Tag Archives: micro four thirds

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Last year NAB 2014 Aputure showed off an entirely new and innovative Wireless Remote Follow Focus system. It looks like a basic lens adapter to add a Canon EF (autofocus lens) to a Micro Four Thirds or Sony E-Mount camera, but this lens adapter has enough communication with the EF Lens that it can drive it's focus motors, change aperture, and also send back the focal distance to the wireless remote.


NAB 2014 Video

The Aputure DEC Remote can also Start / Stop video on certain cameras, and A/B focus points can be set to rack from one focus point to another. If you're familiar with traditional Wireless Follow Focus systems it typically requires a set of 15mm Rods, a Focus Motor, Lens Gears, Battery Pack, and Wireless Receiver. The Aputure DEC eliminates all of that extra gear into just a simple lens adapter which makes it perfect for small camera systems on small stabilizers (steadicams) and Gimbal Stabilizers.

It's been a year since it's been introduced, and what I thought was a lost idea is actually becoming reality. The product is still not available to purchase, but right now I have in possession a couple of prototypes to test out. I'm super excited about this, comments?

A photo posted by Emm (@mrcheesycam) on

Aputure DEC Lens Adapter wireless follow focus
find-price-button Aputure DEC Lens Adapter + Wireless Follow Focus - Available NOW

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Here's a side by side video test showing samples from a Panasonic GH3 with and without the new Lens Turbo Focal Reducer. We used a newer Rokinon 85mm T/1.5 Cine Lens [Nikon Mount] + and old Nikon 50mm Pancake. With the Lens Turbo adapter we were able to achieve a wider field of view and an increase in exposure.

Obviously YouTube has added compression to the video, but if you want to be a pixel peeper, you can download a better version of this edited video from my Vimeo Channel (here).

I think the image quality achieved from this (Speedbooster alternative) adapter delivered decent results for the price. The Metabones Speedbooster will run about $489 dollars (here), versus this Lens Turbo which can now be found under $139 US (here).

Of course we're just using a consumer grade Rokinon Cine Lens, and an old $50 dollar lens from eBay. There's no doubt this adapter won't match up to the quality of the Metabones products. Anyone using serious glass worth thousands of dollars might as well pony up the extra cash for the Metabones MFT M43 Speedbooster (found here).

Metabones Speed Booster MFT M43 Nikon Adapter
find-price-button Metabones SpeedBooster Nikon to M43 MFT

If you're a casual video shooter looking to get a wider field of view and increased light through your common glass, I think you'll be happy with the Lens Turbo. I'll probably go out and take a bunch of high resolution still images on the next outing, but for now let's hear a few comments about these first video test results. What did you guys think so far? [Comment]

For more info, you can find the Lens Turbo MFT Focal Reducer adapter available now via eBay (click here).

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find-price-button Lens Turbo Focal Reducer Nikon to MFT Micro Four Thirds Adapter

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Over the weekend I spent a day shooting with a new BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera out at Monterey, CA. This time around I was prepared with 6 batteries and over 200GB of space with compatible SDHC cards. Needless to say, my time spent with the camera was much more pleasant than my very first experience. The video below is an example of the footage straight from the camera along with an image that had basic contrast + saturation added.

The shots were mostly handheld, with an LCD ViewFinder (not yet released product) attached to help me with focusing and while working in bright daylight. An LCD ViewFinder is a must have with this camera! Below is the same video without the ProRes crop.

I had a pretty decent idea of the lenses I wanted to take out with me, so I settled on just the Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 pancake, Panasonic 12-35mm F/ 2.8 OIS, and Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye. BMPC users on a budget should really look into the Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye and the 12-35mm F/2.8 as part of their everyday kit. The fisheye doesn't look overly distorted and offers a decent wide view angle for cheap money, while the Panasonic 12-35mm F/2.8 OIS is a great overall lens that will offer fairly stable shots completely hand held.

 Suggested Micro Four Third Lenses for Pocket Cinema Camera

7-14mm Pocket Cinema Camera
7-14mm F/4 		12-35 BlackMagic Pocket Lens
12-35mm F/2.8 		35-100mm Panasonic Pocket Cinema Camera BlackMagic Lens
35-100mm F/2.8 		Rokinon 8mm Pocket Cinema Camera
7.5mm Fisheye 		514tmtNtqvL._AA160_
45-150mm

Canon-vs-GH3-vs-BlackMagic-Pocket-cinema-1
find-price-button BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via DVEStore.com

Canon-vs-GH3-vs-BlackMagic-Pocket-cinema-1
find-price-button BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera - via B&HPhotoVideo

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Let me start off by apologizing for sooo many BMPCC posts in the last week, but for the record i'm just as tired blogging about the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera as I am hearing about it. The reason I had to get all of this information out quickly is because yesterday I had to send the little guy back to the www.dvestore.com, and not many other people will have this camera in the coming months.

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BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera w/ Canon 70-200mm F/2.8 IS - photo credit Dion Wong

So this should be the last 'video review' you'll get from me for a while. In this video I thought about doing a wrap up and summary of things you already knew and some things you probably didn't know about the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera.

There will of course be many occasions (at least for me) where ProRes and RAW are just overkill for storage and post work, so other small cameras like the Panasonic GH3 (sale ends in two weeks BTW) or Canon 5D Mark III are more beneficial offering high quality with smaller file sizes and longer battery life. The BMPC camera also does not double duty as a fast stills camera, so many will still end up carrying a second body around just for that reason.

keiko-alingas-gearaddix-pocket-cinema
Keiko Alingas w/ @GearAddix BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera Shoot - photo credit Dion Wong

I'm not saying this isn't a a great camera, in fact i'm still excited for my Pocket Cinema Cameras to arrive. I think the size, quality, features, and price of this camera make it a tool that many professionals would love to have available to them. If you can afford the BPMC and the few items it requires to work smoothly, then by all means go for it. If they unlock the RAW features, this camera will be (dare I say) 'a game changer'. I think i'll end this article here since most of my thoughts are already added in the video (above).

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find-price-button BlackMagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera - DVEStore Preorder

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras Currently Available on eBay



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Here's a few current deals going on right now. First up is a Mail in Rebate discount for a Canon 60D (with 18-55mm Kit Lens) + Canon Inkjet Printer + Accessories. All together you can save you an extra $400 Off the total bundle.

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find-price-button Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera Kit with 18-135mm Lens, Printer and Accessories

Mail in Rebates give you a discount on some of Tokina's popular Wide Angle lenses for Canon and Nikon cameras.

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find-price-button Mail in Rebate discounts for Tokina Wide Angle Lenses for Canon Nikon

Lastly, a new (not yet released) lens from Sigma. This new Sigma 60mm F/2.8 was crafted for both Sony E Mount and Micro Four Thirds (M 4/3) cameras. This should include the new BlackMagic Design Pocket Cinema camera that uses an active M/43 mount. The new prime lens will be available in both Black and in Silver finishes.

918896918905
find-price-button Sigma 60mm F/2.8 for Sony E Mount and Micro Four Third Cameras

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So while everyone is checking their mailboxes hoping their new Blackmagic Cinema Camera has shipped, at the end of the year the BMCC will release a new native MFT (micro four thirds) mount. There's so many options to mount various lenses to MFT cameras, this might end up being more popular than the first EF mount BMCC. So how many of you have already pre-ordered a BMCC?

Pricing will remain the same at $2995 and expected to ship end of December. Preorders already available over at B&H (Click Here).

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find-price-button Black Magic Cinema Camera

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When Four thirds or Micro Four thirds cameras were first announced, they were quite limited in native Auto Focus lenses. Sure you can adapt other lenses, but the size and speed of having an actual four thirds lens can't be substituted. In the last few years, the MFT camera lineups have grown and so has the availability of different lenses.

Two new micro 4/3 Prime lenses that people are anxious to grab is the new 12mm F/2.0 (about 24mm) and the 45mm F/1.8 (about 90mm). If you're not too familiar, these lenses also work on the Panasonic GH1, GH2, GF2, G3 type cameras. It's all Micro Four Thirds. These new lenses fill in some of the gaps that have been missing in the lens lineups, and further reiterate that small mirrorless cameras are in demand. (Rumor is that Canon already has one in the pipeline).

12mm-olympus-mft
find-price-button M. Zuiko Digital ED 12 mm f/2.0 Lens

45mm-olympus
find-price-button M. Zuiko Digital ED 45 mm f/1.8 Lens

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Panasonic 20mm F/1.7
find-price-button Panasonic 20mm F/1.7

The popular Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 lens is available again at B&HPhoto Video, which is about $50 dollars cheaper than the nice markup elsewhere (Amazon). The 20mm F/1.7 is as popular as the 50mm for a Canon DSLR. Nice shallow DOF and good focal distance (2x on Micro Four Thirds). Would go great with the latest G3 camera if you were lucky to grab one.

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I picked up the Panasonic GF2 camera lately because I wanted something small and really lightweight. Sure you can adapt Nikon or Canon lenses, but that took so much away from being 'small and lightweight'. An excellent solution for Sony NEX and Micro Four-Third cameras are to use CCTV or 'C-Mount' lenses. Here's an excellent video test from Vimeo member Dario Viola showing the quality of these inexpensive lenses. These C Mount lenses are normally used in very small security cameras, but they've become a popular choice for many M43 shooters. You'll find many CCTV lenses with fast F/1.4 and F/1.7 apertures for about $30 dollars.

You can't go too wide without seeing the inside of these small lenses, but for the GH2 you might be able to use crop mode to use just the center of the lens (eliminating the barrel ring on the edges). The most popular sizes for the NEX5 and GF1/2 cameras are the 25mm F/1.4 and 35mm F/1.7. Keep in mind that M43 is a 2x crop, so a 25mm is more like a 50mm F/1.4. I'm picking a few of these up to use on the GF2 and will post results soon after receiving. You can find other C Mount lenses below.

C Mount Lens Tests
find-price-button CCTV C Mount Lenses for NEX and M43

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