Topic: A7RII and Metabones EF Mk4 (Read 22010 times)

Hywel · « **on:** August 05, 2015, 07:05:53 am »

Hi All,

I've taken delivery of my A7RII and a Metabones EF to E mount Mk4 adaptor.

The camera is peachy and works fine with FE 55/1.8 native lens.

I can't get AF at all on any of my Canon lenses. Most of them don't have aperture control, and some won't shoot when shutter release is pressed reliably, even.

Anyone have any clue what I may be doing wrong? Or I am expecting too much of old lenses on an adaptor?

I tried turning off first curtain electronic shutter, which I read might deactivate AF with non-native lenses. I've played with the other menu settings, but as a newcomer to Sony cameras I'm finding the options all a bit baffling and nothing I seem to do makes any Canon lens AF at all, even the few new-ish lenses I have that are definitely on metabones' product page http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB-EF-E-BT4. I'm on the latest firmware for the metabones.

The lenses I have which are on the supported list are EF-S so don't have full-frame coverage (Tokina 11-16, 17-55/2.8 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS).

Is that why they won't AF on A7RII?

I only tried the EF-S ones because I couldn't get anything out of my older lenses at all, not even aperture for most of them: 85/1.8, 35/2.0, 50/1.4, 16-35/2.8 Mark I, 24-70/2.8 Mark I (does given aperture control), Ancient 70-210/4 non USM.

The shutter release doesn't work reliably on all adapted lenses, even, with the camera refusing to fire at all most of the time with the older lenses even though I *think* I've turned all the "shoot with out lens" and similar options on.

Ironically the nicest adapted lenses I've tried so far on A7RII are ancient Russian 58/2.0 and Tamron 90/2.8 Macro from the stone age!

I probably just need to pony up for some more FE mount glass, but was hoping to at least use the Canon L zooms with aperture control. Can anyone help?

Cheers, Hywel.

dmward · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2015, 06:41:21 pm »

I have a Metabones IV with latest firmware (V0.41) that works with A7II.
Since you are using APS-C lenses do you have the camera set to shoot APS-C? That may be why they are not working.

Other than that, I have no idea.

My A7RII should be arriving in a couple of days so I can do my own testing then.

eronald · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2015, 07:03:11 pm »

Quote from: Hywel on August 05, 2015, 07:05:53 am

Hi All,

I've taken delivery of my A7RII and a Metabones EF to E mount Mk4 adaptor.

The camera is peachy and works fine with FE 55/1.8 native lens.

I can't get AF at all on any of my Canon lenses. Most of them don't have aperture control, and some won't shoot when shutter release is pressed reliably, even.

Anyone have any clue what I may be doing wrong? Or I am expecting too much of old lenses on an adaptor?

I tried turning off first curtain electronic shutter, which I read might deactivate AF with non-native lenses. I've played with the other menu settings, but as a newcomer to Sony cameras I'm finding the options all a bit baffling and nothing I seem to do makes any Canon lens AF at all, even the few new-ish lenses I have that are definitely on metabones' product page http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB-EF-E-BT4. I'm on the latest firmware for the metabones.

The lenses I have which are on the supported list are EF-S so don't have full-frame coverage (Tokina 11-16, 17-55/2.8 18-135/3.5-5.6 IS).

Is that why they won't AF on A7RII?

I only tried the EF-S ones because I couldn't get anything out of my older lenses at all, not even aperture for most of them: 85/1.8, 35/2.0, 50/1.4, 16-35/2.8 Mark I, 24-70/2.8 Mark I (does given aperture control), Ancient 70-210/4 non USM.

The shutter release doesn't work reliably on all adapted lenses, even, with the camera refusing to fire at all most of the time with the older lenses even though I *think* I've turned all the "shoot with out lens" and similar options on.

Ironically the nicest adapted lenses I've tried so far on A7RII are ancient Russian 58/2.0 and Tamron 90/2.8 Macro from the stone age!

I probably just need to pony up for some more FE mount glass, but was hoping to at least use the Canon L zooms with aperture control. Can anyone help?

Cheers, Hywel.

That 58/2 is a wonderful lens. I had it on my first SLR, a Zenit.

Edmund

Hywel · « **Reply #3 on:** August 06, 2015, 05:16:13 am »

Hmmm.

Today aperture and shutter firing works on all lenses that I've tried.

IBIS is working on my old 70-210/f4 which is great.

But I'm not entirely sure why it is working now, when yesterday I couldn't set aperture or trigger shutter for half of these lenses.

I don't *think* I changed any setting other than manual focus magnifier time limit, and crop mode on and off a few times. I hypothesise that I may have swapped a lens with the camera powered on yesterday and confused it? I did most of the swaps with power off I think though. Other possibility is bad electrical contacts which have improved with a bit of on-and-off lens swapping. About to go and thoroughly swab all lens contacts on all bits of kit with cotton buds and cleaning fluid.

Still no AF on any lens, including the EF-S ones on Metabones' supported list, including when camera is set to crop mode, though. Camera won't let me set AF- says to do it on the lens (which it already is).

Cheers, Hywel

spidermike · « **Reply #4 on:** August 06, 2015, 05:46:50 am »

Have you tried a factory reset?

Hywel · « **Reply #5 on:** August 07, 2015, 04:56:43 am »

The lack of aperture control/shutter won't fire problem is a mechanical tolerance/mechanical strength one, I have concluded.

I think the pins in the Metabones are a bit reluctant to make contact if the lens isn't twisted around hard; hearing the click as it seats isn't enough. If the lens doesn't go on quite correctly, the pins don't make contact, and everything goes a bit haywire. When this happens, holding the throat of the metabones and twisting the lens a little further seems to restore contact and sanity.

Still no joy on AF on any of the lenses, but they are all either EF-S or too old to be on Metabones support list, so that's about what I was expecting. It's fine for landscape and video; I'll muddle through for people photography until I can pick up the 35 and 85 or 90 Macro native lenses which cover 95% of my professional shots.

It's not great but it'll do to tide me over until I can acquire more native FE glass. Reinforces my prejudice against adapted lenses, I've NEVER had a problem with native glass on a native body.

Cheers, Hywel

spidermike · « **Reply #6 on:** August 07, 2015, 05:21:51 am »

Have you seen this link posted in a different thread?
It seems AF is variable and depends on the model/year of manufacture

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/55651-a7rii-canon-af-database-reference.html

And if AF is not connecting properly maybe it means IS isn't either

SangRaal · « **Reply #7 on:** August 08, 2015, 04:31:31 pm »

I have owned both a metabone 3 and metabone 4 E to EF adapter, neither worked properly the 3 was a disaster and it killed the shutter in my A7R. I never used it again and could not resell it. The Metabones 4 was hit and miss as you describe and I was able to resell it; the person I sold it to thinks that "its wonderful"(on an A7S). With the money I got for the Metabone 4 I bought both a fotodiox and comlite E to EF adapters (physically they look identical but allegedly are loaded with different firmware / software) they work slightly differently with different EF mount lenses(see Brian Smith's blog he tested all of the active adapters with a load of EF lenses). Both the fotodiox and comlite adapter cost $99 no shipping for the fotodiox $12 shipping for the comlite. I just received my A7Rii yesterday and only tested a handful of EF mount lenses including a 400mm 2.8mk2 with the fotodiox adapter all worked without glitch. The only Canon EF mount lens that I have not been able to get working with any adapter is the old 135mm 2.8 soft focus lens, which is a shame because it's ideal sized for the compact camera and only 8oz.

dmward · « **Reply #8 on:** August 08, 2015, 11:22:19 pm »

What about AF speed with these two adapters and the A7RII?

SangRaal · « **Reply #9 on:** August 09, 2015, 04:40:31 pm »

Auto focus speed is acceptable focus accuracy is good with the A7Rii much faster and more accurate than an A7S which is better than an A7R. My normal frame of reference for Canon focus speed is a 1DX which with an 11.1 volt 2700 mah LP-4n battery is the heavy weight focus champion. The A7Rii is much easier to focus accurately with Zeiss ze lenses or any legacy M mount lenses than any standard DSLR that doesn't have a spit prism focus screen.

chrismuc · « **Reply #10 on:** August 26, 2015, 04:57:16 pm »

I tried to use a Metabones IV with Sony A7RII and Canon EF lenses and several lenses don't work like other users describe. See my email communication with Metabones below. They confirm: 0.41 does not work properly with A7RII, they recommend to downgrade to 0.39 and they work on a version that would work properly.

______________________
Dear Christoph,

As advised by Technical team, the existing firmware is not stable with Sony A7r II and EF Lenses.
They are working on a new firmware for A7R II now. Will you consider to downgrade to V0.39 before the new firmware be ready?
The EF Mark IV adapter can’t support CY-EF adapter or other add-on adapter, they may “short circuit” between adapter and contact pins.

Regards
Elsie
GBI Ltd

______________________

Dear Elsie!

1. Your current firmware for Metabones IV is 0.41 and this is pre-sinstalled. Why you suggest to downgrade to 0.39? How to get 0.39? I don’t see a download possibiity for 0.39 on the metabones website.

2. Why your engineers don’t have a test report for using TSE lenses? The Canon 17TSE and 24TSE lenses are very popular among architecture and interior design photographers to use with Metabones adapter on Sony A7 cameras so Metabones should test well and especially take care of good compatibility of these lenses with your adapters.

3. Sony HK reports to us that other users have similar contact/shut-off issues using Canon lenses via Metabones IV with A7R-II camera and that they are in contact with you solving these issues. Good luck!

4. I used today a Contax CY lens via a Contax CY - Canon EF Adapter with Metabones IV and A7R-II and several times the camera did not allow me to release the shutter because the Metabones transmits a status information to the camera which prevents a shutter release.
If I connect the Contax CY lens via a mechanical adapter directly to the A7R-II there is no problem to release the shutter, so this phenomenon is a Metabones issue. What to do?

Please keep us updated with your findings and an eventual firmware update.

Thanks for your efforts,

Christoph
______________________

Dear Christoph,

As advised by engineer, we have no test report for the TSE lenses, and advise for downloading the firmware to V0.39.

Please feel free to contact us if you need further information and assistance.

Regards
Elsie
GBI Ltd
______________________

Dear team Metabones,

me and a friend recently aquired at Sony Hong Kong store two Sony A7RII camera bodys plus two Metabones IV Sony FE - Canon EF adapters.

The adapters came with latest firmware 0.41 (I checked in camera menu).

Mostly the adapters work fine but we both face the problem that frequently it looses the electronic connection to the Canon lens (TSE 17 or TSE 24), this means it is no longer possible to adjust and close the aperture for the exposure.

One has to release and turn the lens to re-connect or switch off/switch on the camera. Both is annoying.

My guesses for root cause:

1. firmware not stable with Sony A7RII > brakes down and needs reset

2. connection contacts between adapter and camera or spring loaded connection between adapter and lens not in perfect correct postion/are not able to provide perfect electrical contact. (maybe less probable reason)

Your experience?
Your suggestion how to deal with this problem?

I tried to download the firmware again via your link

http://www.metabones.com/download/of/MetabonesAppV1.7.dmg

but it is impossble.

Please send me the latest firmware by email.

Thanks,

Christoph

sbay · « **Reply #11 on:** August 26, 2015, 07:05:45 pm »

Christoph

I've used the metabones IV with firmware 0.41 and the 24mm TSE II for several hours with no problems. I've also mounted my 45mm TSE and it seems to work fine but I haven't shot much with it. I've had no disconnects with the 24 TSE although I've had 2 with other lenses (over the course of a few days).

Tony Jay · « **Reply #12 on:** August 26, 2015, 09:27:33 pm »

I have the A7R mark II and the latest Metabones EF to FE adaptor (recently updated firmware).
I have tested most of the lenses in my collection.
So far the only issues I have had are with my 500mm f4.0.
It simply will not lock on even though the autofocus mechanism appears to work.
With a tele-extender attached the autofocus mechanism fails completely.

I have to confess that I am yet to test my 24mm TSE lens because I was mostly interested in how the autofocus worked on the different lenses.
I have had no issue even with Sigma lenses that are Canon mounts.
The only lens that will not work (from my collection), as already indicated, is the 500mm f4.0.

Tony Jay

free1000 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2015, 03:54:36 am »

I've been doing some testing with 24 TS-E and 17 TS-E and the Metabones latest adapter, the one with BT in the product code, and the latest firmware. The results are a little disappointing once one gets over the initial excitement about the files which are great.

Connection to the camera is quite random and while I would say it works 80% of the time I have several times to turn off camera and on again to register the lens.

I was hoping to use A7R for architectural commissions, but I can't afford a lot of fiddling about like this as all the speed advantages of the A7R2 would then be wasted by the fiddling. I'm wondering what accounts for the variability in adapter behaviour, some tolerance somewhere is not right.

Also in an initial test I'm finding the images are not equally sharp across the frame. It may be poor technique on my part (as I was using focus peaking on this first outing) or it might have been the lack of a suitable mount on the tripod, I'm waiting for a foot extender (product METABONES-ARCA-FOOT) from Hejnar for the mount so it will fit the Arca cube mounting properly.

http://www.hejnarphotostore.com/category-s/176.htm

A friend has said he has to use a little tilt with the TS-E lenses on the A7R. Again, that adds a bit of work during shooting and pretty much requires a tethered shooting process as its hard to visualise that on the small display without zooming in. If its necessary to use tilt to even out inconsistent focal plane on this camera, then again, its a hassle one would not have with a Canon body. Hopefully getting the mounting sorted out will help with this.

David Eichler · « **Reply #14 on:** September 15, 2015, 12:59:39 pm »

Quote from: free1000 on August 31, 2015, 03:54:36 am

A friend has said he has to use a little tilt with the TS-E lenses on the A7R. Again, that adds a bit of work during shooting and pretty much requires a tethered shooting process as its hard to visualise that on the small display without zooming in. If its necessary to use tilt to even out inconsistent focal plane on this camera, then again, its a hassle one would not have with a Canon body. Hopefully getting the mounting sorted out will help with this.

Are you sure your friend is accounting for differences in digital resolution when using the lens on two different camera bodies? Perhaps a higher resolution body is revealing some small lens misalignment that was not evident with the lower resolution body?

Aphoto · « **Reply #15 on:** September 18, 2015, 08:58:29 am »

Good news!

With the new Metabones firmware, my Canon 85mm f1,8 now works!!

It is going to be interesting, which formerly not working lenses now play together with the metabones.

Very cool.

http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB-EF-E-BT4

Hywel · « **Reply #16 on:** September 20, 2015, 05:05:09 am »

The latest firmware appears to have fixed all my issues, and even very old lenses now AF perfectly with PDAF. No more aperture/missing lens problems either so far.

Performance is completely transformed for me.

Cheers, Hywel

chez · « **Reply #17 on:** September 20, 2015, 08:41:34 pm »

Quote from: Hywel on September 20, 2015, 05:05:09 am

The latest firmware appears to have fixed all my issues, and even very old lenses now AF perfectly with PDAF. No more aperture/missing lens problems either so far.

Performance is completely transformed for me.

Cheers, Hywel

Great news. How fast is the AF compared to say the 5d2.

Tony Jay · « **Reply #18 on:** September 21, 2015, 05:29:15 am »

I shot yesterday with the mark II Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 and it focused perfectly at 400mm in very poor light.
I have not yet had an opportunity to re-challenge the system with my Canon 500mm f4.0 plus/minus the tele-extenders.
Nonetheless, interesting times.

Tony Jay

Hywel · « **Reply #19 on:** September 21, 2015, 11:30:14 am »

Quote from: chez on September 20, 2015, 08:41:34 pm

Great news. How fast is the AF compared to say the 5d2.

Pretty fast. I've not done tests but it feels similar in speed to focussing with my 7D on the older lenses I generally use.

Cheers, Hywel

Author Topic: A7RII and Metabones EF Mk4 (Read 22010 times)