Are the A to E lens adaptors any good?

[Gladys]

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

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[alasdairmac]

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 June 8, 2021 by alasdairmac

[Pieter]

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 June 8, 2021 by Pieter

[michelb]

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 June 8, 2021 by michelb

[thebeardedgroundsman]

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.

[XKAES]

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.

[alasdairmac]

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 June 11, 2021 by alasdairmac

[thebeardedgroundsman]

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!