Sony Full Frame A mount Lenses on A7 Series Bodies: I'm considering moving to the Sony A7 variant mirrorless system. I voiced my thoughts on the lack of FE mount lenses to a sales rep...

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

I'm considering moving to the Sony A7 variant mirrorless system. I voiced my thoughts on the lack of FE mount lenses to a sales rep at an LCS and he said I might want to consider using the full frame A mount lenses with the Sony adapter. I've done some research and the A mount Zeiss lens lineup is pretty robust, so maybe it's an option.

That said, I'm not a big fan of adapters of any kind for any purpose. Not saying I wouldn't go down that road, just that my inclination is that adapters are workarounds and therefore come with some limitations.

My question is how the full frame A mount lenses, using the Sony adapter, perform on the A7/A7r/A7s/A7ii bodies. Does the auto focus and all the other functions perform as they would if I were to use an FE mount lens? I know the A mounts have an internal motor for focusing, but what is the real impact? And does it impact the stabilization system on the A7ii?

Hopefully one of the Hogs has some experience that will help me through the decision making process.

Thanks.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

I may stand corrected here, but A mount lenses with the motor in the lens are in the minority - which is why the adapter has a focus motor built in - and why it costs so much !

doduce Loc: Holly Springs NC

imagemeister wrote:

I may stand corrected here, but A mount lenses with the motor in the lens are in the minority - which is why the adapter has a focus motor built in - and why it costs so much !

I may have misread whatever it was I found. Thanks for giving me another point of reference.

Ctrclckws

There are 2 adapters for full frame, laea3 and laea4

The aps-c adapters were laea1 and laea2 and are no longer produced.
The 1 and 3 adapters do not have a motor to focus older lenses.

The 2 and 4 adapters have a motor and will focus Minolta a-mount original lenses without a motor.

The - 2 adapter works well on my nex-6. I don't have an a7 to try

ralphc4176 Loc: Conyers, GA

At the time I bought my a7R, right after it became available, I bought an adaptor for A mount lenses. They did not autofocus with the adaptor; maybe there is one now, but I now longer need it, because I bought one or more (can't remember how many now) E mount lenses for that camera, even though I thought the price was too high--but I knew of no other source for E mount lenses. I also found out that the a7R has a different hot shoe than earlier Sony cameras, so I had to buy a new shoe-mount flash. The Sony flashes for that camera were quite expensive, in my opinion, but I found a Metz flash for that camera at B&H for a very reasonable price, and I have been fully satisfied with it.

picturesofdogs Loc: Dallas, Texas.

I use an A7mk2 and LAEA4 adapter with Sony and minolta lenses. All camera functions work without problem and the Minolta lenses are relatively cheap. The only downside is you lose 1 stop on the lens, which has yet to be a problem for me.
You can also buy an adapter for just about any lens ever made.

wmontgomery Loc: Louisiana

I use the LAEA4 adapter on a Sony a6000 so I can use my old Minolta AF lenses. Have been pleased with AF on this old glass. a6000 in body IS has allowed me to shoot with a 500mm f4 handheld. My reading says f stop loss is only ⅓ stop. Ken Rockell has review on adapter.

Mark7829 Loc: Calfornia

doduce wrote:

I'm considering moving to the Sony A7 variant mirr... (show quote)

Rumors is that the adapter slows the AF significantly on some Nikon lenses. They all seem to work but apparently some none to well .This is such an important performance issue that you will need to address before you invest.

londonfire Loc: NY to NC

wmontgomery wrote:

I use the LAEA4 adapter on a Sony a6000 so I can use my old Minolta AF lenses. Have been pleased with AF on this old glass. a6000 in body IS has allowed me to shoot with a 500mm f4 handheld. My reading says f stop loss is only ⅓ stop. Ken Rockell has review on adapter.

I'm not a Sony expert but I haven't jumped on a 6000 because I don't think it has IBIS?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Mark7829 wrote:

Rumors is that the adapter slows the AF significantly on some Nikon lenses. They all seem to work but apparently some none to well .This is such an important performance issue that you will need to address before you invest.

How did we get to Nikon lenses ????

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

doduce wrote:

I'm considering moving to the Sony A7 variant mirr... (show quote)

I was out yesterday using my A6000 along with the LA-EA4 adapter and the Tamron 150-600mm in a Sony A-mount. Focusing seemed every bit as fast as it is using my Sony A99. The image in the view finder was just as bright also. I saw no down side.

Regarding stabization, there will no deteriation to it. The A6000 I was using only uses lens stabization so with the adapter and lens, I waswithout. But with the A7 family, it is back in the body, and with the newest models, more robust than ever.

I also did some shooting at 200mm on the A6000 with an e-mount lens and could see the effect of image stabilization very convincingly. If I would look at something through the viewfinding, it would be bouncing around. But as soon as I pressed the shutter half way down, the image was steady for as long as I held it that way.

cucharared Loc: Texas, Colorado

JimH123 wrote:

I was out yesterday using my A6000 along with the LA-EA4 adapter and the Tamron 150-600mm in a Sony A-mount. Focusing seemed every bit as fast as it is using my Sony A99. The image in the view finder was just as bright also. I saw no down side.

Good to hear this. I was wondering if you were still pleased with this setup. I finally got the A6000, but it'll be awhile before a long lens comes into the picture. Looking for good deal on LA-EA2/4 now.

ron

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

doduce wrote:

I'm considering moving to the Sony A7 variant mirr... (show quote)

You are in luck.

Sony developed a specialized adaptor, the LA-EA4, to adapt A mount lenses to E/FE mount cameras. The LA-EA4 makes ALL A mount autofocus lenses fully functional on E/FE cameras. That's FULLY functional.

Now, older, pre-Konica Minolta merger Minolta A mount lenses are screw drive. No problem, because the LA-EA4 has a built in screw drive. Same for Tamron/Sigma/Tokina A mount lenses.

NONE of the previous generation A7 series cameras have Steady Shot, Sony's in body image stabilization. Since NO A mount lenses have built in stabilization because Sony Amount cameras have Steady Shot, that means you had to use the Reciprocal rule or a tripod to have motion blur free images. The A7II as you mentioned DOES have Steady Shot, so this will allow you to use ANY lens on that camera for blur free photography under most conditions.

The LA-EA4 is not cheap... but it allows you to use any of the hundreds of A mount lenses from Sony, Zeiss, Minolta, and all the 3rd party suppliers on E/FE mount cameras. With FULL and COMPLETE functionality.

CHOLLY Loc: THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE!

imagemeister wrote:

I may stand corrected here, but A mount lenses with the motor in the lens are in the minority - which is why the adapter has a focus motor built in - and why it costs so much !

After the merger with Konica, Minolta designed and included SSM motors in their G lenses and select K.M. A mount lenses. After the Sony takeover, ALL Sony and Sony Zeiss lenses were either SAM or SSM lenses with 3 exceptions which remained screw drive... not a problems since all A mount cameras retain the screw drive to power all A mount AF lenses regardless of their vintage.

But you are right; given the complete body of A mount lenses available, the majority of them are screw drive. The newer lenses have built in motors though. The most notable exception is the Sony Zeiss 16-80mm f/3.5 ZA DT, an APS-C lens with excellent image quality but screw driven AF.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

cucharared wrote:

Good to hear this. I was wondering if you were still pleased with this setup. I finally got the A6000, but it'll be awhile before a long lens comes into the picture. Looking for good deal on LA-EA2/4 now.

ron

I bought the A6000 to be mainly a walk around type camera. It works great with all the A-mount lenses I have. But for the most part, I stick with the larger A-mount bodies with the A-mount lenses just so I have image stabilization. But I am free to use any of these lenses on the A6000 whenever I want, and they are fully functional.