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Mar 07

Fotodiox brings 140-megapixel images to your NEX, medium format lens not included

Fotodiox has a new take on E-mount lens adapters that’ll give you 140-megapixel images by performing an interesting trick: moving the camera. The rather spendy device uses an interchangeable lens mount that accepts either Pentax 645, Mamiya 645 or Hasselblad V medium format lenses, coupled with a moveable platform to mount your Sony NEX. When ready to fire, you check the built-in exposure screen to frame the shot and the system moves the NEX around to grab images at predetermined, “precisely-positioned” locations in the lens’ field of view. After stitching it all together in Photoshop or similar software, the result is either a panorama or medium format photo (depending on camera orientation) — 140-megapixels’ worth in the case of a Sony NEX-7. Besides the $500 adapter, the aforementioned medium format lens and a tripod, you’ll likely require a healthy dollop of patience to use it, too — and forget about video, of course. Check the PR after the break for more.

Filed under: Cameras

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Via: Sony Alpha Rumors

Jan 15

Metabones Speedbooster promises faster EF lenses when mounted on NEX cameras

Posted in: Today's Chili

There aren’t too many lens adapters that catch our eye, but the $600 Metabones Speedbooster has so many tricks up its sleeve that we can see it tempting a lot of serious NEX camera users — like us. Big words, but what it purports to do is nothing short of mind-boggling. First off, it adapts your Canon EF (full-frame) lenses to E-Mount, which is nice enough since there’s still a paucity of high-end glass for NEX users. But it gets better: the Speedbooster also makes your lens wider by a factor of 0.71x, shrinking an 85mm lens to 59mm, for instance — effectively making your NEX nearly full-frame. Other adapters can do some of that, but its final trick is the piece de resistance: increasing the speed of a lens by a full stop. That may sound impossible, but it apparently works by concentrating the extra light-gathering area of a full-frame lens down to the smaller E-mount sensor area, turning an f4.0 lens into an f2.8 lens, for instance. The adapter allegedly increases sharpness on top of all that, and brings “auto-aperture, image stablization, EXIF and (slow) autofocus support,” for late model EF lenses, according to Metabones.

Skepticism reigns until we can scope it for ourselves, but the adapter came out shining on Philip Bloom‘s video and photo tests so far, judging by his samples (below the break). The $600 price tag will likely dissuade casual users, but light-deprived indoor shooters (like us) or those shopping for new glass — who already have a bagful of EF-lenses — might take to it like a sugar addict to Trix. Metabones said they’ll start shipping the Speedbooster this month, and will come out with MFT and Fuji-X mount options, along with support for lenses from Nikon and Leica, among others. Check the source to see how to grab it, but the line forms behind us.

Continue reading Metabones Speedbooster promises faster EF lenses when mounted on NEX cameras

Filed under: Cameras

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Via: Philip Bloom

Source: Metabones

Jul 11

Cinema rig takes the heat out of your NEX-5N, lets you slide in the accessories

Posted in: Today's Chili

The Sony NEX-5N, with it’s goodly APS-C sized sensor and decent video quality, still has a couple of knocks against it as a video cam: its bitty size makes it hard to rig up and it doesn’t dissipate heat well. Tinkerer Richard Gale has addressed those tics with his prototype NEX-5N cinema housing, by adding a heat sink and fan to stop the overheating problem and a possible anamorphic adapter and matte box to accommodate filters and gels. The provisional £1,500 price ($2,400) would get you the housing, NEX-5N with kit lens, 5″ Sony LCD, and accessories, while the anamorphic kit with the matte box is still just a concept with no price tag. Neither idea will happen unless he gets enough orders, but wearing the boxy black outfit might finally give the petite mirrorless cam a shot of big-boy film cred.

Gallery: NEX-5N Cinema Rig