2/3 inch lens on the F3 / FS700

[Marc Plomp]

Till now I use my 2/3 inch Canon 28x18HD lens on the EX-3, For me it is the perfect combination (wildlife) With the announcement of the FS700 I asked myself if it is possible to use my Canon lens on the F3 of FS700 and can I cover the whole the chip.
I read also a lot about the Homebrew adapter and also about the Abakus 2x adapter (B4-PL). Is there someone with experience with both adapters with 2/3 B4 lenses. I am curious if there is some difference in sharpness or contrast (and yes I know the difference in price :)).

Thanks a lot

[Alister Chapman]

There is also the lower cost MTF B4 to S35 adapter that converts from 2/3" B4 to S35 Canon. The MTF adapter can be used on a Canon DSLR or any camera that takes an adapter to Canon EF, so it can be used on the F3, FS100, AF100, C300 etc.

The Abekas and Abel Cine adapters are PL only so only work with PL cameras like the F3.

Much of the quality of the final image depends on the lens. There does tend to be a little bit of softening in the extreme corners with all of the adapters. They are not substitutes for decent PL mount zooms, but a decent PL zoom is normally large, heavy and expensive. Just look at the price tag on the new Canon 19-90mm PL zoom. When using a 2/3" lens on a S35mm camcorder there is a 2.5x light loss. The adapters do however give you the ability to use a servo zoom giving great flexibility.

[Marc Plomp]

Hi Alister,
Thanks a lot, do you have some experience with the different adapters (MTF and Abakus 260 adapter), there is a big pricedifference, so I there also quality difference??.

[Alister Chapman]

I designed the MTF adapter. I have no experience of the Abekas adapter. The AbelCine adapter is very good with only minimal softening. Both the Abekas and AbelCine adapters are quite long (about 120mm).

The MTF adapter was designed as a budget solution, it is not quite as good as the AbelCine one, there is a tiny bit of field curvature which can be seen as very slight softening in the extreme corners. The centre is very good and with a decent lens can exceed the F3's resolution. When we have used both the NTF and AbelCine adapters on the same shoot the end viewer usually will not notice any difference between the two.

[Marc Plomp]

Hi Alister,

Thanks a lot, Till june I must use my ood old EX-3 and may be after june I will switch to a FS700 and for that I need an adaptor to use my HD Canon 28x18 2/3 zoom.

Do I need the range extender with the AbelCine adoptor (Or was it built in the adapter?)

[Steve Kalle]

Here are jpegs of a PDF that I converted from the just announced Angx Servo controller. Fujinon also just announced a new Servo zoom lens 19-90 but its PL mount. It seems that the F3's ability to use servo lenses has spearheaded a new breed of cinema lenses (I think the Alexa Plus can also use servo lenses).

I have used the AbelCine adapter as well as their Viewfinder adapter and I loved every minute while using them. For comparison, I also have used the Sony servo zoom for the F3 but I did not like it at all because it was very slow, heavy and the iris ramping was a pain.