Metabones Speed Booster Full Review (EOSHD)

Metabones Speed Booster – FS100 vs 5D Mark III from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.

EOSHD’s Andrew Reid had a closer look on the most amazing photographic product since long: Metabones’ Speed Boost adapter (previously featured here). This little toy allows to mount Canon full-frame objectives on a Sony mirrorless APS-C and Super-35mm E-mount cameras. In March this will be possible also for Micro Four Thirds gear. And making lenses wider is not all the adapter can do: It makes lenses also faster. An f/2.8 becomes f/2, f/2 becomes f/1.4, and f/1.4 becomes f/0.90. This is a lot of magic to deliver by a small adapter.

The optical part of Metabones’ Speed Booster was designed by Brian Caldwell and Wilfried Bittner, both well known for their engineering skills. The best thing about this adapter: it is relatively cheap! It comes for $599 (click here) if you need the Canon EOS mount adpater, $399 (click here) for all others. That’s a bargain if you consider what you get for your bucks: the full-frame look on a Sony NEX-7 (price & specs), Sony NEX-5N (price & specs) or a Sony FS100 (price & specs). In any case much less than what you have to give for a full-frame Canon EOS 5D Mark III (price & specs). Andrew Reid writes:

In no way is the Metabones adapter giving us a poor man’s full frame image here. F2.0 becomes F1.4 on the Speed Booster and this increase in brightness is really evident. The 5D Mark III is very nifty in low light but it cannot compete with the Speed Booster and FS100.

From Reid’s conclusion:

The real world performance when you shoot with the Speed Booster and see the result is far better than any lab test of corner resolution would imply. The claims of this adapter defy belief… Scepticism well founded. And yet…

[…]

Pros

  • 1 stop increase in low light performance
  • Full frame look – wider field of view, shallower DOF, attractive vignette and light fall off towards corners
  • Extremely good value for money (look at the saving over buying alternative full frame video solution like Canon 1D X / 1D C)
  • Protects investment in existing glass
  • Match glass between full frame camera and Sony E-mount camera on multi-camera shoots
  • Corrects some optical defects in centre of the frame such as purple fringing and coma
  • In-camera electronic aperture control for Canon lenses on Sony body
  • Micro Four Thirds support in pipeline for March (and electronic adapter in June)
  • Turns Blackmagic Cinema Camera into Super 35mm (matching Alexa)
  • Every lens now has dual focal length and aperture (use with or without adapter to change crop)
  • More creative possibilities
  • Excellent build quality
  • Very small and light
  • Tripod mount
  • Infinity focus tuning built into the adapter and straight forward to use

Cons

  • Corner and edge sharpness a bit of a struggle with most legacy glass at fast apertures
  • Soft corners and edges most noticeable at infinity focus with fast apertures or wide open
  • Speed of auto-focus in need of improvement (painfully slow compared to same lens on a Canon body)
  • Some lenses are not yet fully supported by the electronics

The post is definitely worth to be read if you want to understand all the advantages of the Speed Booster. Let me just quote a last sentence from Reid’s post:

All in all – if this adapter does not send shock waves through the camera industry I don’t know what will.

Exactly, that’s it! :-)

Canon EOS 5D Mark III price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Sony NEX-7 price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Sony NEX-5N price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Sony FS100 price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [via EOSHD]

Canon EOS M Makes It Into Canon Camera Museum

EOS M Makes It Into Canon Camera Museum

Yes, the Canon EOS M (price & specs) made it into the “design hall” of the Canon Camera Museum:

“Bringing the EOS concept into a mirrorless camera.”
This was the overall approach adopted by the design team for the EOS M camera, which comprised Seishiro Takano, who was responsible for the body and interchangeable lenses; Shingo Yamazaki, designer of the user interface; Megumi Inazumi, in charge of accessories and other parts; and Shosaku Kawashima, the team leader.

Mr. Kawashima – who sought to carry forward the speed, comfort, and picture quality of the EOS series – remained committed to the clear EOS advantage of imbuing a compact body with strength and durability. In other words, the goal was to develop a mirrorless compact camera that incorporated the DNA of EOS.
The design team set a high hurdle for themselves by setting out to combine miniaturization with increased functionality. As a result, all members of the team took on bold challenges in their respective assignments.

Canon EOS M price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[via The Digital Picture]

Update – New Firmware For Canon EOS-1D X Underway?

New Firmware For Canon EOS-1D X Underway?
Image credit: dslr-forum.de

Specs of the firmware 1.2.1 showed up at Canon Rumors. See at the end of the post.

Danke/thank you Heinz!

This comes from a discussion on dslr-forum.de. A user sent in his Canon EOS-1D X (price & specs) (to CPS) and got it back with a new firmware version, that's 1.2.1 (1.1.1 is the current official version). Then he called Canon service and was told it is a firmware version that is reserved to service and that there are no information about it in the Internet. It delivers some fixes and overall improvements. There are no major changes and minimal difference to release 1.1.1. At least the user who sent in the EOS-1D X has not noticed any changes so far.

The EOS-1D X was sent in for the purpose of fine-tuning the auto focus (he sent in the 1D X and the EF 70-200 2.8 IS II, 1.4x III and 2.0x III extenders). AF is much more snappy now, he writes, but that's plausibly due to the fine-tuned AF.

Here the specs as they are reported on CR:

Canon EOS-1D X Firmware 1.2.1

Release of New Firmware Version 1.2.1, firmware incorporating disablement (operational error prevention) of the Image Size selection button

We are releasing firmware version 1.2.1 for EOS -1D X for service prior to the Web announcement. We are planning to make this firmware available on the Web for download in mid-January 2013.

This firmware update is to improve operational function in response from several professional

photographers that the Image Selection button was pressed without realizing and the image size had been changed. Also, this firmware incorporates quality issue fixes that have been reported from the market.

1. Details of Functional Improvements and Fixes

1-1. The function to disable the Image Size selection button is added.

1-2. Fixes Err 70 and Err 80 which may occur depending on the camera settings, shooting scenes, or the timing of releases. Also, some complained camera freeze when Err 80 occurred.

The above mentioned (1-2) phenomenon occur in very rare instances. In addition with the firmware update for 1-1, the fixes for these phenomena have been incorporated.

a) Err 70

In customization of operational buttons, there were errors in operational program for the exposure level display in the viewfinder when the Main Dial is set to change the aperture value in Manual mode, and may cause Err 70.

b) Err 80

Err 80 may occur depending on the distance to the subject, shooting scenes, or the timing of metering.

This phenomenon occurs in very rare instances due to the error in operational program for metering when shooting a subject at a distance with telephoto lenses with focal lengths of 300 mm or 400 mm.

Canon EOS-1D X price check: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

[via dslr-forum.de, via CR]

 

Canon EOS 6D For $1999, 6D with EF 24-105mm For $2,499

More Canon entry level full-frame DSLR deals for the US.

B&H has the Canon EOS 6D body for $1999 (click here) and the EOS 6D with the  EF 24-105mm f/4L IS for $2499 (click here). In both cases you get a Lowepro camera bag and a Transcend 32GB SDHC memory card. Final price shows up when the item is added to the cart.

Canon EOS 6D specs:

  • 20.2MP Full-Frame CMOS Sensor
  • Includes Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L Lens
  • 3.0″ Clear View High Resolution LCD
  • DIGIC 5+ Image Processor
  • Built-In Wi-Fi and GPS Connectivity
  • Full HD 1080p with Manual Controls
  • 11-Point AF with Center Cross-Type Point
  • 63-Zone Dual Layer Metering Sensor
  • Extended ISO Range of 50-102400
  • Up to 4.5 Full Resolution FPS
[via Photography Bay]

US Deals Round-Up: Canon EOS 6D, EOS 7D, EOS 5D Mark III, and EOS M Bundles

A new kid on the block. Recently, a new eBay seller (qd_us, click here to check it) showed up and gets regularly featured in eBay’s Daily Deals. But: The seller has just 944 ratings (though it is raising and 99.8% are positive). This is not one of my known sellers, so I let it up to you and your guts to take the right choice.

Various bodies and kits are on sale:

  • Canon EOS M body black + EF-M 22mm + EF-EOS M Mount Adapter bundle for
  • Canon EOS M body white + EF-M 22mm + EF-EOS M Mount Adapter bundle for 
  • Canon EOS 5D Mark III body for 
  • Canon EOS 6D body for 
  • Canon EOS 7D body for

I found some of the deals using slidoo.com, an easy way to search on eBay and to get notified when a given deal shows up.

 

Photographer Takes A Picture A Day For A Year (using Canon gear)

Last year photographer Ridwan Adhami (www.ridzdesign.com) set out to shoot a photograph every single day and post it online with a story attached. He ended up shooting every day of last year with Canon products.

Using Canon camera gear, he was able to complete the project and maintain the utmost of quality no matter what camera or lens he was using. Ridwan used a EOS 7D (price & specs) as primary camera and the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (price & specs) as his main lens.  When the lens took a dive and was split in half, he was forced to move to the Canon G11 point and shoot as a backup.

In addition there has been a handful of days using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (price & specs) when on assignment, as well as a EOS 60D (price & specs) that he ended up borrowing while the camera and lens where being repaired. Regardless of what camera or lens combo being used, Canon products from the entire range allowed superior control and resulting in amazing image quality across the board.

Now that the year is done and all the images have been posted, Ridzdesign will be creating a coffee table photo book documenting the entire year as well as highlighting camera details and shot information. It will not just be an art book but a reference guide for photography students on the different techniques used to take the variety of images.

Here is the Kickstarter campaign page for the upcoming book: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ridzdesign/ridzdesign-366-a-photo-a-day-2012-limited-edition

Photographer Takes A Picture A Day For A Year

Below is the full list of cameras and lens that ended up being used in this project (you can click on the shopname to see the specs and the price in your country:

Cameras: 

Canon EOS 7D: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EOS 5D Mark III: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EOS 60D: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon PowerShot G11: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Lenses:

Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8 L: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 100mm f2.8 L Macro: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 50mm f1.2 L: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 IS: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS II: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Flashes:

Canon Speedlite 430EXII: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon Speedlite 580EXII: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA