Canon Glass For My Sony Camera
As I've written previously on this blog, as much as I truly love my Sony camera, I've been quite frustrated by Sony's slow lens development. A few years ago, Sony released a few new cameras in a new mount... the Sony e-mount. At that time, I didn't give Sony much of a thought... that is... until I held one of these cameras in my hands at a local Best Buy store.
The moment I held this new Sony camera body in my hands, I said, "WOW!" It was small... it was relatively lightweight... it had a HUGE sensor... and it really felt like a solid, high quality product. I went home and started researching (I never buy anything costing more than a few bucks until I research... and research more... and then research again).
I was liking what I was reading about this camera system but it was completely new with a new lens mount so lenses were few and far between at that point. I thought, "So... how long could it take to fill out a fairly complete lens lineup?... Two or three years?" At the time, I figured that this production time would give me time to save money for each of the new lenses.
I was wrong.
Approximately three years have passed (two years since I actually bought this camera) and the lens lineup is perhaps more frustrating today than it was two or three years ago. Sony has filled a few gaps in the lineup with multiple versions of common focal lengths but the lineup is still rather scant as a whole.
I'm not going to get into details here but I will say that I feel Sony is definitely going about this projected lens roadmap in a very wrong way. This roadmap is filled with stop signs, go back signs, and yield signs which sometimes makes me feel as though there is also a dead end sign. But... putting the lacking lenses aside, the cameras are so damn good!
There are many selling points to these Sony cameras not the least of which is image quality but this blog entry isn't about the beautiful image quality. One of the great selling points of this particular camera system which is related to this blog entry is that you can convert almost any lens made for other camera manufacturers to use on these Sony cameras. That is a significant selling point especially considering my frustrations with the Sony lens lineup.
Good lenses are needed for good image quality. If you put a lousy lens on a good camera body, you'll just get lousy photos. Think of it like a window in your house... if the window pane is distorted, then your view will be distorted... if the window is dirty, then your view will be horrible. Good, sharp, clean lenses are a necessity when it comes to image quality.
Until recently, I've been reluctant to try any of the available autofocus adapters... mostly due to cost... partly due to a few reports of poor autofocus or lacking features when using these adapters. Also, I didn't want to be spending money on these adapter lenses only to replace them with native Sony lenses (which relates to my cost comment above).
Recently, however, I've become completely frustrated by Sony's direction with their projected lens roadmap (I love their cameras and the direction they are headed with their cameras but their lens production is frustrating) so I've resorted to trying a couple of autofocus adapters. In this case, I chose to find a good adapter to use the abundance of Canon lenses available on the market today.
First, I bought an inexpensive Fotodiox Pro adapter. It "functioned"... but it was quite slow to autofocus. I can actually live with slow autofocus or even manual focus but, at times, I would lose control of my aperture while using this Fotodiox Pro adapter and that proved to be a deal-breaker for me. I ended up returning this Fotodiox adapter within a couple of days. I decided that I would need to try a more expensive adapter... the Metabones IV T adapter.
I have to say that this Metabones IV T adapter is almost like using a native Sony lens! NOW, I was excited!
I started looking for lenses to fill in holes in my lens lineup pertaining to things I typically shoot. This Metabones adapter is for Canon EF lenses so I was specifically looking for EF-mount lenses. I had previously purchased an all manual Canon FD adapter, an all manual Konica AR adapter, and an all manual Pentax m42 adapter but, at this point, I was looking mainly for autofocus Canon EF lenses.
The first hole I wanted to fill was on the wide end. I decided upon the Canon EF 20-35mm, f3.5-4.5... I found one used at a great price... and it works great with the Metabones adapter!
The next hole I wanted to fill in my lens lineup was a standard long telephoto like a 70-300mm. I found a used Canon EF 70-300mm, f4-5.6... also at an awesome price... it works like a charm! This is the lens in which I had some problems controlling my aperture when using the Fotodiox adapter but I have experienced no such problems when using this Metabones adapter... great news!
Next, I needed a super-telephoto lens in the 400mm range or even longer. At this point, I knew I was probably getting into expensive territory. I shoot a lot of wildlife at the lake house so I have been itching to upgrade my gear for this purpose. The gear I've been using over the past five years or so for wildlife has been a tremendous source of frustration for me.
I did a lot of research... and decided upon one particular lens for this super-telephoto range but was in no hurry to purchase it since I probably wouldn't need this type of lens until we headed back to the lake house next spring. I knew I would need to save up some money... sell off some older gear to fund this new gear... and just wait for the right deal to land in my lap...
As luck would have it, I found a great deal on a used but "Like New" Canon EF 400mm, f5.6 prime lens within a matter of weeks. This was such a great deal that I couldn't pass it up. I purchased it... it arrived yesterday... and, it works like a dream! I'm really looking forward to using this lens at the lake next year.
Also, while I was researching about these Canon EF autofocus lenses, I came across an old Canon FD manual focus lens in "Like New" condition... a 135mm, f2... which would be great for some outdoor portraits. This was another great deal on a classic high quality lens so I had to grab it at this low price. That lens arrived on Monday and I'm very happy with it!
When I'm feeling a bit better with more energy, I plan to shoot some sample photos with each of the lenses and share them here.
Right now, to be honest, I'm so completely and overwhelmingly exhausted that I don't even have the energy to be excited about these lenses... I need some rest....
The moment I held this new Sony camera body in my hands, I said, "WOW!" It was small... it was relatively lightweight... it had a HUGE sensor... and it really felt like a solid, high quality product. I went home and started researching (I never buy anything costing more than a few bucks until I research... and research more... and then research again).
I was liking what I was reading about this camera system but it was completely new with a new lens mount so lenses were few and far between at that point. I thought, "So... how long could it take to fill out a fairly complete lens lineup?... Two or three years?" At the time, I figured that this production time would give me time to save money for each of the new lenses.
I was wrong.
Approximately three years have passed (two years since I actually bought this camera) and the lens lineup is perhaps more frustrating today than it was two or three years ago. Sony has filled a few gaps in the lineup with multiple versions of common focal lengths but the lineup is still rather scant as a whole.
I'm not going to get into details here but I will say that I feel Sony is definitely going about this projected lens roadmap in a very wrong way. This roadmap is filled with stop signs, go back signs, and yield signs which sometimes makes me feel as though there is also a dead end sign. But... putting the lacking lenses aside, the cameras are so damn good!
There are many selling points to these Sony cameras not the least of which is image quality but this blog entry isn't about the beautiful image quality. One of the great selling points of this particular camera system which is related to this blog entry is that you can convert almost any lens made for other camera manufacturers to use on these Sony cameras. That is a significant selling point especially considering my frustrations with the Sony lens lineup.
Good lenses are needed for good image quality. If you put a lousy lens on a good camera body, you'll just get lousy photos. Think of it like a window in your house... if the window pane is distorted, then your view will be distorted... if the window is dirty, then your view will be horrible. Good, sharp, clean lenses are a necessity when it comes to image quality.
Until recently, I've been reluctant to try any of the available autofocus adapters... mostly due to cost... partly due to a few reports of poor autofocus or lacking features when using these adapters. Also, I didn't want to be spending money on these adapter lenses only to replace them with native Sony lenses (which relates to my cost comment above).
Recently, however, I've become completely frustrated by Sony's direction with their projected lens roadmap (I love their cameras and the direction they are headed with their cameras but their lens production is frustrating) so I've resorted to trying a couple of autofocus adapters. In this case, I chose to find a good adapter to use the abundance of Canon lenses available on the market today.
First, I bought an inexpensive Fotodiox Pro adapter. It "functioned"... but it was quite slow to autofocus. I can actually live with slow autofocus or even manual focus but, at times, I would lose control of my aperture while using this Fotodiox Pro adapter and that proved to be a deal-breaker for me. I ended up returning this Fotodiox adapter within a couple of days. I decided that I would need to try a more expensive adapter... the Metabones IV T adapter.
I have to say that this Metabones IV T adapter is almost like using a native Sony lens! NOW, I was excited!
 |
| From the left: Canon EF 70-300mm, Canon EF 400mm f5.6, Canon FD 135mm f2, and the Canon EF 20-35... they all work surprisingly well on my Sony camera body! |
The first hole I wanted to fill was on the wide end. I decided upon the Canon EF 20-35mm, f3.5-4.5... I found one used at a great price... and it works great with the Metabones adapter!
The next hole I wanted to fill in my lens lineup was a standard long telephoto like a 70-300mm. I found a used Canon EF 70-300mm, f4-5.6... also at an awesome price... it works like a charm! This is the lens in which I had some problems controlling my aperture when using the Fotodiox adapter but I have experienced no such problems when using this Metabones adapter... great news!
 |
| The Canon EF 20-35mm lens mounted on my Sony body. |
Next, I needed a super-telephoto lens in the 400mm range or even longer. At this point, I knew I was probably getting into expensive territory. I shoot a lot of wildlife at the lake house so I have been itching to upgrade my gear for this purpose. The gear I've been using over the past five years or so for wildlife has been a tremendous source of frustration for me.
I did a lot of research... and decided upon one particular lens for this super-telephoto range but was in no hurry to purchase it since I probably wouldn't need this type of lens until we headed back to the lake house next spring. I knew I would need to save up some money... sell off some older gear to fund this new gear... and just wait for the right deal to land in my lap...
As luck would have it, I found a great deal on a used but "Like New" Canon EF 400mm, f5.6 prime lens within a matter of weeks. This was such a great deal that I couldn't pass it up. I purchased it... it arrived yesterday... and, it works like a dream! I'm really looking forward to using this lens at the lake next year.
Also, while I was researching about these Canon EF autofocus lenses, I came across an old Canon FD manual focus lens in "Like New" condition... a 135mm, f2... which would be great for some outdoor portraits. This was another great deal on a classic high quality lens so I had to grab it at this low price. That lens arrived on Monday and I'm very happy with it!
When I'm feeling a bit better with more energy, I plan to shoot some sample photos with each of the lenses and share them here.
Right now, to be honest, I'm so completely and overwhelmingly exhausted that I don't even have the energy to be excited about these lenses... I need some rest....
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