Speedbooster questions

N

Neutral

Active member
Ok so I just got a speed booster Ultra in the mail for my FS700 (nex to ef mount) and I have a job in the morning which I will need to shoot with this set up. So I'm trying to figure this out asap.

I'm a little confused though. My Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 is vignetting at all focal lengths. And my Tokina 11-16mm 2.8 is vignetting at 11mm but not 16mm. Is this all normal? I wasn't aware the speedbooster caused vignetting unless I'm doing something wrong.

And my second inquiry is regarding the extra f-stops it gives you. My 2 EF lenses went down to f2.0. I am however using a bunch of Nikkor ai-s lenses. They are manual focus lenses. Is the speedbooster able to bring the f-stop lower on these lenses or no?

Sorry if these are dumb questions, my first time owning a speedbooster.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
The FS700 has a Super35mm sensor. The speed booster converts it to about full frame crop. You need full frame lenses or they will vignette. Those lenses are for APS-C cameras, which have around a Super 35mm crop. Most people use speed boosters on M43 or small sensor cameras to convert them to a crop closer to APS-C.
 
Batutta said:
The FS700 has a Super35mm sensor. The speed booster converts it to about full frame crop. You need full frame lenses or they will vignette. Those lenses are for APS-C cameras, which have around a Super 35mm crop. Most people use speed boosters on M43 or small sensor cameras to convert them to a crop closer to APS-C.
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Damn, so was this a totally pointless purchase? What about the manual Nikkor lenses, is this just serving as an adapter for them at the moment or can I actually decrease the f-stop with them as well?
 
Not a pointless purchase if you get full frame lenses, but they are pricey. Some longer focal length APS-C lenses might not vignette but don't quote me on that. The manual lenses will gain a stop as well. All the speed booster does is focus a wider image circle onto a smaller area, and when you do that things get brighter. It doesn't physically do anything to the lens or the iris.
 
Thanks I'm starting to understand. So for example I have a nikkor ai-s 28mm f2.8 manual lens, how do I get it to f2.0? Or how do i get more light in?
 
Neutral said:
Thanks I'm starting to understand. So for example I have a nikkor ai-s 28mm f2.8 manual lens, how do I get it to f2.0? Or how do i get more light in?
Click to expand...
I don't know how it is on the ULTRA, but on most Speedboosters there is a manual ring that controls the aperture. You can control the aperture with that ring, or if you leave it open, you can then change aperture with the manual lenses aperture ring. You just open the aperture as wide as you can, and then the speed booster adds an extra stop of light. You might want to be careful though as the metabones website mentions that manual lenses have protrusions which could damage the glass.
 
Batutta said:
The FS700 has a Super35mm sensor. The speed booster converts it to about full frame crop. You need full frame lenses or they will vignette. Those lenses are for APS-C cameras, which have around a Super 35mm crop. Most people use speed boosters on M43 or small sensor cameras to convert them to a crop closer to APS-C.
Click to expand...


Most people in this FS700 board use them on Super35 sensor to use full frame Canon L glass on their camera, and to get extra low light ability.

The speedbooster is excellent. I only shoot without it if i need longer reach with my zoom lenses, or my APS-C fisheye lens.
 
Batutta said:
I don't know how it is on the ULTRA, but on most Speedboosters there is a manual ring that controls the aperture. You can control the aperture with that ring, or if you leave it open, you can then change aperture with the manual lenses aperture ring. You just open the aperture as wide as you can, and then the speed booster adds an extra stop of light. You might want to be careful though as the metabones website mentions that manual lenses have protrusions which could damage the glass.
Click to expand...

On the Canon EF to Sony E adapters there is no manual aperture ring. Its all electronic.
 
Neutral said:
Thanks I'm starting to understand. So for example I have a nikkor ai-s 28mm f2.8 manual lens, how do I get it to f2.0? Or how do i get more light in?
Click to expand...

You put it to f/2.8 and the amount of light hitting the sensor gets kind of amplified by concentration inside the speedbooster, thus equal to f/2.0 on the sensor.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.
So if I understand correctly, on a manual lens set at f2.8 with the speedbooster it is actually at 2.0. And does it apply to all increments? So for example if I set the aperture to f4 it will actually be at f3 (roughly) ?

I'm a little confused as to the what the difference with "Green mode" and "advanced mode" is. Do I need to mess around with this or is it unimportant?
 
Yup. You've got it.
The f-stop translation is not in direct steps - it's a percentage - but your understanding is generally correct. ALL stops on your lenses will be "brightened" by roughly 1 stop. (Although I think the "ULTRA" version actually brightens everything by about 1.3 stops.)

Any Full-Frame lenses you have are good to go. In the future - F.F. lenses will always cover a Super 35 or APS-C sensor, but not the other way around, so buy F.F. lenses. "A big lid covers both a big can and a small can, but a small lid only covers a small can."

I feel the best part about speed boosters is the effect they give of allowing you to stop-down your lens but retain the amount of light you could only get at a wider setting without it. - Most of my primes are f/1.4 which is great for letting in lots of light and giving a very shallow depth of field, but we all know that all but the most expensive lenses suddenly lose a lot of their sharpness when opened all the way up. The SpeedBooster allows you to stop-down your lens a bit to bring it into its higher-performing range but RETAIN the light and depth of field you had at the wider setting. WIN! BIG WIN!

Different models of SpeedBoosters all have different specifications of how they control, or don't control your aperture setting. I think yours is one of the most deluxe that there is. Mine has no aperture control on it at all, so I can only use lenses that have manual aperture rings on them.

Good luck on that shoot.
 
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