Is a Speedbooster worth it for Komodo?

[Zach Mckinley]

Thinking about getting a metabones speedboster but I wanted to see if it's worth the money. There are a bunch of reviews but I would love to hear from actual shooters who use them or don't. I don't mind the look of the Komodo but it would be nice to get more out of the sensor. With so many projects being vertical and wide aspect ratios more room sounds better to me.

 

[Phil Holland]

There is a slight optical hit typically in enhanced aberrations towards edge of frame, more distortion, and likely additional vignette.

But you gain a stop of light, wider field of view, and access the other aspects of what a larger format lens can do like seeing more lens flare character rather than the cropped frame.

 

[M Harvey]

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what speedboosters do. Nothing magic is happening. It does not make your s35mm camera "full frame" or "large format." It's really just adding one more glass element to your lens-- and not one designed and optimized for the specific lens. I'm not anti-speedbooster-- they can be very useful, and I've used them with good results. But there are pluses and minuses.

More specifically:

wanted to see if it's worth the money

Depends what your purpose is. If you just want wider, why not just buy a lens that goes as wide as you want? You can get good and affordable lenses that cover the 11mm focal length (e.g. Irix prime, Tokina zoom), how much wider do you want to go?

Just as regards focal length, the main advantage of the speedbooster is that it allows one lens to serve two purposes; a 25mm lens on a super 35mm sensor is moderately wide, with a speedbooster it's significantly wider. So when I was starting out, before I bought a good 18mm lens, I used a speedbooster on my 25mm to get a wider angle of view (closer to a 16mm in that case, but whatever).

but it would be nice to get more out of the sensor

Refer to what Phil said here, you do lose some quality (resolution, geometric correction)/magnify flaws (flares, distortion, other abberations). A lot of us like those "flaws" for their character, but I think "getting more out of the sensor" usually means maximizing resolution all the way across the frame. If that's what you mean, then a speedbooster isn't the right tool.

I'll repeat here, just because I see this misconception repeated a lot of other places: it also doesn't give your sensor "the large format look." It can make it easier to achieve certain low light or very shallow DOF shots with a given lens-- though that's not what you asked about.

You also mention vertical shooting. I'm not sure I understand how a speedbooster could enhance this. If you're talking about using a speedbooster to get a wider field of view so that you have "more room" from which to extract a vertical image from a horizontally shot image, then again, it's true that with a given lens you'll have a wider field of view. However, if you want to maximize quality, then you're better off just buying the focal length you want in a high quality lens.

 

[M Harvey]

Yeah I dunno, the speedbooster Komodo tests ive seen certainly "have that large format look."

Best thing I've seen on the "large format look" it has been Manuel Luebbers' very precise comparison test of Alexa Mini vs. Alexa 65. If you haven't already seen it, you can check it out here (which includes his written observations):

https://manuelluebbers.com/large-format-look-alexa-65-vs-alexa-mini/

If you like the look of the speedbooster but don't own one, try backing your camera up a little bit and shooting with one focal length up (more telephoto). So if you frame up a shot on a 35mm lens, back up a few feet and try a 50mm at the same stop. You may find you get what you would want out of a large format sensor.

 

[Geno Marx]

I went with the Metabones speed booster. I really liked the locking mechanism compared to the Canon.

 

[Zach Mckinley]

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what speedboosters do. Nothing magic is happening. It does not make your s35mm camera "full frame" or "large format." It's really just adding one more glass element to your lens-- and not one designed and optimized for the specific lens. I'm not anti-speedbooster-- they can be very useful, and I've used them with good results. But there are pluses and minuses.

More specifically:




Depends what your purpose is. If you just want wider, why not just buy a lens that goes as wide as you want? You can get good and affordable lenses that cover the 11mm focal length (e.g. Irix prime, Tokina zoom), how much wider do you want to go?

Just as regards focal length, the main advantage of the speedbooster is that it allows one lens to serve two purposes; a 25mm lens on a super 35mm sensor is moderately wide, with a speedbooster it's significantly wider. So when I was starting out, before I bought a good 18mm lens, I used a speedbooster on my 25mm to get a wider angle of view (closer to a 16mm in that case, but whatever).



Refer to what Phil said here, you do lose some quality (resolution, geometric correction)/magnify flaws (flares, distortion, other abberations). A lot of us like those "flaws" for their character, but I think "getting more out of the sensor" usually means maximizing resolution all the way across the frame. If that's what you mean, then a speedbooster isn't the right tool.

I'll repeat here, just because I see this misconception repeated a lot of other places: it also doesn't give your sensor "the large format look." It can make it easier to achieve certain low light or very shallow DOF shots with a given lens-- though that's not what you asked about.

You also mention vertical shooting. I'm not sure I understand how a speedbooster could enhance this. If you're talking about using a speedbooster to get a wider field of view so that you have "more room" from which to extract a vertical image from a horizontally shot image, then again, it's true that with a given lens you'll have a wider field of view. However, if you want to maximize quality, then you're better off just buying the focal length you want in a high quality lens.

This is a super helpful perspective! My main goal was to get more out of the sensor but the quality is key so I don't know if a speedbooster would really be helpful! The idea of an EF locking mount sounds nice. I've always loved that about my Scarlet and PL mounts but I don't know if it makes that much of a difference. I might rent one and play with it a bit and see if there's ever a use case for it! Thanks for the feedback, everyone!