Lens Adapter with built in ND filter wheel!

X

XSVpro

Well-known member
With the latest products supporting micro four thirds lens mounts from Blackmagic and of course the Lumix GH range that many of us AF100 owners already own, one thing that's missing in these for genuine cost/practacality reasons is the ND filter wheel, I mostly use NIKON and OM mount lenses over m4/3 so i am always using an adapter of some kind and I'm also a GH2 owner and have a preorder for the Blackmagic Pocket camera thta of course don't have ND filtration built in, this newly announce product project i find really exciting, check it out.


http://www.eoshd.com/content/10149/holymanta-the-nd-filter-lens-adapter
 
The problem with that design is that switching from no filter to adding a filter behind the lens will change the backfocus. There should be a clear filter when the ND is not in use.
 
Yeah, we've mentioned that in some of the other threads discussing the product. Curious to see if the designer has a solution for it somehow.
 
Could the designer factor that in with adapter by manipulating the flange distance? I'm not really up to speed on this side of lenses
 
I don't know what they could do... I mean, the traditional way that camcorder and lens manufacturers have dealt with it has been to include a clear filter, so that there's always an optical element, which keeps the focus distance accurate. If the mount somehow were to move when the filter was out, I guess that could accomplish the same thing, although I don't know how secure I'd feel about something like that...
 
I may be wrong on the infinity focus issue, but I'm pretty sure that increasing the distance from the sensor would still allow infinity focus. My guess is that it would focus at infinity, but the indicator would be just shy of the infinity mark on the lens barrel. In other words, not a big deal.
The real issue with this adapter is that it's a "dumb" or unpowered adaptor. You won't have aperture control, AF, or IS on your Canon lenses. If you're trying to attach an anamorphic adapter lens to an FS100 (like the guys at EOSHD), then this might be worth a look, but for the other 97% of people out there it's a lot less valuable.
 
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Well you are wrong:beer:
You lose infnity as you move the lens away from the focusing plane. Hence all the adapters that you can only use in macro photography but they don't reach infinity...
 
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Andrius Simutis said:
I may be wrong on the infinity focus issue, but I'm pretty sure that increasing the distance from the sensor would still allow infinity focus. My guess is that it would focus at infinity, but the indicator would be just shy of the infinity mark on the lens barrel. In other words, not a big deal.
The real issue with this adapter is that it's a "dumb" or unpowered adaptor. You won't have aperture control, AF, or IS on your Canon lenses. If you're trying to attach an anamorphic adapter lens to an FS100 (like the guys at EOSHD), then this might be worth a look, but for the other 97% of people out there it's a lot less valuable.
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97%? ;0) i wish only 3% of us were nit using Canon glass, ebay purchases fir Nikon glass would be much kess painful.

I and many others use Nikon/Olympus OM/Leica R mount lenses, they go on pretty much everything and most don't have that horrible fly by wire focus issue, not being able to use powered lenses is not that big an issue really, for a documentary or ENG guy using a GH3 or NEX maybe but for everything else manual lenses are the norm, if they could make a clear element or have a way around the possible focus issues mentioned above then this will be a great and fairly cheap product for compact camera rigs shooting narrative and commercials like the Blackmagic m4/3 2.5k and pocket camera but also I'm thinking this with a NEX or GH2/3 for daytime timelapses would be pretty sweet, being able to get a nice slow shutter speed and staying in the sweet f/stop spot of the lens or going shallow with depth of field would be pretty sweet as the camera can just be left alone, with a matte box, variable or slide in ND filter tray on the front of the lens I would always worry about dirt and dust contaminating the sequence.
 
I and many others use Nikon/Olympus OM/Leica R mount lenses, they go on pretty much everything and most don't have that horrible fly by wire focus issue, not being able to use powered lenses is not that big an issue really, for a documentary or ENG guy using a GH3 or NEX maybe but for everything else manual lenses are the norm

After shooting an entire feature with the AF, I gravitated to the Nikon still lenses on an adaptor (which had adjustable aperture). I found it easier to focus with them than with either wire focus lens (I had the 20mm and 14/140). I seldom needed auto aperture and never used auto focus.

For the Blackmagic Pocket cam, an adaptor with a usable ND filter wheel would solve a huge issue and would make me consider purchasing the camera.
 
mainstreetprod said:
I and many others use Nikon/Olympus OM/Leica R mount lenses, they go on pretty much everything and most don't have that horrible fly by wire focus issue, not being able to use powered lenses is not that big an issue really, for a documentary or ENG guy using a GH3 or NEX maybe but for everything else manual lenses are the norm

After shooting an entire feature with the AF, I gravitated to the Nikon still lenses on an adaptor (which had adjustable aperture). I found it easier to focus with them than with either wire focus lens (I had the 20mm and 14/140). I seldom needed auto aperture and never used auto focus.

For the Blackmagic Pocket cam, an adaptor with a usable ND filter wheel would solve a huge issue and would make me consider purchasing the camera.
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I think that pocket camera is must for most of us and if this ND adapter works it would be a very compact picture making device ;0)
 
Could you guys explain why a piece of glass with no optical correction, or curvature in it, would effect the focus?
 
atarijedi said:
Could you guys explain why a piece of glass with no optical correction, or curvature in it, would effect the focus?
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It effectively changes the back focus as the light now hits the filter first before the sensor requiring the lens to sensor distance to be changed, because its a variable ND there is no clear filter for zero ND like on our AF-100s so the designer has made it so that the ND element can be internally swung away for zero ND, because the adapter has either been designed based on the usual flange distance of dumb adapters or to take in the new distance with the ND engaged at one point or other infinity focus is going to be affected.

Thats my translation from what I have been reading here and I'm on my iPhone so my reply is a little clunky :)
 
dcloud said:
this is a ridiculous product.
having a buit in fader is a bad idea.
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its a shame it isn't proper ND glass as that in this design could be very useful and would be a genius little product and he's at least started the ball rolling on the overall concept. I think for small sensor cameras like the GH3 and BMPCC he could do this style with proper ND glass and a clear element but larger sensors could pose a problem as the housing would have to be so much larger and that could cause problems with any of the SONY NEX cameras other than FS100/700 owners
 
the biggest catch22 is that since he cannot adapt the same lens mount to the same body mount, you cannot get an electronically controlled lens. that means no canon ef glass unless you want to go back to dslr swap or 600 bucks for live lens. and no m43 lenses at all
 
imdjay said:
the biggest catch22 is that since he cannot adapt the same lens mount to the same body mount, you cannot get an electronically controlled lens. that means no canon ef glass unless you want to go back to dslr swap or 600 bucks for live lens. and no m43 lenses at all
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Personally I don't use electronic lenses though I do own a few mft lenses but I do realise that he states how great this would be for the ENG shooter on a budget so losing electronic control of your lenses could be a deal breaker. Personally I don't think a $200 Variable ND that has a lens adapter built in and removes the chances of filter reflections and dust contamination needs to answer all our prayers just yet but I'm sure if this is successful his later products could be more sophisticated and specific. Good work for a kick starter project
 
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