Sony may not be giving a great deal of love to A-mount shooters these days but with their newly announced LA-EA5 A-mount to E-mount lens adapter they are certainly hoping to entice a few A-mount Shooters into picking up an E-mount body.
The new LA-EA5 adapter provides autofocus support for Sony A-mount SSM (Super Sonic wave Motor) lenses, SAM (Smooth Autofocus Motor) lenses, and even non-motorized screw-drive lenses (currently limited to the a7R IV and a6600 only) in still shooting modes.
The LA-EA5 features a compact form factor that is achieved through clever internal gear and motor positioning, making it more comfortable to use compared with earlier larger adapters.
Sony says the adapter provides ‘full support for focal plane phase-detection autofocus (stills only), wide-area focal phased detection autofocus (stills only), Real-time Eye AF for both humans and animals, Real-time Tracking and AF/AE (auto exposure) tracking for SSM/SAM lenses on nine most recently introduced E-mount cameras at up to 11 frames per second depending on the camera model.’
The camera models currently supported are as follows:
- Sony a7 III
- Sony a7R III
- Sony a7R IV (up to 10 fps)
- Sony a6100
- Sony a6400
- Sony a6600 (up to 11 fps)
- Sony a9 (up to 10 fps)
- Sony a9 II (up to 10 fps)
- Sony a7S III
Take a look at this promo video from Sony to see the new adapter in action:
The LA-EA5 should be available in October 2020 for $248.00 US or £270.00.
Further product details can be found on Sony’s website and the full press release here.
Important to Note:
[i] As of Sept. 2020, focal plane phase-detection AF is supported for SSM/SAM lenses on the Alpha 7 III, Alpha 7R III, Alpha 7R IV, Alpha 6100, Alpha 6400, Alpha 6600, Alpha 9, Alpha 9 II, and Alpha 7S III. Focal plane phase-detection is supported for lenses that do not have internal focus motors on the Alpha 7R IV and Alpha 6600.
[ii] STF lenses are manual focus only. Teleconverters are not supported.
[iii] The Alpha 7R IV must be updated to software V1.20 or later, and the Alpha 6600 must be updated to software V1.10 or later.
[iv] For AE tracking, the aperture is fixed for the first frame while shutter speed and ISO are used for exposure adjustment.
[v] Maximum continuous shooting speed is 10 fps with the Alpha 7R IV, Alpha 9, and Alpha 9 II, and 11 fps with the Alpha 6600. Continuous shooting speed may change depending on the attached lens.
[vi] Autofocus is not available during movie recording.
The product announcement seems a little confusing, at least for me owning two STF lenses that are dear to me: Minolta 100mm f/2.8 and Sony SAL135mm f:/1.8 ZA. Only the A7R4 and A6600 are supported. I happen to have the A7R3 and A6300. It would be good to know if Sony has plans to provide updated firmware support for more than those current two camera bodies. The lenses are superb, but I don’t use them often enough to warrant a purchase of the newer versions.
Sadly Sony don’t normally provide details of their upcoming support plans. It might be a case that they get support with a new firmware update.
When it says in the notes – ” [ii] STF lenses are manual focus only. Teleconverters are not supported.”,… does that mean that TC’s are not supported on STF lenses or on all A mount adapted lenses? I know the issues of A – FE mount tele-extender non-compatibility has been a big pain point and something I was hoping would be corrected with this adapter.
Although I’m not 100% certain my guess is that they are not supported. They are also not listed under the compatible lenses list: https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/www/cscs/accessories/compatibility.php?area=us&lang=en&mdl=LA-EA5&cat=7&loc=en_US