A6000 & A-mount Lenses

[Pedronicus]

Hi folks, a new member here seeking a bit of advice please.

 

I have been a user of a Sony Alpha camera (A33) for a few years now and have collected quite a few Alpha lenses during that time including the Sony kit lens that came with the camera, a couple of Sony primes and zooms, a Tameron zoom and a couple of old Minoltas, one prime and a 'beercan'.  I have recently bought an A6000 with the SEL1650 kit lens as I felt the A33 was a bit long in the tooth in terms of size, IQ and functions and would like to use the old lenses (primarily the Minolta 50mm f1.7) on it occasionally.

 

I understand that an adaptor is needed to fit the Alpha lenses to the E-mount body and am quite happy with having to focus manually owing to the lack of the auto-focus facility.  However I am having trouble getting the old brain around the aperture setting procedure as none of my Alpha lenses have an external aperture setting ring.  They all seem to default to the smallest aperture when off the camera.  As I can't quite run to the cost of a Sony LE-A4 adaptor just yet I was initially thinking of getting the Fotodiox Alpha to E-mount adaptor which appears to have a manual aperture adjustment slider but how do I set the aperture on the lens to suit the A6000?  Google seems to concentrate on the manual focus issue only.

 

Any help would be very much appreciated.  TIA.

 

Pete

[Username]

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Given your willingness to focus manually, don't fret over the 

price of the LAEA4, which will autofocus your A-mount lenses.  

   

Instead, go for the LAEA3 which is 1/2 EV brighter due to the 

absence of the SLT mirror, but costs only $150 [vs $350 for 

the LAEA4 SLT]. I use both. I got the "4" used, from a friend. 

Otherwise I would not spend the retail price just to get AF as, 

like yourself, I can easily forego AF. But on the cheap, it's a 

good snapshot accessory offering AF with my old A-mount 

lenses. Good for lazy snapshooting duty, but not a necessity. 

And anywho, you've got your E-mount kit lens for that use, 

which is just another reason to not spend for the "4" !  

  

Before I got the "4" I was happily using the "3", and I still use 

it more than the "4". All normal functions you had with your 

A-mount body continue to function except, acoarst, the AF.  

 

You can by cheaper adapters that operate the aperture by a 

lever on the adapter, but there is no electronic feadback, so 

your IBIS doesn't know what the FL is unless you dial it in 

manually ... a toadall PITA with a zoom lens. Also the Sony 

adapter provides auto iris action, where the lever operated 

adapters have fully manual iris control  :-(  

   

IOW, the Sony LAEA3 is MORE than worth the $125 extra 

cost vs the cheap option. It's an OEM part, very well built. 

Plus, if you ever stumble upon a really good deal for a newer 

type A-mount lens ... meaning AF motor is in the lens itself ... 

then the LAEA3 will provide AF with that lens :-) Only the old 

shaft-driven A-mount lenses lack AF with the "3" adapter. It 

does provide the electrical pass-thru to AF the motor-in-lens 

system of the late-model A-mount lenses.  

[Pedronicus]

Username, very many thanks for your comprehensive reply.

 

I was wondering about the LAEA3 but was getting a bit confused as the specs mention FF rather than APS-C.

 

Is there anyway I can tell if my old Minolta lenses are shaft driven models rather than inbuilt AF motor versions?  I have the Maxxum AF 50mm, F1.7 and the AF Zoom 70-210mm f4 "beercan".

 

As I have a birthday coming up soon it looks like a few subtle hints need to be left around the house in the hope that a LAEA3 will arrive!    

 

Pete

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

A large portion of the lenses for A Mount has screwdrive. That includes Minolta, Sony and third party lenses. Only the most recent and expensive lenses have SSM drive.

 

Therefore, the LA-EA4 will be more useful, unless you have a good selection of SSM lenses.

[Pedronicus]

Jaf-Photo, many thanks for your input.

 

I have had a check and it appears that the only A-mount lenses I have with screwdrive are the two Minolta ones, the rest having in-lens motors.  

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

Alright, there's also a difference between SAM and SSM drives. SSM is really the only internal drive worth its salt, preferably SSM II.

[Username]

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Jaf's advice is a bit harsh. One would do well to 

follow it when BUYING lenses in the future, but 

you already own your lenses, and should not be 

concerned if they happen to be SAM. Just keep 

on using them and don't worry about it.   

   

Also, while he is correct that only the LAEA4 

will AF your shaft drive lenses, given its cost of 

more than 2X of the LAEA3, since you've said 

you're happy using MF, save yourself the $200. 

[Guest Jaf-Photo]

Buy cheap buy twice. In photography, it's silly to try to save money by cutting corners. It will only cost you extra time and money.

 

LA-EA3 has very slow AF with most lenses, so slow that it is a manual focus adapter in terms of practical use. So, the overwhelming probability is that you'll get frustrated with it and want to sell it.

 

The LA-EA4 on the other hand provides reliable AF on all A-Mount lenses.