FS7: Success with Commlite Adapter

A big thank you to surinder for bring the Commlite to my attention. It just so happens that I received the Metabones adapter 1 day prior to receiving the Commlite. So I shot one day with the Metabones before using the Commlite. This made the Commlite adapter that much more of a pleasure. The price of the Commlite also reminded me of how over-priced Metabones products are. Gotta love it when the "cheapo" version that few have heard of performs a function better than the more pricey item. As far as fit and finish I see little difference between the Commlite and the Metabones. They look and feel as if they could have been made at the same factory. And for all anyone knows, they were.
 
Just my 2 cents and hope this isn't taken personally.
Its great that the Commlite is working for you and that its cheap. However I think we should remember when we badmouth equipment as overpriced, that it isn't easy making a living selling video equipment these days. R&D costs money especially when you are designing things from scratch and I can't blame any company for trying to make a profit. People need to make a living. Hell I charge as much as I can for my services and expect a manufacturer to do the same. The Commlite looks like a knockoff of something Metabones invented so sure its cheaper. To me its a wonder that we can get gear so cheap these days, not that some of it is overpriced.
That said I'll probably buy the Commlite myself.
 
Lenny, this is somewhat a unique situation.

Metabones (the original article) doesn't work right now, whereas Commlite (which may be a copy or clone) works well.

No harm in grabbing a Commlite for now they're as cheap as chips:)
 
Not only did Metabones not invent focal reducers, and not only does their product not currently work properly as advertised with the lenses it was designed for, as I discovered this weekend after shelling out £510 it also doesn't work as a focal-reducing dumb mount on any of my manual lenses because the mount physically activates the aperture control pin on the back of the lenses meaning you can't adjust the iris. Perhaps spending a bit more on their R&D would have helped in this regard, rather than advertising from them and Sony saying it was the perfect match for the camera and only afterwards admitting that they didn't extensively test the combination of camera and adapter prior to release.

The Commlite works perfectly, but isn't (my one at least, is there another?) a focal reducer. If they release one I will certainly get that too.
 
Lenilenapi said:
Yeah , you guys are probably right . Mea culpa

Lenny
Click to expand...


And here I was feeling bad for knocking Metabones!

my 2 cents- industry buzz and lack of competition are factors in the prices of Metabones products. Same as it was for Kino Flo and Litepanels a while back. If the $89 product does what I need every bit as good as the $399 product, then for that use the $399 product is comparatively "overpriced".

Or maybe the Commlite is just seriously underpriced!!
 
Well I knew that focal reducers were used in telescopes, but the idea and the R&D behind using them successfully in video cameras then does come from Metabones I'm guessing. So that's not something to take for granted - it was huge.

Who started making adapters that carried electronic iris control and IS for Canon lenses - was that also Metabones? I do note that they've continually refined their product coming out with 4 new versions to respond to issues. Again all that's R&D. Now it turns out they've somewhat screwed up with the Mark IV (which included the cool idea of being user upgradable) but that is no doubt costing money especially if people switch to Commlite.

If Commlite just had to basically copy a Metabones design then Metabones also has to price in how soon they are going to lose their market share. So I don't really know anything about Commlite or what Metabones costs are - just feel like its a tough business and I don't like attack a company for trying to make it work. None of these guys are flying with the fortune 500. I find Zacuto too expensive but look at all the R&D they put into that business.

I'm as cost conscious as the next guy though. Litepanels & Kinoflo are good example. They pioneered flo lights & LED's but I never bought one because for my budget they were too expensive . Instead I've always bought the cheapest chinese knockoffs I could find. Without the pioneers tho we'd never have the cheap stuff. So I respect them.

Just a little rant entirely off topic - sorry
 
Lenilenapi said:
Well I knew that focal reducers were used in telescopes, but the idea and the R&D behind using them successfully in video cameras then does come from Metabones I'm guessing. So that's not something to take for granted - it was huge.

Who started making adapters that carried electronic iris control and IS for Canon lenses - was that also Metabones?
Click to expand...

Weren't the likes of Optitek and MFT making electronic canon mount adapters years ago?

It's like suggesting Movi invented the gimbal.

EDIT: The commlite isn't a 'clone' of the metabones. You could put forward the argument that Metabones has popularised focal reducers recently, but that's why I referred to them as the Apple of mount adapters.
 
Has anyone tried it on the FS7 with the Tamron 70-200VC and the 24-70VC?
The newest versions?
It took Metabones months to just figure out the support for these two....
 
Same here. Thanks for posting. Haven't recieved my camera yet. Still in transit. I ordered the adaptor today and the last Speedbooster Ultra I could find. So hopefully everything is ready by the time the camera arrives. Otherwise I will have to use the kit lens From my old Nex5.
 
It's really great to see you guys are having success with this adapter.

It'll be interesting to see if how it behaves with the new 1.10 firmware that's now available.
 
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