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metabones conurus EF to NEX smart adapter

mazor

New member
Just received my metabones EF to NEX smart adapter for my Nex 5n. "version 5" of the adapter firmware or production revision makes for a much refined firmware and hardware fixes. This smart adapter in my opinion is superior to any other EF to NEX dumb adapter as it allows for full apeture control plus image stabilization if the EF lens supports it. The only thing missing is AF, as most EF lens are AF, you will have none of that with this adapter, or any adapter currently in manufacture.



The period from ordering, payment via paypal and receiving the product took just over a week. This is considerably quicker than that estimated max waiting time of 14 weeks!

Was it worth the money.... I think yes, absolutely, especially if you already have a collection of EF Lens. The build quality is simply brilliant. I cannot fault it. The attachment of the mount from both the adapter to the Nex and EF to the adapter are smooth and feels as if you are mounting a factory designed E mount lens onto the NEx. EF lens too attach to the adapter in a similar way, and the EF mount has a feel of quality in smooth mounting and no play what so ever.

Most other reviews I read about this smart adapter have this mounted on FS100 Nex mount video cameras, but not many mount theirs on their nex 5's for still photography.

Now I mention this adapter is version 5, and I believe its the right time now as most of any bugs have been completely eliminated. Firstly the adapter works on the 5n, which in past reviews was not the case with the initial release of the adapter. Next lens IS sometimes not engaging unless the depth inverse preview button was pressed. This is not the case with version 5, and IS can be engaged at any time with confidence. Further, one can switch EF lens with the adapter still plugged in and it registers correctly the last apeture used plus maximum apetures register correct. Lastly users of the older revisions of the adapter found that internal flaring caused by the adapter has now been fixed with some sort of soft felt glued inside the adapter housing.

Using lens with this adapter is slightly different from using plain legacy lens with essentially dumb adapters on the NEX. The main difference is the electronic controls for the apeture, and not having to use a manual apeture ring on the lens. This also means other shooting modes previously not applicable for legacy lens is now possible, like Shutter priority, etc. Interestingly the way the apeture works on EVIL cameras is completely different from EOS DSLR. In Canon DSLR and most DSLRs, when one sets the apeture the viewfinder does not show the actual depth of field from closing the apeture until the picture is taken or the depth of field preview button is pressed. On NEX the apeture will stop down and meter real time in the viewfinder, and with every apeture adjustment, the apeture in the EF lens can be audibly heard clicking into position. This noise is definitely not silent compared compared to changing apeture on a E mount Sony Lens, so for those who were wanting to use EF lens for video recording, be aware either use a separate recording device or just use a set apeture for that recording sequence. Now for still there is a option for an inverse depth of preview, by pressing a button on the lens adapter, the apeture will temporarily fully open for fine focusing prior to taking the shot, will mention more about this later.



Another interesting thing about the apeture system is how the NEX works. The adapter is clever and mimicks true emount lens by closing the apeture to its minimum position when in standby or powered off position. This too is opposite of Canon EF on EF, where apeture is at maximum when off. I believe the NEX method is due to the EVIL system shutter being left open when the camera is in standby or off in order to protect the exposed sensor should the camera be exposed to harsh light sources can could damage the sensor.

With respect to the inverse apeture button on the adapter, although quite useful to have for fine focusing, alot of EF lens put the focus ring way too far from the rear end of the lens, and trying to juggle focusing and pressing tghe button with my left hand can be hard to impossible in some cases. I also tried holding down the button while taking an exposure, surprisingly, the apeture will shut down prior to taking the exposure, and hence a correct apeture setting for the image, even though I have pressed the button to open apeture fully. So essentially holding down the button can simulate a DSLR with full open apeture until exposure taken. There is a reason though for having true apeture during preview on EVIL cameras though and this is for metering exposure. Holding down the button although acquiring correct apeture, did not work the same for exposure and images will tend to be under exposed.

The switches on the lens all have a function too when using on NEX. For instance switching the AF to MF, if the Manual assist zoom is activated in the setup menu, rotating the lens focus barrel will automatically engage the zoom aid.

Switching back to AF on the lens will disable this automatic feature and focus peaking will be used instead, although focusing zoom aids can be still used by presetting a button. The IS button on EF lens work correctly but powering on and off image stabilization. I must stress though Canon's IS can be noisy and in a quiet environment the IS may be audible in video recording.


Lens tested with this EF converter is as follows

Canon 50mm f1.2L USM

Apeture works correctly, only small fault is the apeture goes from 1.2 to 1.3 with not actual apeture change till it hits 1.4. From the apeture settings are perfect to 1/3 stop increments. There is no option for changing to 1/2 stop increments as found when using EF lens on Canon DSLR.





Canon 100-400L f4-5.6 IS USM

Apeture works perfectly. IS works a treat but is very audible, again 1/3 stops.




Canon 24-105L f4 IS USM

Apeture works perfectly, IS works great, 1/3 stops


Tamron 90 SP 2.8

Apeture works perfectly from f2.8 to f32 in 1/3 increments! This lens has no FTM (full time manual) so there is no ability for Auto focus zoom aids when the focus ring is rotated, only manual button activating, similar to legacy lens "dumb" adapters.
 

Paul2660

Well-known member
Thanks for the report, it looks like a good investment for sure.

I am curious on one thing. Have you tried "settings effect off" under setup. This should make the live view work like a DSLR viewfinder in that as you change the aperture or shutter speed the LCD will not change. I have found in low light work this seems to work better for me as the EVLP finder and the LCD both suffer in low light work.

I am on the list for a metabones, but they seem to have no recovery in sight.

Paul
 

mazor

New member
ahhh good find Paul. now the apeture does not click continuously until photo is taken. Disadvantage is though is the inverse depth of field button does nothing in this mode which can seem to be wasteful, considering the already lack of ddicated buttons on the nex.

Also, the apeture closes to desired apeture when you half press the shutter, which is nice, but if you dont take a pic and release it, most times the apeture return back to open is stepped to open in increments, and sounds like a little machine gun firing. Sometimes it just returns to full open, not sure why its doeing that, could be a bug!

This slow stepped apeture return does not occur if you actually take the picture by fully depressing the shutter, then release.

update:

having the setting effect off puts all priority to getting a clear non overexposed image. This will included auto closing of the apeture again increments when exposure gets too great for the sensor, and again sounding like a machine gun.

Think for indoor low light the effect setting off is ideal for precision focusing with fast apeture lens. But when light tends to be brighter, it seems that the continuous apeture changing can be distracting and hence the effect setting on may be desirable. One can overide the auto closing and opening of apeture during preview by holding down the inverse depth of field preview, but again, it can be annoying as one has to hold down the button to get this effect.

Maybe Conurus needs to make the inverse depth of preview switch into a logic switch whereby pressing once turns on, and pressing again turns off. and maybe pressing depth of preview multiple times in seq would switch between logic mode and press to hold modes.
 
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conurus

New member
When a genuine E-mount lens is attached, it would also open up and/or stop down the aperture slowly and in small increments under the same situation. The problem is, whereas the aperture diaphragm of a genuine E-mount is very quiet, an EF mount lens' aperture diaphragm, depending on the particular lens, ranges from audible to outright noisy.

On the whole, the lens does whatever the camera body commands it to. Even though there has been optimizations to minimize it, the "machine-gun" phenomenon does not completely go away.
 

mazor

New member
yup agree, the conurus adapter is well designed so much so it makes the Canon lens apeture behave exactly the same as if an e mount lens has been mounted natively.

Just a small niggle that the Canon electronic apeture blades are so noisy when being being adjusted and Sony ones are very quiet, possible as they are designed for video as well as stills.

Just in case conurus you see this, I have noticed a small bug in the firmware for the 50mm f1.2L. On the Nex 5n, I mentioned the setting for 1.2 and next increment 1.3, does not physically change the apeture blades, until f1.4 is hit, then all increments are correct. On the Nex 5, the maximum apeture setting is 1.3 only, and does not register the maximum 1.2, although at the setting 1.3, I believe it is at maximum apeture and hence is really 1.2. Appart from 1.3 instead of 1.2, the increments through the apeture range are all correct for nex 5. This is a minor issue, but hey maybe for next firmware it can be fixed. This small bug does not occur in my other lens like 100-400L IS USM 24-105L IS USM etc.
 

iskaII

New member
Had my copy of version 5 adapter for few weeks now. It works with most of my L lenses except the 85 f1.2 L II. It works only for few seconds when the 85L is mounted then goes dead. The focusing ring will no longer triger the motor to move the focusing element. It appears the electric current or voltage from the adapter to the lens is not powerful enough to move the heavy lens elements. The main reason for me buying the adapter was hoping using 85 f1.2L on Nex-7. It can be a killer combination when it worked.
 

mazor

New member
sorry to hear that iskaII. Supposedly it is meant to work with the 85mm 1.2L. Its in the list of working lens. Have you contacted Conurus with regards to this issue?

Looks like the fancy Focus mechanism in the 85mm 1.2L requires more juice than even the IS in Canon Lens.
 

Mark K

New member
My EF mount lenses are not that extensive...and this mount may simply give me a better reason to expand that.
 

mazor

New member
haha mark K, The only real advantage of getting EF lens for Nex in my opinion is because you already have some Canon DSLR or film gear which you will currently use, or for lens not avail in emount, eg 50 1.2L, or maybe a 24-105 IS USM.

the special feature the conurus adapter has over any other dumb (non electronic) adapter is the manual focus grab feature, where if I set the MF/AF switch on the Canon lens to MF, I can simply grab the focus and it auto zooms in for precise focusing. This feature is invaluable as it does not require you to press a button on the camera everytime you want to use the zoom in focus aid. I used this is a wedding I attended with stunning results, thanks to the ease of use.
 

mazor

New member
would be nice to see some AF on these expensive adapters, but ot necessarily as I am quite uses to manual focusing legacy glass on the nex. Infact the magnification combined with focus peaking makes the nex into one of the best bodies for legacy mf glass.
 

philber

Member
I see another use for this adapter, Mazor. Using a NEX as a backup body for a Canon DSLR, if you don't want to buy and carry a secodn DSLR body which only duplicates the first one. With a NEX as backup and a Conurus adapter, you add a different body, which can be useful at times IMHO.
 

AnselAndy

New member
I use the Conurus adapter to attach my Canon mount 14mm and 400mm lenses (sometimes with 1.4x tele-converter). Both are quite worthwhile on the NEX 5N!
 

mazor

New member
philber, true. sometimes the NEX will outdo most aps-c Canon DSLRs using the same lens ;)

AnselAndy, I use my 100-400L on the 5n whenever needed. Heres a pic I just took the other week

 

mazor

New member
Had my copy of version 5 adapter for few weeks now. It works with most of my L lenses except the 85 f1.2 L II. It works only for few seconds when the 85L is mounted then goes dead. The focusing ring will no longer triger the motor to move the focusing element. It appears the electric current or voltage from the adapter to the lens is not powerful enough to move the heavy lens elements. The main reason for me buying the adapter was hoping using 85 f1.2L on Nex-7. It can be a killer combination when it worked.
Update: I have finally gotten an 85mm 1.2L to test using the conurus adapter, and it works perfectly. The focusing ring works correctly all the time. This is the latest revision on the 85mm f1.2L. The issue you have may be due to an older revision of 85mm 1.2, or the EF to NEX adapter is faulty.
 
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