CLINT TILL

View Original

Impressions of the Kipon Micro 4/3 Lens Adapter

Clint Till

In my hands-on experiences shooting with the Panasonic AF-100, I've had the opportunity to work with two different lens adapters - the MTF Effect and the Kipon EOS to Micro 4/3. You can read my thoughts on the MTF Effect here.

Now, obviously, if you have a Micro 4/3 camera and Micro 4/3 lenses, you will not need a lens adapter. However, if you already have a lens collection that isn't Micro 4/3, you will need some kind of adapter to mount your existing lenses to the Micro 4/3 camera body. The Kipon EOS-m4/3 adapter is an affordable lens adapter with solid construction and smooth aperture blades. It would be a good addition to your kit and will work well, especially in run-and-gun shooting situations. However, there are some things to consider when using the Kipon adapter.

  1. It does not communicate with EOS lenses electronically. If you use Canon EOS lenses, you will notice that they don't have an aperture ring. The camera body communicates with the lens electronically to set f-stop. The Kipon adapter does not control the aperture of the lens directly. Rather, it uses its own iris, built in to the adapter. 

  2. You cannot determine your exact f-stop. Since the Kipon adapter does not electronically control the EOS lenses, you cannot know for certain what your exact f-stop setting is. 

  3. There will be some vignetting as you stop down. As you turn the Kipon adapter's iris, slight vignetting will be noticeable on the edges of the frame. The vignetting becomes more obvious as you stop down. The Kipon iris has markings numbering 1 to 6. It is advised that you do not go below 1 or above 6. I usually never go above 3. 

  4. EOS lenses seem to lose back focus when mounted to the adapter. In my tests in-studio with the adapter, I zoomed all the way in to my subject, set my focus, and then zoomed back out to re-frame. However, as I zoomed out, the lens lost focus. This was not the case with the MTF Effect adapter. I'm not 100% certain why this happens. It may be because the back of the lens is slightly further away from the imaging sensor with the adapter mounted (which is also the reason why exact focal marks will be more difficult to achieve). 

I wouldn't recommend using the Kipon adapter exclusively, especially when shooting live events (where back focus is critical). However, it is very useful is certain shooting situations.

For additional reviews of the Kipon adapter, be sure to visit the following sites: