Birger Engineering EF/E Mount adaptor

I

imag

Active member
I just talked to Birger about their trick E Mount-to-EF adapter & follow focus. They had a few things to say, and they actually asked me to post to save them from getting a bunch of phone calls. The word is:

1. They confirmed that the FS100 will start shipping in May.

2. They were originally told the FS wouldn't come out until July, so they were thinking a July/August ship date would be fine on the FS100 product (the AF100 product is supposed to hit in late May). Now they are looking at accelerating their ship date for their FS100 product.

3. However, they will not be able to confirm the ship date for their product for approximately two more weeks.

4. The best way to find out when they confirm the ship dates is to get on their general email list. Do not call and bug them.

5. Their product will sell through their normal dealer channel. They said they will have more than enough available for everyone on the initial ship date, no matter when that is.

Cheers...
 
Which brings about a good question, does anyone have recommendations for dumb mounts for EF/E to use while we wait?
 
I'm trying to figure that out. If anyone has experience with the RJ or anything else, that would be super helpful.

I'm also trying to find out if Birger's focus/iris gadget will support EF lenses other than Canon's L lenses. I would like to get a Tokina and a Sigma or two. I should have asked when I had them on the phone.
 
Rick Burnett said:
Which brings about a good question, does anyone have recommendations for dumb mounts for EF/E to use while we wait?
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Here's one from Rainbow Imaging for $23 from Amazon (go to the "3 new from $17.99" link). I have had good experiences with inexpensive adapters from Amazon (and if they don't work, you can send them back).
 
Did they say what the price would be? Last I heard it was going to be around $700 for the adapter and $500 for the follow focus controller.

I have some pretty nice EF lenses (Sigma primes and what not), but I'm having a hard time justifying the Birger mount if it's that much (as compared to buying some Nikon lenses and a dummy Nikon adapter). If I had a bunch of L glass that'd be different, but since I don't, I could probably get a set of Nikon D primes for less than the cost of the Birger adapter. :undecided
 
I don't understand - if you're worried about the price and are going to get a dumb adapter, why don't just get a dumb adapter for your EF lenses? The Birger is not the only EF option, as the link above shows; it's just the one to get if you really want remote follow focus, iris control, and all the other cool Birger stuff (like the encoding of the lens settings in the footage).

The ballpark you are mentioning is right - I actually heard $700 per part, or $1400 total.
 
It is pricey but the remote ff controller looks so sweet. Seems like a worthy investment and will really make the Sony camera quite powerful and great for run & gun.
 
imag said:
I don't understand - if you're worried about the price and are going to get a dumb adapter, why don't just get a dumb adapter for your EF lenses? The Birger is not the only EF option, as the link above shows; it's just the one to get if you really want remote follow focus, iris control, and all the other cool Birger stuff (like the encoding of the lens settings in the footage).

The ballpark you are mentioning is right - I actually heard $700 per part, or $1400 total.
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Well, having iris control is pretty essential unless you want to shoot everything wide open. You can't do that with a dummy mount.
 
Are there any more announced adapters that are going to hit the market? Or is this the only one so far (With iris control and what not)
 
I believe there is another one as well, was it Red Rock? Although I think it does not interface with the camera, it only supplies control on the mount to electronically control the lens aperture.
 
brunerww said:
Don't want to speak for echo, but probably because most Nikon lenses have an aperture ring, and most EF lenses don't.
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That's it exactly! :)

I've been looking at some old Canon FD lenses on eBay, but you can get new Nikon primes for roughly the same price.

Of course if I were rich I'd just get some Zeiss CP2s! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
I've never used an E mount. On the the Wikipedia E Mount page it says the following about Minolta AF Lenses, presumably this will apply to the FS100?
"Minolta AF lenses can be used via the Sony LA-EA1 camera mount adapter which has electronic contacts and mechanical diaphragm control. This allows the body to control the aperture of the Minolta AF lens and provides Auto Exposure and Exif data support, and adds slow (2-7 seconds) autofocus with 14 supported lenses"
 
FYI - just talked to Birger. They said that non-L lenses and third party lenses will likely work with their mount, but they may have some focus drift and require recalibration of the follow focus during takes. He said the Sigmas also have a noticeably audible iris that some people have found to be objectionable.

Anyway, I'm just glad that I don't have to have all L glass.
 
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