At IBC 2024 in Amsterdam, Metabones was showing its new Canon EF to Sony E CINE eND Smart Adapter. The Metabones Canon EF to Sony E CINE eND Smart Adapter controls the exposure with an electronically controlled neutral density (ND) filter.
The Metabones EF to E mount CINE eND Smart Adapter is built-in with the swapping eND filter system, allowing users to change between the clear-glass filter and the eND filter in one click within a second. The internal system prevents the adapter and camera from the dust. The Smart Adapter provides an electronically variable ND. The eND module has a minimum setting of 2 stops and can provide up to 7 stops of exposure adjustment in 1/2 of a stop increments without degrading your image. It provides you with exposure control without requiring you to add ND glass to the front of the lens.
7-stops isn’t huge, but I believe there is a limitation with electronic ND where it can only be pushed to a certain amount before you start running into issues.
EF to E is arguably a little outdated and niche in 2024 as a lot of Sony shooters have transitioned to native E-mount glass. In saying that, if you still own EF glass then this solution will work well for you.
You could certainly make this adapter in other mounts, but there will be limitations due to flange distance, etc.
Key features
- Built-in internal electronic ND filter and CLEAR filter swapping system
- Electronically Variable ND filter with 2 to 7 Stops (ND4 to ND128)
- ND 2 to 7 Stops of ND 1/2 of a Stop Increment
- Powered by camera body. No external power source required.
The technology was developed by LC-Tec. If you are not familiar with LC-Tec, they are the company that is responsible for the electronic ND system found in many cinema cameras.
Above you can see my interview with LC-Tec back in June 2023 where they were showing a prototype of the system.
An OLED display shows the status and settings, and a rotary dial controls the eND filter, which has an adjustment range of -2 to -7 stops. Everything is powered by the camera, with no external power source necessary. At the simple flick of a lever, the eND filter is swapped out and replaced by a clear filter, which has the appropriate thickness to make sure that back-focus remains the same.
Canon EF mount and EF-S mount lenses can be used with Metabones EF-E CINE eND Smart Adapter, adapting them to be used on Sony E mount cameras.
Electronic
- Autofocus
- Fast contrast-detection AF on all E-mount cameras with most lenses.
- Pure phase-detection autofocus support on A9, A7RIII, A7III, A7RII, A7II, A6500 and A6300.
- AF-C tracking during high-speed drive at up to 10fps on Sony A9, A7III and A7RIV.
- Store EXIF data (lens name, focal length and maximum/minimum aperture) for up to 2 manual lenses in the adapter.
- If both your lens supports optical image stabilization (OIS) and your camera supports sensor-shift, in-body image stabilization (IBIS), the choice is yours on which one to use, or have both of them work in harmony.
- Smooth iris support with the latest Canon (2009+), Tamron (SP series 2013+) and Sigma (2016+) lenses.
- Custom function button (called Focus Hold button) assignable to more than 50 functions, such as Aperture Preview and Eye-AF, on A9, A7 series, A6500 and A6300.
- Dedicated switch controls in-body image stabilization (IBIS) on Sony cameras equipped with SteadyShot INSIDE.
- Sony E-mount teleconverter support.
- Cinema EOS lens (CN-E Compact-Servo) support, including power zoom, AF and auto iris.
- Supports 5-axis in-body image stabilization of A7III, A7RIII, A7II, A7RII and A7SII. (Distance information from lens required; 3-axis IBIS if the lens does not transmit distance information.)
- OLED panel displays operation mode, clear filter and ND filter status.
- Efficient switched-mode power supply. Supports image stabilization (IS) lenses. Supports electronic manual focusing (e.g. EF 85/1.2L II and discontinued EF 50/1.0L)
- EXIF support (focal length, aperture, lens name)
- Distance and zoom display on VG and FS series camcorders, A9, A7 series, A6500 and A6300 (lens with distance information support required).
- Auto magnify (lens with distance information support required)
- Auto APS-C Size Capture on full-frame cameras with Canon EF-S lenses and many third-party DX lenses.
- Autofocus. AF speed is properly adjusted to account for and leverage the shorter focal length and the brighter maximum aperture.
- Image stabilization (IS) lens support.
- Build-in multi-function Control Wheel (turn/ push-in) for assignable functions(eg. ISO, shutter speed or aperture control, depth-of-field preview).
- OLED display shows communication status.
Mechanical
- Patented positive-lock EF lens mount.
- Fits both EF and EF-S lenses. (Vignetting at corners may occur with certain EF-S lenses because they are designed to cover a 1.6x crop image circle but Sony APS-C has a 1.5x crop factor.)
- Rubber gasket protects the E-mount connection from dust and moisture.
- Aluminum alloy and brass construction with chromium plating.
- Satin surface finish.
Price & Availability
The Metabones EF-E CINE eND Smart Adapter is on display at LC-Tec Displays AB’s booth at IBC 2024, Amsterdam, September 13-16, 2024. It will be available for purchase shortly afterward from Metabones’ worldwide network of resellers as well as Metabones’ online store for $599 USD.
Specifications
Product name: Canon EF to Sony E mount CINE eND Smart Adapter
Model Code: MB_NDEF-E-BM7
Color: Black Satin exterior: Black Matte interior
Camera Mount: Sony E Mount
Lens Mounts: Canon EF Mount
Filter: Built-in internal electronic Variable ND filter with 2 to 7 Stops and CLEAR filter
Dimensions: 115mm x 86mm x 35mm
Center to bottom of foot: 42mm
Weight: 285 grams (310g incl. caps)
Limitations
Autofocus
AF-C is supported on A1, A9II, A9, A7SIII, A7RIV, A7IV, A7III, A7RIII, A7RII, A7II, A6700, A6600, A6500, A6400, A6300 and A6100 only.Continuous video AF is functional in Advanced mode only, but performance may be unsatisfactory.
On Sony A9, only phase-detection autofocus is supported. Contrast-detection autofocus may not work satisfactorily.AF may not work if the maximum aperture of the lens plus any EF Extender or other teleconverter attached is smaller than f/8.The first few autofocus attempts are used to calibrate the lens and as a result may not lock successfully on the target. Half-press the shutter release button again and autofocus will lock successfully.
Autofocus may have difficulty locking onto subjects which are very close to the nearest focusing distance of the lens. Autofocus accuracy depends heavily on the design and working condition of the lens. Lenses with hidden problems that may not be apparent on Canon DSLRs will lead to inaccurate and unreliable autofocus on Sony. Typical problems of this kind that we have seen include an unsmooth/erratic autofocus mechanism (e.g. getting stuck intermittently at a certain focusing distance), a faulty/worn-out distance encoder or other faulty/worn-out internal sensors.
Other
No support for lens corrections such as peripheral shading, CA and distortion.Use of Canon Compact-Servo Cinema lenses such as CN-E 18-80mm T4.4 for still photography is not supported. (Functional, but slower than lenses designed for still photography.)
Some EF-mount lenses may make audible noises during iris changes and autofocus, which may be picked up by the built-in microphone of the camera during video recording. Use of an external microphone is advised. Some of the recently-introduced Canon-brand lenses are very quiet, however.
Early Tamron VC lenses such as the AF 28-300/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC LD Aspherical [IF] Macro (model A20), AF 18-270/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] MACRO (model B003), SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF] (model B005) may not be able to freely switch between OIS and IBIS because they may not report IS activity status. Later Tamron VC lenses equipped with USD or PZD focus motors are fine.
Some aftermarket battery grips may cause the aperture to change erroneously. This is a bug in the aftermarket battery grip but NOT arising from the Metabones Smart Adapter. Turn off the aftermarket battery grip or use a genuine Sony battery grip.
Tested Camera Bodies:
- Sony alpha 1 (A1), A9 II, A9, A7CII, A7CR, A7RV, A7R IV, A7R III, A7R II, A7R, A7S III, A7S II, A7c, A7S, A7IV, A7III, A7II, A7
- A6700, A6600, A6500, A6400, A6300, A6000, A5000
- ILME-FX3, FX30 *
- PXW-FX9, FX6 *
- PXW-FS5M2, PXW-FS7M2, PXW-FS5, PXW-FS7, NEX-FS700, NEX-FS100
- VENICE *
- NEX-EA50, NEX-VG900, NEX-VG30, NEX-VG20, NEX-VG10
- NEX-7, NEX-6, NEX-5R, NEX-5N, NEX-5, NEX-C3, NEX-3
* for using the VENICE, FX and FS series cameras, please switch the adapter to Advance Mode.
