Terrible Metabones Experience [RESOLVED]

S

Simon Shasha

Well-known member

UPDATE: Metabones has kindly offered to exchange my adapters for new ones :)




Hey guys,


I purchased a Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster last year, but this original purchase of the Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster did not mount to my BMPCC.


I then sent my faulty Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster back to Metabones in September 2014 for it to be replaced with an all-new Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster.


Metabones sent me back an all-new Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster which mounted correctly.


However, today I noticed a very serious problem. My Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster is leaking an oily green/black liquid/grease (please see photos at bottom of post).


Not only has this oily liquid/grease dripped and smeared around my Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster, it has dripped and smeared onto the rear of two prized lenses of mine that I use in conjunction with the Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster - my Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 and Nikon 28mm F2.8 AIS.


I find this is really unacceptable from a product that is marketed as a professional tool, and is as expensive as the Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster ($600 Australian Dollars). It really is unacceptable. Especially when it is effecting and damaging even more expensive lenses in the process. Further more, as a testament to build quality in general, I have lenses that are over 40-years-old whose aperture-rings have never excreted or discharged oily liquid/grease...


It took me two e-mails to even get the attention of Metabones, with the second e-mail requiring me to plead with anyone at Metabones to simply acknowledge my problem and contact me.


Thus far, I have found their response to be very trivial; they simply wrote back "It just need to clean up only, have not any effect on use."


I'm sorry, but first of all; how many "clean ups" will this require? Am I meant to send it back to Metabones every single time it leaks? And yes, it does have an "effect of use" - it is leaking oily crap all over the back of my lenses.


Even if they performed a "clean up", there is no way in hell that I'm going to let this thing touch any of my lenses again.


I posted this here because Metabones seems to think this isn't a big deal. And perhaps for a company, or for those whom money is plentiful, it isn't a big deal. For me, however, it is. Hence, I posted this in the hope of gaining a bit of support, and also for warning anyone that is thinking of purchasing a Metabones product (that uses a manual aperture-ring) of the potential hazards and build-quality associated with certain Metabones products.


Here are some photos of my Speed Booster and the oily liquid/grease it is discharging (P.S. The attached photos of the tissues is what I wiped off the Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster - I eventually gave up because no matter how much I wiped, the oily liquid/grease just kept leaking. What I wiped off the rear-elements of my Sigma and Nikon lenses was just as bad, if not worse (most likely due to the long periods of time they were mounted to the Metabones Nikon-G to BMPCC Speed Booster, slowly collecting and building up this oily-liquid on their rear-elements over time):

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Sorry to hear this. Somewhat related, I have been wondering lately about the various new(er) lens companies and what kind of long term issues might develop.
 
Gweilo66 said:
Sorry to hear this. Somewhat related, I have been wondering lately about the various new(er) lens companies and what kind of long term issues might develop.
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Thanks, mate! Well, my Nikon AIS lenses are from the early 80s, and they are in absolutely PERFECT condition - not only optically, but the focus and aperture rings on them are amazing - smooth and buttery. No leaks or grease crap anywhere...these new companies need to learn a lesson or two from the old-guard it seems...
 
Well, I just checked my Metabones Nikon-G to Sony-E adapter, and it's just as bad, if not worse! What is going on here!? This is terrible...

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I've seen something similar, though not on metabones - it can happen when the gear is exposed to very high temperatures. A guy was taking pictures inside a furnace through a funnel, and when he pulled out the lens, it had goo leak all over it... not really sure why that happens, but it's down to high temperatures. Did you by any chance do any work or leave the gear in an oven? That can happen on food shoots perhaps, I don't know. In any case, I would recommend not keeping the gear in f.ex. a car that's left parked in the sun (I know, most people don't do it!). Did you happen to leave your stuff in an oven or furnace or some extremely high temp place?
 
OldCorpse said:
I've seen something similar, though not on metabones - it can happen when the gear is exposed to very high temperatures. A guy was taking pictures inside a furnace through a funnel, and when he pulled out the lens, it had goo leak all over it... not really sure why that happens, but it's down to high temperatures. Did you by any chance do any work or leave the gear in an oven? That can happen on food shoots perhaps, I don't know. In any case, I would recommend not keeping the gear in f.ex. a car that's left parked in the sun (I know, most people don't do it!). Did you happen to leave your stuff in an oven or furnace or some extremely high temp place?
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Never used my gear in any high-temperature situations. What's worse, the Nikon-G to Sony-E adapter in my second-post has only been used on a single occasion thus far - filming my 4-year-old niece running around to test slow-motion on my A7s...
 
I've been closely observing and scrutinising my Metabones products.

My regular Metabones Nikon-G to MFT adapter does not have this problem. It is about a year older than the Metabones Speed Booster and Metabones Nikon-G to Sony-E adapter. Its aperture-ring also turns much "quicker", where as the aperture-ring on the Speed Booster and Nikon-G to Sony-E adapter and very slow to turn.

Also, the new Metabones Speed Booster they sent me, and Nikon-G to Sony-E adapter, were ordered and sent together. I wonder if there is a chance that, assuming they were manufactured at the same time, that perhaps the oil/grease used in that batch of Metabones products was somehow faulty, or something...?
 
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