Metabone Does The Optical Voodoo (want faster and wider lenses?)

This is the perfect Monday morning news. Want to use the awesome Canon lens collection on your MFT gear? And maybe you want your EF lenses to get faster and wider? Sounds impossible, or sounds like magic? Well, it is possible, at least it appears to be.

Metabones just announced the new “Speed Booster” Adapter that makes any Canon full-frame (i.e. EF and not EF-S) lens faster and wider (some say also sharper)! Philip Bloom posted this for first, and he explains how it works:

“The Metabones ‘Speed Booster’ is a 0.71 x focal reducer, that will effectively turn your full frame 50mm f/1.8 lens into a 35mm f/1.2 lens. Note, doing so (as a guide) will increase the aperture of that lens by one stop. It will be available in January 2013 from Metabones’ web site http://www.metabones.com and its worldwide dealer network for US$599 / £372 plus shipping and applicable taxes and duties“

Let me sum it up:

1. The adapter reduces the image circle of full-frame lenses in order to cover the MFT sensor area
2. You can use only full-frame lenses (Canon EF lenses)
3. While the adapter supports automatic aperture and image stabilization it doens’t support AF control

Here is an image that shows you how it works:

The image circle gets reduced and this actually doesn’t decrease the image quality!

Below is a video sample shot by Philip Bloom using an Canon EF 17-40 f/4L lens shot at 24mm and a Sony FS100 camcorder

Take some time to read Philip Bloom post (there are more videos, lots of information, excerpts from the adapter’s white paper) and let me know what you think about all this optical voodoo. This is what Philip Bloom thinks:

Does it work? Well yes. After what has been some very speedy non scientific tests, I am very happy with the images produced so far. From what I have seen, will I be ordering one on release? Again yes, yes I will. The adapter I’ve tested is a prototype, so final judgment should be reserved until a production version is used and tested. I love that I can have a real 50mm on the FS100.

[via 43rumors]