Don33772 wrote:
Hi friends, My name is Don and am sure glad of this forum being here!
I have a Panasonic 55mm 1:2.8 - 135mm lense. I need an adapter so I can use it on my Sony a6000...e-mount I've had the lens for a while and it is a 'hand me down' so I'd like to put it to good use. Can someone please help me with the right adapter? Thx
I looked everywhere online for any info about a "Panasonic 55-135mm 1:2.8" lens.
All I found was Leica APO-Vario-Elmar-T 55-135mm f/3.5-4.5 ASPH Lens. That's the only 55-135mm being made by anyone, that I can find.
Note that this is a "Leica T-mount" lens that sells for upwards of $2000.
As I understand it, the T-mount has been renamed "L-mount" and is being used interchangeably by Leica, Panasonic and Sigma in cameras and lenses.
If this is the lens you have, you would need an "L-mount to Sony e-mount" lens adapter.
HOWEVER, that adapter doesn't yet exist, perhaps because the L-mount system is relatively new. I also looked for a "T-mount to Sony e-mount", in hopes that an adapter had been made for the older mount. But that doesn't exist, either. Probably because the T-mount is fairly obscure, with few lenses made with it and few cameras using it.
This should NOT be confused with Leica L39 mount... also known as "Leica screwmount", which dates to the 1950s rangefinder cameras (there are many adapters that allow those to be used on various mirrorless... including Sony e-mount). An L39/M39 to e-mount adapter WILL NOT work with a modern L-mount (or T-mount) lens, if that's what you have.
EDIT:
After failing to find any sign of a Panasonic 55-135mm f/2.8 lens anywhere, I searched for any Panasonic f/2.8 lens and the only lenses somewhat similar to what you stated are:
- Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm f/2.8 O.I.S.
- Panasonic Lumix G X Vario 35-100mm f/2.8 II O.I.S.
- Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm f/2.8-4 O.I.S.
The good news is that these ARE NOT L-mount (or T-mount) lenses. They're all Micro 4/3 (MFT or M4/3) lenses. Some more good news is that there's an adapter available to mount an MFT lens to an e-mount camera.
HOWEVER, it's not all good news.... At B&H Photo, there's is only one adapter (Fotodiox:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1250652-REG/fotodiox_mft_nex_micro_four_third_lens.html/overview). I am sure the Hoage adapter you mention is identical, though it's not listed at B&H. Note the word "Manual" in the title. That's important. Here's what it means.
There will be no electronic communication between camera and lens. That equates to NO autofocus and NO means of setting the lens aperture. There's also a problem because the M4/3 sensor is smaller than the APS-C sensor used in your Sony camera, so it's quite likely there will be some vignetting from any M4/3 lens you might adapt for use on it. The vignetting occurs because an M4/3 design lens produces a smaller image circle... sufficient to cover the M4/3 sensor, but not large enough to cover a larger APS-C sensor. If it will occur and how much vignetting will occur varies depending upon the lens, focal length (in the case of a zoom) and aperture being used. If you are unable to adjust the lens aperture because there's no electronic communication provided by the adapter, the lens will probably be stuck at it's widest aperture all the time. Besides the exposure problems the fixed, largest possible lens aperture causes, it's also usually the worst possible aperture for vignetting issues. Plus it will not allow you to increase depth of field.
On the bright size... APS-C sensors are all that much larger than M4/3 sensors... so vignetting won't be as bad as mounting the M4/3 or APS-C lens on a full frame camera will cause, for example.
So, what lens do you actually have? If it's any of the above, I would recommend selling it and replacing with something actually made for your camera. If it's some other lens, let us know EXACTLY how it's branded and labelled... maybe there's a workable solution.