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Archive 2016 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

chiron
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

I offer these shots just as a practical example of what happens when you put a Canon EF 100-400II on an a6500, using a Metabones IV, and shoot at 400mm (effective 600mm), handheld, at speeds of 1/40, 1/50, 1/100, 1/125, and 1/200th. Mostly the ISO is at 6400; one is at 3200. In each case, I squeezed off 3-4 shots. Usually two were equally good and one or two were worse.

These were shot RAW, opened in Lightroom, and had no post-processing at all apart from being exported from Lightroom 6 as jpegs. These look good to me and speak well of the 6500's IBIS, its use of the Canon lens's IS, and the effectiveness of the Metabones as an adapter. As usual, I like the look of the sensor. But I don't think I have a really well-trained, critical eye for evaluating them, so I would be interested to hear what others might say.

I thought the shots might be of interest to some people who are thinking about this equipment.

focus on eyes of Santa at center 1/40th sec

focus on mouse's eyes 1/100th sec

focus on curved Santa's eyes 1/200 sec

focus on center of multi-colored ball 1/50th sec see reflections of room in ball

focus on Nutcracker's left eye 1/125th sec

Dec 27, 2016 at 11:27 PM

NIH NSF
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

Thanks for the post, how's the AF of this combo at 400 mm ?

Dec 27, 2016 at 11:46 PM

chiron
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

NIH NSF wrote:
Thanks for the post, how's the AF of this combo at 400 mm ?

The AF seemed quite good to me. I just got the Metabones IV today, so I actually am not even sure whether i was in green mode or advanced mode. But I believe these shots were made in advanced mode, which may give slower focusing than green mode. I will experiment with the AF over the next couple of days and update this thread when I have a better answer to give you. But I did find it quite acceptable for what I was shooting here, but this is not very demanding for AF. The best AF performance should be in the mode that I was not using tonight--so i will let you know.

Dec 28, 2016 at 12:42 AM

AGeoJO
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

Those are fine images, considering that you handheld your camera/lens, Peter. Since the lighting conditions seemed low, the AF at 400mm = f/5.6 will struggle but as long as you aim at a contrasty target, it will work fine. I am pretty satisfied with how Metabones with its latest FW performs. The advance mode is my preferred setting for better accuracy but for some sort of follow focus, the green mode works out better for me.

Dec 28, 2016 at 01:13 AM

TheEmrys
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

The shots are well enough for such a close subject distance, but it will be much more telling when you can try it out at distance. Long lenses are so fun.

Dec 28, 2016 at 02:17 AM

BlueBomberTurbo
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

Easy way to tell which mode you are in is by changing the aperture setting. If nothing happens, you're in green mode. If it visibly changes along with the setting like native, you're in advanced mode.

Dec 28, 2016 at 07:00 AM

scrappydog
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

I routinely shoot the 100-400 II with the MB IV on my A7RII and I get good performance from the lens, including BIF shots. The IS is excellent (3.5 - 4 stops) and it is sharp. The 400/5.6 and the 500/4 II are a tad better (less hunting, slightly more responsive). The one drawback to Canon's 100-400 lenses is the ugly bokeh.

Dec 28, 2016 at 04:59 PM

kurt765
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

scrappydog wrote:
I routinely shoot the 100-400 II with the MB IV on my A7RII and I get good performance from the lens, including BIF shots. The IS is excellent (3.5 - 4 stops) and it is sharp. The 400/5.6 and the 500/4 II are a tad better (less hunting, slightly more responsive). The one drawback to Canon's 100-400 lenses is the ugly bokeh.

Really? I guess I need to give it another try but I wouldn't say I've ever seen anything that remotely makes me think I could focus on a BIF with the IV and A7r2 and 100-400 II. In fact, in my recollection it couldn't even really focus at 400mm. Maybe I have some sort of setting wrong? Both this and the OP make me think I've got some kind of setting problem or something.

Can you guys give a rundown on what focus settings / Metabones mode gets you such good results with the 100-400 II?

Dec 28, 2016 at 11:23 PM

chiron
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

Hi kurt.
The main thing I can think of is whether you have updated the firmware on your Metabones IV since June (I think). Metabones had a major revision to the firmware sometime around then (I may have the date wrong) that marked a major improvement in AF of Canon lenses on the A7rii, the 6300, and the 6500.

Without that revised firmware, you might well get poor results with the 100-400.

I was very pleasantly surprised at how usable my results were when i shot these last night. Focusing was pretty quick and easy, but my subjects weren't moving. I still have a lot to learn about the ins and outs of green mode and advanced mode and their interaction with the various AF settings on my 6500. I believe that I shot these Christmas ornaments in advanced mode, which would be the slower, I think, of the two Metabones modes.

Dec 28, 2016 at 11:41 PM

scrappydog
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · a6500 w/ EF 100-400II via Metabones IV, Handheld

kurt765 wrote:
Really? I guess I need to give it another try but I wouldn't say I've ever seen anything that remotely makes me think I could focus on a BIF with the IV and A7r2 and 100-400 II. In fact, in my recollection it couldn't even really focus at 400mm. Maybe I have some sort of setting wrong? Both this and the OP make me think I've got some kind of setting problem or something.

Can you guys give a rundown on what focus settings / Metabones mode gets you such good results with the 100-400 II?

I use the MB in Green mode (I think). I have a slightly older firmware (0.49

). For any supertelephoto to AF fast on a Sony mirrorless, the lens must be near focus. If the lens is way off focus and an action shot develops, I will hand focus the lens to near focus and then engage the AF to fine tune the focus. Generally speaking, you want decent light and good contrast to help the AF system quickly find its target. Sony's AF system is tuned to vertical lines, so if you have the option between focusing on horizontally-oriented contrast and vertically-oriented contrast (e.g. shadow line around a bird's eye), select the latter for faster AF acquisition. Since Sony's tracking on the A7RII is not very good, I engage the AF in spurts. In the menu, make sure Phase Detection AF is selected. I usually leave my focus mode in AF-C, which is critical in BIF shots. I use back-button focus, which helps with engaging the AF system at will.

Generally, I keep the focus area in either small or medium zone. I don't use the large zone just because I don't find to be very precise. The small zone is the most precise and is very usable in the right conditions (e.g. good light, slow moving subject). In low light, the medium sized zone seems much more sensitive than the small zone, but the trade off is potentially the loss of some precision in the AF (e.g. the camera focuses on the wing rather than the eye). In BIF shots, I usually keep the camera on the medium zone. With BIF shots, you need to shoot at 1/800 shutter speed (in the minimum), and if you literally want to freeze a bird in action, shoot at 1/2000 or faster when using natural light (I rarely shoot with flashes).

If you'd like to see the results, check out my Flickr feed. I post a lot of shots in high-res.

Dec 29, 2016 at 07:07 AM


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