One big advantage of 2/3" B4 lenses is their high zoom ratio in a compact package. If you're using a S16 camera or S35 camera with a "center crop" mode, you can utilize a small optical adapter to enlarge the projected image of the 2/3" lens to fully cover the S16mm image circle. This means you'll have the full range of the lens available to you, including the built-in optical doubler for additional reach.
The new Sony FS5 includes the ability to further extend the zoom range of any lens (including primes) using its built-in Clear Image Zoom feature. With this technology, you're able to further increase your focal length by 2x while shooting HD or 1.5x in UHD. Below you can see some photos of a versatile setup that combines the FS5 with a Cameo LANC cable and optical adapters to create a 68x zoom range on a camera package weighing just over nine pounds, including the lens!
This setup consists of the Sony FS5 and with the following accessories.
- HDx1.4 optical adapter: enables a B4-mount lens to cover Super 16 image size while correcting for lack of a prism
- UMS adapter for E-mount lenses: allows for mechanical fit onto the Sony lens mount
- Cameo LANC cable: supplies power to the B4-mount lens and triggers Run/Stop on the camera. This cable is available with a P-Tap connection, or with a 4-pin Hirose connection for cameras with auxiliary power output (FS7 with extension back) or the Sony BP-U60T batteries (as shown in these pictures)
- Fujinon 17x Zoom (7.6mm to 130mm) with 2x optical extender
UMS adapter for E-mount lenses, HDx1.4 optical adapter, Cameo LANC cable
Sony FS5, UMS adapter for E-mount lenses, HDx1.4 optical adapter, Cameo LANC cable, Fujinon 17x zoomWatch this setup in action in the video below. The 17x length of the Fujinon zoom is extended by 2x using Clear Image Zoom, and then by 2x again optically, for a total of 68x zoom range.
