Can you use a speed booster on a Canon EOS 750D/EF-S DSLR for low-light shooting?
Asked 7/30/2018
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I shoot night events with a Canon EOS 750D and mostly have lenses limited to about f/4–5.6, so I often need to raise ISO more than I’d like. I read that a speed booster can give you an extra stop or two of light, but I’m not sure whether one would work on a Canon EF/EF-S DSLR body or with EF-S lenses. Are there any compatible focal reducers for the 750D, or would I be better off using a different approach for low-light photography?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
7y ago
2 Answers
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Just FYI, a new EF 50mm f/1.8 STM or a new EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM is about US$130 (at the time of this writing). That's less than half the price of a Metabones Speed Booster, so your assumption that you can't afford a fast lens isn't exactly correct, if you're willing to give up zoom capability and go with a prime lens.
The speedboosters are wide angle converters for adapting SLR lenses to mirrorless, and reducing the focal length reduces the lens's max. aperture, because the f-number is a ratio of the focal length / aperture diameter. Reduce the focal length, you reduce the f-number. But you cannot use them on Canon EOS mount cameras, because they're made for mirrorless cameras (Fuji X, micro four-thirds (Olympus/Panasonic), or Sony E-mount).
Other techniques you can consider doing without getting a new lens would be learning to use a flash, or learning how to ETTR (expose-to-the-right) and post-process for noise. A high ISO setting, by itself, doesn't actually increase noise as much as underexposure can. It could be that attempting to use a lower ISO setting is causing you to underexpose.
Also, with Canon cameras, the 1/3 EV ISO settings are done by digital push/pull processing. It's generally said that using the -1/3EV settings will result in less noise than the +1/3EV settings or whole stop settings, so using a multiple of 160 for your ISO setting (160, 320, 640, 1250), which is essentially doing ETTR in-camera, may help with noise.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
7y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
No. A speed booster (focal reducer) is generally used to adapt SLR lenses to mirrorless cameras, where there is extra space to place the adapter’s optics. On a Canon EOS 750D/EF-S DSLR, there isn’t room between the lens and sensor for that type of adapter, so a speed booster for this setup is not a practical option.
For your camera, the more realistic low-light options are:
- use a faster lens, especially an inexpensive prime
- use flash when appropriate
- accept some ISO increase rather than underexposing
Two commonly suggested budget primes for Canon APS-C are a 50mm f/1.8 or a 24mm f/2.8. Either will let in much more light than an f/4–5.6 zoom, though you give up zoom flexibility. For event shooting, flash can also help a lot if the situation allows it.
So: don’t buy a speed booster for the 750D. Put the money toward a fast prime or lighting instead.
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