Metabones adapter problems

[Jody Arnott]

Hi all,

I received my Metabones Smart Adapter (NEX to EF) in the mail today and I'm having a few issues with it. Does anyone own this product? I have a few questions...

- Putting my Tokina 11-16 and Sigma 18-35 F1.8 lenses on the adapter is extremely difficult, and requires a lot of force. It doesn't feel right at all. Is this normal?

- How do I get auto aperture to work? The Metabones website says it should, but I get the error "Cannot execute function because of the condition of the lens"
Edit: never mind, it was a matter of changing the adapter mode from "Green" to "Advanced"!

Thanks for any info.. I'm new to interchangeable lens cameras!

[Randy Johnson]

I had that problem the first time I put it on, then I I just took my time and put it on and it went on smooth and gave me iris control. It didnt come with a manual but as someone said on this forum it has different modes so the mode its in maybe depend on how you put it on.

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks Randy.

I've been doing some reading and it seems the adapter has 2 modes, Green and Advanced. Advanced mode is the one to use for auto iris.

However to activate the mode, you need to turn the camera on and attach the lens while pressing a button. When the camera is turned off, the mode is reset.

This is annoying. Does anyone know if it's possible to set Advanced mode as default?

[Alastair Traill]

Hi Jody,

I purchased the Nikon G – BMPCC speed booster version and as it did not have any instructions I contacted Metabones support. My problem was that it was not a parfocal combination with my Sigma 18-18 and BMPCC. Support gave me a link so that I could adjust it and the adjustment worked. However I thought the adjustment mechanism was rather sloppy for a precision optical product and I have sent it back so that something can be done about it. I have read about some of their products being too tight a fit. My advice would be to contact Metabones.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

Steve here has a LOT of experience and contacts with Metabones so I'm sure he will chip in pretty soon. His advice will set you on the right track.

I considered Metabones but my Novoflex dumb adapters work great (manual iris is so easy to use anyway) but after buying a Chinese adapter that wouldn't even fit on the EA-50 I was suitably impressed with the tolerances and finish of the German made Novoflex ...it fits both the camera and my Nikon lenses and when you change a lens it's silky smooth and a satisfying click at the end. The only adapter so far that really has impressed me.

It was either Craig or Chris Young here who told me to buy it and their comment was "it fits like original equipment"

Keep an eye on this thread ..Steven will make a comment with helpful advice for you.

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks Chris. The Metabones adapter definitely doesn't fit like original equipment, which for $399 US I'm disappointed about. It is extremely hard to get on, to the point where I worry about damaging the lens.

Interestingly the adapter fits the EA50 fine. It's only the lens side that has the issue.

Also I have auto iris working with the Tokina but not the Sigma.. but this presents another issue. When changing the aperture, the LCD flashes white and the lens clicks very loudly. This would make any aperture change while filming impossible. The stock lens definitely doesn't do this.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

I'm pretty sure that someone said here that the Tamron 17-59 and some Sigma lens are not compatible with the adapter but I could be wrong as the 18-35 is a new one. I have no issue using the Sigma manually especially at 18mm even at F1.8 you have plenty of DOF to stay in focus. The only time where I had to be careful is when I do bridal entry. Does the Sigma work in dumb mode

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

I found a thread that Steven started a while back explaining how to set the adapter to default to Advanced mode. So I now have auto-iris working on both the Sigma 18-35 and the Tokina 11-16.

The issue with the very loud and sudden iris changes is still present. Maybe this is normal for lenses that were made primarily for photography?

[Chris Harding]

Good point Jody!

I guess with stills a sudden iris change from say F1.8 to F22 as you walk into bright sun is normal. I never thought of that at all! I wonder if the EA-50 does a "dampened" iris change. With a jump in the aperture setting I am now assuming that if the iris needs to change with the adapter in place and does so abruptly does it show up as a glitch on the footage ?? If you are doing a shot from indoors to outdoors you might need to stop the footage as you hit the bright light.

It would be interesting to know what the end footage looks like when it changes ? Let us know if you do a test shot?

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

I've just been out shooting some test footage down by the river. I'll go through it and upload anything of interest.

A couple of other issues I came across:

- Occasionally auto-iris will stop working and the camera will present an error message "Cannot execute function because of the condition of the lens". Zooming in or out seems to fix the problem! Strange!

- When the camera is set to auto iris, my Sigma lens will frequently start clicking rapidly between two apertures.. I haven't seen the Tokina lens do this yet.

[Chris Harding]

Thanks Jody

That will be interesting to see. After Steve had initial issues I was put off the adapter but he did resolve them. On a static shoot the odd errors can be overcome but I wouldn't want that going on at the wedding!
Does the camera still record footage if you get that error message or is the footage screwed??

I'm still staying with my Novoflex .. it cannot create any errors!!

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Thanks Jody

That will be interesting to see. After Steve had initial issues I was put off the adapter but he did resolve them. On a static shoot the odd errors can be overcome but I wouldn't want that going on at the wedding!
Does the camera still record footage if you get that error message or is the footage screwed??

I'm still staying with my Novoflex .. it cannot create any errors!!

Chris

Yes, the camera does keep recording if the error message pops up. It just doesn't stay in auto iris mode.
One-push auto iris is also affected by the error.

It definitely puts me off ever using auto iris in a live event situation. But the Sigma 18-35 isn't on the "compatibility" list for the adapter, so it's possibly to do with the lens itself.

To be honest I'm regretting the purchase when I could have bought a Novaflex adapter for less money. But I'll wait for Steven's input before I contact Metabones.

Maybe it's time I get used to adjusting the aperture manually anyway!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

I actually use my Novoflex in full auto mode with my cameras! The camera recognises the amount of light coming in based on where you have set the iris and automatically adjusts both shutter and gain/iso to expose perfectly ... obviously if you don't like the fact that you might have the lens wide open in bright light and the camera will therefore push the shutter up to say 1/600th at F2.8, then all I do is manually close the iris until the camera brings the shutter down to whatever I'm looking for ..it works perfectly, is seamless and you are basically working like a still camera in aperture priority mode ...want a shallow DOF? just open up the iris and the exposure is perfect ..want lots of DOF, close the iris and the camera will reset the shutter/iso to whatever you want. It's really easy to use as you are only adjusting one thing, the iris via the Novoflex aperture ring. For Realty shoots it also works really well and inside I use my Tamron 10-24 and open it to F3.5 and the camera does all the work.

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks for the tips, Chris!

Slightly off topic, but I decided to do a quick comparison of my 3 lenses (mainly for my own curiosity). The camera wasn't moved during the test so it gives a good idea of the different angles too.

Interesting that even though the gain was the same throughout, the stock lens show a lot more noise.

Scene lit with 1x 100w bulb.

High quality version:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8y5ph6qmo0...LensesComp.png

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

I guess that was thru the adapter?? Something looks wrong there! I wonder if the adapter is giving/sending wrong info to the camera?? If I go to a wedding and have the stock lens on it will immediately default to F3.5 1/50th and 24db and the image still looks like crud!! (cos I limit my gain to 24db)

With the Sigma the scene is like daylight!!! at F1.8 and 1/50th and 18db set manually that shot should be way overexposed!!

As an example with my stock lens a shot from my office into the kitchen will be F3.5 and 1/50th and at least 21db and a reasonable image (it does have a flouro light over on the ceiling) With the Sigma the camera at F1.8 and 1/50th is between 3db and 6db only ! That Sigma is 2 stops faster so I cannot see why the camera would allow a gain of 18db ....Also at 18db the EA-50 is noise free (to the human eye at least) so you shouldn't have any visible noise on that scene if the gain is only 18db

Chris