Panasonic GH4 + Metabones EF Speed Booster - Experiences

[Julian]

There have been a lot of topics about the Metabones Speed Booster in it's many forms. I think it would be great to fill a topic with user experiences and lens tests for the GH4 + EF Speed Booster combo. I'm sure there are people here using this combination and I think others will be interested in seeing results / hearing experiences. I'm particularly looking forward to hear experiences with electronic lenses. What works, what doesn't (third party Canon EF), stabilization, etc.

Sadly I can't start the topic with a contribution of my own. I have the GH4, but no Speed Booster yet. I definitely want one though. I don't feel like investing a lot of money in m43 glass, there is not enough choice in my opinion and the 2,3x / 2,4x crop factor of the 4K mode 'cripples' a lot of lenses (for example, the loss of wide angle on the 12-35mm f/2.8).

For example: EF-S lenses aren't supposed to work, but I've seen examples of people modifying them and using them on EF speed boosters, like this guy using a EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS on the BMPCC.

The Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4-5.6 IS would be my wide angle of choice. It's dirt cheap, pretty good (I've used it on Canon aps-c) and the only Ultra Wide with IS. I'd love to know if someone has tried it on a Speed Booster. Would be great if it works.

Also I haven't found any footage of the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 VC + GH4 + Speed Booster. Of course the Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 is more spectacular, but lacks IS and is more expensive. If the VC of the Tamron works good with this combination I think it'd be a nice affordable standard lens.

Another EF-S lens that could be interesting is the 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. It's actually the only zoom lens that starts at 15mm and will give a decent amount of wide angle at 4K (15x2,3x0,71 = 24,5mm!). Kinda pricey though for such a slow lens and distortion might be bad without corrections, but sounds nice for a 'all in one'...

 

 

 

 

[nahua]

I did an extensive lens test when I first got mine.

 

 

[nahua]

I wouldn't expect too much from "electronic" lenses.  For the Canon lenses I have, IS isn't on or the IS stabilization isn't really noticeable.  I don't do much handheld anyway.  And of course AF doesn't work either.  Pretty much the only "electronic" thing going on is controlling aperture.  For most lenses, it reports the correct aperture (F2 lens reads as F1.4 example).  For lenses that are F1.2 or F1.4, it only lists the max aperture since the GH4 can't list anything under F1.0 (F1.2 reads as F1.2, but it's really F0.9)

All I can say is that it's really expensive for what it does.  It does give you an extra stop of light, control aperture for EF lenses, and it gives you an S35 DOF look.  I wish Metabones kept the pricing at $400.  However I do use it all the time, and it does give a better look than Panasonic's lenses.

[nahua]

This is my test with the Iscorama + Speedbooster and diopters:

https://vimeo.com/113854947

[Julian]

Thanks for your input Nahua. I'm surprised you say IS doesn't have much of an effect. What lenses did you try and do you have some footage maybe?

I prefer working handheld without rigs, the smaller the setup the better. So if IS doesn't work properly that'd be a dealbreaker..

[Julian]

 

Found some tests with:

> Tokina 11-16 f/2.8
> Canon 24mm f/3.5 L II TS-E
> Canon 24-105 f/4 L IS USM
> Samyang 35mm T/1.5
> Canon 35mm f/1.4 L
> Zeiss 50mm f/2 Makro-planar
> Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM
> Samyang 85mm T/1.5

IS seems to work pretty ok on the 24-105mm and 70-200mm, although it does stutter a bit. Would like to see more examples / real world use.

[nahua]

I tried the 24-105mm and 70-200mm.  I couldn't really tell if IS was on or not.  But I don't shoot much handheld either, and not much with either of those lenses on the GH4.