Nov 1 Update from Birger

[groveChuck]

I called them today, spoke briefly with Eric. He doesn't want to get too specific in case things change, but here is what they (and we) are looking at for their Canon EF and EF-S to m4/3 adapter:

Dates:
Late November announcement- prices and release date.
Late December- probable release date

Prices:
A model for RC follow focus- "under $1500"
Basic model (using iris control on camera) "well under $1000, probably in the $700 range. But not in the sub-$500 range some were asking."

Auto Focus:
They're working on it, but "don't expect continuous auto-focus"

Quantity:
They will have "100s of units available" at release, and will produce "100s per week."
There's no lead time and would be a 2-4 week wait "at worst."

They are not taking deposits.
On their site http://www.birger.com/ you can sign up for newsletter updates, on the right side under Mailing Lists.

They're trying to anticipate the numbers, expecting them to be higher than for the RED adapter.

That's about it for now, but it looks like the Birger release date may (nearly) sync with the camera release.

Eric, thanks for your time.

[derbrocks09]

GREAT NEWS!

Thanks for the update.

[klon]

Any mention of a Nikon mount?

[groveChuck]

Canon EF at this point.

[Michael Olsen]

Sounds about right.

[dpc]

Any chance of EF-S?

[derbrocks09]

Panasonic may very well have another company working on the Nikon version. Birger was the obvious choice for the Canon version. I don't have many Nikon lenses but my guess is that there will be a Nikon solution available around the same time as well.

[groveChuck]

Any chance of EF-S?

I believe it's only EF at this point.

[Stephen Mick]

If it's an EF adapter, EF-S lenses should work perfectly well. AFAIK they both use the same mount mechanics and electronics, the only difference being that the EF-S lenses are designed to cover only the APS-C sized frame of the 7D and 60D, while the EF lenses are designed to cover the full-frame of the 5DII, etc.

So I would think that EF-S lenses would work fine on the Birger mount.

[groveChuck]

Good to know. With the rear element being closer to the sensor, I wasn't sure. Thanks for the correction, Stephen.