UPDATE:
“Well, I feel sheepish.”
- Genie, in ALLADIN
Sorry, guys, I got it wrong.
Yes, PDN is a reputable site. Yes, they posted on October 14th – not July — and we picked it up just a few days later. And yes, we wrote specifically that image and manufacturing quality were “[t]o be determined,” rather than assumed.
Except, they already had been determined months earlier, as so many of you have pointed out, forcing Fotodiox to put out their own video days later; offering a full refund; and offering a $50 credit toward Fotodiox products for those who chose to keep the Excell+1.
In this instance, you were more up on this than I, and other than an ad hominem attack or two, I am grateful for the correction.
ORIGINAL:
It was only a matter of time before the Metabones Speed Booster and Speed Booster Ultra got competition. Fotodiox enters the fray with a Micro Four Thirds mount adapter for old school Canon FD and FL lenses — and a version for Nikon glass — called the Excell+1. 
While the Canon version doesn’t handle the EF series like Metabones’ latest offering, how far behind can it be?
Just last week I wrote about the manual focus Voigtlander Noktons, how much they reminded me of the Canon FL series lenses I grew up with, and how much I loved them.
Now Fotodiox has announced a Speed Booster-like adapter – complete with focal length reduction (to 70%) and one stop more light transmission – for those very same lenses (the old Canons), along with a version for Nikon glass on the MFT mount.
With a price of $160, it’s less than half that of the equivalent Metabones model.
How does it compare for image and manufacturing quality? To be determined!
You can learn more about it here.
Object of Desire: Fotodiox Excell+1
Via Photo District News:
All the excitement around Metabones’ speed-boosting lens mount adapters has lured additional competitors into the market. Fotodiox’s new Excell+1 is notable not just for its novelty, but also its price—at $160, it’s considerably less expensive than the $400-plus adapters it competes with.
The Excell+1 mounts to a Micro Four Thirds camera body and allows you to use older, full-frame lenses from either Canon or Nikon to obtain a wider angle of view. The Excell+1 effectively reduces the “crop factor” of a given lens, so a 50mm Micro Four Thirds lens that typically has a 100mm full-frame equivalent would enjoy a 70mm field of view with the Excell+1. Fotodiox claims the mount will give you an extra stop past your lens’ maximum aperture, giving you a bit more speed.
Read full article at Photo District News “Object of Desire: Fotodiox Excell +1″
Excell+1 NIK(G)-MFT from Fotodiox Pro - Nikon G Lens to Micro 4/3 (MFT) Camera Lens Mount Adapter with Light Gathering Optics and Aperture Control
Via Fotodiox:
The advanced Excell+1 Lens Mount Adapter supercharges any Nikon Lens* (including G types without an aperture dial) that you attach to a Micro 4/3 (MFT) camera body. The Excell +1 has additional light focusing optics built into the adapter itself which increases the maximum aperture of your lens by 1 stop, while at the same time making your lens wider by a 0.72x factor - significantly reducing the natural crop factor of your camera!
With the Excell + 1 Lens Mount Adapter on your Micro 4/3 camera, you can attach any of your favorite full frame Nikon lenses and get both a wider angle of view (ie, 50mm lens turns into a 70mm lens equivalent instead of 98mm) than a non-optic adapter, and make your lens 1 stop faster.
The red dial on the adapter is an aperture adjustment dial which allows the iris to be adjusted on even the Nikon G lenses; on older Nikon lenses with a aperture dial on the lens, the red dial on the adapter can act as a depth of field preview lever allowing you to switch back and forth between wide open and stopped down to a certain f-stop.
Excell+1 FD/FL-MFT from Fotodiox Pro - Canon FD (and FL) Lens to Mirco 4/3 (MFT) DSLR Camera Lens Mount Adapter with Light Gathering Optics and Aperture Control
Via Fotodiox:
The advanced Excell+1 Lens Mount Adapter supercharges any older Canon FD Manual Lens (including Canon FL mounts) that you attach to a Micro 4/3 (MFT) camera body. The Excell +1 has additional light focusing optics built into the adapter itself which increase the maximum aperture of your lens by 1 stop, while at the same time making your lens wider by a 0.72x factor - significantly reducing the natural crop factor of your camera!
With the Excell + 1 Lens Mount Adapter on your Micro 4/3 camera, you can attach any of your favorite full frame Canon FD/DL lenses and get both a wider angle of view (ie, 50mm lens turns into a 70mm lens equivalent instead of 98mm) than a non-optic adapter, and make your lens 1 stop faster.
The red dial on the adapter is an aperture adjustment ring for Canon FD & FL lenses. You can also use this function just like a depth of field preview lever allowing you to easily switch back and forth between wide open and stopped down to your selected f-stop.
Click the here for more detailed information on the power of the Excell +1.
As with all Fotodiox Pro series adapters, these adapters have been specially crafted to endure professional use. The leaf spring design in the adapter holds the lens tight to the camera body ensuring there is no play between the camera and the lens. The all metal design and polished surface are designed to guarantee a smooth mount and long lasting experience. Although the lens will fit physically, automatic diaphragm, auto-focusing, or any other functions will not operate correctly while using this adapter. Because of this “stop-down mode” will need to be used when metering since the lens does not have the ability to have its aperture controlled by the camera body. You can shoot with manual mode or aperture priority mode. Infinity focusing is guaranteed.
*Note - DX lenses for smaller sensor cameras will not work as the image circle from these lenses will not cover the sensor fully on Micro Four Thirds cameras.
Compatible Cameras
Olympus PEN E-PL1, E-PL1s, E-PL2, E-PL3, E-P2, E-P3, E-M, OM-D, E-M5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, G2, G3, G10, GX1, GH1, GH2, GF1, GF2, GF3, GF5
Panasonic AG-AF100
| Note: it is our policy to give credit as well as deserved traffic to our news sources - so we don’t repost the entire article - sorry, I know you want the juicy bits, but I feel it is only fair that their site get the traffic and besides, you just might make a new friend and find an advertiser that has something you’ve never seen before | ||
(cover photo credit: snap from Fotodiox)
Hugh Brownstone
And always with the ambition of authenticity, humanity and wit.
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Not a useful post without image quality analysis
Mitch I sent you an email regarding this months ago! thats why Im disappointed in your posting of this. If you google this product you would be presented with pages of unhappy customers it wouldn't take much. So really whats up with that?
This adapter is 100% crap. I sent it back the next day. Do no support this product planet5d you should know better.
Test samples at f4 look good but any wider the image seems to fall apart in the fotodiox. Isn't the point of a speed booster so you can gain a stop but here you can't shoot under f4
Haven't we been through this before, like back in July? Fotodiox even said themselves their product was not a competitor of the Speed Booster: http://youtu.be/KIv-2BQ3jRI.
And the Fotodiox version was woeful in terms of sharpness vs. the Speed Booster.
https://vimeo.com/100778559 I bought the one Fotodiox made for Nikon it was horrible and I returned it. Read the posts on my video The wider shot of course is the Fotodiox you can see how soft the image became.
I have to admit the results from the Excell is not excell. Very soft all around. No competition for Metabones.
The Fotodiox Excell+1 is an absolute piece of junk... Are you kidding me? This is old news... A majority of everyone who bought one has already returned it. Fotodiox recognized that they did not test it throughly prior to releasing it for sale and hence tried to bribe everyone with a $50 refund if they kept it. Most people did not because it it is utterly unusable. This is not my opinion. This is a fact. Go buy one and actually try to use it LOL. This article shows just how 'out of the loop' Hugh Brownstone is.
@NathanDaughdrill I apologize... look as much as we try, we cannot keep up on every product that hits the market. This was based on an article in a respected website - so we're not the only ones not hearing all the bad news.
@Robert Bryant Old news that should have stayed dead news.
@revit You are 100% right this adapter is 100% unusable. It's a joke I feel that was had on me. I will never ever buy anything for Fotodiox again. You are also right this is way way old news.
@revit I beg your pardon? Hugh has been doing a fantastic job for planet5D and I appreciate what he's trying to do for our readers. Is he always 100% correct? Are YOU? You're welcome to write a guest post and show us what you can do.