Lens adapters? Upgrading/switching to Sony

[Amy Earl]

Hi all,

It's an exciting moment - I'm about to upgrade from the Canon 6D Mark II which has been my primary camera for 7 years.

I had my sights set on the R5 until I looked at Sony's comparable cameras. The Sony A7R IVA is really appealing in terms of the quality for the price so that's likely what I'm going to get.

So now the problem is choosing a lens adapter so I can continue using my EF lenses, which are:
-Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM
-Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM UD
-Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2

I've been shooting a lot of birds and wildlife lately and have been using the 600mm heavily, and mostly handheld. So any loss of autofocus speed or function is a dealbreaker for me. Retaining image stabilization is also important.

I would have expected the Metabones 5th gen adapter to function perfectly for $400, but after reading lots of reviews, it sounds like it's priced higher than it's worth, not to mention a number of horror stories about breaking pins on the body, deplorable documentation/website, etc. Some people say all adapters wear out over time. So is it better to get a ~$100 adapter in expectation of that?

Any insight and advice is appreciated, thank you!

 

[AlanLichty]

I was faced with a similar problem late last summer when I switched from a 5D MkIV to the R5 MkII. Mirrorless camera bodies have their sensor plane much closer to the last element of the lens which is more optimal from the perspective of the optical engineers. The good news for your migration is that your EF lenses are expecting to be farther away from the sensor which reduces the penalty of having an adapter on the lens. I stayed on the cheap side for an adapter since I knew that someday I would be switching my lenses over to the RF series. Canon has a combined lens image stabilization and camera body IS that almost doubles the number of stops you can get for hand held photo work which was high on my list for the platform change. My old EF lenses did not have the ability to communicate with the R5 camera body to do something like that. I have swapped out a couple of my old EF lenses (24-105mm f/4L, 100-400mm f/4-5.6L) for an RF 24-105mm f/4L and RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L) and can easily handle using a 2x teleconverter with the 100-500mm for handheld bird photos at 1000mm.

You have an added complexity with migrating to the Sony mirrorless body. The EF lenses don't have the ability to work with the Sony camera body stabilization but the Sony lenses do so at some point you are probably going to want to gradually replace your EF lenses with Sony compatible mirrorless lenses so you can take advantage of what the Sony A7R IVA can really do. The Sony is perfectly capable of doing similar high speed AF and IS as the R5 MkII when they are both paired with compatible lenses.

Since the EF lenses really don't need advanced features in an adapter I'd go on the cheap side and save your $$ for new lenses. Replacing your lenses collection is a painful part of moving up from DSLRs but well worth it in the long run.

 

[JimFox]

Hey Amy,

It's great to hear from you! I hope all is well.

I finally moved from my Nikon DSLR's to Nikon Mirrorless when the Nikon Z8 came out, because finally I felt Mirrorless had surpassed DSLR's. I also was going to get a Nikon Z6II to go along with the Z8.

I had been following closely the mirrorless cameras growth for years now, even though I didn't see a camera body worth upgrading over. So the one thing that became very clear was that the quality of the Mirrorless lenses were quite a bit better then the DSLR counterparts. That was especially true with Nikon because they changed from the smaller F Mount to the newer and wider Z Mount.

So for me, if I was going to upgrade to the new Nikon Mirrorless, I was also going to upgrade my lenses. For me, all of my current DSLR lenses had a lot of wear and tear on them anyway, so it also made sense to replace them. Also Nikon had come out with a 24-200mm lens that was really sharp and could replace 2 of my lenses in 1 lens. I had been drooling about that lens for a while, so I was excited to get it. I actually have 2 of them now because that lens is so awesome.

Anyway, I was able to use Nikon converter from F to Z mounts, it's well built. I also got a converter for Sony E to Z mount for a 14mm Sigma f1.4 lens that I got, and it works great, but the converter never leaves the lens. I will say when I was researching 3rd party lens converters, all of them seemed to have short comings. None were perfect. So I think you are taking a chance with whatever you get.

If it was me, you should look at selling your current lenses to like MPB and buy new Sony lenses.

 

[Amy Earl]

Thank you @AlanLichty and @JimFox for your insight and thoughtful responses! This info is all helpful. I had a feeling I would eventually buy native lenses to go with whatever body I picked out, so this confirms it. I will mull over getting a converter to hold me over in the interim.

@JimFox that Nikon lens sounds amazing!

@AlanLichty - I don't doubt that Canon's lens and body IS is top of the line. I'll have to read up on Sony's capacity to compete with that. Also, a teleconverter sounds like something I would love to have. 1000m, cool!

What I didn't mention is that I'm actually out of a camera at the moment because I dropped the 6D and it no longer turns on! Yikes. I'm normally very careful - maybe I got just a little lazy because I was anticipating an upgrade. It had the telephoto lens on it and only dropped a couple feet onto the floor. Nothing looks damaged on the outside but it seems like the battery connection or on/off switch may have lost contact internally. Any ideas on repair options? I have a guy in the area I can call to see what's possible. It'd be a shame not to repair it if possible, to use as either my backup or sell/gift to someone who would appreciate it.

 

[AlanLichty]

Thank you @AlanLichty and @JimFox for your insight and thoughtful responses! This info is all helpful. I had a feeling I would eventually buy native lenses to go with whatever body I picked out, so this confirms it. I will mull over getting a converter to hold me over in the interim.

@JimFox that Nikon lens sounds amazing!

@AlanLichty - I don't doubt that Canon's lens and body IS is top of the line. I'll have to read up on Sony's capacity to compete with that. Also, a teleconverter sounds like something I would love to have. 1000m, cool!

What I didn't mention is that I'm actually out of a camera at the moment because I dropped the 6D and it no longer turns on! Yikes. I'm normally very careful - maybe I got just a little lazy because I was anticipating an upgrade. It had the telephoto lens on it and only dropped a couple feet onto the floor. Nothing looks damaged on the outside but it seems like the battery connection or on/off switch may have lost contact internally. Any ideas on repair options? I have a guy in the area I can call to see what's possible. It'd be a shame not to repair it if possible, to use as either my backup or sell/gift to someone who would appreciate it.

Don't mistake my comments as an effort to push you towards a Canon solution - I was simply pointing out what kinds of upgrades exist when you move to mirrorless and use the native lenses for whichever brand you decide to buy. Sony has been doing mirrorless longer than either Canon or Nikon and makes some of the best sensors and lenses in the business. There is a reason why so many cameras are using Sony sensors including Nikon, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, DJI, and Apple. Canon's R5 MkII may have just leapfrogged a lot of the competition on some neat features but Sony already had a lot of those features the R5MkII came out with. Canon was playing catchup.

 

[Amy Earl]

Don't mistake my comments as an effort to push you towards a Canon solution - I was simply pointing out what kinds of upgrades exist when you move to mirrorless and use the native lenses for whichever brand you decide to buy. Sony has been doing mirrorless longer than either Canon or Nikon and makes some of the best sensors and lenses in the business. There is a reason why so many cameras are using Sony sensors including Nikon, Fujifilm, Hasselblad, DJI, and Apple. Canon's R5 MkII may have just leapfrogged a lot of the competition on some neat features but Sony already had a lot of those features the R5MkII came out with. Canon was playing catchup.

Duly noted, thanks. That's interesting about the Sony sensors!

 

[AlanLichty]

When I first moved to the R5MkII I intended to use my EF lenses for much longer. I was ecstatic when I discovered I could use a 2x converter with my old EF100-400mm L lens but I needed to use a monopod for 800mm shooting. The EF lenses have image stabilization (depending on the model) but they do not have the ability to pair that with the camera body stabilization like the RF lenses can. The DSLR world was always wrapped around compatibly with 35mm film camera body designs and the required distance between the last lens element and the film plane. My EF lenses are perfectly at home with my 35 year old EOS Elan 35mm camera body. Mirrorless tossed that design constraint out the window and new lenses now have more advanced communications built into the mounts and even need software updates. I slavishly followed the Canon platform I have been using for the last 35 years but now recognize that when you move over the mirrorless from the DSLR world the door to switching platforms is certainly ajar since you will ultimately be replacing your glass collection anyway if you want to take full advantage of mirrorless camera bodies.

Canon wasn't the first camera vendor to make the leap into this complete photo ecosystem rebuild.

 

[Jeffrey]

Hi Amy, I shot Canon for over 20 years and from the 1Ds to the R5II. They're gone now but I have a few lenses left. I got a Sony A1 II primarily for birds/wildlife at the start of the year. I just realized I want to use one of my EF lenses on it. After lots of research I purchased a Sigma MC-11 EF to E mount adapter. I'm still waiting for its arrival. I'll report on it soon. Meanwhile check out this post I started about this:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1905375/

 

[JimFox]

Hey Amy, I was about to suggest Midwest Camera Repair, they are the top repair company in the country. But I decided to google it just to make sure I had the name right, and found that after 70 years they closed in 2024.

I would suggest just taking it to your closest camera store. Almost all of them can do some repairs or they would have some place to send it out to.

While I use Nikon and I would put match anything Canon has and say that Nikon's Z8 would top them. You really should look into Canon's Options rather than switch to Sony. I have heard and seen great things from the camera's Canon has put out over the last 3 to 4 years.

And the main reason I say to stay with Canon, is muscle memory. Canon design is rather unique, so I think you would find a newer Canon easier to use than going to Sony. And plus, Sony has designed the least ergonomic cameras known to man. They honestly don't fit into your hands well at all. Nikon cameras for example fit like a glove when you hold one, but Sony for some reason forgot about ergonomics. And their menu and control systems stink.... really stink. I had read that from other people, but got to experience first hand a few years ago when I picked up a Sony A6400 as I wanted a smaller body for doing Street Photography. And I found the menu to be the absolute worst thing to try and navigate and find what I needed.

With the Sony A6400 I ended up not using it for Street Photography as it was to crazy to use. But in all fairness, the images from it were good. It ended up being one of my go to Milky Way setups. I got a Samyang 12mm f2.0 lens for it, and as long as I didn't go over ISO 3200 I could simply plug in the remote trigger and aim, turn the focus on the lens to where I had memorized everything was in focus and away it went. It was a Milky Way making machine for me for a few years. I ended up trading it in when I finally upgraded to Nikon's mirrorless with the Nikon Z8.

So as opposed to being frustrated with trying to get used to menu's and controls that don't make much sense on a Sony camera, I would suggest looking Canon and just staying with them.

 

[AlanLichty]

I had to chuckle reading Jim's post about the ergonomics of Canon vs. Sony vs. Nikon. I had a Nikon F2 back in the late 1980's and hated shooting with it after my old Pentax Spotmatic. My father moved to Canon from Leica and asked me to look at some settings and I fell in love with it on the spot. I sold off my Nikon to the store clerk at the place I got my EOS Elan. The clerk was in 7th Heaven to get the Nikon and I thought the same of my new Canon.

My conclusion anymore is that anyone on the market for a new camera platform should try shooting each camera and buy the one that makes you want to shoot more. The specs are secondary since the vendors will all leapfrog each other through time and everyone wins.

 

[JimFox]

I had to chuckle reading Jim's post about the ergonomics of Canon vs. Sony vs. Nikon. I had a Nikon F2 back in the late 1980's and hated shooting with it after my old Pentax Spotmatic. My father moved to Canon from Leica and asked me to look at some settings and I fell in love with it on the spot. I sold off my Nikon to the store clerk at the place I got my EOS Elan. The clerk was in 7th Heaven to get the Nikon and I thought the same of my new Canon.

My conclusion anymore is that anyone on the market for a new camera platform should try shooting each camera and buy the one that makes you want to shoot more. The specs are secondary since the vendors will all leapfrog each other through time and everyone wins.

Ha ha.

I totally agree, the specs in a way are meaningless. All of the brands make cameras that exceed our ability to use them I think.

That's why my main point was I think Amy should just stay with Canon, as the familiarity will make a new camera much easier to get used to.

 

[Beth]

i moved from a canon dslr to sony for wildlife. check out the metabones adapters, they're highly regarded. sigma makes the mc-11 adapter, which i've heard is good, but not quite as snappy on the af. it's also a lot cheaper than the metabones.

i didn't use an adapter since i was really only doing wildlife with the sony, i purchased the sony 200-600mm and sold my old lenses. i've added the 90mm macro since for toy photos. i shoot everything else on a fuji, though if not for the fuji, i'd probably have a greatly expanded sony kit. they have some pretty sweet lenses.

 

[Amy Earl]

Thanks to all for the input! The Metabones and MC-11 adapters do look like the best options, however thanks to Alan's convincing points I decided to take the plunge and order new lenses along with the new camera. I knew I would eventually upgrade lenses anyway so I just needed a little push to rip the bandaid off (at the expense of my wallet). So I ordered the Sony A7R IVA body and splurged on the Sony FE 400-800mm f/6.3-8 G OSS "super-telephoto" that came out in February! (Was going to get the 200-600mm but it just made sense to go for the big one since I like birds). I also got the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 for general purpose. I got a good price on all this thanks to the B&H expo that just happened. The goods should be arriving tomorrow, can't waaaait The telephoto is almost 5.5 lbs, heavier than my last but it appears to be well balanced when supporting it as you would with one hand on the zoom ring, and also thanks to the internal zooming. I have a monopod that I never used that may come in handy now.

 

[Amy Earl]

Very happy with my new gear
The telephoto is so heavy it needs its own strap...

 

[AlanLichty]

Congratulations! Damn that lens is big. I actually took the tripod mount off of my 100-500mm since it has been working so well hand held but my lens is nowhere near as big as the one you got.

What we really want see now is something shot with this gear instead of a shot of it

 

[Amy Earl]

Of course! I did quite a bit of handheld shooting with the big lens yesterday and it delivers everything that was promised - very fast focus and excellent image stabilization. I wasn't prepared for how fast a mirrorless camera is, getting rid of the whole mechanical affair of flipping the mirror. This lens is indeed heavy and I wouldn't be able to actively shoot handheld for more than maybe an hour or two at a time. I will be trying out our monopod for the physical relief and probably using the tripod more too.

The cedar waxwings are in our yard because our serviceberries are ripening. I managed to lock onto this bird at the top of a taller tree in our yard. It's really cool to be able to crop in this much and retain so much detail and quality. 61mp is 3 times what I was used to on the 6D.

800mm f/8 1/1250 400iso

My daughter, a popular subject of mine

400mm f/8 1/250 1600iso

Looking forward to trying to get birds in flight. I enjoyed practicing that with the Tamron 150-600 and it performed pretty well - I know this lens will likely outperform it by a long shot.

 

[Beth]

congrats on the new gear.

i'm interested in seeing more from the 400-800mm. i kinda want it, but i think it might be too slow of a lens for what i want now. if i were buying the 200-600mm over again, i'd opt for the 400-800mm instead.

mirrorless is a lot faster. i ended up changing the shooting speed so it shoots slower or i'd end up with way more images than i'd ever need. my only real complaint with sony is you can't have the level and histogram up at the same time on the screen.

 

[Kyle Jones]

I don't use Sony, but if I recall correctly I believe some of the features are disabled with 3rd party or adapted lenses. Good call to buy a native long lens.

 

[Beth]

I don't use Sony, but if I recall correctly I believe some of the features are disabled with 3rd party or adapted lenses. Good call to buy a native long lens.

you can't use a teleconverter and you can't shoot faster than 15 fps.

 

[Kyle Jones]

As a budding Panasonic fanboy, I'll note that the S1R2 doesn't have any of those limitations for adapting EF lenses...