TechArt Pro Ver3.0.0 firmware released

[Knorp]

On my A7r2 I have: Body: ILCE-7RM2 Ver. 3.20 and Lens Ver.03.

I have now successfully initialized 15mm=F11, 35mm=F22, 50mm=F25, 90mm=F29 and taken correctly exposed images with F=2 showing the correct Exif that I had set.
However, when I choose 135mm=F32 the camera switches from AF to MF and is stuck there until I reset with F11,22,25, or 29.

Puzzled! :loco:

Yep, same setup here and F32 is still not fixed.
Let's say mine is silver-gilt ...

 

[k-hawinkler]

Yep, same setup here and F32 is still not fixed.
Let's say mine is silver-gilt ...

Thanks Bart.
Yup, as I have pointed out multiple times before, we are beta testers.
That suits me just fine.

If someone wants a rock solid adapter, be prepared to wait several years, while I am having fun.
I have shot all afternoon the Leica Elmarit-M 90/2.8 with the adapter.
It mostly works. But sometimes the adapter switches by itself to manual mode.
This mostly seems to happen when one is trying to get lots a successive shots in.
It appears in that case that the adapter can't quite keep up.
Once it's in that state, one has to switch the camera off.
Switching the camera off, waiting, back on, if necessary repeating, seems to rectify the confusion.
Of course, by then the birds I wanted to shoot are long gone.
Nevertheless, I got some nice images.

I cannot imagine someone using this adapter in its current state taking pictures on demand.
That seems to be a recipe for disaster.

My impression from this afternoon, focusing is a tad slower than before, but succeeds more often.
Overall stability seems to have degraded a bit, but not very much. It was unstable before as well. :grin:
Also occasionally some images are underexposed.

 

[Ario Arioldi]

I had the very same problem, several times, with the adapter switching by itself to MF but only with FW 3.0. Now I am back to FW 2.0 an that problem has gone. May be I have not used FW 3.0 long enough but really I found no reason to keep it. I use the adapter mounted on a A7MII mod (Kolarivision)

 

[k-hawinkler]

I had the very same problem, several times, with the adapter switching by itself to MF but only with FW 3.0. Now I am back to FW 2.0 an that problem has gone. May be I have not used FW 3.0 long enough but really I found no reason to keep it. I use the adapter mounted on a A7MII mod (Kolarivision)

Thanks Ario.

The issue that the adapter switches to MF has happened to me also with the previous firmware on A7r2.

One difference between Ver.02 and Ver.03 seems to be a change in focussing algorithm.

Now the focussing seems to make progress in smaller steps towards the subject. I can feel and hear those steps. Switching between two subjects, one at 2 to 3 yards, the other at 10 to 15 yards, I can also see in the EVF the progress towards focus.

This was with the pretty heavy, but optically excellent Elmarit-M 90/2.8. I really should repeat that test with the much lighter Tele-Elmarit-M 90/2.8.

 

[Ario Arioldi]

Thanks Ario.

The issue that the adapter switches to MF has happened to me also with the previous firmware on A7r2.

One difference between Ver.02 and Ver.03 seems to be a change in focussing algorithm.

Now the focussing seems to make progress in smaller steps towards the subject. I can feel and hear those steps. Switching between two subjects, one at 2 to 3 yards, the other at 10 to 15 yards, I can also see in the EVF the progress towards focus.

This was with the pretty heavy, but optically excellent Elmarit-M 90/2.8. I really should repeat that test with the much lighter Tele-Elmarit-M 90/2.8.

Thank You,
may be I gave up too early and I have to try again.

 

[k-hawinkler]

I just did some tests with the adapter on the a6300 camera that also has PDAF.
Similar behavior to the A7r2, but seems more fragile on the a6300.

 

[monza]

I have not had time to test 3, but was having weird glitches with 2.

Random menu settings would change, and sometimes the adapter would just stop working, requiring a reboot.

 

[k-hawinkler]

I have not had time to test 3, but was having weird glitches with 2.

Random menu settings would change, and sometimes the adapter would just stop working, requiring a reboot.

Thanks. Yup, still happens with 3. :banghead:
Nevertheless, one can get some lucky shots like this one.

a6300 + LM-EA7 Ver.03 + Elmarit-M 90/2.8

 

[Jim DE]

Jim, That is an interesting way to call a product a POS without actually calling it a POS.

I would never do that to the FE 50/1.8!

Vivek, I will only directly call a product a POS if I bought and paid for it and it proved to ultimately be a POS due to my experience's with it. Figure at that point I paid for and earned the right to voice a direct opinion about it. I am far more subtle when it is info I have read but have had no actual hands on experience with....... These TechArt adapters seem to be great if you get a good one or till one needs to upgrade it's firmware.... then it appears to be pretty much like play Russian Roulette with 5 rounds in the cylinder instead of just one. Chances are better than good it isn't going to go well.......

 

[monza]

These TechArt adapters seem to be great if you get a good one or till one needs to upgrade it's firmware.... then it appears to be pretty much like play Russian Roulette with 5 rounds in the cylinder instead of just one. Chances are better than good it isn't going to go well.......

I find updating to be a POC.

 

[Jim DE]

That can be said for many products and it has been my experience that Far East businesses have great ideas and initial products come very close to advertised abilities but firmware updates tend to be far below industry standards and average customer abilities in execution of updates. I feel this may be due to a poor communications and understanding of worldwide languages and expectations between the firmware developer and the actual manufacturing companies. Sort of like a brain surgeon explaining a surgical procedure to a cat

 

[k-hawinkler]

Jim, I think you seem to be a bit harsh here and tend to over-generalize.
I am willing to give new companies with novel products some slack.
My expectation is that they will likely need a few years to improve their products so that one can depend on them. So, let's agree to disagree. :grin:

 

[Jim DE]

I have no issue with agreeing to disagree that's all good in the hood :deadhorse:and I guess my views could seem harsh to some. Being from a management manufacturing background I am just not tolerant of companies who do business in a world market and are just not near the same level of quality and competence as the rest of those they compete with. A product or a firmware update should do as expected. The customers spends their money and deserves certain expectations from the product they buy that similar products on the world market do provide.

There is in the news this week of a Tesla that while in auto drive mode drove itself into the back of a 18 wheeler in front of it killing the driver. Wonder what that drivers reply would be to your comment of "taking a few years to improve their product so that one can depend on them".

Yeah I know autos and adapters are two different worlds but being from a industry where quality or engineering issues can kill I expect all products to be ready for the main event or stay in the garage until it is ready. Just sayin ... I call them as I see them through my eyes and experience's. If a company wants to sell in the world market it had better be ready to be compared to other businesses in the world market.

 

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Jim. Which product is similar to the Techart adapter?

The Techart adapter in its current state is definitely not for you.

Although I agree with your expectations for mature products, I also believe a different set of expectations is more realistic when applied to novel products. Obviously many folks agree with that considering the backlog for this adapter.

 

[Jim DE]

I would generalize the market that that the tech art adapter competes in to the whole class of adapters including the Sony OEM which I assure you the Internet would turn into a firestorm of whining and complaints if their firmware had a tenth of the updating issues experienced by Techart customers.

waiting lists do not always relate to quality or longevity of a technology. Example 8 tracks players when they came out or cassette players when they were released or even polar-vision I stand video or DeLorean DCM-12. New technology often causes demand but may not sustain if it is flawed or below expectations.

Anyway I really have no reason to get involved in this as I have no skin in the game nor will I whether they as successful or not in the end. I just stated a observation from the comments I see about these across the web on this and past tech art products. I did have skin in DJI and can say due to my experiences that their stuff is pure high tech junk.

Hope k-h that you have zero issues and it works out far beyond your expectations.

I view this as a result of the Internet. I see it like a neighbor who has a child in a elementary school choir with some talent. The kid wants to sing in Carnegie Hall so the parents some how get a gig for the kid at Carnegie Hall. Now the patrons don't know the kid but buy tickets due to a perceived expected performance level for Carnegie Hall. They arrive and sit down and are subjected to a level far below expectations and demand their money back because all they heard was a common 10 year old singing with no exceptional value. Now this kid eventually may be at a level to perform at Carnigue Hall but just because he wants to be there now does not mean he should.

The Internet allows anyone to enter the world market but does not assure they are ready to be there and can offer what other in the market are expected to offer their customers. This is the consumer beware issue with buying new tech off the net from non established businesses

 

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Jim. As far as I can tell there is no competing product out there that would autofocus my Leica M lenses on my A7r.2 and on my a6300 (I don't have an A7.2).

In my eyes it's a beta release with stability problems that seems to be able to focus subjects that have fairly high contrast. For me that's a gain. If it doesn't focus I can switch to manual focus.

I'll leave it at that. :grin:

 

[k-hawinkler]

http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/tech...perience-and-how-to-adapt-non-leica-m-lenses/

 

[Show Performance]

I'll just weigh in and say that I am very satisfied with the Techart Pro. It is a much better product than their Contax G adapter (which btw, eventually became quite stable after multiple FW updates). There is no illusion that Techart are a tier one manufacturer/retailer so buyer beware but for what they are, the product is remarkable.

I've used it for paid gigs, in ultra low light and for family vacation pics with only the occasional hiccup - even less with FW ver. 3

Just posted a review with some Zeiss ZM lenses here: https://chadwadsworth.com/2016/07/18/autofocus-anything-techart-pro-autofocus-adapter-with-zeiss-manual-focus-lenses/