I've had the Minolta Vectis APS film SLR system for a number of years , Both the S1 and S100 film and V-mount DiMage RD-3000 DSLR from 1999 .
The film cameras are a nice lightweight rain proof system , which is why I bought it . I have been using them for over ten years alongside my A-mount film and digital cameras .
The system was released in 1996 and was a bit like the Minolta film equivalent to Sony's E-mount digital alternative to A-mount .
I think David Kilpatrik on Photoclubalpha was the first to try and utilise these lenses on a digital camera with more than 3 megapixels (!) though it involved duck tape.
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I've started dismantling some of my spare Vectis lenses to see about providing power to them to make use , but hadn't got very far when this thread popped up .
Intrigued , I contacted the maker and three months later it arrived .
First of all , this adapter powers up the lens so that lenses that allow manual focus can be focussed manually .
two of the Vectis lenses don't allow this so cannot be used .
**This adapter does not support auto focus .**
The adapter enables aperture control the same as if a native E-mount lens is fitted , ie , via the cameras control wheel .
All exposure modes work as normal , P,A,S,M . Auto ISO works as intended .
The adapter reports the focal length to the camera , not 100% accurate as the 400mm reflex is reported as 405mm , The 50mm Macro reports 51mm and the 17mm is reported as 18mm .
Likewise the 22-80mm zoom is reported as 21mm .
Whether this is a quirk of the adapter or the true focal length of the lens , I don't know . This makes no difference in use , if your camera has image stabilisation , it will work automatically ,as normal . a mm or two out wont cause a problem.
Because the camera knows the focal length of the lens in use / set to in the case of a zoom , in A mode , with auto ISO , it will select a shutter speed and ISO to reduce camera shake as normal , the same as any A or E mount camera .
Like the Canon EOS lens to Sony E-mount adapter , there are a few minor issues to take into mind .For normal everyday use this adapter is perfect for my needs , doing everything I want it to do ( A/F would have been nice though !) .
Build quality is very good . This hasn't just been knocked up in someone's shed , it is very professionally made .
The maker had only had another six made , hopefully he will have more made as these will sell quickly .
A couple of people have contacted me via Dyxum and another via Flickr .
So , just a few things to be aware of ;
1;this adapter is not compatible with the original NEX 3 or 5 .
All later cameras seem to be supported .
2;On some cameras , if it is set to continuous advance , or a rapid succession of single shots are taken , the camera / adapter can freeze . This might only be an issue on higher end cameras .
On my NEX 7 and John's a7 this happened after between 5 and 8 shots . On an a3000 and an NEX 3n , you could shoot without any problem until the cameras buffer was full .
This made no difference whether the camera was set to JPEG or RAW .
In normal use this does not effect me (YMMV).
3;on the NEX 7 , if the onboard flash is raised , when a shot is taken on about 3 out of 5 shots the camera would freeze .
When using the HVL-F20AM flash unit , it improved to only 1 out of 10 shots would result in the camera freezing .
With the a3000 , there was no issues with using either on board flash or a separate unit .
As John does not have a separate flash , he is unable to test on the a7 .
So between us , these are the only three issues found .
Non of these issues are a concern to me , as it enables me to use my lenses in a way that meets my needs .
Although the adapter was expensive , having the full range of lenses has made it worth while .
The Lenses ?
I'm very pleased with the Vectis lenses , almost all my A-mount lenses are Minolta , from a 16mm fisheye to a 300mm f/4 plus a load of zooms , plus Minolta SR lenses .
So I'm well aware of the quality of Minolta lenses .
I've used the Vectis lenses on the S1 and RD-3000 for years too , and have always been happy , though never enlarged too much . APS film had it's limitations due to size , but I used the cameras in the rain without a second thought .
Minolta put quite a bit of effort into making these lenses to resolve to quite high degree to make up for that .
So it stands to reason if the lenses for the larger 35mm film are good for APS-C , the APS-H lenses are quite at home .
I have to admit that I was a bit concerned that they might not be up to it , considering how much I paid for the adapter.
I have multiple examples of all the lenses so I will need to find which are the best ones , I've found out of my two 17mm ones , one could not reach infinity focus , but the other went beyond it , as per design .
I think the other needs a shim taking out , surprised I never picked up on this before though . That's what magnified live view , focus peaking , 24 megapixel , and pixel peeping on a big screen does though !
I need to compare my other lenses now though .
On my holiday where I used them as my main kit I tested them out in normal use , rather than test charts and brick walls , I will be interested to try them on a full frame E-mount with A/S .
I found the best camera to use the 400mm reflex on was the a3000 due to the ergonomics , despite the poor EVF , the majority of the shooting was with the NEX 7 .
After using the EVF on the a77ii for a while , I found the NEX 7 a bit more awkward , for focus peaking , if you are focusing from near to away , it was fairly reliable .
If focusing from infinity towards you , quite severe back focus occurred , still more testing is needed to work out how best to use it.
The following links are to the sample pictures on my Flickr site .
I will be putting reviews of the Vectis lenses on the adapted lenses forum when time allows .
In the meantime , all samples have been set up in separate albums for each lens . I have multiple copies of each lens , so still need to test them to use the best .
All shots are from normal use , no test charts or brick walls !
I might be more critical on the final selection .
Minolta Vectis V-Sony E MONSTER Adapter on Flickr
Minolta Vectis 17mm f/3.5 RD
Minolta Vectis 50mm f/3.5 Macro
Minolta Vectis 400mm f/8 Reflex
Minolta Vectis 22-80mm f/4-5.6
Minolta Vectis 56-170mm f/4.5-5.6
Minolta Vectis 80-240mm f/4.5-5.6 APO
More photos will be added as I process them and take more .
