Commlite EOS to E-Mount AF Adapter with Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro

I couldn't get any useful pictures with the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II, so I will postpone the write up for that lens for a later date, and instead, I will update with the 180mm f3.5L Macro.

The EF 180mm f3.5L macro is the least used lens I have.  I should just as well get rid of it and probably would not miss it, but I know full well I will regret it as soon as I do that.  It's quite a bit better than the Sigma 180mm f3.5 I once had, in terms of build and optics.  Each time I use it, I am not disappointed.  The long working distance is perfect for shooting critters that might  move if they sense you are too close.  The colour and sharpness are outstanding qualities this lens has, not to mention how well it's built.  Unfortunately, this lens does not work well with the Commlite AF adapter.

Unlike the EF 100mm f2.8L Macro, which is a complete disaster on the Commlite adapter, the 180L does work, just not the way you expect it to.  I set the shooting mode to Aperture priority 99% of the time, except when the light is getting low, I would switch to Shutter Speed Priority.  When this lens is mounted on the A7 with the Commlite adapter, the shooting mode does not seem to have an effect, whether set to A or S.  The adapter seems to have a mind of its own and changes the aperture/shutter speed as it saw fit, like the mode dial is on P.  The strange thing is that when the adapter sets the aperture on f4.5, it does not close down when the shutter is pressed, but stayed wide open.  It does, however, support Full Time Manual focus, which is important for macro shooting, and I was able to take some pictures with the lens.

Auto focus wise, let's just say forget about it.  The 180L macro lens already has a very long focus travel distance and the adapter would rack the lens from closes to infinity each time it fails the attempted focus.  It's excruciating to watch the lens struggle.  By the time it finally obtained focus, the cows had already come home.  So, this lens is best used in manual focus mode, and AF is pretty much useless anyway when shooting macro near maximum magnification. Still, it's useful because manual focus is possible.

All pictures below were taken with the Commlite AF adapter on Sony A7 with Canon EF 180mm f3.5.

Commlite EOS to E-Mount AF Adapter with Canon 50mm f1.2L

I decided to write how the Commlite adapter works with each lens, instead of one or two posts on the whole thing.  I think it's better this way.  Keep in mind that this series of articles are not in depth, and your adapter may have new/older firmware than mine, or your lenses are newer/older than mine, so the results might be different.  I can only write about how the adapter works with my lenses.

Today we are going to look at the Commlite adapter with the Canon EF 50mm f1.2L.

Commlite with Canon EF 50mm f1.2L. Click for larger.

The Canon 50mm f1.2L generally has positive experiences for most people.  It can be incredibly sharp at f1.2 if you can nail the focus.  On Canon bodies, this is usually a hit and miss deal, especially using consumer bodies.  One of the controversies is that this lens has no CRC, or Close Range Correction.  What this means is that if you focus at minimum focus distance, or close to it, and stop down the lens to, say f4, you will see focus shift.  The more you stop down, the worse it gets.  In most expensive lenses, close range correction is there to compensate for this effect.  It's not a problem if you only shoot wide open.

This is not an issue, of course, with mirrorless cameras, because the focus sensor is also the image sensor.  When focused, that how the sensor sees it and the image will be sharp, but an DSLR with mirrors, you only see the sharp image in the viewfinder, not necessarily in the final image, because it uses a separate sensor for focus, and it relies on the accuracy of the mirrors and other supporting hardware.

I only used this combination a couple of times, so it may not be a good evaluation, but so far, they perform similar to the EF 100mm f2, but slightly better in accuracy.  In most cases, the camera/adapter can focus in very low light with the Sony A7.  Most pictures taken at f1.2 are very sharp.  One weird thing is that in two occasions, the camera/lens would not achieve focus.  It seemed like it lost the reference point and wouldn't rack far enough to one end or the other to get focus.  When the camera is first turned on, the adapter drives lens from minimum distance to infinity, to establish the reference point(s). To fix this, I had to turned the power off and then back on.  Not really a big issue, but annoying nevertheless.  In terms of focus speed, again, it's similar to the EF 100mm f2. In other words, it won't win any awards in focus speed department, but it's usable.  Typically 2 to 3 seconds, and sometimes a bit more if the focus point is not very contrasty.  Also, instead of f1.2, the adapter reports f1.3 as the maximum aperture.  Not really a problem, as it doesn't close the lens down to f1.3; it's just the aperture number not correct.

Many people tend to overlook the other benefit of this adapter.  It's the ability to change aperture of the lens from the camera.  Remember, all Canon lenses do not have mechanical aperture controls, and with all dumb (passive) adapters, the aperture is always stuck at open.  You can force the lens to stay in a certain aperture using the depth of field preview trick, but every time you need to change it again, you need to mount back to the Canon body to do it.  A smart adapter, like the Commlite, lets you change aperture from the Sony camera, and you can focus manually.

I am quite satisfied with the adapter working with the 50mm f1.2L.  You may find it too slow to focus if you are used to the speed on Canon bodies.  To me, I am amazed that it actually works.  Certainly this is no small challenge and I totally understand what the engineers/designers have to overcome to get it to work this well so far.  Canon didn't open up their protocol so all this stuff needed to be reverse engineered.  I won't complain too much.  Of course I wish it could focus faster, and works more reliably.

Next time I will look at the Commlite with the Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II.

Megan - Sony A7 with Canon EF 50mm f1.2L at f1.2.

Commlite EOS to E-Mount AF Adapter - Initial Impression

I ordered the Commlite from eBay early this month and got it yesterday.  The cost was $80 with free shipping from China.  At the time I ordered, it was one of the cheapest AF adapters available.

The adapter is very well made and heavy, and it comes with a detachable tripod mount. Unfortunately, the tripod mount is not Arca Swiss compatible, which is a real downer. On the Canon lens mount side, the fit is nice and tight, but there is a slight play on the camera side of the mount, but it's better than the original Sony lenses. The Sony lens mount on the A7 seems to have too much tolerance on the locking pin; it's a bit too small than the locking pin slot, causing the lens to move with a twist. This is the same problem with Canon camera/lenses. I heard that Sony has fixed this on the A7 II.

Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II with Commlite Adapter on Sony  A7

So far, I have tried the following lenses:

• EF 16-35mm f2.8L II (works ok)
• EF 35mm f1.4L (works ok)
• EF 40mm f2.8 STM (very fast and accurate)
• EF 50mm f1.2L (shows maximum aperture as f1.3)
• EF 85mm f1.2L (shows maximum aperture as f1.3)
• EF 100mm f2.0 (very fast and accurate)
• EF 100mm f2.8L IS Macro (would not achieve focus and IS does not seem to work.  Also it does not stay in Aperture priority (A) mode and in fact, it seems to be in P mode because it seems to change either or both the shutter speed and aperture when light changes)  
• EF 135mm f2.0L (Focus is less sure than other lenses)
• EF 70-200mm f4.0L IS (IS seems less effective than on Canon body  

I still have the EF 135mm f2.8 Soft Focus and the EF 180mm f3.5L macro lens that I haven't tried.  So far the only lens that refuses to AF is the EF 100mm f2.8L IS Macro, but I expect them to work fine as they are older.  The other minor issue is that the two f1.2 lenses were reported as have a f1.3 maximum aperture.  Not a big deal, but not sure why that is.  The adapter records most exif information of the lens, except the lens model.  The lens is always shown as "DT 0mm F0 SAM". Not a huge deal, but it would have been nice to report the correct lens model.

One surprise is the 40mm f2.8 pancake lens with STM motor.  This lens is by far the fastest focusing and most accurate.  Perhaps lenses optimised for contrast detect works better with the adapter. Can't verify this as I don't have another STM lens to test.

Took the Canon EF 100mm f2.0 lens with me today for some light shooting. The result was mixed. In most cases, the lens focuses pretty accurately, but occasionally it would mis-focus. The speed of focus does not seem to improve significantly in bright daylight than indoors.  Other lenses may be different though. I will update on the adapter as I shoot more with it.

Parking Lot - Canon EF 100mm f2.0 & Sony A7 with Commlite Adapter.

Skating on thin ice - Canon EF 100mm f2 & Sony A7 with Commlite Adapter