Current state of the Speed Boosters?

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dmitrizigany

Veteran
Hey!

Looking to get a Metabones Speed Booster for my FS700.
However, as they are rather expensive and I've been reading a lot about failed units and firmware upgrades which means sending them to Hong Kong etc, I'm a bit reluctant. Have they stabilized a bit in quality/firmware? If you get a brand new today, are they reasonably reliable?

Are there other brands that are of equal or better quality or is Metabones the de facto king of the adapters?
 
dmitrizigany said:
Hey!

Looking to get a Metabones Speed Booster for my FS700.
However, as they are rather expensive and I've been reading a lot about failed units and firmware upgrades which means sending them to Hong Kong etc, I'm a bit reluctant. Have they stabilized a bit in quality/firmware? If you get a brand new today, are they reasonably reliable?

Are there other brands that are of equal or better quality or is Metabones the de facto king of the adapters?
Click to expand...
It took a long time just to get this one.
 
Unless you need AF or the tripod thread mount on the speedbooster, take a look at a Lens Turbo II. Plenty sharp and 1/3 the cost.
 
No probs! Looks like a decent alternative. I want to be able to use lenses with IS as well, as I feel that's absolutely essential for any hand held work... Guess it only leaves the Metabones, which is why I wonder if it's stabilized somewhat or if it's still prone to failure and wonky firmware...
 
I've got the v1 EF to NEX SpeedBooster, probably 1st production run. No issues so far with the FS700 or A7S (IS and aperture work fine; don't use autofocus (when I need autofocus I use Sony native lenses).
 
Jcs, that sounds promising! And you've used it quite a lot? Never needed to upgrade firmware or anything?
I've figured that AF will be too bad to use with adapter so not counting on using that either.
Just find myself filming in small spaces a lot and need the wider field of view "full frame" will give. Otherwise I would not bother and just go with native e mount lenses.
 
FWIW, I bought a Metabones Speedbooster (Minolta MD to E-Mount) and ended up returning it. I was disappointed with the optical performance. It significantly degrades the image at the edges and corners when using wide angle and normal lenses. I tested 16mm, 24mm, 28mm and 58mm lenses. However, longer lenses work OK. From 100mm on, the edge definition is good. Apparently the Speedbooster cannot handle the steep light cones of short and mid focal length lenses.

What was nice about using the A7s for these tests is that I could see how the lenses performed in full frame mode in their natural state. The Speedbooster image was not pretty by comparison.
 
I used it mostly with the Canon 24-105 F4L and 50 1.4 (also used the 70-200 2.8 II and 16-35 2.8 II). No issues. Image quality is excellent compared to kit lens SEL18200.
 
Ralph B said:
FWIW, I bought a Metabones Speedbooster (Minolta MD to E-Mount) and ended up returning it. I was disappointed with the optical performance. It significantly degrades the image at the edges and corners when using wide angle and normal lenses. I tested 16mm, 24mm, 28mm and 58mm lenses. However, longer lenses work OK. From 100mm on, the edge definition is good. Apparently the Speedbooster cannot handle the steep light cones of short and mid focal length lenses.

What was nice about using the A7s for these tests is that I could see how the lenses performed in full frame mode in their natural state. The Speedbooster image was not pretty by comparison.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your experiences Ralph! Just curious, are you testing on other cameras besides the A7s?

Thanks,
Gary
 
The A7s is the only E-mount camera I have, but the results shouldn't be any different on other APS-C size cameras.
 
Ralph B said:
The A7s is the only E-mount camera I have, but the results shouldn't be any different on other APS-C size cameras.
Click to expand...

I think that might be your problem. The A7s is actually full frame camera so I don't think the speed booster is going to work well. You might want to try a normal adapter.

Thanks again,
Gary
 
You don't understand. The A7s works in both full frame and APS-C mode. I used the speedbooster in APS-C mode, not full frame. The results are valid.
 
Ralph B said:
FWIW, I bought a Metabones Speedbooster (Minolta MD to E-Mount) and ended up returning it. I was disappointed with the optical performance. It significantly degrades the image at the edges and corners when using wide angle and normal lenses. I tested 16mm, 24mm, 28mm and 58mm lenses. However, longer lenses work OK. From 100mm on, the edge definition is good. Apparently the Speedbooster cannot handle the steep light cones of short and mid focal length lenses.

What was nice about using the A7s for these tests is that I could see how the lenses performed in full frame mode in their natural state. The Speedbooster image was not pretty by comparison.
Click to expand...

Ralph B said:
You don't understand. The A7s works in both full frame and APS-C mode. I used the speedbooster in APS-C mode, not full frame. The results are valid.
Click to expand...

I apologize if I sounded presumptuous but you are the first person I have heard report this. I definitely would love to get to the bottom of this before I buy a speedbooster.

I am sure you know APC sensor sizes vary. Do you know if Sony has published the sensor size for the A7s APC-mode? Also would you mind posting some stills from your testing? It would be great to have a frame of reference.

Thanks again!
Gary
 
Apology accepted.

Once I decided the Speedbooster wasn't for me, I deleted all the files I shot with it.

I admit, I'm picky about this sort of thing. What's unacceptable performance for me, might be perfectly acceptable to someone else.

A while back I saw an interview with Ilya Friedman of Hot Rod Cameras. The interviewer mentioned the Speedbooster in passing, and Ilya jumped in and said he'd tested it and would never use it himself because it degraded the image. Up to this point I had heard nothing but glowing reports about the Speedbooster. Basically, I didn't believe him. I do now.

So, consider my report just a cautionary heads-up.
 
Here is a quick test by Philip Bloom with the A7s as an additional data point. Apparently he was primarily looking for rolling shutter but in the latter part he uses a Speedbooster with a Canon F2 lens. The results look pretty good to me, and I think it's worth a look for anyone thinking about a Speedbooster.

https://vimeo.com/100163084
 
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