Electronic VND Adapter for Blackmagic L-Mount Cameras

[Emanuel]

Any takers here?

 

[mtol]

I've used both the dumb adapter and the electronic one on a bunch of Lumix bodies and I basically rely on them. Most of my lenses are EF or EF converted.

As you would expect they are super useful. I do run and gun doc, so these are lifesavers. I love being able to fine tune exposure while leaving my aperture and ISO where I want it. The actual physical control of these is very smooth. There's a bit of a vignette at max ND.

They are not super well-built.

After a few years with these adapters, two smart adapters have failed on their own after developing intermittent connection issues. Sometimes cleaning electronic contacts with rubbing alcohol has helped extend the life of my adapters. Still, the cameras lose connection to the lens and stop recording randomly when this happens, so its really not a reliable system when your adapter starts to give out. Generally, I prefer the dumb adapter for this reason - I've used it a lot and had no connection issues.

Also, on a recent shoot, my camera got smacked against something and the adapter was the fail point - breaking clean in half. So I saw inside the adapter, and the length of screws connecting the two sides of it did not inspire a great deal of confidence. 

Compared to something like the Meike adapter with drop in filters, my experience is these are not robustly built - they don't feel solid or co-operate with some heavier lenses like a canon 100-400.

But with all those caveats, these things rule and make shooting easier. Especially the dumb adapter, for manual primes. I love Fotodiox for making cheap adapters to fill gaps in all sorts of workflows and I think that's exactly what this is - cheap gear that doesn't last forever. I do wish the electronic adapter was more reliable.