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Someone finally got it right!

Tesselator

New member
Someone finally got it right! (EF --> M4/3 Adapter)

Now, this ROCKS! I can't wait to get my hands on one! Now if only they can keep the price down around the $100 range.

This is very exciting news indeed!


I don't care about the IS nearly as much as I do simply getting aperture control! My idea would have been a wheel built into a battery operated adapter that could adjust the EF apertures manually but this is way better!

Nice! :thumbs:
 
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MRfanny

New member
looking forward to you getting your hands on one and giving us your good old tesselator review =) fingers crossed but i think supply and demand coupled with niche market (AF100) would probably bump this well over the $100 mark
 

Tesselator

New member
If it's right around the $100 price-tag I certainly will. I'm scared tho. Some lamer retailers / VARs charge $100 ~ $150 just for a $10 ring (instead of the more normal 100% markup to $20 or so) which could give these guys license to charge $200 or $300 for it. If that happens I'll not be getting one. :( It's a political thing with me but if I think /that kinda thing/ is happening I just boycott.

Hopefully it won't tho! I've been waiting for someone to "get it right" with EF mount for about a year now. I've even been tempted to make one myself - having a CS degree I'm sure it wouldn't be hard... Just need the pinouts and a few hours in my favorite CAD package is all. ;)
 
J

JoeBenjamin

Guest
Sorry to burst your collective bubbles but it's going to cost about $700. That's a very advanced little ring of electronics there.
 

Tesselator

New member
And my CD walkman is even MORE advanced! Ooops... it costs $50. :D

If they're really charging $700 for it I bet they sell less than 50 a year and then only for the first year or two.
 

Tesselator

New member
Oh it's from government contracting: http://blip.tv/file/1941398/ and available for other cams like the Red. So yeah, it very well could be priced in outer space. Also this has wireless built in - an expensive feature not many Panasonic still users will be interested in.

Damn! Well, maybe they'll release a feature scaled version for us penny-pinching normal people. :D
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
And my CD walkman is even MORE advanced! Ooops... it costs $50.

If they're really charging $700 for it I bet they sell less than 50 a year and then only for the first year or two.
You may have a degree in CS but I don't think your have much experience in the development and manufacture of limited production, high precision electronic products.

I bet they don't expect to sell more than a couple hundred of them, ever. Very very few people are at all interested in using Canon EOS lenses on Micro-FourThirds bodies, even if the adapter costs $50.
 

brianb032

New member
Give the Chinese a couple of months to come out with a clone and you'll be hard pressed to find one around the $40 mark; much like many clone adapters that can now be purchased for $20.
 

monza

Active member
Give the Chinese a couple of months to come out with a clone and you'll be hard pressed to find one around the $40 mark; much like many clone adapters that can now be purchased for $20.
This is much more than a simple extension tube. :)

There is only one company that has reversed the EOS AF and electronic aperture control (to date), and they've been offering a product for 5 years now, with no clones...
 

monza

Active member
Speaking of third party adapter companies, of course, as opposed to licensees like Sigma. Neither Sigma nor Birger are Chinese adapter manufacturers, unless I'm mistaken. :)
 

Tesselator

New member
AFAIK Sigma has no license! Their offerings are a product of reverse engineering. I thought that was common knowledge?
 

monza

Active member
I think you are missing the point...a Chinese extension tube manufacturer is not Sigma; they aren't even Birger. I don't see a $20 clone of this happening, let alone in a couple of months.


Give the Chinese a couple of months to come out with a clone and you'll be hard pressed to find one around the $40 mark; much like many clone adapters that can now be purchased for $20.
 

ustein

Contributing Editor
>Very very few people are at all interested in using Canon EOS lenses on Micro-FourThirds bodies, even if the adapter costs $50.

In the movie world they love to use Canon lenses. The AF100 is a hot pro video camera right now:

http://www.outbackphoto.com/CONTENT_2007_01/section_Video_for_Photographers/20110108_AF100/index.html

The real kicker is that you can use a wireless remote (costs extra) to perform follow-focus.

But it seems they had also some issues with the same adapter for the Red. Better wait and save.
 

Tesselator

New member
I think you are missing the point...a Chinese extension tube manufacturer is not Sigma; they aren't even Birger. I don't see a $20 clone of this happening, let alone in a couple of months.
Ah, I see. Yeah you're probably right. And I hope it never happens. Dang reds, playing by different (and inhumane) rules! Grrr!

Still, I'm going to continue hoping Birger releases something for us normal lot and not just the pro video players.

I want aperture control on EF dang-it! :D
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Here's part 2 and 3 for those wanting to know more about it. This is for the Red One tho and I dunno how dissimilar the M4/3 version is going to be. Part 3 is pretty revealing. ;)

Part 2: http://blip.tv/play/hKMX9659Ag
Part 3: http://blip.tv/play/hKMX9+wGAg

Godfrey, I have a few products I'v gone into commercial production with, so nya-nya!. ;)
You're probably using some of the products I helped into the market, so nyah nyah right back. I've worked for Apple engineering on and off since 1991...

What products have you shipped?
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
AFAIK Sigma has no license! Their offerings are a product of reverse engineering. I thought that was common knowledge?
Sigma is a FourThirds consortium member and has full access to FourThirds lens mount and control protocol specifications. (They're not a Micro-FourThirds consortium member ... note they have not yet released any Micro-FourThirds lenses.)

What their relationship is to Canon and Nikon, etc, I don't know ... they could reverse engineer the mounts or pay the licensing fees. I don't speculate.
 

Tesselator

New member
What products have you shipped?
I'm not telling! :angel: But I will admit there have never been more than two people in my electronics firm - and if you've been into computing since the 80's you likely have used some of my products too. :D

Sigma is a FourThirds consortium member... What their relationship is to Canon and Nikon, etc, I don't know ... they could reverse engineer the mounts or pay the licensing fees. I don't speculate.
Canon is what the discussion is about. I believe Sigma has themselves stated that they have no such agreements with Canon. So speculation isn't really needed here. :rolleyes:
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I'm not telling! :angel: But I will admit there have never been more than two people in my electronics firm - and if you've been into computing since the 80's you likely have used some of my products too.

Canon is what the discussion is about. I believe Sigma has themselves stated that they have no such agreements with Canon. So speculation isn't really needed here.
Why the big secret if they're products anyone might have had? Anyway, it's not relevant.

Regards your statement about speculation "... isn't really needed here", since you can only assert "I believe Sigma has themselves stated...", the whole thing is speculation. Something not speculation would be backed up with an actual statement by Sigma in an article reference, interview, etc. (This doesn't mean that I don't think it's the case, btw, it simply means that it's a speculation that is likely true.)

The fact is that few photographers in the camera marketplace have any interest in adapting lenses. Only oddballs like the folks on this forum (myself included ... ;-) pursue such stuff. That's not much market to amortize the costs of development. A lot of people have adapted lenses to Micro-FourThirds bodies ... fewer to FourThirds bodies ... and "a lot" in these cases probably means a couple thousand at most. That's a niche market

The pro-video marketplace is a small niche market even by comparison to that and prices are astronomical compared to still cameras because of the tiny volumes in sales. That's why it sees all these large-sensor cameras that can do video as a huge savings. A $700 adapter to use the Canon lenses already in hand? Miniscule percentages of the equipment costs. Even a 5D Mark II isn't considered expensive when it replaces a $70K video camera. Buy five and enjoy the bargain prices ... ! ;-)

BTW, Uwe: that Panasonic looks darn cool! And for the $5000 price tag, a bargain! I'd love to play with one someday.
 
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