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Metabones Speed Booster ULTRA M43 with AF for Panasonic


Julian
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Metabones just announced another focal reducer:

http://metabones.com/article/of/Speed_Booster_ULTRA_0.71x

The M43 - EF version has autofocus on Panasonic bodies 'subject to certain limitations'

Price:  From USD $449 to $649 depending on lens mount - $649 for the EF one with autofocus.

http://metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPEF-M43-BT4

I'm kinda disappointed it's not 0.64x like the Speed Booster XL though. Did anyone ever test the 'normal' speed booster vs the 'ultra' version? Is there a clear difference?

Autofocus supported for Canon EF version subject to the following known limitations:

  1. Contrast-detect autofocus support on Panasonic cameras only.
  2. AFC (continuous AF) and AFF (flexible AF) modes are not supported.
  3. Video AF may hunt more than a native lens.
  4. Autofocus is not supported with previous generation Tamron VC lenses and Contax N lenses modified to EF mount by Conurus Canada. (Newer Tamron lenses such as the 24-70/2.8 VC A007 and 70-200/2.8 VC A009 work fine.)
  5. Switching from manual focus or full-time manual focus (FTM) to autofocus may occasionally result in focus failing to lock or inaccurate focus. Activating autofocus for a second time will resolve this issue.
  6. AF accuracy is lens-dependent.
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EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

 

I'm kinda disappointed it's not 0.64x like the Speed Booster XL though. Did anyone ever test the 'normal' speed booster vs the 'ultra' version? Is there a clear difference?

 

Hi Julian:

The 0.71x SB ULTRA is intended as a true general-purpose Speed Booster for m43.  The 0.64x XL is a more specialized item tailored for the GH4 and a few other cameras, particularly for the higher crop factor in 4k.  The ULTRA has incredible optical performance all the way across the field, as you can see from the MTF curves.

BTW, the Speed Booster XL and all other m43 Speed Boosters for the Canon-EF lens mount can be upgraded to autofocus by means of a firmware download.  So if you like the XL and want autofocus you can have it.

Brian

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Hi Julian:

The 0.71x SB ULTRA is intended as a true general-purpose Speed Booster for m43.  The 0.64x XL is a more specialized item tailored for the GH4 and a few other cameras, particularly for the higher crop factor in 4k.  The ULTRA has incredible optical performance all the way across the field, as you can see from the MTF curves.

BTW, the Speed Booster XL and all other m43 Speed Boosters for the Canon-EF lens mount can be upgraded to autofocus by means of a firmware download.  So if you like the XL and want autofocus you can have it.

Brian

Thanks for the all the interesting glass Brian that you have been involved with.

What would be interesting is working af for birding glass on GH4. Since there is still not proper nature lenses .. such adapter would not need speed boosting. The current competition seems to lack proper af capability for non native lenses. naturally this might not be your field of expertise and some other folks at metabones do the electronics.

Beeing able to use Tamron 150-600 and Sigma 150-600 with working af for MFT mounts would be sweeet. ( i know it's very niche)

BTW is there non radioactive way to make such high performance optics? Lanthanum in my understanding is little bit radioactive. Heh perhaps provide small stylished lead lined case for those speedboosters .. ;)

 

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@Brian Caldwell Thanks for clearing that up. Didn't know about the firmware update. That's great news! The MFT sure looks nice, I'm not a fan of graphs though, I'd like to see the real life difference.

@Andrew Reid, any chance you can compare the difference in image quality between the 'normal' (and/or XL) vs 'ultra' Speed Booster?

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sounds really interesting! I am tired of Panasonic not taking advantage of longer focal length benefit of small sensor cameras, so I am probably caving in and buying a Sigma 150-600 with OIS (canon mount), and a metabones speedbooster ultra, plus perhaps a metabones active adapter as well, provided this combination works well on cameras like gh3 (what I currently have) ,gh4 or g7 (both candidates for purchase..). Any feedback would be great.

I like the idea of the 18-35 sigma as well...

 

 

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sounds really interesting! I am tired of Panasonic not taking advantage of longer focal length benefit of small sensor cameras, so I am probably caving in and buying a Sigma 150-600 with OIS (canon mount), and a metabones speedbooster ultra, plus perhaps a metabones active adapter as well, provided this combination works well on cameras like gh3 (what I currently have) ,gh4 or g7 (both candidates for purchase..). Any feedback would be great.

I like the idea of the 18-35 sigma as well...

 

 

oh, and I know it may sound counter productive to use a long tele with a speedbooster, but it would still have further reach than any m43 lenses, and it would gain a stop in speed, making it relatively fast for those focal lengths..

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