Birger Engineering EF/E Mount adaptor

imag said:
This is interesting. I doubt it will come out before Birger's, nor does it look like they are nearly as pro as Birger, but it's kind of fun: http://www.youtube.com/user/conurus
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Thank you for finding us and watching us. Allow me to comment on a few things.
1, according to Birger's schedule, yes, Conurus will almost certainly ship later than Birger.
2, Birger is aimed towards professional cinematography but Conurus is aimed towards professional still photography while embracing the enthusiasts' market at the same time. This being a video forum, there is no doubt most participants would find Birger to be more appropriate for their requirements.
3, There is no follow focus and no iris controller from Conurus. Conurus' emphasis is on small size, ease of setup, and direct aperture control from the camera body. Think street shots and photojournalism with for example a NEX-5.
4, Hindsight being 20/20, it might have been better for us to not show this video, because it gave potential customers a misrepresented perception of the quality of the final product. We have been in business since 2006, machining mounts with great precision and a polished appearance, and our upcoming product will just continue that longstanding tradition. Just ask anyone with one of those autofocus Contax N Carl Zeiss lenses converted to Canon EF mount about our workmanship. We are certainly going to upload another video when the final version is ready in order to change this perception.
5, Pricing has not been finalized but let's say it is not as affordable as a "dumb" adapter but not as expensive as Birger, emphasizing again the fact that the two products are designed with completely different applications in mind, and serve completely different purposes.
 
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I will echo the thanks. I do agree that the video didn't cast you all in the best light. I think it's great that you came on to clear up misconceptions.

I will definitely keep an eye out for your product; if it is as well executed as you say, it might be worth getting in any case. The $1400 from Birger may end up being too much for a lot of of us.
 
Tomorrow is two weeks from my original call. Hopefully they issue some kind of date, and hopefully that date is as close to June 1 as possible... :)
 
So I broke down and called them, and a woman said that she had heard the adapter would be released end of May, but that's all she knew. It wasn't super-convincing.

Birger - if you're out there, could you post to your email list or to the site the availability date of your product? Some of us are looking into other options...
 
The email from Birger came out (Thanks Erik if you're reading this!). It seemed like it would be okay to post for those who are interested:

At NAB Birger demonstrated functioning concept models of a new lens mount system for both the Sony NEX-FS100 and the Panasonic AF-100 cameras. These concept systems demonstrated electronic control of the focus and iris on Canon EF-mount lenses. This email is an update on those products specifically for the Broadcast market. Updates for the Industrial and Scientific; and Military, Security and Surveillance markets will be coming in the near future.

The AF-100 version of the product will come first, followed soon after by the Sony PMW-F3, Sony NEX-FS100 and the Arri Alexa. As we did the initial work for these cameras, it became clear that we needed to make some changes to our new generation of lens control platform, to economically develop and manufacture these additional variants.

It became clear from our conversations at NAB that an economical (and unobtrusive) wireless solution was important. We will be coming out with a hot-shoe mounted radio receiver (approximately 30mm cube) that will not require a separate power connection or battery, to remain powered from the lens mount, even during lens changes. Fortunately we realized the importance of this module prior to releasing the first adapters, as it would not have been possible without some small changes.

This talk of change generally raises questions of price and schedule. While we are adding significant flexibility to the system, I am happy to say there will be negative effect on price. We are finalizing some of the design and manufacturing issues to get ready for a volume release of the AF-100 EF-mount Adapter, and when we have the last details worked through, we will announce that we are ready to begin full scale production. At this point we will first show the final version of the product, announce the dealers, and be about two weeks away from volume shipments.

Those that have expressed (and wish to express) interest in selling our products should know that we feel it most important to attend to the product related issues first. We will be releasing more information on the dealer program, contracts and a closing date for orders for the initial production build in the next few weeks. We will not be accepting any deposits, orders or payments until the product is ready for production - and we have done a public demonstration. All orders at that point will require prepayment, so we can fairly allocate inventory worldwide. We are planning an initial build of 1000 units for the AF100/EF product.

We have an active beta program for the AF100 and the FS100 products, and have been floating hardware on some very large (and some not so large) productions. This has offerred us invaluable ergonomic information on the forth coming remotes, as well as access to footage and real world testing. In the coming weeks we expect to be able to talk about prductions using both the AF100 and FS100 focus systems.

We are excited for the future of Birger in the Broadcast industry. We are even more excited to get this product released in the short term. There is no one that wants these new products out in the field more than I do.


My interpretation is that we won't be seeing the FS100 version for over a month, even if everything goes well. Anyway, we obviously all want this to be right, so the fact that it gets a first run on the AF100 probably isn't a bad thing in the long run...
 
Bumping this older thread.

Any updates on potential release date for the Birger Canon mount??? Last I heard it was supposed to come out in July-ish time frame. With no release date in sight for the Red Epic-S (and a potential price increase) I'm on the cusp of getting a FS100, but since I have all Canon glass, I want to wait until there's a smart mount that will let me use them to their full extent. I checked the Birger website and it hasn't been updated at all. Any alternatives out there for using Canon glass (besides a dummy mount)?
 
echo9 said:
Bumping this older thread.

Any updates on potential release date for the Birger Canon mount??? Last I heard it was supposed to come out in July-ish time frame. With no release date in sight for the Red Epic-S (and a potential price increase) I'm on the cusp of getting a FS100, but since I have all Canon glass, I want to wait until there's a smart mount that will let me use them to their full extent. I checked the Birger website and it hasn't been updated at all. Any alternatives out there for using Canon glass (besides a dummy mount)?
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I wouldn't wait on Birger if I were you. Unfortunately, we still only have "dumb" adapters as our only option.
 
Set your iris between 2.8-5.6 and roll around with a Fader ND on? That's my stop gap for EOS glass... Let me say that the Fotodiox "dumb" mount is of reasonable build quality with a nice solid locking mechanism.
 
legrevedotcom said:
Sounds good. I ordered the Ligth Craft workshop ND with 2-9 stops. I reckon it will do the job.
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That's the one I use, and it is very effective with minimal color shifting except with really heavy filtration. I do find it is soft toward the end of my 70-200mm though but I imagine that could be helped with a spacer for when i use it on longer lenses.
 
Sent Birger an e-mail and got a reply back. No real information, they just said that the release date would be announced two weeks prior via the e-mail distribution list. Not very helpful. :huh:
 
echo9 said:
Sent Birger an e-mail and got a reply back. No real information, they just said that the release date would be announced two weeks prior via the e-mail distribution list. Not very helpful. :huh:
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Did you ask about AF100 or FS100? I'm wondering because FS adapter was to come after AF's.
 
Oh ok. Seeing they're struggling to get the AF100 version out, I doubt we'll hear anything about NEX mount till they're done with the AF. I'm hoping some else will come up with an intermediate solution, sans the follow focus, sooner.
 
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