Posted by Amy Whitfield on 17th Dec 2013
Optitek Adapter FZ to EF for Sony F5/F55 Review - Mark Bourdeaux, Capital Crewing
Since it started shipping the Optitek adapter has been in incredibly high demand, allowing the use of EF lenses on the Sony F3, F5 and F55. Our customer Mark Bourdeaux from Capital Crewing, was one of our first customers to get one and agreed to write a review for us. So, how did it measure up? Read on to find out.....
"I have a very small crewing company/co-operative called Capital Crewing. We spend our time mostly doing features for the major sport broadcasters, but particularly enjoy the documentary and longer form work we are involved in. Until the last couple of years we had used just the usual succession of 2/3 inch broadcast cameras, having moved over the years from U-matic through to HDCAM and P2.
I bought an F5 back in the summer - and I just loved it from the outset, having struggled ever to make either the 5D or the Sony FS700 into an effectively useable camera at the speeds we often have to work. I bought the IBE broadcast lens adapter with it which I love, but was waiting for ages for someone to come up with a decent way of controlling the aperture on my Canon EF zoom lenses. I think the Optitek adapter is the first that really works in a psc doco/feature environment.
There isn't really much to say about it as it does what it says on the tin. It converts the Sony FZ mount on the F5/55 to Canon EF, and allows you to change the aperture in 1/3 stop increments by pressing buttons on the adapter itself (1/3 of a stop is the smallest increment that Canon lenses allow apparently). It manages this in a surprisingly neat way, although it takes a bit of getting used to to find the right button in a hurry when hand holding, but I'm getting there. It feels really well engineered and solid, and gives a very positive lock on the EF lenses which attach with the usual turn but then an additional locking ring shuts it all down tight.
Each time you change a lens you need to briefly register the new lens with it by pressing the top button for a second or 2, which leaves it wide open and ready for change. The most annoying thing is that you need to do this again each time you power down the camera, but I tend to keep the camera on most of the time now as it's not the quickest to fire up when you see a shot you need (The newer version of the Optitek Adapter automatically registers the new lens negating the need to initialise each time). It of course works with manual aperture prime lenses too just as a blank converter.
On mine I do have to turn the lens back a tiny notch before tightening the adapter's locking wheel, otherwise I found I couldn't quite focus at infinity but this soon becomes second nature and not a major issue. If you have the IBE adapter too, you do just have to change a menu setting to tell the camera which lens you are using or you get a message warning permanently in the viewfinder but thats just Sony being annoying I think.
So I give it an 8 or 9 out of ten at the moment but theres nothing else that comes close unless you want someone else to be racking your iris for you via an external box. I do believe that's possible with the Optitek too if you buy the optional extras, and then you can also control the focus apparently as well, but I can't comment on how well this works as I haven't tried it.
2 final plusses I've come across are that it powers the Canon lens stabilisation which is a massive bonus on my 100mm macro, and I found today when I had to borrow a lens that it works just as well on Sigma EF lenses (well certainly the 70-200mm).
So far I have tested it with Canon's 50mm 1.4, 100mm 2.8 IS, 70-200 f4 IS (and the 2.8), 16-35mm and the 24-70mm."
Supply has improved since it's launch but we still have very limited stock, give our sales team a call if you want more information.
I bought an F5 back in the summer - and I just loved it from the outset, having struggled ever to make either the 5D or the Sony FS700 into an effectively useable camera at the speeds we often have to work. I bought the IBE broadcast lens adapter with it which I love, but was waiting for ages for someone to come up with a decent way of controlling the aperture on my Canon EF zoom lenses. I think the Optitek adapter is the first that really works in a psc doco/feature environment.
There isn't really much to say about it as it does what it says on the tin. It converts the Sony FZ mount on the F5/55 to Canon EF, and allows you to change the aperture in 1/3 stop increments by pressing buttons on the adapter itself (1/3 of a stop is the smallest increment that Canon lenses allow apparently). It manages this in a surprisingly neat way, although it takes a bit of getting used to to find the right button in a hurry when hand holding, but I'm getting there. It feels really well engineered and solid, and gives a very positive lock on the EF lenses which attach with the usual turn but then an additional locking ring shuts it all down tight.
Each time you change a lens you need to briefly register the new lens with it by pressing the top button for a second or 2, which leaves it wide open and ready for change. The most annoying thing is that you need to do this again each time you power down the camera, but I tend to keep the camera on most of the time now as it's not the quickest to fire up when you see a shot you need (The newer version of the Optitek Adapter automatically registers the new lens negating the need to initialise each time). It of course works with manual aperture prime lenses too just as a blank converter.
On mine I do have to turn the lens back a tiny notch before tightening the adapter's locking wheel, otherwise I found I couldn't quite focus at infinity but this soon becomes second nature and not a major issue. If you have the IBE adapter too, you do just have to change a menu setting to tell the camera which lens you are using or you get a message warning permanently in the viewfinder but thats just Sony being annoying I think.
So I give it an 8 or 9 out of ten at the moment but theres nothing else that comes close unless you want someone else to be racking your iris for you via an external box. I do believe that's possible with the Optitek too if you buy the optional extras, and then you can also control the focus apparently as well, but I can't comment on how well this works as I haven't tried it.
2 final plusses I've come across are that it powers the Canon lens stabilisation which is a massive bonus on my 100mm macro, and I found today when I had to borrow a lens that it works just as well on Sigma EF lenses (well certainly the 70-200mm).
So far I have tested it with Canon's 50mm 1.4, 100mm 2.8 IS, 70-200 f4 IS (and the 2.8), 16-35mm and the 24-70mm."
Supply has improved since it's launch but we still have very limited stock, give our sales team a call if you want more information.