FS7: New Canon 18-80mm zoom lens with Metabones speed booster

Ed Waters

Active member
So the new Canon zoom with a Metabones EF-E mount speed booster will make the lens become a 12.7mm-56-7mm F2.8 zoom lens. If this talks well with the Sony FS-7 and FS-5. I'm ready to jump and get rid of the almost useless Sony 28-135mm Zoom. Any thoughts?

Best Ed Waters
 
Hey Ed,

Just to clarify what others have suggested, you would get very strange (and what most would consider unusable) results from putting a lens that's already designed for a super-35mm sized sensor onto the MB speedbooster. The SB is designed to contract the image circle from lenses designed for a full-frame sensor (about 35mmx24mm) down to 'fill' the Super-35 sized sensor (roughly 1.6x smaller).

Because the new Canon lens is designed natively for a S-35 sensor, if you attach it to a speedbooster the image resulting would no longer fully cover your sensor. In theory your image would be a stop brighter, but it would fade into massive vignetting all around the image (and probably hit complete black at either edge of the frame).

I imagine that even this simple, generalised answer will also be considered fair game for some mockery. Not sure why some people here enjoy ridiculing those with less knowledge than themselves. Oh well, takes all sorts I guess, and we still have the blessing of free speech (well, mostly ;-).

Still, if you're hoping to replace your 28-135, the native range on the new Canon is probably more useful to you than a 12-55mm anyway - no? Although the F4 is a bit of a downer, that single stop (not gained via SB) might not be such a showstopper in the end. I'm certainly planning on renting one to see how I get on with it.

jason
 
And assuming the MB mark IV or other mount adapters will power that Canon servo - you get that pretty decent range of s35 18-80 w/ full manual & servo and no fly by wire
 
I imagine that even this simple, generalised answer will also be considered fair game for some mockery. Not sure why some people here enjoy ridiculing those with less knowledge than themselves. Oh well, takes all sorts I guess, and we still have the blessing of free speech (well, mostly ;-).

Yeah, it reads a bit harsh, but it was meant to be taken in a lighthearted manner. No need to be too judgemental, this is the internet...
 
So the new Canon zoom with a Metabones EF-E mount speed booster will make the lens become a 12.7mm-56-7mm F2.8 zoom lens. If this talks well with the Sony FS-7 and FS-5. I'm ready to jump and get rid of the almost useless Sony 28-135mm Zoom. Any thoughts?

Best Ed Waters

Couldn't agree more. I said from the outset the Sony Kit lens for the FS7 was bogus and only offered a bit of usage as an interview lens.
Unclear to me however, how your math allows for a true 18-80mm f4.4 zoom to become a 12.7-56.7mm f2.8.
Always eager to learn though.
 
Great information. I'm keeping an eye on this lens for my FS7 basically for the size and flexibility of the servo. I doubt the handle that comes with the Sony will work for the lens though?
 
but is it 10x better?

but is it 10x better?

And assuming the MB mark IV or other mount adapters will power that Canon servo - you get that pretty decent range of s35 18-80 w/ full manual & servo and no fly by wire


Much good about this lens. The lack of focus hard stop, however, is disappointing.

I'd love for someone knowledgable in lens design to explain why making a lens with hard focus stops is so apparently difficult and costly, at least for lenses able to cover the S35 sensor, that is. Focus hard stop was pretty much standard on 2/3" video zoom lenses, even the lower priced ones.
 
That is disappointing to hear. I guess for those of us who learned to shoot on those ENG hard stop lenses - that barrel rotating infinitely is a pain in the arse. Maybe the younger crowd doesn't mind it ? - but man, I'm with you
 
The 18-80mm is an autofocus lens, & like all of Canon's autofocus lenses, lacks hard stops. It's too bad they didn't include a clutch that allowed hard stops when manually focusing like Sony did on the 28-135mm.
 
I remain confused by why people keep referring to lenses like the Canon and the Sony as a 'cine' style lenses. They don't have proper manual focussing with reliable witness marks - and that's the single most important element of any 'cine' lens...

Call them 'video' lenses, call them 'autofocus video lenses', but don't muddy the waters of what separates proper 'cinema' equipment from the rest. It just gets confusing.
 
I remain confused by why people keep referring to lenses like the Canon and the Sony as a 'cine' style lenses. They don't have proper manual focussing with reliable witness marks - and that's the single most important element of any 'cine' lens...

Call them 'video' lenses, call them 'autofocus video lenses', but don't muddy the waters of what separates proper 'cinema' equipment from the rest. It just gets confusing.

Canon calls them that and has been categorized as part of their CN-E lineup. I agree, repeatable focus marks are important but I think this Cine lens is more suited to smaller crews that don't have a dedicated focus puller and are perhaps going to rely on the autofocus on C300/500 bodies. It still is color matched, t stop rated and has other features that make it a cine lens, albeit a cine lens for the independent filmaker perhaps.
 
These days cine lens mean,s.. covers S35mm .. and not a stills lens.. its come to that yes.. So Canon.. a major lens maker are calling a fly by wire auto focus zoom a Cine lens and including it in their CN E line up.. talk about killing the brand.. like having a 3 wheeler Rolls Royce mini van.. small crews dont need auto focus ,a one man crew doesn't need it. ..... C500 was/is a pretty up market camera.. why would that camera need an auto focus len? independent film makers are blind all of a sudden .. wow its all going to s*%t in a basket .. marketing being believed .. slippery slope.. :).. this is a wedding /event lens .. and very obviously so..
 
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I don't think it's possible to build a true cine zoom that hits all benchmarks that will sell for less than 15k.
The challnges are purely physical and analogue by nature that require sophisticated fine mechanics and materials. It's not like in the electronics world where things constantly get faster and cheaper all the time. Also the market that consumes these goods is finite it's not like tom dick and Harry will run out and grab one if it costed less than 10k.
 
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