Fotodiox Pronto vs. Tech Art Pro AF adapter: The unvarnished truth
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- Fotodiox is on the hot seat!
Up front Disclaimer: I'm really conflicted about this video.
I have no personal unhappiness with either of the companies mentioned, or with their products. I've had good-to-great customer support from both.
So why do I release this now?
Because, as a developer myself, I know the setbacks, frustrations and ultimate joy associated with successfully bringing new tech to market.
I've also had more than one design "borrowed" by an established firm, which my fledgling company could ill afford to challenge in a court of law. And note that this all took place pre-internet, so no bully pulpit for me!
Because it doesn't have to be that way today, I want to do all I can to see that companies are rewarded for groundbreaking tech, and that innovators don't get pounded by cheaper copies of their intellectual property before they've even had a chance to break even on their investment.
So, that's why we're all here today....
Our story so far:
While it's nice to be sincerely flattered by imitation in the world of high fashion, in high-tech circles it's considered theft of intellectual property when a competitor essentially duplicates a product and labels it as their own.
Today we have new confirming evidence that Fotodiox's latest smart AF adapter is, in reality, a cosmetically altered doppelgänger of a TechArt Pro adapter, released nearly 18 months earlier.
While this has been suspected for some time, in my latest video I reveal that Fotodiox themselves may have been fooled with the totality of this unlicensed copy, as it even contains the Bluetooth chipset that allows its firmware to be updated- something Fotodiox denies is possible in its marketing materials.
I apologize for the overall production quality. I received the Pronto adapter less than 2 hours before recording this video, and upon realizing the degree to which this copy is a true clone, I want to get this out there ASAP for those who have been interested in this technology and had the same questions and concerns. Please note that I am not sponsored or supported by any company, and that I paid for both of the adapters reviewed here.
I look forward to your comments below, and to answering questions as I can regarding these two AF adapters for the Sony PDAF E-mount ecosystem.
Remember to subscribe so you'll always be first to be notified of new videos as they're released!
Jeff Ray, The Prototographer,
Steeped in Light Photography
Product Information:
techartpro.com/...
General Tech Art Pro forum:
www.fredmiranda...
Specific Tech Art Pro forum referring to Pronto:
www.fredmiranda...
Thanks, dude. You earned a subscriber today!
Developers and innovative startups in China have been bullied by large local companies for decades.
Glad I found this video. That way in the future I can buy the Techart.
Why you not test Continue Focus?
I'm a Chinese and I know for a fact that most third party photography gears not including the lenses are made in China. They are rebranded as fotodiox, Viltrox, Fortga, Neewer and so on, marked up in price and sold to the west. It is a working business strategy that exploit those who have the preference of buying from named company.
Fotodiox might just know that it is THE first in its kind adapter because it IS the first in its kind.
Fred Miranda isued a warning, which most likely will apply to the clone, too:
It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the TechArt Pro adapter.
However, as others have reported on this and other threads, there is design flaw that needs to be addressed by TechArt.
The issue is how the 'lens carrier' (the section that moves in and out) was designed. It will develop a wobble after a while because its top area it's not supported at all!
The heavier the lens, the faster it will wobble but it's an issue even if only using light lenses.
Point in case: I have tried three brand new adapters and used them solely with two lenses: Zeiss 50/1.5C and Zeiss 35/1.4. The latter is only about 380g. Within a month of usage, the wobble started to happen in all three adapters.
It's easy to test yours: Just make the adapter extend and press the top of the 'lens carrier'. If it moves inwards as you press it, your adapter has the wobble.
Is this really a problem?
Yes, it is. This wobble tilts the plane of focus and because of the lack of parallelism corners will look asymmetric. It will also affect the adapter's ability to focus with accuracy and speed.
It's a hardware issue and I hope Techart addresses it for a next version of this adapter.
www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1452716/18#13972529
Love this. DRAMA in a very niche market ... you love to see it
Wow! That’s foul. Great video, I’m glad I happened across your channel.
Update!
Just received my second Fotodiox Pronto tonight (can't get enough of these AF adapters!), and checking the FW revision, it appears the newest units are shipping with version 4 of the FW. It can still successfully be updated to FW version 5, so nothing else differs from the first version I received. Build quality is still good and response is equal in all ways to the Tech Art Pro adapter. I highly recommend upgrading these if you have already purchased one, as the battery life is much improved in version 5 FW. (Though I really hope Fotodiox will license this from TechArt, if they can, and provide a legitimate upgrade path...)
"Though I really hope Fotodiox will license this from TechArt"
Realistically they are only going to do that if people stop buying them!
Awesome but I bought the Pronto adapter hoping to get the firm upgrade from Teacart app but it won't update on my a 6500 I have attached the adaptor with and without the lens and attempted the upgrade unsuccessfully. I'm very interested in the update #5 for battery consumption. Any ideas or help that you can share here? I really appreciate it.
@@normangarcia8324 any progress ?
MrBazsi888 No, nothing. No connection at all between them. Any suggestion?
@@normangarcia8324 you bricked it or still functional ?
You are supposed to set the lens at infinity for the autofocusing to work at its best. You can then use the manual focus to tweak the autofocus.
For those who are curious, at 15:38, you can view the actual upgrade process in progress, to update the Fotodiox Pronto to the latest FW provided for the TechArt Pro. Enjoy!
Not entirely certain what the message is. Horrible sound.
But how does that works? If adapter can update on turned off camera it means that it'll drain camera's battery if adapter left on camera for a while?
Thanks for the info. You might get more viewers who watch the whole thing if you edit it down to about four minutes
It was clear from the beginning fotodiox was a copy of TA
It's gotten weirder now that Fotodiox has released the MkII of the Pronto that has a function button, a USB connector and a stronger motor. They also changed the firmware because you can now let the camera know what focal length you're using (which will be registered in the EXIF data).
No hardware update from Techart so far...
Do these allow for Eye AF? How well do they focus in low light?
Well done, Sir... and thank you keep doing what your doing...
Anyone tried TechArt Firmware 6 for the A7RIII and A9 on the Fotodiox Pronto?
Hi there. Great vid! Thanx. Have you tested either the Fotodiox Pronto or Tech art for video-auto-focus? Obiously the noise from the adaptor will be loud but how fast is it for video ? Thanx again :-)
Any update on if the Pronto Mark II still has the bluetooth chip allowing for updates?
Great video, Thanks fir the valuable information. I do have one question. Can this mount work for a native e mount macro lens to a Sony body ?
I have the sony A7r3 . And a macro lens laowa manual focus
Pretty amazing !!! Lol. Question. I cant seem to find one with a Fuji X mount ? I really want to get one .
fotodioxpro.com/products/lm-fxrf-prn?_pos=1&_sid=db0e017bc&_ss=r
Over time and use, does these AF adaptors pushes in more dust into the Sony camera sensors? Thanks for your attention.
Is it possible that the parent company that makes this adapter is marketing them under two different brand names, like VW and Audi? I have a Pronto on order for my Fujifilm X camera. There doesn't seem to be one available for Fuji from TechArt. It seems to me that the parent company of all Chinese firms is the Chinese Communist Party. They don't respect copyright laws or trademarks in China, anyway.
This is the key thing for me. I can't even get a TechArt Fuji adapter. This is all I want and I would buy it from TechArt if they had one.
I finally bought the Pronto for my A7ii, and it seems to be working great so far. I noticed that it came with firmware version 04. I might want to update to techart version 05, which they claim that reduces battery drainage. Regarding the similarity of the two, it could be that they licensed part of the technology, but they're not disclosing the information. If there was an IP violation, I'm sure techart will do something about it. One of the things they could do is prevent the firmware from being updateable unless it's their hardware.
have you tried the firmware update ? its working ?
Where can i find an adapter for Sony Nex 6 ? 🥺
Nice bit of detective work! Looking forward to the next Godox hack video.
Joe Alward -
Thanks!
Your wait is almost over; I'm finishing up the last bits of editing and audio sweetening before the big post, so stay tuned!
How does one update the firmware for the Pronto
Hi thanks for the vid! Would that work on video? Or only for photos? Thanks.
I have been trying to update the Techart firmware v5 on my Fotodiox Pronto but keep getting the message, "Unfortunately, Techart Update has stopped". I cannot find any solution with a Google search, so wonder if you know what is going wrong and if there is a fix.
thanks for your very informative and helpful video. but i can't make my Pronto adapter to upgrade the firmware. can you do a details video regarding this, thank you and btw my camera is the Sony a7rii
Does the adapters also works on an Sony A6000?
of course I supose
got the tech art.... i must have gotten a bad adapter since it never worked, got the last version of it, the V6 and I never got support from tech art nor the ebay retailer so i had to return it......
So, I guess both Fotodiox and techart pro just copied Nikon's tc-16 idea? I mean sure the F3AF was a doa system, but this is exactly what their tc-16 teleconverter did, what, 20 years ago?
Then it’s all prior art in the IP industry. Now what might be an issue is whether these two companies pay Sony, Nikon etc for their ability to access their unique AF abilities, whether eye AF tracking etc.
Could you please do experiment using the New Fotodiox Pronto Fuji X firmware with the Techart Adapter if it works? greatly appreciated, thanks
good question. any news ?
would one of these adapters autofocus a rokinon 12mm e mount &/or a sainsonic kamlan 50mm f1.1? Please respond asap, would appreciate a quick response, thanks :)
just curious if either one will work on legacy A7R?
How did you get the firmware to upgrade? My app can't find the Pronto via Bluetooth
Daniel Reynolds -
Several considerations:
Make sure you have the adapter attached to a supported Sony body, with the proper settings to enable updates (this can be found on the Tech Art Pro site).
Also, the Pronto's metal construction tends to attenuate (weaken) the BT signal.
If I may, which Sony body are you using for the update?
I'll be happy to share some additional hints based on the specific hardware you're using.
Hope this is of some help (though it will always be easier to update the genuine Tech Art Pro adapter).
I bought the Pronto adapter hoping to get the firm upgrade from Teacart app but it won't update. I have attached the adaptor to my a6500 with and without the lens and attempted the upgrade unsuccessfully. I'm very interested in the update #5 for battery consumption. Any ideas or help that you can share here? I really appreciate it.
maye you already fixed it but.. Did you put to f90, take a picture and then shut down the camera? after this run the app on your phone, select the firmware you want to upload (actually ver. 6) and click update
@@ManricoA please tell me how to update again. thanks.
Great video! BTW, Sony had updated firmwares and one of those updates was to allow the LA-EA1 adapter(which of course these adapter emulate in order to communicate with the body) to use eye focus. Have you tried eye focus with the adapters?
tron944 -
Thanks for the view and the comment.
Actually, I have successfully employed eye AF with a variety of fast and long MF lenses using the TA Pro adapter on the a6300, the a6500 and the a7r2 and have been equally happy with the performance in all cases.
Really - does that apply to the Sony A7II - which firmware version would that be?
The TechArt adaptor would be the same thing as a "macro helicoid" that feeds AF data to the focusing system. Heck, put the same logic w/ a motor on an RZ67 belows & adapt it to any DSLR & it'd be the same thing, only different. So basically there's no //actual// "theft" per se b/c there's so much prior art in photography. IAC, TechArt was first & best, & I hope that by making a technically superior product they can fend off this intrusion into their market. And if it's an out-and-out infringement, then they might litigate against it - I'm sure they've considered their options.
Can i use my carl zeiss jena 50 mm 2.8 Manuel focus lens in canon dslr 600D As autofocus lens using above adopter ? Or any other lenses of different mm in same adopter
It does only work on cameras that are using the phase detection autofocus like the Sony A7r II and the A6300
@@Hightower2804TP oh than i must control my mind :D
I have a Mitakon Speedmaster 85mm 1.2 FE mount (its a manual focus) which adapter/mount with you go with?
Thank you
You can't use it with this adapter. There has to be a difference in flange distance between Sony's relatively short flange distance and relatively high flange distance like Nikon F, M42, M, etc. This is why even in this video you can see he's using a double adapter with M42 lens. You can't do that with FE lens. If you can sell this one and find another one with mount for Nikon, Canon, etc which have flanges of 40+mm then it will work.
So you think Tech Art pro didn't reverse engineer (copy) anything in making their adapter??
Maybe they licensed the Sony AF technologies they piggybacked onto. All those features- maybe also Fujifilms and Nikons.- those gold plated connector pins really draw a lot of information that needs to be drawn from someone’s software.
during the update process (v5) seems that the process hangs 117232>0 on my a7II and fotodiox. Any suggestion? Anyone has the same problem?
any solution ?
MrBazsi888 just retry until it works
I'm not sure why you are surprised by this. Fotodiox is not an original equipment manufacturer. It's just a "rebrand", like f.e. Vivitar and a bunch of other low cost alternatives.
i could not update my pronto
I wouldn't be surprised if the SAME Chinese manufacturer for techart sold it to fotodiox.
😱😱😱😱
Does either one of these work on an A6000, which doesn't have phase detection?
No, only a6300, a6500, a7m2, a7r2, a7r3, a7m3 & a9
a6000 does have phase detection, just like a7s, but it is enabled only with original sony lenses. These adaptors could emulate a sony lens but they don't. If only they did it we could use it on a6000 and a7s! I'm so frustrated since I own only those models! 😡
a7s has only Contrast AF
excuse me, I have been using ea7 for like a year, and there is sth that really bugs me, the tiny little tip the stands out from the back of the adaptor, it prevents a number of tripod plate I own to mount on the camera. From your experience with the Pronto, May I know if there is the same little tip at the back of the adaptor?
I have a fixed-focus lens (Nikkor-O 55mm F1.2; it doesn't have a focus ring). If I use that lens on this adapter, will the lens be able to focus on different focal planes? Or will it remain at fixed-focus? Thanks.
it will be able to focus, since the adapter acts as a focus ring when i moves forward and back to get your subject into focus
rebrand*
Duh! Somebody copied the Chinese who copy everybody else *lol*
Thanks for the comparison.
Sadly, Techart didn't released Fuji X version
Techart $ 379.00 vs FDiox $ 249.00
almost no brainier there.
lol in my country its the other way around. Strange times
Very interesting video - thank you! If you look a bit deeper though, the credit for the conceptional idea is actually due to Kyocera Yashica and the CONTAX AX. If you look at that design ua-cam.com/video/MjgV34PzKTA/v-deo.html , it provided AF to MF C/Y-Zeiss lenses by moving the film pane in relation to the lens. Techart very cleverly adopted this idea - I am a Techart user myself and can only applaud them for the implementation. But I doubt that they were actually able to register intellectual property on this...
Marc M. Bamberger -
Glad to have another TA Pro user view and respond!
As a Yashica/Contax user many many moons ago, I was lucky enough to encounter the original design (borrowed from a friend, alas!) and play with it a bit. Very cool piece of kit!
My observation here is simply that Fotodiox has branded an identically implemented adapter that is not, according to Tech Art, legitimately licensed, and has proceeded to bill this particular copy as an original design of their own making. It's not so much about the general concept of an articulating auto-adapter being copied as it is about the exact same design being all-but cloned, right down to the custom firmware, without any sort of IP agreement in place with the originating designer.
And I a very sympathetic to this. I respect TechArt for what they have done technically. Having been in touch with them from the time of announcement of the adapter, I worry that they may not be as savvy from a business perspective as they are technically... My assumption is that they won't have what it takes to fight this.
Marc M. Bamberger -
I couldn't agree more. That's why I feel it's up to the community to help where we can to dispel any misconceptions regarding these adapters and make sure the marketplace has a fair opportunity to decide the ultimate fate of each.
Thanks as well for adding your thoughts on this, and please stay tuned for more on the TAP adapter (I have several mods in the works to extend its usefulness...)
Maybe... Fotodiox and Tech Art Pro are the same company. They just want to make more brands so they can eliminate possible competitors by creating more companies owned by the same one... Smart move...
Test Techart at F/16, and Test other at F/4 .
Good video, although it's be better if you actually spoke loudly enough to be heard all the time and not just some of the time.
That Bohus dude always struck me as abit of a .... hmmmm opportunist , and his track record speaks for itself - remember there catastrophic lowsy attempt to make a "Speedbooster" - they called it "the Lightcanon" it was a piece of garbage , and when the Floodgate of angry cuostumers wanted there money back - Mr. Photodiox(Bohys) had the nerve to rebrand it as a "Special effect aadapter" and so he could unload the garbage , and get A LITTLE money dripping back to his bankaccount - i would never ever buy ANYTHING from those clowns ! Just Pathetic, embarresing , and without class OR style ! !!!
Hey there, Mikkel. I hear everything you're saying, and would like to take a moment to clear up a few things.
I don't own or control Fotodiox. I'm their demo guy, plus I do some of the creative work behind the scenes. The Light Cannon was a project I had nothing to do with. It was a project I got thrown into right when I started there, and it was mishandled (something I addressed frankly and honestly in a follow up video). Rebranding it later wasn't my idea either (and you're misremembering... after the rebrand it was a freebie. Some people found that the LC could create some kooky lens artifacting they liked, so we gave our stocks away for free). And no... none of these efforts put extra money into my bank account.
Again, I hear what you're saying, and I've conveyed a lot of these same points as clearly as I can to the owners of the company. Thanks.
allright - ill extend an appollogy . for my harsh language - and i realised , that , when the chinese so "In youre face" obviessly, nonremorsefull, steals , other peoples good ideers - and im not talking tidbist , here a there , but there systematic "ripping Off" ALL product´s with ANY value - then why shouldnt "We" (you guy´s)- do EXACTLY the same to them ??? - I hope theres no more hard feelings -..I, for one , has "Let i go" . Time also works , cause i hads giving me time to reflect , on what i said , in my , somewhat "Toxic" rant - again exuse me , and i hope and wish m you guy´s will bring more products out there , with "IndyFilm" Pricings ,-
Thank you for saying what you did. I appreciate it a lot. And yes... when we create new things, we try to keep shooters just like you in mind!
sounds more like a motorized Voightlander VME close focus adapter, rather than an auto focus system??, PS: thats NOT the reason you get a manual focus lens, just to save money on an auto focus lens. you get one of these lenses BECAUSE you LIKE the MANUAL focus experience!!, and you DON'T want a computer taking the focus out of your control.
No you buy them because they are cheap, fantastically built and have great characteristics.
Copied the design, lol. Do you mean they copied it from the same place Tech Art copied it? Ever seen a Nikon TC16? That would have been 35 years old when Tech Art launched theirs. www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/tc16a.jpg
Now, the use of the same microcontroller, who knows? I just pulled down the latest TechArt firmware and guess what is says for manufacturer. Blank. Yep, no copyright info at all. So, if TechArt wrote it, they seem reluctant to admit it.
Wish you would not mumble when you are describing something.
Why rile up for nothing ? in the USA, intellectual properties/invention are resgistered with the Patent Office and protected. The ' first come first serve" wins, means whoever registered the products first will be protected..So instead of ranting in this video, take Fotodiox to the court for violation of patent protection.
i think canon did this kind of device long time ago. and not all patents are patents. usa patent office is a joke.
Patents mean nothing to the Chinese where most everything is manufactured. They use their manufacturing dominance to steal intellectual property over and over. It is also a costly process which is what the guy initially pointed out.
That's not true. If an invention has already been made and published earlier, this is so-called prior art. Then no patent will be granted.
@@rheinmoses if an " invention" not registered then it is Not protected then the guy comes after can use it freely.
jesus man cut ur nails..
i could not update my pronto
i could not update my pronto
i could not update my pronto
any solution ? you tried it on apple software ?