Sony E to Medium Format Adapter

vvgogh

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Is there a Sony FE to medium format (fuji GFX or other) autofocus adapter?

That squarer 4:3 ratio makes more sense paired with a large circular front element than the more rectangular 3:2 ratio. I'd have these Sony E lenses and would like to see how much they cover the larger sensor:
  • 300mm F2.8 GM + teleconverters
  • 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G + teleconverters
  • 70-200mm F4 G2 Macro + teleconverters
  • 135mm F1.8 GM
I like the E 70-350 F4.5-6.3 G APSC. It covers a 4:3 ratio of the 35mm frame in a compact package. Sadly, it doesn't accept teleconverters =(
 
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Is there a Sony FE to medium format (fuji GFX or other) autofocus adapter?

That squarer 4:3 ratio makes more sense paired with a large circular front element than the more rectangular 3:2 ratio. I'd have these Sony E lenses and would like to see how much they cover the larger sensor:
  • 300mm F2.8 GM + teleconverters
  • 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G + teleconverters
  • 70-200mm F4 G2 Macro + teleconverters
  • 135mm F1.8 GM
I like the E 70-350 F4.5-6.3 G APSC. It covers a 4:3 ratio of the 35mm frame in a compact package. Sadly, it doesn't accept teleconverters =(
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
 
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
...which means an adaptor is unfortunately not possible.
 
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
...which means an adaptor is unfortunately not possible.
Not an off the shelf adaptor.

However, I have a manual focus 'dumb' Samyang 85mm f/1.4 lens in E mount.

This was originally a DSLR design, so the E mount version has a long tube between the body of the lens and the E mount plate. This was secured to the body of the lens with 4 little screws around the circumference of the lens body.

I removed these and the tube, to reveal the internal plastic structure of the lens body.

My brother in law designed a shortened plastic ring shaped to attach to the lens body (we guessed the right length from free lensing experiments). He then screwed a GF mount plate sacrificed from an unused Andoer adaptor to the mount end of the ring.

Surprisingly to me (perhaps not to him, he's good with his hands and eye) it works beautifully and the lens fully covers the 44x33 format with no vignetting even at f/1.4.
 
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
...which means an adaptor is unfortunately not possible.
Ahh, but the inner diameter of G mount is larger than the outer diameter of E mount and the rear ends of many E-mount lenses, enabling you to place the adapter and parts of the lens inside the mount :-)

Unfortunately, you'd likely have to ditch the electric contacts, and the OP wanted an AF adapter. Also, the cover glass 10mm in front of the sensor will be awfully close to the adapter / rear barrel of the lens.

Of course, this is just theory—I'm not expecting anyone to build such a thing.

- Chris
 
Is there a Sony FE to medium format (fuji GFX or other) autofocus adapter?

That squarer 4:3 ratio makes more sense paired with a large circular front element than the more rectangular 3:2 ratio. I'd have these Sony E lenses and would like to see how much they cover the larger sensor:
  • 300mm F2.8 GM + teleconverters
  • 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G + teleconverters
  • 70-200mm F4 G2 Macro + teleconverters
  • 135mm F1.8 GM
I like the E 70-350 F4.5-6.3 G APSC. It covers a 4:3 ratio of the 35mm frame in a compact package. Sadly, it doesn't accept teleconverters =(
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but has Fujifilm ever considered an adapter to use GF lenses on X cameras ? Perhaps to use their longer lenses as telephoto lenses on a more responsive camera ?
 
Is there a Sony FE to medium format (fuji GFX or other) autofocus adapter?

That squarer 4:3 ratio makes more sense paired with a large circular front element than the more rectangular 3:2 ratio. I'd have these Sony E lenses and would like to see how much they cover the larger sensor:
  • 300mm F2.8 GM + teleconverters
  • 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G + teleconverters
  • 70-200mm F4 G2 Macro + teleconverters
  • 135mm F1.8 GM
I like the E 70-350 F4.5-6.3 G APSC. It covers a 4:3 ratio of the 35mm frame in a compact package. Sadly, it doesn't accept teleconverters =(
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but has Fujifilm ever considered an adapter to use GF lenses on X cameras ? Perhaps to use their longer lenses as telephoto lenses on a more responsive camera ?
No they just design it once and place the other mount on it. Its rumored this was true for the gf 500mm f5.6 lens, which is also available for X mount.
 
Is there a Sony FE to medium format (fuji GFX or other) autofocus adapter?

That squarer 4:3 ratio makes more sense paired with a large circular front element than the more rectangular 3:2 ratio. I'd have these Sony E lenses and would like to see how much they cover the larger sensor:
  • 300mm F2.8 GM + teleconverters
  • 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G + teleconverters
  • 70-200mm F4 G2 Macro + teleconverters
  • 135mm F1.8 GM
I like the E 70-350 F4.5-6.3 G APSC. It covers a 4:3 ratio of the 35mm frame in a compact package. Sadly, it doesn't accept teleconverters =(
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
I'm not sure if this is relevant, but has Fujifilm ever considered an adapter to use GF lenses on X cameras ? Perhaps to use their longer lenses as telephoto lenses on a more responsive camera ?
No they just design it once and place the other mount on it. Its rumored this was true for the gf 500mm f5.6 lens, which is also available for X mount.
Interesting! Looking at the two side by side, this makes perfect sense.
 
The flange focal distance of the E mount is considerably shorter than that of the G mount.
Wouldn't you just need some glass in the adapter to transform the focal distance?
"Just"?

Are you thinking a 0.7ish teleconverter?
Now I now about different flange to sensor distances. This page gives a Canon to Sony example and lists flange to sensor distances.

Per that link, Canon EF (44mm) Lens to Sony E (18mm) Camera needs an adapter of 44-18mm = 26 mm. Following that pattern, Sony E (18mm) Lens to G (26.7mm) Camera needs 18-26.7mm = -8.7mm. Now I see the problem.

Would a 0.7 teleconverter built-in to an adapter work? 18mm/26.7mm=0.674. The 300 F2.8 lens would become 202mm F1.9? That would still be useful if that's how the optics work out.
 
Would a 0.7 teleconverter built-in to an adapter work? 18mm/26.7mm=0.674. The 300 F2.8 lens would become 202mm F1.9? That would still be useful if that's how the optics work out.
There are those kinds of adapters available. although to my knowledge, not E to G. There are some optical compromises involved, as with all TCs.
 
Would a 0.7 teleconverter built-in to an adapter work? 18mm/26.7mm=0.674. The 300 F2.8 lens would become 202mm F1.9? That would still be useful if that's how the optics work out.
There are those kinds of adapters available. although to my knowledge, not E to G. There are some optical compromises involved, as with all TCs.
My overview of such issues in general is Mixing and matching sensor format with lens coverage published at Electronic Imaging 2016, but let's get specific about E and G and why that's not a happy path to follow. At least not happy for focusing to infinity and having the lens focus and aperture operational...

Adapters with fractional magnification are called focal reducers. They're quite common for using FF lenses on APS-C. They reduce the focal length by the stated factor, and since the aperture size is unaffected, that also reduces the f/number. However, reducing the focal length shortens the rear focus distance and reduces the coverage circle. Reducing the coverage circle tends to increase MTF resolution, which helps when putting a FF lens on an APS-C body but not when an E/FE lens goes on a G body.

So-called "glass adapters" are even more common. They are basically teleconverters with just enough magnification to extend the rear focus enough to hit infinity using a body with a longer flange distance than the lens was intended for. Typical magnification is around 1.2X, and you'll most often see them for things like using a Minolta MD lens on a Sony A-mount (aka, Minolta AF-mount) body.

To use a Sony E (really FE, the FF variant of E mount) lens on a GFX, you need a glass adapter to extend the rear focus from 18mm to around the 26.7mm flange distance of the G mount + whatever thickness the adapter adds. Realistically, you are probably talking about 30mm or so, which means increasing the rear focus by a factor of 30/18, or about 1.67X. That's not hard to do optically, although that's also not a standard teleconverter magnification; one might substitute a 2X. Using a 1.67X, you would be converting a 50mm f/2 lens into an 83mm f/3.3.

As less-than-exciting as that sounds for wide-angle lenses, there is also the issue that native Sony FE lenses depend on an electrical connection and communication with the body. Contrary to common wisdom, Sony does NOT make their lens protocol freely available, but it has been reasonably well reverse-engineered. Here is an brief overview with links to what is known about the Sony E/FE protocol. You would need the adapter to contain a processor that could translate between E/FE and G electrical interfaces and protocols. The G lens interface protocol is even less openly understood, with very preliminary work like protocol sniffing toward reverse engineering still going on.

In other words, making a high-functioning E/FE to G adapter is not easy, requiring both teleconverter optics and a microcontroller to translate between two lens protocols, neither of which is openly documented. That's probably a hard NO.

Incidentally, the Hasselblad XCD has an 18.14mm flange distance, so you might get away without the glass adapter, although most FF lenses don't quite cover the 55mm diameter image circle implied by a 44x33mm sensor. In any case, the protocol conversion issue would still be there for sticking an E/FE lens on a Hasselblad...
 

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