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LAEA-4 adapter

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nemist

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Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.

And this adapter has a translucent mirror, correct? Some light is lost as with other SLT cameras from Sony (1/3 to 1/2 stop of light)?

Thanks.
 
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.
Click to expand...
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.

2. LA-EA4

Yes, with all A Mount AF lenses, SSM, SAM and screw drive AF lenses, you get PDAF fed from the SLT equipped LA-EA4, and yes, exposure for all lenses.
nemist said:
And this adapter has a translucent mirror, correct? Some light is lost as with other SLT cameras from Sony (1/3 to 1/2 stop of light)?
Click to expand...
Yes for the LA-EA4.

Cheers,
Ralf
 
Ralf B said:
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.
Click to expand...
I may be wrong on assuming the EA3 does feed PDAF, see here and here . So exposure - yes, focus: Manual. The APS-C LA-EA1 does feed PDAF for motorized Sony A Mount lenses, but not the -EA3.

Still, this Sony Germany web page says that the -EA3 feeds SSM and SAM lenses with AF signals which have to come from the adapted cam body:

"Nehmen Sie gestochen scharfe, fokussierte Aufnahmen sowohl mit SSM- als auch SAM-A-Mount-Objektiven auf."

Go figure.....

Cheers,
Ralf
www.ralfralph.smugmug.com
 
Last edited:
Ralf B said:
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.
Click to expand...
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, screw drive lenses won't auto focus with the LA-EA3, but they can be used with the LA-EA3 with manual focus.
 
Brian_Smith said:
Ralf B said:
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.
Click to expand...
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, screw drive lenses won't auto focus with the LA-EA3, but they can be used with the LA-EA3 with manual focus.
Click to expand...
 
EinsteinsGhost said:
EinsteinsGhost said:
Ralf B said:
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.
Click to expand...
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, screw drive lenses won't auto focus with the LA-EA3, but they can be used with the LA-EA3 with manual focus.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.

And this adapter has a translucent mirror, correct? Some light is lost as with other SLT cameras from Sony (1/3 to 1/2 stop of light)?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Yes..and my current LA EA2...steals light
 
K E Hoffman said:
EinsteinsGhost said:
K E Hoffman said:
Ralf B said:
nemist said:
Do I understand correctly that if I would like to have full AF and exposure for my A-mount FF lenses (Mino 80-200, CZ 24-70, etc.) I need an LAEA4 adapter.
Click to expand...
1. LA-EA3

Yes, with SSM and to a lesser degree SAM lenses, you get CDAF fed from the adapted a7 / a7r with the LA-EA3, and yes, exposure for all lenses. And no, screw drive lenses don't work with CDAF. No SLT mirror here, so no light loss.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, screw drive lenses won't auto focus with the LA-EA3, but they can be used with the LA-EA3 with manual focus.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I think LAEA4 is supposed to be faster while LAEA3 shall work AF as well but might be slow a bit.

My question is would it be possible to hack a LAEA1 to be LAEA3 or it requires firmware change after griding off material to make rectangle opening FF? I know Sony has a way to hose you buy their "special" things always ...

Any info or anyone has tried?
 
daqk said:
I think LAEA4 is supposed to be faster while LAEA3 shall work AF as well but might be slow a bit.

My question is would it be possible to hack a LAEA1 to be LAEA3 or it requires firmware change after griding off material to make rectangle opening FF? I know Sony has a way to hose you buy their "special" things always ...

Any info or anyone has tried?
Click to expand...
There is a motor and gear train in the area just outside the inner APS baffle, plus a lot of heavy die casting. Not really possible while still keeping the aperture control working.

http://www.pbase.com/pganzel/image/136957729.jpg





136957729.jpg




Pete

--
http://www.pbase.com/pganzel
 
Last edited:
Thanks great info.

I have 2 LAEA1s I guess I need sell it to get the new gen LAEA3. And I hope LAEA3 is backward "compatible" with old NEX.
 
Got it two days ago. It's exactly the same size as the LA-EA2 I also had. Without looking very hard at the opening and larger mirror, you'd be hard pressed telling one from the other. Paint finish is a tiny bit different (better, thicker on the EA2, plainer on the EA4) and the EA4 does not have the mention "SLT technology" written in gold letters on top. It has no inscription.

Both feature the exact same 15 AF points with 3 cross type, in the exact same array, so AF performance of the A55/65, not A77/99 as initially reported. It's totally backward compatible with my NEX7, so I actually sold my EA2 as I don't think I'll ever need to use the A7 and N7 with adapter *at the same* time.



EA4 is on the right
EA4 is on the right



e1ad39a648d442ab8d741abaac13917c.jpg
 
Can you please advise on the bottom dimensions for speccing out a plate? Maybe rrs B76 multiuse plate which is 2.1 x 1.6 inches (53x41 mm)?
 
I understand the limitations, different AF systems and ILC versus DSLR and how it works, but this is really too bad. I don't prefer using an adapter. It's not cheap, and then there is a light loss. Being heavily invested in a-mount, it looks like the only hope of getting that 36mp d800 sensor is using an adapter with light loss and spending extra money. I don't feel like Sony is supporting a-mount, well, not matter what they say.

Oh well.
 
nemist said:
I understand the limitations, different AF systems and ILC versus DSLR and how it works, but this is really too bad. I don't prefer using an adapter. It's not cheap, and then there is a light loss. Being heavily invested in a-mount, it looks like the only hope of getting that 36mp d800 sensor is using an adapter with light loss and spending extra money. I don't feel like Sony is supporting a-mount, well, not matter what they say.

Oh well.
Click to expand...
If you prefer A-mount, it might be better to wait a few months when those announcements are made.

But, as far as light loss goes I personally don't see an issue. The negligible loss is a compromise for some gains. As for the cost, again, one has to understand why take the adapter route as opposed to native lenses only. If the idea is to share lenses and/or take advantage of less expensive options, the adapter quickly pays for itself. In fact, instead of buying Sony 18-200 OSS at $800, I preferred to stick withSigma 18-250 OS for travel zoom and at $450 for the lens couple of years ago and LAEA2 costing $250, the adapter was already paid off, with savings of $100. And it also makes any of my dozen or so A mount lenses work superbly on NEX. Now The NEX can go small, go as a legacy lens body, go as a backup to my A mount body and even used for action/sports photography.
 
Two further questions:

Does the LAEA4 make noise when focusing with screw driven lenses such as my CZ 85 1.4?

What does the mirror due to ISO/exposure? Is the meter actually receiving less light because of the SLT so you get a ISO Boost? Or how does the metering and exposure deal with less light?
 
Yes, all screw drive lenses make some noise when focusing. The SLT mirror costs around 1/3 stop worth of light, just as it would on the SLT cameras. I don't know if the NEX cameras automatically compensate for it as the SLT cameras do or not, but it shouldn't be an issue as you can always just set that amount in when using it.
 
nemist said:
Two further questions:

Does the LAEA4 make noise when focusing with screw driven lenses such as my CZ 85 1.4?
Click to expand...
The adapter itself does not make any noise. A screw driven lens, however, will just as it does on a camera body.
nemist said:
What does the mirror due to ISO/exposure? Is the meter actually receiving less light because of the SLT so you get a ISO Boost? Or how does the metering and exposure deal with less light?
Click to expand...
Half stop is not something you will notice either way. In fact, here are couple of images (crops) taken at the same event, both with NEX-3. One of them is mirror-less (Contax Zeiss 50/1.7) and the other is using SLT (LA-EA2, Minolta 200/2.8).

50mm, @ f/2, ISO 400, 1/500s (Mirror-less)

50mm, @ f/2, ISO 400, 1/500s (Mirror-less)

200mm, @ f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/640s (SLT)

200mm, @ f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/640s (SLT)

The first image was taken with a lens 1-stop faster (f/2 compared to f/2.8). This allowed a stop lower ISO (400 compared to 800). However, note the shutter speed... the SLT was actually faster in this case (although, I would say negligibly so).
 
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