Jump to content

Are the A to E lens adaptors any good?

Gladys
 Share

Recommended Posts

Gladys Newbie

Gladys

Posted
Posted

Hi -  my faithful and much loved Sony A77 II has a broken memory card slot. It will cost £180 to get this fixed.  Whilst I'm willing to fork out for this, it raises the question of how long will it keep going?

As, to my horror, it appears that Sony has pulled the rug on A mount cameras I'm left with a sticky decision. I've a wonderful Minolta 300mm f4  plus a few others that were not cheap!

 

Are the adapters for these any good and which E mount camera would I choose to be most like the A77II? My main interest is wildlife which demands speed and accurate focussing - these have been taken, in the past in my wildlife garden.

 

Thankyou!

 

Pat

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Link to post
Share on other sites
alasdairmac Enthusiast

alasdairmac

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Gladys.  I've just moved from an A77ii to an A7iii and am using the LA-EA5 adapter with my Tamron 150-600 G02 lens and the overall performance is absolutely excellent. Autofocus is pin sharp.  The only caveat is that the LA-EA5 does not support screw-driven autofocus, it will only work with SSM/USM driven lenses -  and so if you have any of these older lenses, probably including your Minolta, then you'll be stuck with manual focus when using them. I think, but cannot be sure, that the LA-EA3 and 4 adapters might support screw drive autofocus but the -4 uses its own built-in inferior autofocus system rather than the camera's own autofocus so stay clear of that one.

 

You will want an APS-C Camera if you do not want to go full-frame so one in the A6000 range. I'm not familiar with them but make sure it is one of the models optimised for stills photography and not video.

Edited by alasdairmac
Link to post
Share on other sites
Pieter Mentor

Pieter

Posted
Posted (edited)
32 minutes ago, alasdairmac said:

The only caveat is that the LA-EA5 does not support screw-driven autofocus, it will only work with SSM/USM driven lenses

Sony says otherwise:

https://electronics.sony.com/imaging/imaging-accessories/imaging-lens-accessories/p/laea5

Get the benefit of the latest E-mount camera performance with legacy A-mount lenses1. Wide E-mount focal plane phase-detection autofocus2 with Real-time Eye AF, Real-time Tracking3, and AF tracking during continuous shooting is available for SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) / SAM (Smooth Autofocus Motor) lenses as well as A-mount lenses that do not have internal focus motors1.

You need to be sure you have a compatible camera model for this to work though. For now, AF on screw-drive lenses only works on the A7Riv, A6600 and A1.

Edited by Pieter
Link to post
Share on other sites
michelb Community Regular

michelb

Posted
Posted (edited)

The Sony LA-EA4 will provide similar AF performance as your A77II but will not work if you intend to use a Sony or Minolta APO Tele Converter along your 300mm F4 Minolta APO lens.

 Some advanced AF features may not work though like eye AF or Animal eye AF

Edited by michelb
Link to post
Share on other sites
thebeardedgroundsman Proficient

thebeardedgroundsman

Posted
Posted

I've switched from using my A68 (A-mount, APS-c) to an A6500 (E-mount, APS-c) with an EA1 adapter for shooting wildlife with my 70-400G SSM2 lens and have found the performance better in the AF choices and speed, the shooting speed can be varied from What I'm used to up to ridiculously fast. Noise reduction is much better, so higher ISOs are usable.

AF at 400mm is not as accurate as with the A68 - but this might be due to user error or lack of practice.

I don't know how well the camera/adapter works with other A-mount lenses as I still use my A99 (full frame) with those I've got.

If I move up to an E-mount full frame, I will definitely get the appropriate adapter so I can use my other A-mount lenses.

It is worth noting that the price you can get for selling A-mount kit is dropping - I was only able to get £215 for my Sigma 50mm Art lens - whereas the Nikon version would have got me £340.

Another dealer would not take any A-mount gear as they can't sell it on.

Link to post
Share on other sites
XKAES Experienced

XKAES

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, thebeardedgroundsman said:

Another dealer would not take any A-mount gear as they can't sell it on.

 

That great news -- at least for those of us who can live without the "latest and greatest", or simply can't afford it.

Link to post
Share on other sites
alasdairmac Enthusiast

alasdairmac

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 6/8/2021 at 2:26 PM, Pieter said:

Sony says otherwise:

https://electronics.sony.com/imaging/imaging-accessories/imaging-lens-accessories/p/laea5

Get the benefit of the latest E-mount camera performance with legacy A-mount lenses1. Wide E-mount focal plane phase-detection autofocus2 with Real-time Eye AF, Real-time Tracking3, and AF tracking during continuous shooting is available for SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) / SAM (Smooth Autofocus Motor) lenses as well as A-mount lenses that do not have internal focus motors1.

You need to be sure you have a compatible camera model for this to work though. For now, AF on screw-drive lenses only works on the A7Riv, A6600 and A1.

Pieter. I stand corrected; you are right.  It's my A7iii that does not support screw drive autofocus. The LA-EA5 adapter is fitted with the screw connection for those camera/lens combinations which require it.

Edited by alasdairmac
Link to post
Share on other sites
thebeardedgroundsman Proficient

thebeardedgroundsman

Posted
Posted
On 6/9/2021 at 1:16 PM, XKAES said:

That great news -- at least for those of us who can live without the "latest and greatest", or simply can't afford it.

Hey XKAES, Oh how I agree with your sentiment - all my gear comes from the reputable 2nd hand market - whichhas meant I can afford quality gear - even if not the latest or greatest.

The downside is, if I can't sell or get a worthwhile price for my less good gear - I end up accumulating!

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Posts

    • Cameratose
      Sony A7IV autofocus can't keep up

      By Cameratose · Posted

      The shutter is always open on mirrorless. The first or front curtain closing starts the picture taking process, the second or rear curtain completes it. There is no 'shutter slit' That's why your A7 IV has the option to close the shutter on power-down. Shooting electronic shutter is handled 100% by the processor telling the camera when to start saving what the sensor sees and when to stop, in simple terms. I've shot SLR, DSLR, SLT, and mirrorless, and mirrorless is by far the best. I shoot film from time to time and still have a couple of old DSLRS, a Minolta Maxxum 5D and a Sony A350. I have gotten to seriously dislike optical viewfinders. I would never shoot SLT again. It may have been the predecessor to mirrorless, but it wasn't great technology.  The AF issue aside, I think you just need to spend more time with the mirrorless. I know a few guys who went back to DSLR for similar reasons, but they eventually ended up back in mirrorless. Since DSLR is going the way of the dinosaur, your options aren't many. Shoot older cameras or mirrorless.   
    • MinoltaMaster
      Sony A7IV autofocus can't keep up

      By MinoltaMaster · Posted

      Maybe could help but I doubt that the camera will drive the lenses better. from fw 3.2 the AF was spectacular even with the Minolta 80-200, not even close to a77ii but i was expecting it to be quite lackluster. It was snappy and tracked cars moving at 30kmh towards me without an issue. It was when I updated to 4.0 when I felt like i had to get the Sigma lens, which offers roughly the same experience: good autofocus on slow objects, stays in place or back focused (especially back focusing) most of the shots. I've tried to see if you can downgrade the firmware, but I've seen negative results. ISO1250 and that's overexposed, iso800 and the detail remains. could be, since it's no SLT either you also need the shutter slit to be wide enough to let the sensor do autofocus. all in all I believe mirrorless cameras are a step back from dslr and SLT cameras The SLT A99II has proven to be the best autofocusing camera in the world and it still is, it's just that the gimmick of the mirrorless cameras can detect the eye of the subject and promise to obtain better action portraits because they focus on the eye or cockpit of the subject. Because of this I was going to go full onto the A7CII but when I read it can only do 1/4000 and has a single shutter curtain I really felt like that was two fundamental deal breakers. The lack of joystick also made me quack off but the A7IV joystick isn't joyful either, all in all I have realized that going from the A77II to the a7iv had just a single point for which was clear photos at iso 3200, because everything else is a serious downgrade: the battery life, the ergonomics, the button layout, the autofocus responsiveness, the shutter cycle duration (3ms for A77II and 5ms for A7IV) etc. I wanted an A99II (thus paying only half of what I had to pay to convert to E mount) but all the ones I've seen were outside the EU or in poor condition.
    • Cameratose
      Sony A7IV autofocus can't keep up

      By Cameratose · Posted

      Man, that stinks. I still wouldn't give up on settings though. Have you tried doing a factory reset and starting from scratch? What about all of the firmware updates on the camera?  One other thing, you say you're shooting f/4 and 1/5000. That's pretty quick. What kind of ISO does that result in? These cameras need light to AF so they can see contrasts. Have you tried dropping the shutter to 1/2000, or even 1/1600? You'll gain a couple stops of light to the sensor. 

  • Topics

×
×
  • Create New...