lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Does anyone know whether there is a booster speed adapter made for mating Sony/Minolta A-mount Full Frame lenses to Sony E-mount APS-C bodies other than the one made by Metabones® for $479 (which is called the Sony A-Mount Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera Speed Booster ULTRA)? https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1079579-REG

Whether another such model exists, has anyone on the Hog tried out this particular Metabones adapter on a Sony a6000 series camera?

Thank you,
😎

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Generally speaking, as you add glass, you decrease image quality.

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

Do you specifically want a speed booster or, would say the Sony laea4 adapter for A to E mount suffice? LAEA3, laea2 etc.?

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Thanks for asking, but I own the LA-EA4 and it most certainly is NOT a speed booster!

I want a "speed booster" adapter NOT for its speed advantage; rather, I want it, assuming its MTF is sufficiently good for my purposes, in order to reduce the Crop Factor.

1.07 is a heckuva lot better than 1.5 when shooting some landscapes. In the case of multispectral photography, for which I have a Full Spectrum-converted Sony a6000 (which has a crop factor of 1.5,) such an adapter would essentially "keep" my 24 mm Tilt-Shift E-mount lens at an equivalent focal length of 25 mm rather than 36 mm, AND, assuming that such an adapter passes UV as efficiently as visible light, would “keep” a 50 mm UV-passing lens at 52 mm rather than 75 mm.

By the way, I am in the middle of composing my more lengthy response to billnikon's post, as he raised a valid question.

SteveG Loc: Norh Carolina

Gotcha! Just checking

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Since it led me to expand on why I’m looking for such, no problem. But if it hadn’t, I might have ignored it, no offense. 😉

I know you, in particular, meant well. Some of us employ terms, the ramifications or nuances of which we aren’t always aware of, and thus misarticulate. I’m sure it’ll happen to me some day, or has it already happened? 🤔

I keep forgetting to remember that. 😎

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

I own the a6000 plus an a99ii (A-mount). Personal preference here but I don't use my A-mount lenses on my a6000. With the exception of my Minolta 500mmAF and my 90mm Macro lens, with either the LA-EA3 or LA-EA4. I am quite happy with the results from the 16-50mm lens. On the used market you can buy 3 of those for the price of the Metabones speed booster. Wides and super wides for APS-C especially in manual lenses are quite inexpensive.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Dear ORpilot,
I realize you mean well, but IF you read my first two posts on this Topic, someone else's "personal preference" is irrelevant, UNLESS, of course, you are addressing either or both of the two applications I am seeking, which again, consist of a 24 mm Tilt-Shift lens and a 50 mm UV-compatible lens. So politely, were you addressing either of those?

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

I concur, in general, though certainly there are exceptions, such as applying cellophane tape to frosted glass. But let’s suppose you’re right for the moment. Just how much is IQ degraded? Obviously, it depends on the quality of the speed booster. Would not some objective MTF analysis be useful for determining this?

Well, billnikon, you made me think about it! So I just conducted my own search, using the keyword phrase: Modulation Transfer Function of speed booster adapters.

This led me to the following results:
A. This discusses the white paper of Metabones' speed booster
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/01/metabones-magic/

B. Cut the Crop: A Hands-On Review of the Metabones Speed Booster ULTRA [for MFT-mount] - Dec 2015
https://www.rangefinderonline.com/gear/cut-the-crop-a-hands-on-review-of-the-metabones-speed-booster-ultra/
This discusses the IQ but NOT the MTF of this product.

C. Can The Metabones Speed Booster Really Increase Maximum Aperture?
http://www.photographyreview.com/reviews/metabones-speed-booster-increase-maximum-aperture
... however, the link to the White Paper goes to NOTHING on the Metabones site ... and I hate it when NO DATE for the article is
explicitly stated!

D. MTF included in this Press Release July 2015 - pertains to the M43-mount
https://www.metabones.com/article/of/Speed_Booster_ULTRA_0.71x

E. About MTF in general:
http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF.html

F. On Acutance and Resolution and their relationship to MTF:
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2009/06/have-you-seen-my-acutance/
Comment: This appears to be informative; I plan to review it closely.

G. F led me to a most enjoyable tangential article:
Roger’s Law of New Product Introduction
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/01/rogers-law-of-new-product-introduction/


So in conclusion, for the time being, UNLESS either I or someone else can assuage my concerns and assuming I can return such an adapter for a full refund within 30 days, I might depend on a crude form of assessing MTF: my eyes.

As a non-professional photographer, is such an ultimate approach unwise?

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Just offering suggestions, BTW 90% of everyone’s answers and posts are personal opinions.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

I haven't found one other than Metabones for A-Mount to E-Mount. And I do have the Metabones adapter and it works very well.

Zhongy is the next player in focal reducers, but they offer nothing in the way of A-Mount to E-Mount. I have one of their adapters for m42 to m4/3.

Here is a site for Mitakon. But I think they are Zhongy. As you can see, there are only a handful of options available for E-mount: Canon FD, Canon EF, Nikon AI, M42, Pentax K and Minolta FD.

https://zyoptics.net/product/mitakon-lens-turbo-adapter-mark-ii-for-nex-mount-camera/

Update:

Just found another one that I have never heard of before, Roxsen. No clue as to how good or bad this one might be, but only $82:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Focal-Reducer-Speed-Booster-Adapter-Sony-Alpha-AF-mount-lens-to-Sony-NEX-E-A6000-/181733098957

Found a user review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6YFYDAzVE8

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Thank you. As I wrote sincerely, I know you meant well. While "90% of everyone's answers and posts are personal opinions" may be true, that is a generalization. What really counts is what fraction of such posts are both constructive and on topic, in my humble opinion.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

On eBay, Samyang makes an 24mm tilt shift lens for E mount. A bit pricy at a bit over $1000. I am guessing that it is better than the plastic lensbaby one.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Wow! Thank you, JimH123! I might just buy the latter now, given the 30-day money-back guarantee, unless someone knows it would be naïve of me to believe that or knows that this particular eBay seller has a poor reputation.

Also, Jim, you wrote that you "do have the Metabones adapter and it works very well." Specifically, an adapter for what lens class to which mount?

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Let me, for the sake of argument, change my original quote of, "Generally speaking, as you add glass, you decrease image quality", to "there has not been an adapter made, (specifically a teleconverter or speed adapter with lens) that increases image quality".