Smart adaptor for old manual focus macro lens?

[neeb]

Hello everyone.

 

I have an A7r and do some macro photography. I’m currently using an old manual focus 90mm Tamron SP Macro lens with an adaptor, which works very nicely on a tripod, but I find almost unusable for handheld macro with a flash.  This is because to focus accurately with very shallow DoF I need to have the lens opened up to f2.8, although I’m shooting at f11, f16 or whatever.  Apart from the viewfinder being far too dark/grainy when the lens is stopped down, even with focus peaking the in-focus area is just way too vague to get the middle of the DoF where I want it. On a tripod it’s easy to focus at f2.8 and then stop down, but this is next to impossible handheld because the act of moving the aperture ring always knocks the focus out.

 

The problem of course is that the adaptor isn’t “smart” and the A7r can’t stop down the lens automatically. The problem would be completely solved with a smart adaptor. Is there any chance that such a thing is ever going to become available? It’s incredibly annoying that the lack of such a stupidly simple mechanical device is crippling this otherwise lovely camera/lens combination for handheld macro. I realise that the Tamron stopdown mechanism (and those for all the old manual “legacy” lenses) is mechanical, while the A7r is electronic, but surely all that would be required would be an adaptor with a simple mechanism to move a built-in lever in response to an electronic signal from the A7 contacts? If such adaptors were available for all of the old mechanical mount systems it would massively add to the usability of old lenses on the A7 system.

 

The reason I’m asking now of course is because the Sony 90mm G macro lens has been released, and that would obviously solve my problem as well as offering a bunch of other features. But I’d still probably be perfectly happy with my old Tamron if the damn Sony could just stop the thing down when shooting… 

[favol84]

Just use an a-mount macro lens and a lea3/4 or at least a canon one and a metabones-like adaptor... Otherwise, sorry but I don't think that someone would produce a smart adaptor for very very old lenses...

[Golem]

Right. The LE-A3/4 come from Sony for the same

reason that the hypothetical mechanical auto-stop

-down adapters for Nikon mechanisms must come

from Nikon, or for Canon FD would have to come

from Canon. Clearly, THAT is NEVVVUH coming.

 

In the OP, Neeb doesn't tell us what mount his

Tamron SP has. If it's Canon EF, he's in luck.

 

Hey, Neeb !!! Good luck :-) Otherwise, Sux2BU :-(

 

 

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