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Fun with the A7 and Contax N AF

f64

New member
Yes, you read it right! Contax N with AF on a A7/Nex (through Fringer's adapter).

I've never been an early adopter, but I am a sucker for Zeiss lenses and Contax N lenses are legendary. I read in December that someone in China was demonstrating a Contax N AF E-mount adapter allegedly to be on the market in a month or so.
Thus, before buying my A7 (I have NEXes) I decided that I was going this way rather than Conurus+Metabones. I bought a 24-85 and a 70-300 at a reasonable price, and started waiting. It took more than six months, but now I am the proud (and mostly) happy owner of Fringer's adapter, and one of five or so outside of China.

Cheap it is not, at $595.00 shipped (plus custom). In fact, it costs more than my two lenses.

Is it worthwhile?
The two lenses I really like. The 24-85 covers most of my needs, and in spite of bad press, I like the 70-300 (which I use mostly at 300) very much. It's heavy, but balances very well, and I even succeeded in shooting hand-held at 300mm at 1/50 (#2, pure luck).

Aperture setting and EXIF work fine. The major reason to use Fringer rather than Kipon is, in addition to excellent quality (but Kipon is less than half the price), autofocus.

Autofocus is a bit quirky, but I am getting the knack to it. When it finds good contrast, it can be excellent even in rather low light (see #1, remote control from ipad), otherwise it misses, apparently more likely at infinity and large focal lengths (not very surprising). Sometimes it hunts, sometimes (rarely) it hangs.

More a problem of the camera than of the adapter, possibly. The adapter is version 1.0 though, and it might get better, although it is already quite good. AF speed is usually about 1-2 sec., adequate for my needs.
 

fringer

New member
Great! I'm glad to know that fringer adapter is working well in your hand. I like your pictures, especially #5. I love the charming golden light. If you don't mind, I'll quote your pictures in my posts on other sites.
Hope to see more beautiful pictures taken by N lens and my adapter.
Thank you.
 

lowep

Member
So this means I can use my Contax 645 lenses on the A7? Wow!

Am curious if the adapter provides full autofocus? or manual focus + focus confirmation? If yes, how accurate is the focus confirmation, for example compared to Contax N body, does it need manual tweaking, as many other lens + adapter combinations seem to do, or does it hit the spot every time?

Perhaps it also works same on other Sony full frame bodies a900, a99 etc?

I try to imagine how video shot with these lenses on one of these cameras would look...probably not bad :)
 

f64

New member
@ fringer: I'm glad you like them. You can quote them, but please use the original links. Good job! I have a few ideas, if you care to listen to them in PM

@ lowep: the adapter supports nam1, but I do not have it so I cannot say anything.
It is a full autofocus, great on the 24-85, still have to find my way on the 70-300 (and as I am lazy, and MF is very easy, I usually MF on this lens).
It is a FE adapter, no A900 etc.
 

fringer

New member
So this means I can use my Contax 645 lenses on the A7? Wow!

Am curious if the adapter provides full autofocus? or manual focus + focus confirmation? If yes, how accurate is the focus confirmation, for example compared to Contax N body, does it need manual tweaking, as many other lens + adapter combinations seem to do, or does it hit the spot every time?

Perhaps it also works same on other Sony full frame bodies a900, a99 etc?

I try to imagine how video shot with these lenses on one of these cameras would look...probably not bad :)
Yes, C645 lenses are supported as long as you have nam-1.

The adapter can do full autofocus. If you want, you may also use manual focus with peak indication or magnified focus confirmation. Thanks to the hightech EVF equipped on A7, manual focus confirmation is much better that any other means used to be found on SLRs and rangefinders.

This adapter only works on E mount. A900/A99 is A mount and can't be used.

As for video shot, currently the adapter can't do AF while shooting video.
 

fringer

New member
@ fringer: I'm glad you like them. You can quote them, but please use the original links. Good job! I have a few ideas, if you care to listen to them in PM

@ lowep: the adapter supports nam1, but I do not have it so I cannot say anything.
It is a full autofocus, great on the 24-85, still have to find my way on the 70-300 (and as I am lazy, and MF is very easy, I usually MF on this lens).
It is a FE adapter, no A900 etc.
For 70-300, AF should work fine in range of 70-200. It may not be accurate enough at 300 side. You may use MF mode as you said at 300mm.
 

DeVille

New member
I’m very interested in how this adapter is working out.

f64, any updates? Do you love the Fringer? Any pointers?

Fringer, what is availability like? You mentioned currently no autofocus while shooting video. Are there updates planned?

I have the 17-35mm, 24-85mm, 70-300mm and the 100mm. Are there any issues of the Fringer adapter working with any of these lenses?
 

fringer

New member
I’m very interested in how this adapter is working out.

f64, any updates? Do you love the Fringer? Any pointers?

Fringer, what is availability like? You mentioned currently no autofocus while shooting video. Are there updates planned?

I have the 17-35mm, 24-85mm, 70-300mm and the 100mm. Are there any issues of the Fringer adapter working with any of these lenses?
Currently it's out of stock. Next batch would be ready in about a month. You may go to Fringer's Contax N mount E mount (A7/A7r/Nex) full auto adapter-in Lens Adapter from Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group to check its availability.
As for video shooting, aperture control has been added to the latest firmware. However, AF still doesn't work during video shooting. You need to use MF.
For lens you listed, everything should be fine except AF performance. 24-85's AF performance should be good enough. 70-300's should be also OK, except at 300 side that may not be accurate enough. 100mm's AF performance is poor. I suggest you to use MF mode. As for 17-35, AF performance should be OK, but not as good as 24-85.
 

Dr Lamington

New member
HI all, first go with the Fringer and A6000..aperture working well out of box.. A6000 thinks my Contax N 24-85 lens is a Sony 70-300
Wont Auto Focus.. any tips anyone?
Cheers

DSC00080.jpgDSC00079.jpgDSC00078.jpg
 

docmaas

Member
Did you go through the rigamaroll to set the micro adjust? What is your camera set to for af/mf? I used the suggested settings from Fringer and everything works as he said it would. It is very easy to have the mf/af button in the wrong position. The easiest way to confirm it is not on manual focus is to hit the c1 button and see if the live view magnifies. Other than that I don't have any suggestions.

Interestingly the A7r also seems to think my 400 apo teletessar is a sony 70-300 but af works fine.

Mike

HI all, first go with the Fringer and A6000..aperture working well out of box.. A6000 thinks my Contax N 24-85 lens is a Sony 70-300
Wont Auto Focus.. any tips anyone?
Cheers

View attachment 93745View attachment 93746View attachment 93747
 

fringer

New member
Check your N24-85's AF motor. I've just returned a N2485 to Japan about a week ago. It has exactly the same problem as yours. Aperture shrinks fine, but no AF at all. It's bought through eBay. It's not the first time I got a N mount lens with damaged AF module. It seems that a lot of Contax N lenses in the market has AF problems. Keep your eyes open, my friend.

HI all, first go with the Fringer and A6000..aperture working well out of box.. A6000 thinks my Contax N 24-85 lens is a Sony 70-300
Wont Auto Focus.. any tips anyone?
Cheers

View attachment 93745View attachment 93746View attachment 93747
 
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