The Best of the Both Worlds

[Originally posted in 7/7/2018]

Into digital era, I will say the latest revolution in photography is the introduction of the mirrorless systems. It greatly reduces the size of the cameras and the lenses without sacrificing too much functionality or picture quality. But to me, more importantly, with the proper adapters, almost all my manual lenses from film era can be used. I lose the auto focus when I use those old non-native lenses. But I still shoot film with those old lenses, manual focusing is not a big issue for me.

In 2013, Sony introduced the first full frame mirrorless camera - A7 series. The price was almost half of any full frame cameras from Canon or Nikon on the market. I use Canon digital camera system, going with A7 means switching from Canon to Sony. I love A7 series (today I actually own A7 and A7 II bodies) but I really didn’t want to build another lens collection because Sony’s lenses are expensive. I ended up using A7 exclusively with Konica lenses (old manual lenses for film cameras) via adapters. Thanks to the excellent sensor and lenses, the system performs well but Canon is still my go-to option when it comes to critical work.

The dilemma back then was Sony had the camera bodies but Canon had the lenses. I dreamed that one day I could use my Canon lenses on Sony cameras with full functionality (e.g. auto focus, image stabilization, ...). In other words, an highly portable system with the potential to produce professional grade pictures.

Since 2015, many companies have been working very hard to realize my dream. The adapters I was referring to is the so-called “smart adapters”, which allow cameras to communicate with non-native lenses so the lenses can perform like they are on their native cameras. Metabones is the major player in smart adapter world but they are not the only one. Sigma and Fotodiox also make smart adapters. Over the years, I’ve tried Sigma and earlier Metabones’ adapters and I ended up returning all of them. They are either focusing terribly slow or not working at all.

Last year, I saw some good reviews on the latest Metabones’ adapter (mark V) pairing with newer A7 series (i.e. at least A7 II). I decided to give it a try and I am glad I did. The testing was a big success. I have to say I might be biased because I went through so much disappointment in the past. I might already lower my bar. There is some focus hunting under low light situation but it’s acceptable and the worst case, switching to manual for a photo or two is not the end of the world. Why is this important to me? I still love Canon’s full frame systems. They still have their tricks and I am also already too deep in the water. I haven’t traveled with Canon gears for years although with all the equipment I own, they are the ones that can generate the best pictures for me. I haven’t traveled with Sony gears either because I just don’t have suitable lenses to go with the cameras. With Metabones adapter, I got to keep two full frame systems with only one line of the lenses and utilize the strength of both systems for different occasions. Can’t ask for more!