Autofocusing vintage lenses transformed my photography
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
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I LOVE the look and feel of vintage lenses... but SOMETIMES I don't want to manually focus. Manual focusing takes longer, which means I sometimes miss the best moment. Manual focus also requires two hands, so I can't do it while (for example) walking my dog.
The Techart adapters do something truly amazing - they take almost any vintage lens, including lenses for Leica M, Nikon F, and Canon EF, and add autofocus capabilites to them when connected to your Sony E or Nikon Z mirrorless cameras. It works, and it's life-changing.
Now, you can give your grandparent's old lenses a new life. Or you can shop inexpensive lenses at KEH (sdp.io/keh coupon NORTHRUP-1) and expand your creativity without giving up autofocus.
Get the generation II Techart Pro adapter for Leica M to Sony E-mount or Leica M to Nikon Z-mount. If you're not adapting Leica M lenses, get a dumb adapter for that mount to Leica M. For example, you might get a dumb (non-electronic) Nikon F to Leica M adapter (as I show in this video) or a Canon EF or FE to Leica M adapter.
This is very cool. I predict vintage lenses being used on digital bodies will grow in popularity with the recent film price hikes. Vintage lenses are a huge part of the 'film-look'. This is a very cool option for those that don't want to manually focus, or maybe they don't have the eye sight to manually focus. Look forward to trying one out.
Agreed
My first Nikon camera, kept for 11 years. Loved it.
I bought one for my Z9,Z6 and I’m very impressed 😮
Using old lenses rekindled my passion for photography. They encourage you to focus on the creative process and artistic expression, rather than achieving technical perfection. It's a return to the essence of photography, where capturing the soul of a scene matters more than flawless details.
I really appreciate your thoughts on this. I love collecting and (occasionally) using vintage lenses, and I'm convinced one of these AF adapters is in my future. For me it currently hinges on prioritizing my photography dollar. *There's too much to buy, and I want it all!
You could try to use the old optics of the Tamron, you'd be amazed.
Oh, I usually never say I need something. But I need this.
I'm still more a fan of modern lenses, but if this gives you joy, then more power to you! Glad they're still coming out with new tech that can bring the old gear back to life.
I have that exact Nikon F Photomic and 50mm F:1.4 lens combo and really do adore it. I use the lens on my fuji as well and it's definitely become my favorite. I've been considering looking into an autofocusing adapter, but they're pretty expensive and I just generally like the feel of manually focusing.
My favorite video of yours! Brilliant!
That nikon f is beautiful
This looks huge for someone like me with a sizable film camera collection and just getting into digital. For now I'm sticking with a manual adapter but $400 for that adapter it's not a bad idea.
Of course the Sigma 35mm f1.2 DG DN exists as autofocus lens. And by the way: it's amazing! 😍
Its the first step to REAL photography for every rookie grapher, i think. When you start to see the Character of non perfection lenses (from boring modern ones) and charm of film pictures, it teach us to see the light and bright colors of life.
Autofocus and IS systems helps not to loose every moment, instead of old fashion cams. Yes, they are so beautiful, but, the pictures taken of united worlds from past (old lenses) and future (af-adapters and your own favourite digital cameras) will be the best!
I have boxes of old lenses and tons of adapters, they're a treasure. Mostly I use them for shooting IR with an IR converted Canon 5D body.
Focus peaking is the way to go. FTZ and whichever Nikkor F mount lens you can think of, it's so easy , of course it requires 2 hands but it is brilliant. If you use zone focusing to begin with it's even easier.
Techart has a lot of interesting adapters, it even makes Techart adapter for Sony E mount to be adapted to Nikon Z. I used Techart M to E adapters. Techart also makes EF-> Fuji GFX adapters but it is not quite as good as the Fringer EF->G adapter.
Great video, to infinity ...and beyond
Since you like legacy lenses, Tony, it would be helpful if you could make an episode one day explaining which old manual lenses fit which modern cameras, do those cameras have manual focusing aids with those lenses, what adapters are needed, etc.
This is the coolest gear I've heard about in a long time
Yes, approximate focus by hand, then fine focus with the adapter. Contax AX cameras have internal focusing, ie. inside the body. Technique: approximate focus manually, then when pressing the shutter release, the film chassis inside the body brings the film plane into perfect focus. Of course, one simply used the original Contax Zeiss lenses.
Yashica / Contax had a film camera called the AX (I used to own) that did this internally via a ceramic rail system to adapt older Yashica/Contax Zeiss manual focus lenses and make them "autofocus" It was slow, but still amazing.
I've often wondered why, with their mastery of sensor movement, Olympus/OMDS never added some degree of auto-focus for manual focus lenses.
While it might take way too much sensor movement cover a wide focusing range, I often "miss focus" by just a tiny bit, and it would have been helpful if the sensor movement had been able to "fix" that.
Probably because none of the camera makers produce manual focus lenses any more, and they didn't want to do anything that would compete with their AF lenses.
I'm glad you see that Tony! Well done!
That Voigty is my favorite casual lens for my Sony. Such a fun and special lens.
Hi i'm using a old Minolta Dynax AF lenses with the A to E adapter (bayonet) on my Sony A7 IV. Actually modern optics lenses are better , but not by much.
Can you recommend what lenses are good for adapt 🙏
@@oatwdk4029 The Minolta AF Zoom Macro A 35 - 80 / 4 - 5.6 works perfectly, obviously with manual focus.
LMAO. Cool gadget. I might take a look. I love taking my old, non-ais lenses from the '60s and put it on my D810. And they work. It's all manual and a lot of fun. I wish my old canon stuff worked like that, but nope.
I have 3 Nikons. From the 70’s. I got these when I was a child , still work. Still use them , Face it. This is what makes good photographers
I shoot my Sony a7ii with almost nothing but my Minolta 58mm f/1.2. I just feel more comfortable dialing in the focus and aperture myself. It just feels better.
So happy you made a review about the TechArt Adapters. Since ive seen it on another channel the summilux 50mm 1.4 with its fiery flaring has become my dreams lens to put on a sony body with that adapter. Although your experience with video wasnt good ive seen others having a lot less issues - hopefully video Af will come to the E to M adapter and we'll see more of this kind of adapters to breath new life into vintage glass.
I have the same camera (all black) with the 55mm Micro-Nikkor. Beautiful.
This takes me back to when I started my career in 1982 all manual focus 😮
Super cool
gotta love those vintage lenses, my collection is growing by the day (wife not happy)😬
I’m really interested in the Sony E version (the LM-EA9), but either I have to order directly from Techart in China, in which case I don’t know if import duties/VAT will be applied (and how much!) on delivery, or I can apparently buy it on Amazon U.K. but they add nearly £100 to the Techart online price! Given the interest these days in using vintage lenses on mirrorless cameras, I’m surprised there are no international distributors for this device, and also surprised there are no competitors. To be honest I’m reluctant to pay that Amazon markup and very nervous about spending such an amount and buying direct, so for now I can’t see me getting this device even though I’d love one for my (now huge) vintage lens collection
Nice to see you back with Nikon Tony.😁😁📷👍🏾
still use my nikkor 50mm 1.4 ai-s, its like in between vintage and retro looking i use it for all kinds of photos
This is why the digicam craze is happening for the past couple years. There is beauty in imperfection.
Tony never ceases to impress me
@TonyAndChelsea @Tony & Chelsea Northrup Is this a fake account or bot?
Autofocus is overrated. With that Nikon F, you can manually focus in a fraction of a second, and get the F stop right as well, your fingers are right on the controls.
You can't manual focus a modern digital body because they lack the focusing screen that the old F had.
That is true. My fuji paints the focus area as an alternative but even that is not as satisfying as that focusing prism we had in the nikon f viewfinder back in the day.
Looks radioactive yellow 😮 … question though does the autofocus adapter work with macro lenses xD
Excellent video Tony very useful.
Glad it was helpful!
Ok, I NEED this!
So tempted.
I’d love to see this with an MFT mount!
A fun video. I had no idea such an adapter was available.
I have one of these for Sony and it was the best money I've ever spent.
I have one of those older ais 50mm f1.4 (manufactured in the 70s)
It definitely has a lot of fungal growth, but the pictures are really different from what you'd get from "modern" lenses
I'll wait one for Fuji and perfection will be achieved
I’ve been adapting old manual lenses to digital bodies since around 2008 ish. I now have a considerable collection of old manual lenses, including some ‘classics’. There are many answers to the question ‘why’.
1) if you spend £1000 on a modern lens, it’s going to lose its value pretty fast. I. You spend £1000 on a classic manual lens, there’s a good chance you’ll get your money back if / when you decide to sell, and you will probably make money on it.
2) you buy a modern lens, it’s has electronic focus, electronic aperture, electronic image stabilisation. In a decade, the probability that one of the electronic systems packs up & it not being economic to repair increases. You don’t have that with manual lenses.
3) People buy a range of modern lenses at different focal lengths to have choice. These are all essentially ‘perfect’ these days in the way they render. I like having older classic lenses even at the sane focal length as modern lenses I own, because it gives me choice. So I want high constraint ‘perfect’ image, or do I want lower contrast image with ‘flaws’ that can add character?
4) old manual lenses often just have a tactile feel to them that’s a pleasure to experience, few modern lenses have that.
The problem with modern cameras is the lack of manual focus help within the viewfinder. While my fuji's digital viewfinder helps with manual focus by painting the focus area in red, all my nikon dlsr bodies lack it. I would not need an AF adapter if I had a visual assistance in the viewfinder like old film cameras had (i started photography with manual lenses and film in 90s)
I am a film photographer who uses digital for production work. Digital is just so easy. Just manual focus…..it’s not so bad. Film is like a vintage violin and digital is like factory fiddle. But I will relent that the two are different mediums with their own merit. I just enjoy the art and soul of film and not the quick and easy digital shooting.
I still have my Nikon F5 film SLR, it was a beast in its time.
I love my Nikon F,G lens'. For a few years now I Use and love my AF adaptors. No AF in video.
Nice to know, now can discard
Hi Tony.... here's a digital "newbie" question... related to adaptors and going digital in general. I have a collection of Minolta Rokkor MC & MD lenses and aging SRT101 & XD-7 bodies....
I'm faced with shooting film and opting for scanning each roll...or perhaps buying a Sony Alph "n" ?and a manual focus adapter ....giving me my first taste of mirrorless digital?
Given I don't have a legacy investment in DSLR....what guidance would you give? I see Canon's reluctance to open their R mount spec to third party lens manufacturers as a turn off to choosing their system for someone in my "late to digital" position. Hey that might be a new video title
"Late to Digital?....where best to place your system investment?"
Cheers Rodney in Melbourne Australia
You can get a Sigma 35mm f/1.2 on Sony and L-mount. Commenting on you saying you can't get that on from any modern mirrorless lens.
Yeh, the AF really helped. I had a lot of blurry shots and still seem to get them 😮 But, I see a lot more shaper images these days. 👏
Tony -- Saw this originally on DPReviewTV (RIP), but didn't realise you can stack an F to M mount on it (and why not, dummy). Great to see your take on it.
Too bad there's no EXIF from my AF-D lenses. Come on, Nikon, give us all the FTZ III that we want!
They don't seem to have Cannon to Sony FE mounts yet (only E as far as I can see). Hopefully it will come up soon. Still. Awesome find. Thank you.
In the old days.. we manual focus guys would move back and forth to get focus.. save a few hundred and use old school techniques
Split prism focus screens should come back
Nikon dlsr s has that built in screw autofocus system. Some vintage autofocus lenses work with them. (AF and AF-D) moslty 80s and 90s lenses. Z mount bodies do not have the built in motor.
I really wish they made this for Fuji X-mount. The Fotodiox Pronto knock-off is based on the bigger, clunky gen1 of this Techart adapter, but at least Fotodiox were able to make an X-mount version. Unfortunately, the Fotodiox, for one reason or another, seems to be incompatible with all of my Fuji cameras (X-M1, X-E1, X-T10, X-T20, X-T30, X-T200). So it looks like I'm stuck waiting on whoever comes out with a compatible adapter first, if at all.
I feel the same way about my MP and it's 50.
Pretty innovative .. cool. I don't own any vintage lenses and can't see buying some in order to get that 'old school' quality (BTW, I'm an 'old' photographer ... sold most of my gear when moving into digital). After all, you can edit your images to achieve a wide range of effects - I'm sure there are presets for that, or create your own.
I wonder if we will ever be able to get an EF to RF version of this to use some of my Rokinon Manual lenses on it. Good and wishful thinking
How its this device a year later? Does the AF motor wear fast?
The manufacturer claims that the product has been significantly improved after long-term development. The price is with customs duty and import tax 500 + Eur. Why does the manufacturer not offer the usual and mandatory 2-year warranty in the EU, but only a 1-year warranty?
I've had two Techart TZE-01 die on me (this is the version to allow Sony lenses to be used on Nikon Z). Not only does my Z6 not recognised a Sony lens or its aperture any more, the firmware application simply doesn't see the dock. The first time I managed to finagle a replacement. Round two, I'm out of pocket. At $200/pop, I'd rather just buy native lenses. Techart adapters are not ready for prime time.
If you want vintage, try film and Develop it your self, what a great experience. The saying, Everything old becomes new again.📸
Replayed this a few times. What two techart adapters do you need to use for Nikon AI lenses to autofocus on the Nikon Z?
Worth mentioning is the $400 to have the camera focus - sort of - versus adapters that do the same with your control.
400$ is well worth to upgrade your lens and give them an actual feature that they didn't have back then. And if you take into account that todays camera body have IBIS, you can push the potential of old lens one step further and get decent, sometimes similar result to actual lenses (just in terms of optical performance you clearly see a difference).
6:09 Chelsea1: common poop faster. Chelsea2: Seriously? I haven't even done my make up... Chelsea3: OK Tony...I am going to get you for this!
That lens adapter seems awesome are they going to make one for canon users
They don't have an e mount to f mount unfortunately, same with the other fotodox something going around
Can you attach a manual nikon lens and make it autofocus?
Has anyone tested the video autofocus on Sony, video states he only tried on the nikon. Looking to use autofocus on Sony emount
How well does it maintain focal plane alignment? Can you please do a 5 point focus accuracy test?
Looking for something like this for Sony camera, wish this wasn't for Leica M mount though, M42 would be preferred. Getting another adapter for the adapter is...ugh.
I wish they would make one for Canon so I could use my FL lenses on my R5. I adapt them now with a Fotodiox adapter but of course manual focus at that point. Still love it, but with AF... man that would be sweet.
Me too. Unfortunately Canon is blocking all third-party efforts to create RF autofocus devices, so it'll likely never come.
Thank for showing interesting product.
nikon to leica converter is TZM-02, not lm-ea9.
Is that 50mm radioactive?
Yes ☢️
That video AF reminds me of using my metabones adapter on sony with canon ef lenses to record video lol a cool hack that I use for sony is to use photo mode to grab focus and then hit the video record button to start video, and pull manually from there. You can set photo mode to 16:9 to keep your composition as well! Would this work with an anamorphic adapter on the front of the lens, because that would be awesome!
Don’t you afraid of the adapter damaging your machine ? Any imperfection of the 3-party adapter will make some damage to your Z.
Interesting. I'd like to see this for Fuji or Panasonic. Weird there's no Fuji option given how a lot of Fuji ppl are also vintage lens enthusiasts.
Try shoot video with dji lidar.
Not sure if you're still monitoring comments, but I'm wondering if you might do a follow-up on this TZM adapter, even just a short video.
Are you still using it? Does it still operate as it did when you made this video? Or does it operate better, with firmware upgrades? I'm asking because, in researching it, I've come across users reporting mixed and varied levels of performance. I'm sure that many people, like me, would like to have some idea of longevity before sinking $300-400 into an adapter like this.
I have been unsuccesfully looking for an auto focus adapter for video on my sony@6000, anyone?. Open to upgrading cameras to any of the @ 6000's series.
I have this adapter...it is not working well...keep locking and not focus anymore...
Picked up a Nikkor 50mm f1.2 from a store in Hiroshima two weeks back (a steal at ~$300) during a Japan trip. Very excited to see the manual-focus results when I started editing.
I shoot the D800. And use no adaptors. Right on the body with my old school lenses.
So I need both adapters for Nikon? I'm confused.
Wish they had one for Canon EF
I love how there’s a motorized adapter for Nikon and every other mount but no motorized Z to F autofocus mount. I have several F mount screw lenses that I can’t use autofocus with….
Yeah, it's too bad. I think they want you to buy new lenses.
All I have ever used are old film lenses on my digital camera.
WOW! Is there an adapter for Fuji X-T4? I have vintage Nikon lenses that I'd love to us in auto focus. Best Regards; Jay.
What about the sigma 35mm f1.2?
This is a pretty neat idea, but for $400... ouch. They probably saw the price of old Leica gear and thought this was an appropriate price.
I love the Voigtlander 1.2 Leica M 50 mm lens, I am
Sure the 35 is also fantastic. I use a different autofocus adapter: megadap mtz 11. Could you compare these adapters?
I also adapt Nikon AIS 105, 135 and even 400 AIS.
Could you come back to this video and answer, pls?!
Any experience with l mount bodies?
Techart, if you are watching the comments, make a Nikon F to Z autofocus adaptor with a drop in filter slot and if possible maybe add in a electronically controlled ND filter.
I wonder if this would work with Laowa lenses for Sony ❓
they would need to be DSLR lenses because those are designed for longer flange distances, giving room for the adapter. Mirrorless lenses won't work.
Vintage lenses should be used on vintage cameras for the full analogue experience. Manual focusing on digital is not as easy as using the Nikon F. On that you can easily grab focus with the split prism screen.