2 sounds tiring. i just absolutely fell i love with the look of this lens.

 

i sometimes find the native m43 lenses pretty expensive. i mean $900 for the 12-35mm f2.8? the canon 24-105mm f4 on FF is one stop faster (if you take sensor size into account), also comes with OIS, has a bigger zoom range and costs $700. its just ridiculous... 

 

anyway, thanks a lot.

[aldolega]

It's simple economics of scale. The more you make of something, for longer, the cheaper each unit will be. Canon and Nikon sell many many many times more lenses than Panasonic. I think m4/3 shooters often forget just how small of a market we're in. And m4/3 video-specific shooters are an even smaller subset of that.

[Julian]

Solution is simple: buy a cheap Canon EOS focal reducer, a Sigma 18-35mm with Nikon mount and a Nikon F to Canon EOS adapter with aperture control. Voila.