Review: Metabones Speed Booster (Canon FD to Fuji X)

November 3, 2013

Jordan Steele

Conclusion

Pros:

Provides that full-frame look on an APS-C sensor with your Canon FD lenses
Lens sharpness is predominantly retained, with excellent central sharpness and good edge sharpness with most lenses
Bokeh of the original lens is preserved
Color and contrast and the drawing style of the original lens is preserved
Minimal chromatic aberrations introduced – a good performance here
Excellent construction and included removable tripod foot

Cons:

Edges are a little softer with many lenses
Barrel distortion is added to wider and normal focal length lenses
Due to pixel shading, ultra-fast aperture lenses won’t get the exposure benefit of the faster speed (though optical characteristics are unaffected)
A little expensive

Metabones has really created an excellent adapter here. Being able to shoot with a range of full frame lenses on an APS-C camera and get the original field of view and depth of field, while gaining a stop of light in exposure is a phenomenal feat. The fact that the optics in the Speed Booster allow you to do this with similar performance to the bare lens is extremely impressive.

While there is a little softening of detail in the outer portions of the frame with most lenses, there is still enough detail in most circumstances (with a good lens) that the results are still eminently usable. Some lenses work better with the Speed Booster than others, but all work acceptably, provided the source lens is of good quality. The only lens I tried that performed horribly was a mediocre Vivitar 28mm f/2.8. As a reference point, I used the Canon FD 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4 SSC, FL 55mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.8, 135mm f/2, 200mm f/2.8, 70-210mm f/4 and 50-300mm f/4.5L. Of these, the FL 55mm f/1.2 and 135mm f/2 worked the absolute best, with the others all working acceptably well, though the 50-300mm did experience mechanical vignetting at all focal lengths.

As mentioned earlier, if you are using the Speed Booster with faster aperture lenses, it is absolutely worth the extra cost over the Zhongyi Lens Turbo, though the absolute cost of the Speed Booster is still a little higher than I’d like. All things considered, however, the Speed Booster is an amazing little accessory that can be wonderful for getting that full-frame look on your mirrorless camera. Highly recommended!

Image Samples

Click to enlarge an image. You may notice that these samples are almost all taken wide open. Why, you may ask? Because the Speed Booster, in my opinion, is most useful for getting shallow depth of field that is otherwise difficult or impossible to do on smaller formats. If you do want to turn your X-E1 in to a digital Canon A-E1, it does work well for all sorts of shooting.

Broccoli - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 35mm f/2 + SpeedBooster @ 25mm, f/1.4 — Broccoli – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 35mm f/2 + SpeedBooster @ 25mm, f/1.4

Sunrise over a low Scioto River - Fujifilm X-E2 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/8 — Sunrise over a low Scioto River – Fujifilm X-E2 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/8

Bench - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 + Speed Booster @ 60mm, f/1.2 — Bench – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 + Speed Booster @ 60mm, f/1.2

Seagulls - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 135mm f/2 + Speed Booster @ 96mm, f/1.4 — Seagulls – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 135mm f/2 + Speed Booster @ 96mm, f/1.4

Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/0.85 — Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/0.9

Leaves - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 + Speed Booster @ 35mm, f/1.0 — Leaves – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 + Speed Booster @ 35mm, f/1.0

Staring out the Window - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/0.85 — Staring out the Window – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 + Speed Booster @ 39mm, f/0.9

Self Portrait - Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 + Speed Booster @ 60mm, f/1.2 — Self Portrait – Fujifilm X-E1 with Canon FD 85mm f/1.8 + Speed Booster @ 60mm, f/1.2

Tags:

Canon FD, fuji, full frame, Metabones, speed booster

Comments

56 responses to “Review: Metabones Speed Booster (Canon FD to Fuji X)”

Frank

November 3, 2013

Excellent article. I just received my FD to m4/3 version. What are the two blue blob in the ” thumbing it” frame ? Led point sources ?

Frank

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  November 3, 2013
  
  They’re the blue LED indicators on my satellite receiver.
  
  Reply
cosinaphile

November 3, 2013

as an owner of the NF to X mount speedbooster , i find all your opinions to be valid …. thanks for an excellent review , and for clairifying the pixel well issue … the images with the speedbooster are truly full frame character and oof degree on apsc , a small miracle , i hope your excellent review will sway the incredulous leading to more
acceptance of this wonderful device, and more companies producing them

Reply
Brian Allan

November 3, 2013

You wrote “the Speed Booster allows you to take full frame SLR lenses and use them on an APS-C camera with the optical properties of using them on a full-frame camera”.

Does this only apply to full frame SLR lenses or does it also expand APS-C lenses to apparent full frame?

bwa

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  November 3, 2013
  
  It only works for full frame lenses because the Speed Booster condenses the full frame image circle into an APS-C sized image circle, so putting an APS-C lens on it will yield an image circle smaller than the sensor:result, big black edges.
  
  Micro 4/3 users can potentially use APS-C lenses, though.
  
  Reply
  1. qm
    
    January 24, 2015
    
    this is actually not entirely true – at least some APS-C lenses can and have been used successfully through MB speed booster. One of such was Canon’s EF-S 10-22 1.6x crop zoom. At about 12mm image circle is already wide enough, although with some slight vignetting; but from 14mm even vignette is mostly gone:
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/8497177@N03/8461690496/
    
    excellent reviews here 😀
    
    Have you ever considered a write up concerning the substantial advantages that APS-C setup has over FF for wildlife/sports/fast action shooters:
    – foremost 1.5x reach advantage in securing the same FOV, as esp. in wildlife shooting every inch of working distance to one’s target counts;
    – faster, usually much faster frame rates, as high FPS coupled with shorter min. shutter speeds are much harder to attain on FF platform – except at the top tier pro FF bodies they do struggle to offer 2-3 FPS, whereas APS-C flies with 8-12 FPS, and the newest Samusung N1even climbed to15 FPS;
    – much quicker and sustainable AF’ing speed and continuous tracking at high FPS;
    
    best,
    qm
    
    Reply
Tony-S

November 4, 2013

Very nice piece, Jordan. I need to adjust mine (FD) because none of my lenses reach infinity. Also, the ring that engages the aperture mechanisms is virtually identical to the “preset” rings found on many old lenses from the era of stopped-down metering. This allows one to preset the aperture, open the aperture to focus, then quickly return it for the shot.

Reply
Tom Yulsman

November 4, 2013

Thank you for this excellent piece! Your review provided all of the information I’ve needed to make a decision about the Speed Booster. I’m going to purchase it for use with a 50mm F/1.4 MD ROKKOR-X on my Sony NEX-7. Once I’ve had some experience with it, I’ll share anything relevant and useful here.

Thanks again!

Reply
Dave Millier

November 4, 2013

Hi Jordan

In the UK via ebay, the Lens Turbo is available for £78 ($125) whilst the Speed Booster is £478 ($763). Given the speed booster is 7x the price of the Lens Turbo, how would that affect your opinion (if you had to pay UK prices)?

Cheers

Dave

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  November 4, 2013
  
  Wow, really? As I said in my Lens Turbo review, it’s worth the $125. It’s just not worth any more than that because fast lenses do experience some fairly significant optical compromises with the Lens Turbo.
  
  The Speed Booster is, in my opinion, also worth it’s price (well, the US price). Hard to say if it’s goinging to be worth the price for you.
  
  The big difference for me is that I can see myself using the SB with my 55/1.2 and 35/2 for serious photographic work as a somewhat daily carry. I see the Lens Turbo as a device that can give you a certain look when you absolutely need it, but the optical degradation outside of the center on fast lenses would keep it squarely in the ‘special use’ category.
  
  That said, if you are adapting slowish telephoto lenses, the Lens Turbo works pretty well. My MD 135/2.8 works very well with it.
  
  Reply
  1. tom
    
    November 10, 2013
    
    Hi Jordan, whe you say that ” While the two 50mm lenses performed near identically” you mean identically to what? to the standard adapter? I have only 50mm fd lenses and if so it would make much sense a speed booster for me…
    
    Reply
    1. Jordan Steele
      
      November 16, 2013
      
      To each other. The new FD 50mm f/1.4 and the FD 50mm f/1.4 SSC worked well, and essentially identical to each other (though the new FD had slightly more blur, oddly enough). The 55/1.2 worked the best of the three, and is really excellent on the speed booster.
      
      Reply
      1. tom
        
        November 23, 2013
        
        Thank you Jordan for replying. But still a bit confused here: just wondering if this (expensive) Speed Booster gives a real improvement to Canon FD lenses (especially 50mm f1.4 s.s.c.) compared to same lenses mounted via standard cheap adapter.
      2. Jordan Steele
        
        November 23, 2013
        
        It’ll be sharper in the center and a little softer on the edges.
        
        The reason to use the speed booster is not to improve the MTF in my opinion. It’s to get similar FOV and depth if field as the lens on a full frame camera. If you have no need for that, the I wouldn’t spend the money. If you do have that need, it works quite well.
      3. tom
        
        November 23, 2013
        
        And you also get one stop light, isn’t it? Thank you very much though, I got it pretty clear now.
      4. Jordan Steele
        
        November 25, 2013
        
        Yes, but remember that ultra-fast lenses won’t show that stop in transmission due to pixel shading. Optically, you’ll be that stop faster, but the camera maxes out in exposure at about f/1.1 or so, so don’t expect a full stop of light with an f/1.4 or f/1.2 lens on the Speed Booster.
miXed zone: ????? , switch stories, X-E2 / XQ1 first impressions and more… | Fuji Rumors

November 16, 2013

[…] Admiring Light posted a review of the new FD to Fuji X Speed Booster from Metabones here: “[…] if you are using the Speed Booster with faster aperture lenses, it is absolutely […]

Reply
Chen

November 16, 2013

Fuji XF 35mm f.4 vs Canon FD 50mm f1.4 + speed booster, which one do you prefer (their price is not that much different) ? Thanks!

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  November 16, 2013
  
  I use them for different purposes. I pretty much use the FD when I want that super shallow DOF look, which isn’t all that often. If I could only take one, it’d be the Fuji 35…AF makes it more versatile and it’s very good from 1.4. Stopped down its a little better on the extreme edges too.
  
  Reply
  1. Chen
    
    November 17, 2013
    
    Thank you so much for your reply, I am getting the Fuji 35mm 🙂 .
    
    Reply
  2. Chen
    
    November 17, 2013
    
    My husband has a Canon FD 24mm f2.0 Lens (in a very good condition), do you think it will work well with the speed booster? Or speed booster is a better fit with tele-lenses? Thanks!
    
    Reply
    1. Jordan Steele
      
      November 17, 2013
      
      It’s very lens dependent. I wouldn’t say telephotos work better or worse than wides. My FD 35mm f/2 works brilliantly on it. If it’s a good lens, it should at least be decent on the speed booster. Some lenses may even be better.
      
      Reply
Tyler

November 22, 2013

So when you use this what type of settings do you set the Fuji X-E2 into? I get that it is manual focus, which is great, but do you have to tell the camera what aperature setting it is and it can decide the shutter speed approriately? Just curious about the general settings used when using this speed adapter. Thanks! Great shots by the way and this makes me want to get my X-E2 sooner rather than later so I can use my Canon FD glass from my father’s Canon AE-1 setup he has had since the late 1970s!

Reply
1. Nick
  
  January 29, 2015
  
  The camera is metering in real time. When you stop down, the sensor receives less light and adjusts the shutter speed accordingly. The camera does not need to know what aperture the lens is at, it just meters based on the amount of light reaching the sensor.
  
  When using a manual lens, just set the AF to manual mode on the camera. If you want to shoot in aperture priority mode, just set aperture on the lens as you desire, the shutter speed to auto and away you go.
  
  Reply
Crix

November 28, 2013

Hi,
is there really no stopped down picture you could show us to illustrate how bad the edges turn out to be?

I guess the bench picture is not representative because it is already OOF.

Thanks for the review by the way!

Crix

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  December 3, 2013
  
  Hi. I hadn’t taken a ton of photos stopped down with the Speed Booster when I wrote the review. I took several test shots with several lenses stopped down to check sharpness and aberrations so I could ensure it worked well at those apertures, but none that I would view as worthy of presentation. I have since added a shot in the sample images at f/8 (f/11 on the lens) with the 55/1.2 on the Speed Booster.
  
  Reply
chufi

December 17, 2013

Hi, I was wondering if you did any tests with any ultra wide lens like the 17mm f/4 FD? Similarly if you would consider doing a shot with the 55mm 1.2 with and speed booster and then replicated with a plain adapter (such as possible with the different crop) to see the effect of the bokeh.

Also I notice it does not seem possible to actually buy one of these at the moment, any insights on availability?

Reply
Michel

December 18, 2013

Hi there

I was also wondering how it will turn out with WA/UWA lenses – I am planning on using a Zeiss 18mm f/3.5 (Nikon Mount), besides the usual 50mm and 85mm, on the Fuji X-E2 and am wondering if I must expect any severe compromises?!

Best
Michel

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  December 18, 2013
  
  It is hard for me to tell you. Performance varies with each lens. I did not have the opportunity to test with an ultra wide, as I don’t have any UWA FD lenses.
  
  Reply
Fujifilm X-T1: evolving digital photography to good old times | Imaginei-me dentro de ti

February 3, 2014

[…] For all of these Lens systems (except for Leica M) there is even the possibility of using the marvellous Metabones Speedbooster adapter which essentially transforms an APS-C sized sensor in a almost Full Frame sensor (1.5x lens conversion transforms into a 1.06x lens conversion) while still giving one more full stop of aperture to the lens. It seems like magic but it’s real and it works very well. You can see a review of it here https://admiringlight.com/blog/review-metabones-speed-booster-canon-fd-to-fuji-x/. […]

Reply
hugues

February 3, 2014

A canon FD 55mm + speed turbo mounted on a FUJIFILM X PRO / X-E1 is absolutely not turned into a 39mm.

all the information you provide are mistaken.

a canon FD 55mm + speed turbo on a FUJI APS-C is = 55 x 1.52 x 0.72 = 60mm.

hugues-L

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  February 3, 2014
  
  No, kind sir, it is you who are mistaken.
  
  You are mistakenly thinking that the crop factor does anything to the focal length, which it most assuredly does not. The magnification factor of the Speed Booster is 0.71x. 55×0.71 = 39mm. That is the focal length of the combination. Period. The crop factor of the camera body does not change the focal length one iota. The focal length is a property of the lens and the lens ONLY.
  
  Now, it has the field of view of a 58mm lens on a full frame camera (1.5x39mm = 58.5mm), but the focal length of the combination is 39mm. The camera crop factor is only a reference for field of view for shooters who are accustomed to using the 135 format and know what a certain focal length looks like on that format…nothing more.
  
  Reply
  1. B Duncan
    
    February 28, 2014
    
    I understand you are providing info on the true lens focal lengths, but I still feel that the article is somewhat confusing – as Hughes perhaps did.
    
    For most, when you say (for example) a FF 50mm lens on a crop factor body like the Fuji-X (1.5 x crop APS-C) using a SB becomes a 35mm – they assume they will get greater coverage. My understanding is that they will not, they will get a 53.25mm focal length equivalent (50mm x .071 x 1.5, same as using a Fuji-XF 35mm – 35mm x 1.5 = 52.5mm). I would suggest that everyone who uses an APS-C system already thinks in terms of crop, and considering the SB only works on crop body cameras, then why even bring a FF equivalent measurement into the discussion?
    
    Here’s a good article which also starts to explain well, but for me becomes more complex as it goes on. http://www.slrlounge.com/near-full-frame-in-a-micro-43-camera-the-metabones-speedbooster-nikon-adapter-review
    
    Anyway, I enjoyed your review, and the sample images – thanks! B
    
    Reply
    1. Jordan Steele
      
      February 28, 2014
      
      They do get greater coverage. They move from a 50mm lens to a 35mm lens. That’s wider coverage. And it’s wider coverage by a factor similar to the lesser coverage of the smaller sensor. The speed booster turns a 50mm f/1.4 into a 35mm f/1.0. That’s what it does.
      
      I frankly hate how ‘crop factor’ was originally explained to shooters. It has caused so much confusion by people being sloppy with terminology, saying things like “on this camera, your 50mm lens becomes an 80mm lens.” No…no it doesn’t.
      
      Most APS-C shooters don’t even have a full frame reference point, so why should they even compare at all?
      
      Anyway, I have revised the text slightly to hopefully reduce the confusion.
      
      Reply
      1. Christian
        
        April 23, 2017
        
        I get that what you’re saying is technically correct, but we aren’t physicists, we’re photographers. The focal technical focal length of a lens (0.71x. 55×0.71 = 39mm) has little relation to the actual user experience and application of the lens. If you’re trying to help people by writing this article, all you’ve done is further convolute the issue.
        
        Lenses are universally discussed in terms of their 135-equivalent field of view – be it APS-C, micro 4/3, or medium format. It’s what we all relate these back to to gain an understanding of a lenses application.
        
        If you’re trying to make the issue easier to understand, please consider using field of view as a reference. As it is, you’re only further confusing everyone through this technical, pedant math.
Bruno

February 6, 2014

One of the best reviews I’ve ever seen. Bravo!

Reply
About Speedbooster and Lens Turbo adapters | Photography Resources

February 13, 2014

[…] Admiring Light […]

Reply
Al Jimenez

March 10, 2014

I am very disappointed to read about this “Pixel Shading” that I was not aware of. When I bought the Metabones Speed Booster there was no mention about this limitation; I expected one full stop boost without any limits as their website implies. Is this Pixel Shading addressed in any of the Metabones documents? I may have not bought it since the main attraction for me was my Minolta 58mm/F1.2 becoming a fast F0.85; now your review implies that F1.1 is the best it does.

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  March 10, 2014
  
  It’s nothing to do with the optics. Your lens would become an f/0.85 lens, and will show all optical properties from that aperture, such as depth of field. However, there is a SENSOR limitation with regards to ultra fast aperture. On the Fuji X cameras, it appears to be around f/1.1, where faster than that doesn’t result in faster shutter speeds for the same exposure.
  
  The pixel shading is basically the limit where the aperture is maxed out by the effective aperture of the actual micro lenses over each pixel in the sensor. When these are the limiting factor, you effectively hit the aperture limit for the sensor.
  
  There’s a much more technical explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor_format#Sensor_size_and_shading_effects
  
  Reply
  1. Al Jimenez
    
    March 11, 2014
    
    Thanks for your reply. I take it this is true for any lens on any digital camera based on the pixel size? Do the fast 0.95 micro-four-third lenses suffer from this too?
    
    Reply
Review: Zhongyi Lens Turbo (Minolta MD to Fuji X) – Admiring Light

April 13, 2014

[…] publication of this review, Metabones has released Canon FD SpeedBoosters…take a look at my review here. Zhongyi also is pricing their Lens Turbo at a much more accessible $130. At that price, […]

Reply
Edo

April 16, 2014

Hi Jordan
I just bought canon fd Fuji x speed booster.
When it’s arrived the back is protruding way inside. So even could not be attached to Fuji x pro 1 body.
That’s why I adjust the infinity.
I used it on canon FL 55/1.2 and FD 135/2
On FL 55/1.2 I adjust the infinity, even until the speed booster optic element meet with the lens back element, it still can’t reach infinity.
When I use the regular adapter this lens work well.
I could not achieve infinity on 135/2 also with 55/1.2 setting.
But actually I could adjust more on 135/2 since the back of the lens is deeper.

Since you also using the same lenses, do you achieve infinity especially for 55/1.2 ?
Do you have any ideas how to resolve my case?
Thanks a lot Jordan

Reply
Edo

April 16, 2014

Seems I turn it wrong. I turn counter clock wise and now it could reach focus further.
But yet not until infinity. I could turn it further but then it could not be mounted
Any idea?

Reply
Pido consejo sobre los "speedboster" para APS-C

May 19, 2014

[…] […]

Reply
Alex

May 21, 2014

Hey Jordan! Thank you for the great review! It got me really interested in the Speed Booster!
Just a quick question: when manual focusing on the X-Pro1 with the Speed Booster, are you limited to Electronic VF only, or does the camera show up the focus squares in green once focus is achieved with the Optical VF?

Reply
Phil

September 7, 2014

Wow, thanks for the great explanation, Jordan. I kept hearing about Speed Booster but always skip it b/c I did not actually know what exactly it does (or got good explanation) and skeptical about the IQ degration caused by any adapter. However, your sample images did say it all. I am portrait shooter who loves bokeh and shallow DOF and thats’ why I still hesitate to make a move to Fuji. This will definitely provide a great alternative although Manual focus proves to be difficult when shooting young children who constantly move around.

Btw, I’m also software developer and I really admire your photography knowledge. Keep it up, thanks!

Reply
Phil

September 13, 2014

hi Jordan,

This is brilliant option for portrait shooter like you and I who dearly misses shallow DOF. Your knowledge and the photos speak for themselves, great job. I’m thinking of moving to Fuji system in a year and would love to play with this option. Can you share your experience on how you set aperture and speed manually when shooting with these FD lenses? I find it difficult to shoot young kids like mine who constantly move around so even with AF, it’s already challenging. I gradually learn to “set and anticipate” but would be great to hear from your experience.

Also, do you think the Canon 80-200 f4 L lens is worth it?

Thanks
-Phil

Reply
Stephen

September 15, 2014

Great review that I’ve referred back to several times. I have the same Metabones speedbooster Fuji X to Canon FD. I’ve done my own informal tests using the following FDn lenses: 24mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 100mm f2.8, including the Fuji X 35mm f1.4 for comparison. All tests used printed patterns placed in center and at the edge of frame, shot at f2.8 and f8 at varying distances to make the sizes of the test patterns virtually the same… tripod, cable release, ISO 200 with studio lights, several takes to get the best focus.. basically due diligence.

Surprising results actually. Like with your findings, IQ in the center of all lenses is brilliant. The 24 and 28 seem to suffer terribly from the edge until about 1/3 of the way into the frame. The 50mm as well, but to a lesser extent, but I suspect on a full frame it was never a stellar performer on the frame edge (based on http://erphotoreview.com/). Even at f8 the 24/28 are still fairly weak on that 1/3 edge which was disappointing as I don’t feel great using these for landscape work now. The 50mm sharpens up quiet well corner to corner by f8. The real surprise was the 100mm f2.8, which was brilliant corner to corner even at f2.8. My experience with the 100mm seems to line up with your comments on the 135mm and 55mm, as the IQ seemed unaffected by the adapter.

Comparing against the Fuji X 35mm, I found the Fuji a hair sharper than the 50mm in the center at f2.8 and enormously better on the frame edge. By f8 both the Fuji and Canon are fairly close, with perhaps the Fuji a hair sharper, but it was really a toss up by f8. What floored me was the Canon FDn 100mm f2.8. It was definitely a hair or two sharper than the Fuji X 35mm, both at f2.8 and f8, corner to corner. I’m not sure how that’s possible given the reputation of the Fuji 35mm, but I saw it for myself, so I’m a believer.

For my part, I’m very curious to see how the Canon FDn 35mm f2.8 performs corner to corner as a walk around lens, and compare the 50mm 1.4 against the 1.8… something for another day.

Again, thanks for your review.

Reply
1. Juck
  
  November 6, 2014
  
  Stephen,,,, have you published those test charts online anywhere?
  
  Cheers
  
  Reply
Marc

August 31, 2015

Hello,

Great review, thanks!

Just have one question: If I use the Metabone adapter and a Canon lens with no aperture ring on a Fuji, can I set the aperture manually within the camera?

Thanks

Reply
Dave

February 11, 2016

Hi,

Could you please be more specific about “that full-frame look”? It appears that apart from shatter speed and return to the actual focal length (50mm will be 50mm again) “that full-frame look” is the only advantage we get vs. barrel distortion and corner resolution.

Thanks!

Reply
1. Jordan Steele
  
  February 11, 2016
  
  A few things. First, the focal length doesn’t ‘return to the actual focal length’. It’s a common misconception, but the focal length is a property of the lens and doesn’t change with format. What the Speed Booster does is act as a wide-angle converter that is roughly equivalent to the crop factor. So a 50mm f/1.4 lens will actively change focal length and effective aperture when mounted on the Speed Booster (as a combo) to a 35mm f/1.0 lens. Then, with the crop factor, you’ll have the same field of view as a 52mm lens would on full-frame.
  
  The ‘full-frame look’ I’m referring to is the shallow depth of field capabilities that are hard to come by on smaller sensors. Because you need a 35mm f/1.0 on APS-C to get the same depth of field and angle of view as a 50mm f/1.4, and there are very few 35mm f/1.0 lenses, it’s hard to achieve the look of a 50/1.4 on the smaller sensor. The Speed Booster takes that 50/1.4 and turns it into the 35mm f/1.0 that is needed to provide the same depth of field. Effectively, it means the lens acts similarly to how it would on a full frame sensor.
  
  And yes, the advantage is some extra speed for shutter speed and shallower depth of field. If you don’t have a need for either, then the Speed Booster doesn’t make a ton of sense, especially as APS-C mirrorless offerings have excellent native glass to fill all the field of view needs.
  
  Reply
Dave

April 12, 2016

Hi Jordan,

first of all thank you very much for finding time to answer!

About a SB:

I purchased it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately the construction of the SB will not allow it to hit infinity. Yes, you can FOCUS on infinity, but if you set your lens (any Canon FD, I tried 6 of them) on infinity mark, it will be out of focus. It means you will pass infinity. Correspondingly if you set your lens on 3 feet – it will focus from about 4.5 inches more. It means for the actual camera position in focus 40.5 inches from the target the lens will show 36 inches.

Yes, I tried to move SB optics the way it is provided. To achieve appropriate lens-distance setting one will need optical block to the position it will hit the lens back.

It is quite obvious to me that SB designer decided to sacrifice correspondence of infinity focus to lens markings to ability to actually make this SB.

I find it in a hard way. After using SB for a few weeks I realized it scratched a circular scratch on the coating of my Canon FD 85/1.2. Infinity was ALMOST on. When I moved optical block of the SB from the lens back the passing infinity effect appeared.

Conclusion: if you don’t care to loose a few inches on the closest focusing distance and having past infinity, and is OK with a strong barrel distortion – the SB is working “as it should”.

Thanks!

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Rena

April 22, 2016

That addessers several of my concerns actually.

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Torv

May 11, 2017

How’s things?, on occasion I get a 500 website error when I view this webpage. Just a heads up, cheers

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Les Castro

July 6, 2018

Hi Jordan. Thanks for sharing. I have a FD 15mm f/2.8 SSD full frame fisheye. What are you thoughts on this with the booster? Thanks.

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