By Dan Chung

I’ve been using Mike Tapa’s adapters for 35mm lenses for several years now. I first came across them when trying to mount Nikon long lenses onto my Sony EX3 – a long time before the advent of HDSLRs. Since then his company MTF Services has expanded its range of products to include lens adapters for many popular large sensor cameras such as the Panasonic AF100, Sony F3 and FS100. I took the opportunity of meeting Mike and visiting his London workshop over Christmas.

His latest two adapters are a B4 broadcast lens to EOS / Sony F3 / FS100 adapter and an electronic EOS to Sony F3 / FS100 / Micro 4/3 lens adapter which offers full aperture control and image stabilising with appropriately equipped lenses.

The B4 lens adapter has been the dream of many DSLR and large sensor camcorder users who might occasionally want the flexibility of a long all-in-one zoom and ENG style lens operation – without the expense or bulk of a proper 2/3 ENG camera. Developed by Mike with cameraman Alistair Chapman (of XDCAM user fame) it physically adapts a 2/3 inch broadcast lens to a Canon EOS mount. At the same time it optically expands the image so that it is large enough to cover a Super35mm sensor size. To do this requires the user to engage the 2x range extender built into many broadcast lenses, which is then combined with extra magnification from the MTF adapter.

This does result in approximately 2.5 stops of light loss, but given the high sensitivity of new cameras this is less of a problem. The depth of field characteristics will remain the same as if you were using the lens on a regular 2/3 inch camcorder – don’t expect super shallow depth of field when using it. The adapter does not power the electric functions of an ENG lens so there is no servo zoom or VTR trigger sadly. If you do want to enable the zoom servo motor there is a possible solution to power it using an adapter cable from Ebay.

Please note that it does not cover the full frame sensor of the Canon 5D mkII or 1D X, but does work with the 7D, 60D, 600D/T3i, 550D/T2i (and should work with the C300 too). The adapter can also be used in combination with a EOS to Sony F3 or Sony NEX adapter to allow the B4 lenses to be used on these cameras. Price is not yet confirmed but should be in the £800 – £900 + tax range.

As you can see from the video above I’ve been testing the B4 adapter on a Sony F3 and also a Canon 60D and so far the results are pretty good, even though I only have access to older standard definition 2/3 lenses at the moment. My old Fujinon A15x8 broadcast lens does show some chromatic aberration and softness at the edges of the image but this is to be expected on a lens that can be bought for less than £500 these days. I would expect much better performance from a newer HD lens. Hopefully I’ll get to try one of those with the adapter soon. The only competing adapter I have seen so far is the HDx35 B4/PL Optical Adapter from Abelcine and costs $5800 US. I have not been able to compare the two.

The MTF EOS electronic lens adapter is the first to actually be available to order for the Sony F3 and NEX. It also works with Micro 4/3 cameras like the Panasonic AF100 where it joins the already available Redrockmicro livelens adapter in offering aperture control, but adds the benefit of image stabilisation. American company Birger Engineering have also been working on a similar adapter for some time now and have even shown it working at the NAB show, but it is still not available to buy.

The MTF adapter consists of two parts – a control box and an interchangeable lens mount in either Sony F3, Sony NEX or Micro 4/3 fit. If you change or add cameras you can simply add another mount part and use the same controller box.

The control box is metal and powered by 4 AA batteries. It has an illuminated LCD that shows aperture value, focal length and whether stabilisation is on or off. Aperture can be adjusted in 1/8th stop increments using the control dial.

I’ve been testing a pre-production unit and found the aperture control to be quite reliable. A word of warning though – don’t spin the aperture dial too fast or the lens will have trouble keeping up, although the lens will eventually correct itself.

Mike tells me that pretty much all EF lenses work, apart from those few that use fly-by-wire manual focussing. The main lens of this type that doesn’t currently work is the 85mm f1.2L USM lens. Mike says he’s trying to fix this.

In use the adapter does pretty much what it is supposed to and I’m rather happy with it. The only downside is that the control box is a bit on the large side and adds bulk to the camera. The production version of the box has 1/4 20 mounting holes to allow positioning of the adapter on a rig or camera. That said I would rather have a smaller control box without AA batteries inside, running instead from a power tap cable. Maybe we’ll get this in a future version?

The image stabilisation seems to work well on a Sony F3, although I need to do more testing.

The control box is priced at £645 + tax and the matching lens adapters are £350 + tax each. More details soon on the MTF website.

By Dan Chung

I’m generally not into hacking cameras myself but the new Christmas release of the Magic Lantern hack for Canon 550D (t2i), 60D, 600D (t3i), 50D and 500D is certainly very enticing.

Magic Lantern offers a greatly improved feature set which makes Canon DSLRs into much more fully feature video cameras. You simply download the files to each memory card you use, pop it into the camera and load the new firmware. Then each time you start the camera it can automatically find the firmware on your memory card and reload it.

However, in my past experience I have found it to be less than 100% reliable in critical conditions, with the occasional lock up that require me to reboot the camera by reinserting the battery. For this reason I have stayed away from using it for news or documentary shoots where missing a key moment is not an option.

It is also technically going to void any warranty you have on the camera and there is always that slight chance that you could irreversibly turn it into a paperweight.

All that said it is amazing that a global team of hackers working together have added video features to existing Canon cameras that are not even to be found on the as yet unreleased C300 or 1D X.

If you are willing to take the risk (and many users have without issue) then there are many benefits including the an expanded focus box during recording, audio monitoring, on-screen audio level meters, increased bitrate recording, false colour for setting correct exposure, peaking, custom aspect markers and much more.

This Christmas the newest features are the ability for these cameras to have enhanced frame rate control and the addition of a HDR video mode.

Instead of 25 frames per second (fps) you can now undercrank to as low as 4fps with a 1/4 of a second shutter speed – giving an motion blurred effect that is most useful in very low light. On the 60D you can also overcrank to 35fps in 1080p – not a major increase but useful for a slight slo motion effect when played back at 24 or 24 fps. The team has also hacked the older 50D to shoot HD video – it doesn’t even have a video function by default! Although there is still the drawback that it has no sound recording in camera.

The high dynamic range (HDR) mode seeks to allow the camera to capture greater shadow and highlight detail in scenes of high contrast. It is slightly complex to use but basically the camera takes consecutive frames at different exposures which you need to combine/interpolate afterwards in post-processing. Because of the way this is done it is only really suitable for slower moving subjects. It seems very experimental right now – there is more discussion of this here.

Magic Lantern HDR video workflow test from DavidJFulde on Vimeo.

The firmware is free to download from the Magic lantern site but for a small donation you can get a ready to run version of their HDR workflow as well as a preview version of their upcoming 5D mkII firmware improved hack. Full details here. Install hacked firmware at your own risk – don’t blame me if it kills your camera!

Below is a video from Andrew Reid at EOSHD.com showing the features of the upcoming 5D mkII Magic Lantern hack:

Meet the new 5D Mark II Magic Lantern Unified from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.

I’m back in London this month for a workshop at the Jacobs Pro lounge, helping photographers and videographers improve the way they shoot real world events. There are only eight places available as we want to be sure everyone gets some hands on tuition – so please book quickly if you want to come.

I’ll cover both the technical side and the journalistic one. I’ll go over the basic kit I use day to day including the use of ND filters, audio adapters, support rigs, led lights, sliders, LCD magnifiers and EVFs (I’ll have the new Zacuto EVF with me for people to try). I’ll also discuss my approach to shooting, illustrated by examples of my work, with plenty of tips learned from experience on assignment. There will be sections on slow mo and time-lapse too.
 
Participants should bring their own equipment if possible but there will be a limited amount of demo kit on show too.

 
The workshop will be £150 for the day ( 10am-5.30pm ) and will take place on Wednesday 8th June in the Jacobs Pro lounge, 74 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1EU.
 
To book a place please contact Henrietta or Donal on 0207 436 6996.

 

Joshua Pines of Technicolor talks to us about the ‘Cinestyle’ picture profile they have developed for Canon DSLR cameras. Designed to give footage from cameras like the 5DmkII maximum room for colour correction and grading in post production. This is done by using a REC 709 log curve instead of a standard gamma curve to create an image.

Video by Seppe Van Grieken and Johnnie Behiri.

I’ll be back in the UK at the end of this month for my first ever UK workshop on HDDSLR. Here’s the full info:

Den Lennie & F-Stop Academy presents:

A one Day DSLR Video Workshop featuring Dan Chung
29th October 2010 10am-5pm Lunch and afternoon tea included
Venue: The London Filter Company, Details here

Following the launch of DSLR Video On Assignment, Den and Dan will share the details of their Malaysian filming project and also share their experience shooting DSLR video on location. Photographers owe it to themselves to give DSLR video a go, to find out if they are any good at it or not and this workshop is designed to help you do just that.

Who’s it for:
It’s for news photographers and photojournalists who can’t afford to miss the action, but it’s also for documentary makers, event videographers or keen amateurs; anyone who ever needs to film with a DSLR in a real world environment.

Whilst I mainly use Canon DSLRs in the DVD I believe the majority of the techniques apply whatever brand of DSLR you are using.

The Day will be broken up into these core sections:
• Inspirational films and the story behind each one
• What kit we recommend and why
• Demo’s of various kit configurations including recording audio
• Using a Matte Box, focus control and filters for video
• Steadicam demo and chance to fly yourself
• Lots of hands on with plenty of Q&A

In addition to the workshop there will be an opportunity to get hands on some specific film making gear.
“ Essential Motion Picture Tools for DSLR Filming”.

This is your chance to learn how to get the best results from the huge potential of DSLR film production tools and accessories. With high quality professional equipment within reach of many, only the few with the right skills and know how will succeed. Get ahead, be one of the few and learn about;

Steadicam & Hand-held support systems
Camera Filtration for constant shutter speed & continuity
Matte Box’s and Follow Focus units that aid production
Lowel lightweight lights for location and studio shooting
DFX Filter & Lighting Software for pre-visualization and editing.

Cost is £125.00 + VAT and you can book here

There are only 16 places available. This will be a very intimate workshop with lots of hands on opportunity with plenty of kit on hand.