User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Specifically for the discussion of the A-mount DSLR range
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bfitzgerald
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User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

:shock:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SonyAlp ... 578057048/

Very interesting came across this just today
Summary:
Update:This is a Re-engineered Sony LA-EA4 named the MonsterAdapter LA-EA4r that just comes out for a few days developed by a friend of mine Mr Zhou (web name gururu ) from China who is an absolute geek and has previously developed Nikon-Sony E AF adapter and Minolta V-E MF adapter. It took him 3 years to develop this EA4r to replace the chip of LA-EA4, remove its translucent mirror, block its AF module and allow the mirrorless bodies' phase detection AF to take over.

So with this adapter you can use the gems of A mount like the Sony 135/1.8ZA, 85/1.4ZA and Minolta G lenses, which are all screw drive AF, on the latest Sony mirrorless bodies to have the same AF capability like using the SSM A mount lenses with Sony LA-EA3 adapter. So by doing this, you can
1. gain 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop of light without the translucent mirror;
2. use all AF points/features whatever the body can provide including eye focusing tracking for still shooting (temporarily not for shooting video);
3. have really precise and reliable focusing and theoretically eliminate the need of micro AF adjustment which is a persisting pain in the ass caused by independent AF module in SLR/DSLR.
4. use those A mount legendary screw drive AF lenses which are so much cheaper now in used market than their E mount counterparts and the Minolta color is back on the latest sensor!!!

Mr Zhou started this project simply powered by his personal enthusiasm 3 years ago and has done an incredible job purely on his own, but of course also been encouraged and pushed by his friends very hard through the years. Finally dozens of the EA4r 1.0 version have been assembled and distributed to a small group of A mount loyalties in China for testing and the feedback will be collected to upgrade the firmware to make the adapter working more reliably and supporting more lenses. Hopefully the more mature version will be officially launched soon and available to all users worldwide. Mr Zhou initially was not planning to commercialize this project but we will keep pushing him really hard to make it happen. Stay tuned!!!



Now the question is...why didn't Sony do this? :roll: :roll: :roll:
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bfitzgerald
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Re: User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Interesting information on SAR
https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/suprris ... t-adapter/

This might mean the DIY user hack project might not be needed
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ValeryD
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Re: User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by ValeryD »

From this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo, as you can see in the video, AF works on the monster adapter, but too slow compared to the native AF on the A99-II. .. This is very slow and bad for what I shoot with Minolta 500F8. :( Plus I don't like the "sniffing AF" over the human body...
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bfitzgerald
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Re: User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

Looks like it jumps about a bit and isn't that good (on that lens) almost like contrast AF. Don't know if this is a work in progress, and what I read it has limited lenses supported it's not really usable IMO at the moment v native bodies
If Sony make one then that might be the way to go, least he tried or is trying! It's a non runner at present from what I see
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bfitzgerald
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Re: User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

A quick look on eBay shows they want $200 just for the electronics, which are evidently easy to install.
Looks a bit overpriced IMO and a no go if you buy the adapter as well. Overall cost it too high
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bfitzgerald
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Re: User hacks LEA4 adapter to provide AF on screw drive lenses with no SLT mirror

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

As I now have an LAEA4 I did contact Monster Adapter and offered to review/test the adapter. So far I've not heard anything back from them
I personally wouldn't find the price appealing at the moment unless more lenses are supported and SAM/SSM ones are working (evidently they are not at this time)
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