GH4 and Speedbooster in Ikelite Housing?

Hey guys,

So im looking to buy the Panasonic GH4 with an Ikelite housing for it. I have done a lot of research and can not find any information on whether or not the ikelite housing with a specific port combo (depending on the lens used) can house the GH4 with the metabones speedbooster adapter. Has any body done this or know if this is possible?

I know Nauticam I think can hold that combo in their housing. However I like Ikelite for the price. I would love to get a Nauticam housing just for the many option of having the Atmos ninja housing etc for 4K 4:2:2 10 bit capture. Maybe I just bite the bullet and dish out the cash.

Any help is great thank!

Not sure about Ikelite, why don't you contact Nauticam USA to check their port combo? They allow speedbooster to be used in one of their Sony mount/port so they're definitely aware of the use of speedbooster.

Intrigued, what lens are you planning on using the speed booster with? I own a GH4 and have a speed booster, the only lenses I use it with are the 105 f2.8 micro Nikkor and the 70-400 Nikkor, all other lenses are M4/3 and the optics are superb. Top picks would be the 60mm macro Oly and the 12-40 Pro Olympus, others are the 8mm and 7-14 panny lenses which are also as good as they come.

Intrigued, what lens are you planning on using the speed booster with? I own a GH4 and have a speed booster, the only lenses I use it with are the 105 f2.8 micro Nikkor and the 70-400 Nikkor, all other lenses are M4/3 and the optics are superb. Top picks would be the 60mm macro Oly and the 12-40 Pro Olympus, others are the 8mm and 7-14 panny lenses which are also as good as they come.

To answer you question Im 100% sure what lens I would use more was just curious if it was possible. It gets tricky figuring out what the actually focal length is when using non Micro 4/3 lenses with the Metabones speed booster. Before I get in to the that. The reason I am considering always using the speed booster with the GH4 is for two reasons.

1. Increases maxim aperture by 1 stop

2. Increases angle of view by 0.71x

So in terms of figuring out what lenses I would use with the GH4 and the speed booster.

multiply the adapter FOV reduction (.71) by the focal length of your lens. This gives you the focal range of the lens on the GH4. If you want to know the approximate full frame equivalent, just double that number.

A Canon 16-35L F2.8 II becomes a 11-25mm f2.0 on the GH4, or 22-50mm f2.0 Full Frame Equivalent. and you gain and extra stop of light

Really this adapter is only worth it if you had a different camera before and switched to the GH4 and you had money invested in other lenses and wanted to use them still. For me I am completely switching from canon to the GH4 and in addition to shooting underwater I would use the adapter more above land probably with my longer focal length lenses (Canon 100-400mm) to shoot surfing or something. But was curious if the GH4 and Speed booster combo in a Ikelite housing was possible.

I would love to have the option of shooting prime cinema lenses on the GH4 underwater depending on the budget of the job. But more than likely on personal dives and jobs that don't have the budget to rent lenses I will shoot the Panasonic 8mm and the Olympus 60mm with diopters for Macro stuff.

However I wonder what kind of macro stuff you could do if you used the Canon 24-105 with the speed booster?

I think you may have your calculations slightly off the mark. The crop factor for the M4/3 ends up being 1.4 when the speed booster is added. This is the paragraph from the Metabones FAQ: "The m4/3 version also reduces focal length by a 0.71x factor. So, the combined focal length multiplier of a m4/3 camera and Speed Booster is 1.4x. (2x from camera x 0.71x from Speed Booster.) The optics are optimized for the smaller sensor size."

This I believe is based on full frame lenses, so DX lenses would be different again, the crop is 1.5 for Nikon so your effective Speed Booster crop would be 1.5 x 0.71 = 1.065. The Canon APS-C to M4/3 is a 1.46 crop so you virtually end up 1:1 with the Speed booster, buy tes you do gain that valuable 1 stop.

This is why speed boosters work so well with telephoto lenses like my big Nikon zoom which ends up being 140-800mm with my Voightlander or 100 - 560mm plus an additional stop with the Speed booster depending on the lighting conditions. So I have the best of both depending on which adaptor I use.

Working out crop factors can kind of do ones head in at times!!

I think you may have your calculations slightly off the mark. The crop factor for the M4/3 ends up being 1.4 when the speed booster is added. This is the paragraph from the Metabones FAQ: "The m4/3 version also reduces focal length by a 0.71x factor. So, the combined focal length multiplier of a m4/3 camera and Speed Booster is 1.4x. (2x from camera x 0.71x from Speed Booster.) The optics are optimized for the smaller sensor size."

 

This I believe is based on full frame lenses, so DX lenses would be different again, the crop is 1.5 for Nikon so your effective Speed Booster crop would be 1.5 x 0.71 = 1.065. The Canon APS-C to M4/3 is a 1.46 crop so you virtually end up 1:1 with the Speed booster, buy tes you do gain that valuable 1 stop.

 

This is why speed boosters work so well with telephoto lenses like my big Nikon zoom which ends up being 140-800mm with my Voightlander or 100 - 560mm plus an additional stop with the Speed booster depending on the lighting conditions. So I have the best of both depending on which adaptor I use.

 

Working out crop factors can kind of do ones head in at times!!

Ohhhh Good call make sense! Thanks! Ya ive been thinking about it and reading stuff honestly I would only use it with my canon 100-400 telephoto lens. Other then that because i'm getting the new system i'm getting new lenses so I don't think it is worth the money for me at this time.

I'm indecisive right now too I may now go with a Nauticam housing because of the external monitor options they offer. Nauticam does however make a setup for the speed booster if I wanted that option later. The beauty of have an underwater camera hobby $$$$$ haha

Thanks you guys for all the help and responses. I let you know what I actually end up getting and ill post some tests!