Metabones Announces Major Breakthrough in Autofocus Performance of Adapted Lenses on Sony E Mount Cameras

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Vancouver, Canada, October 15, 2026, Metabones® started out as the crucial link between DSLR lenses and mirrorless cameras, but as the industry evolved, native lens options became abundant. Over time, lens adapters gained notoriety as video autofocus often failed to meet the expectations of professional videographers. We acknowledge that many creators now reject adapters out of the gate due to this historical lack of performance. Today, native lenses are the benchmark against which adapted lenses are measured—that is the standard users demand. To meet that bar, Metabones wiped the slate clean, went back to the drawing board, and created TruePDAF Technology™, the biggest breakthrough since the invention of the Smart Adapter™.

Introducing the next generation: Metabones G6™. Despite sharing a familiar exterior, the G6 is a complete internal overhaul. Its TruePDAF Technology establishes an entirely new standard of autofocus performance that outclasses everything before it. By removing the adapter as a bottleneck, performance is constrained only by the speed of the lens’s own focus motor—delivering a user experience practically indistinguishable from a native lens.

 

TruePDAF Technology™

Metabones' TruePDAF Technology solves autofocus performance problems by storing lens profile data of more than 100 lenses in firmware. When a match is found, G6's LED glows magenta (instead of blue) to indicate that additional lens metadata is conveyed to the camera. This is exactly the same kind of metadata that a native lens reports to the camera. With that extra information, PDAF performance is improved to a level never seen before with an adapted lens, even under less-than-ideal shooting conditions such as insufficient light, low contrast, AF points that are at the corners and subjects that are close to the lens’ minimum focus distance. The list of lenses with TruePDAF Technology support can be found on the web page of each new product.

If a lens is not on the list, G6 will do the same thing as the fifth generation. It will try its best effort to send approximate PDAF metadata, which still results in very good performance.

As for the camera, optimal autofocus speed requires Sony Alpha 7 IV (ILCE-7M4) or newer, as older cameras will not be able to attain a near-native level of performance.  

 

G6, the New Generation. The Sixth Generation

Two new products are introduced today:

*plus shipping, applicable taxes and duties.

 

EF-E mount T Smart Adapter G6 and EF-E mount T Speed Booster ULTRA 0.71x G6 are available for order on Metabones' web store and its worldwide network of resellers. EF-E mount T CINE Smart Adapter G6 and EF-E mount T CINE Speed Booster ULTRA 0.71x G6 are in the works and will be available shortly afterwards. However, there is no plan to replace the existing EF-E mount CINE eND Smart Adapter (MB_NDEF-E-BM7) at this time.

 

Should I Upgrade?

A legacy Metabones product of the first or second generation from 2012 or the third generation and the original non-ULTRA Speed Booster from 2013** can be identified by the old "METABONES" logo which is in all uppercase. It is not equipped with a USB port and firmware update is by factory service only. The last firmware for these legacy products is v.68 (2021). For the fourth generation (2014-2017), the firmware can be upgraded by the end-user and the final firmware is v.75 (2025). If you still own one of these old generations, "G6" is a compelling upgrade proposition because there will be a huge leap in autofocus performance. If, however, you have one of the fifth generation products listed below,

 

Metabones recommends checking the supported lens list first. If none of your lenses are on the list, a firmware upgrade (v.78) available for download today from Metabones' web site for Mac and Linux users and from Microsoft Store for Windows users will offer almost all of the same benefit at no cost. Even though fifth-generation hardware has reached its limit, it will continue to receive bug fixes by firmware update in the foreseeable future. If your lenses are on the list, however, "G6" will be a significant performance upgrade under challenging shooting conditions.

 

**units near the end of the production run transitioned to the new lowercase Metabones logo.

 

To support our loyal community we are proud to introduce the G6 Trade-In Upgrade Program. Until December 31, 2026, owners of previous-generation Metabones EF-E adapters can trade in their existing gear for a G6 equivalent for USD 199***. Please write to support@metabones.com before shipping your old unit to us.

 

***plus shipping and applicable taxes/duties. The upgrade pricing of USD 199 applies on a like-for-like basis, meaning CINE for CINE, Speed Booster ULTRA for Speed Booster ULTRA and Smart Adapter for Smart Adapter. In the case of Speed Booster ULTRA the existing optics will be kept and installed on your G6 Speed Booster ULTRA. Everything else will be new. There is no G6 equivalent for the original Speed Booster of 2013 because the optics will have to be replaced. In that scenario, an additional USD 250 charge on top of the upgrade price applies for brand new Speed Booster ULTRA optics.

 

Other Features

The following is a list of highlighted features exclusive to Metabones:

 

Speed Booster ULTRA

Speed Booster ULTRA uses an advanced 5-element/4-group optical design incorporating ultra-high index tantalum-based optical glass to achieve extraordinary optical performance with improved corner sharpness, distortion and reduced vignetting. It has a magnification of 0.71x, and so it effectively reduces the crop factor of mirrorless Sony E mount cameras in Super35mm mode from 1.5x to 1.07x. Speed Booster ULTRA makes very effective use of exotic materials at the furthest limit of glassmaking technology, and as a result is well corrected for use with virtually all full-frame SLR lenses regardless of exit pupil distance. Thus, the Speed Booster ULTRA performs extremely well with professional-grade f/2.8 zoom lenses such as the 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 zooms by Canon to produce 17-50mm f/2.0 and 50-142mm f/2.0 high-speed zooms, respectively. Similarly, high-speed fixed focal length lenses such as a 50mm f/1.2 will be transformed into a 35.5mm f/0.9 lens with excellent contrast and resolution from the center all the way to the edges of the image. (More information can be found in the press release here)

 

Disclaimer: Metabones is not endorsed or licensed by Canon or Sony. Metabones does not have specifications of the mounts, interfaces or the communication protocols, which may negatively impact compatibility now or in the future. All trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

 

 

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About Metabones

Metabones®, together with its allied partners Caldwell Photographic and WB Design, is the pioneer and leader of two key technologies which have catalyzed the transition from mirror to mirrorless. Speed Booster® (winner of the 2013 TIPA Best Photo Accessory Award) makes lenses brighter, wider and sharper, and Smart Adapter™ breaks the lens mount compatibility barrier by electronically integrating interchangeable single-lens reflex (SLR) lenses and mirrorless cameras. Metabones® offers a comprehensive range of adapters covering most popular lens mounts, as well as some rare and exotic ones. "Always at the forefront of innovation without ever setting aside practicality as a professional tool" perhaps best epitomizes Metabones' philosophy.