A9 LE-EA5 and Minolta lenses

Took the plunge from a to e-mount after a 'reasonable' price on an A9 .



Also bought a LE-EA5 adapter, and that works fine with my Sony lenses.

However, older Minolta lenses seems to be MF only.

Am I doing anything wrong?
Or did I buy the wrong camera?

Eleson said:

Took the plunge from a to e-mount after a 'reasonable' price on an A9 .

Also bought a LE-EA5 adapter, and that works fine with my Sony lenses.

However, older Minolta lenses seems to be MF only.
Am I doing anything wrong?
Or did I buy the wrong camera?

Click to expand...

Either of the two Minolta SSM lenses would have AF with the LA-EA5 on the A9. It is only screw-driven A-mount lenses that don't have AF on the LA-EA5 on the A9, and that is regardless of brand name on the lens.

Screw-driven AF with the LA-EA5 is only supported on the A6600, A7RIV, and A1 camera bodies.

The Sony LA-EA4 should have AF with your Minolta lens on the A9 unless the lens is an Xi series lens.

Eleson said:

Took the plunge from a to e-mount after a 'reasonable' price on an A9 .

Also bought a LE-EA5 adapter, and that works fine with my Sony lenses.

However, older Minolta lenses seems to be MF only.

Click to expand...

Older minolta lenses have screw drive focus. Those old minolta cameras had the focus motor built into the camera body.

Now the focus motor is in every lens and information between the camera and lens is excanged electrically. No screw drive.

Most likely the adapter only support lenses without auto focus motors built in.

Eleson said:

Am I doing anything wrong?
Or did I buy the wrong camera?

Click to expand...

QuietOC said:

Eleson said:

Took the plunge from a to e-mount after a 'reasonable' price on an A9 .

Also bought a LE-EA5 adapter, and that works fine with my Sony lenses.

However, older Minolta lenses seems to be MF only.
Am I doing anything wrong?
Or did I buy the wrong camera?

Click to expand...

Either of the two Minolta SSM lenses would have AF with the LA-EA5 on the A9. It is only screw-driven A-mount lenses that don't have AF on the LA-EA5 on the A9, and that is regardless of brand name on the lens.

Screw-driven AF with the LA-EA5 is only supported on the A6600, A7RIV, and A1 camera bodies.

The Sony LA-EA4 should have AF with your Minolta lens on the A9 unless the lens is an Xi series lens.

Click to expand...

Yes

https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/cscs/accessories/?mdl=LA-EA5

Always check compatibility first. Seems like the A9 cannot use the LA-EA5 to drive lenses with screw drive AF

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Bummer.

Eleson said:

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Bummer.

Click to expand...

I recommend forgetting about A-mount lenses, but the one you have listed in your gear list here is one I've been looking to try. Do you still have the Sony 50mm F1.4? That shouldn't be focusing either.

I've misplaced the 50/1.4 , but I've tried the 100/2.0 and a kit zoom, and a Tamron APS-C 17-50 / 2.8 , a Tokina AT-X 20-35 /2.8 all with the same lack of AF.

The two Sony lenses works.



Cheers
Erland

Eleson said:

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Click to expand...

The focus issues with the adapter would still remain.

Eleson said:

Bummer.

Click to expand...

Tristimulus said:

Eleson said:

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Click to expand...

The focus issues with the adapter would still remain.

Click to expand...

The LA-EA5 has a motor for screw-driven lenses, but that part only works on three camera bodies so far: A6600, A7RIV, and A1.

Eleson said:

I've misplaced the 50/1.4 , but I've tried the 100/2.0 and a kit zoom, and a Tamron APS-C 17-50 / 2.8 , a Tokina AT-X 20-35 /2.8 all with the same lack of AF.
The two Sony lenses works.

Cheers
Erland

Click to expand...

I have modified my Sony LA-EA4 by removing the SLT mirror and replacing the circuit board with one that allows some screw drive lenses to focus using the on-sensor phase-detect. It is called the Monster Adapter LA-EA4r. The 100/2 and 50/1.4 are supported. I am looking to sell it, since I have the A7RIV and have ordered an LA-EA5.

QuietOC said:

Tristimulus said:

Eleson said:

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Click to expand...

The focus issues with the adapter would still remain.

Click to expand...

The LA-EA5 has a motor for screw-driven lenses, but that part only works on three camera bodies so far: A6600, A7RIV, and A1.

Click to expand...

Good to know. The list of supported cameras are longer but obviously supported in this particular case does not mean fully supported.

Eleson said:

So , in short I should have opted for the A7R IV.

Bummer.

Click to expand...

It is a little tricky to navigate this area. If we skip the speculations to why it is like it is and stick to the facts your options to get AF on your old A-mount screw drive lenses on E-mount FF bodys are:

Sony LA-EA5 with A1 or A7RIV. This combo will use the sensor to AF and give very good precision due to that. Also you can AF almost over the whole image area.

Sony LA-EA4 with A7III, A7RII, A7RIII, A7RIV, A9, A9II (+ several older bodys as well). This combo will use the built in AF-module that sits above the semi transparent mirror (which always takes 1/3 of stop of light) in the LA-EA4 adapter. You will get the AF precision from an older A-mount body with the usual need for micro focus adjustments. The LA-EA4 also only has some central AF-points.

LA-EA4r from the company MonsterAdapter, this is a conversion kit for the LA-EA4 where one takes out the semi transparent mirror and the Sony circuit board and replaces with only a new circuit board from MonsterAdapter. It will after this conversion use the sensor for AF and gives AF with many screw drive lenses and many different bodys. I haven't found any official page for this kit, MonsterAdapter is a small Chinese company but there is quite much info out on the net if you Google search it.

A note: The Sony LA-EA3 adapter works on many/most bodys but only with A-mount lenses that has built in autofocus motors. Both the LA-EA4 and LA-EA5 has this functionality built in so basically you get a "free" LA-EA3 with the 4 and 5 adapters.

The LA-EA2 is an APS-C version (the inside baffle is narrower) of the LA-EA4 adapter.
And the LA-EA1 is an APS-C version (the inside baffle is narrower) of the LA-EA3 adapter.

The best way to be sure if a combination works is to use the Sony compatibility matrix they have on their official site. Also the A-mount and E-mount forums on DPR, FredMiranda and https://www.dyxum.com are good sources for finding out more specific information and how the different adapters works with 3d party A-mount glass etc.