Published: Oct 11, 2016
Please Sony, Update the LA-EA4 Adapter!
The new Sony a99 II offers the Best AF system on the planet. It’s dedicated 79-point PDAF sensor would offer the perfect upgrade for Sony’s LA-EA4 A-mount lens adapter! It would offer a HUGE leap forward compared to the dated (by Sony standards) 15-point PDAF sensor used in Sony LA-EA4 adapters.
Ideally, an updated LA-EA4 II Adapter with this 79-point PDAF system could combine with on-chip PDAF sensors of future mirrorless cameras to offer Hybrid AF with Sony A-mount lenses that matches the blazin’ fast AF and highly sensitive performance of Sony a99 II.
Chances are that such an adapter would might not be able to work in conjunction with on-sensor PDAF with any current cameras but at least 79-point PDAF beats 15-point PDAF any day.
Please Sony. Just Do It!
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53 thoughts on “Dear Sony, Please Make an Updated LA-EA4 II Adapter!”
+1 for this. I would imagine that it is probably something they are working on… it would require firmware updates to ensure that the bodies work with an upgraded adapter… guess we’ll just have to see. Still excited for the A992 to be shipped.
+1000000.
I am one of the customers that Sony mentioned specifically during the launch of the A99ii. I have an A99, and a bunch of a-mount lenses, and so the A99ii is for me. The current LAEA-4 is so out dated I would not consider it practical. An updated one may convince me to add an “A9” to my kit, if it ever arrives.
Can’t wait for the A99ii. Yay!!!!
+1 currently owning A7r and a lot of old Minolta glass, this would be an awesome upgrade to the current adapter. If in the upgrade Sony could make it less bulkier, it would be a killer!
I doubt it can be less bulky if it contains an AF module.
I agree with this request, or the alternative I’ve been thinking about since the A7ii got the upgrade to use its on-sensor PDAF with the LA-EA3, which is to make a version or the LA-EA3 that includes the AF screw motor from the LA-EA4.
There’s just so many valuable lenses under the A-mount and Minolta’s ranges that aren’t SSM neither SAM…! (like the 500mm f/8.0 reflex lens, which is really compact and the only AF of its kind in the world!)
I think this could revitalize A-mount lens sales to certain extent.
That’s another approach that would either add a focus motor to Sony LA-EA3 or remove the translucent mirror and PDAF module from Sony LA-EA4. That’s the approach I probably would have favored prior to the a99 II announcement – but this might be a better approach if it were possible to bring a99 II’s Hybrid AF for A-mount lenses to future E-mount cameras.
Please note that Andy mentioned 500mm f/8.0. On the a99ii it would still only feature just ONE auto-focus point. I would favor having no translucent mirror at all to unleash the power of a9, and gain that 1/3 stop of light.
Have you come across anybody that has hacked the LA-EA4 and removed the translucent mirror and PDAF module? Do you think this is possible?
Removing the mirror makes the adapter totally useless except as a paperweight. Sony will not replace the mirror if you do.
Not sure I understand the relation of an LA-EA4 with a new 99II? The adaptor is used on FE mounts so that you can use A mount lenses on it. An LA-EA4 won’t fit on a a99II. Maybe you’re saying that enhance the LA-EA4 so that it will perform better, like the new a99II AF 79-point will have, vs. just 15 PDAF? However, I maybe interested in a new mount for the a99II where we can put on G lenses that are made for FE mounts, esp. since I’m more heavily invested in G glass for E & FE mounts. Do you think this is reasonable? Does this also mean that with the new a99II, they will need to upgrade many of their lenses, to be on par with their current generation of FE G Series Glass with better resolving power? Then I suppose they’ll come out with an a9 series camera that is FE mount and really throw a new twist on things. As much as I’d want the a99II, maybe awaiting a 9 series could be best on my pocket book!!
Sony LA-EA4 is a lens mount adapter for E-mount cameras. It’s NOT meant for A-mount cameras like a99 II.
The AF system of Sony a99II combines a7RII’s 399-point on sensor PDAF with a second dedicated 79-point PDAF module in the body that could replace the current LA-EA4 15-point PDAF module that dates way back to Sony a65.
So Sony could make a firmware update to the current LA-EA4 and combine the 15 PDAF’s with on-sensor PDAF, because they have done this in the a99II as well.
I hope they do or let me try :D, I am still using some nice Minolta glass on my a7III.
But the kids are getting older en faster and the LA-EA4 can’t keep up.
I believe that would require a hardware update – not firmware.
I switched back to gen 1 A7r and a7s as it took far too long for Sony to replace my a7r2. In saying that I’m happy to actually go back to the older bodies as they are easier for travel etc and even though the a7r2 claims to have a tougher body my older models had taken far more serious use without mechanical failure.
An laea5 would be a very welcome addition to their relatively poor Af performance. The laea4 never quite got consistent results with the 135 1.8. I’d love to use that lens again.
Not certain whether the adapter I’m proposing would be called LA-EA4 II or LA-EA5. I see it as more of an update to LA-EA4 (LA-EA4 II) rather than a totally new adapter (LA-EA5).
I suppose such an adapter will be released with A9 or the third generation of the A7 cameras,
when they implement the new or newer LSI chip for a better overall speed of the cameras.
Yes, it would make the most sense to release with next gen E-mount cameras.
Yes Yes Yes
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This is really the solution I’m waiting for. I have a host of A-mount lenses with screw drive and an aging a99 and a850. I also have the a7ii and a couple of Zeiss FEs. I feel like this is the turning point for me. I can afford to add one more camera to the arsenal: the a7Rii, or the a99ii. The a99ii currently is the best bet for the majority of my existing lenses, but locks me out of using the Zeiss FEs I’ve bought for the a7ii. The a7Rii can use all the lenses, but the LA-EA4 is so much more limited in functionality than the a99ii.
If Sony made an LA-EA4 II with the 79pt PDAF and made Eye AF work, that would settle the deal for me. Throw in the -4EV focusing ability of the a99ii as a bonus, and it’d be a no-brainer. It’d be everything I personally need.
Count me in!
But for the adapter to be usable with the old A7r Sony should really issue a firmware update with an anti-shock setting (like Olympus does on some of their bodies).
With the LA-EA4 and the 100-300 Apo (admittedly a pretty light lens), even using an Arca B1 ball head I already experienced a ton of shutter shock at most settings…
In the case of a7R you’d be limited to the adapters PDAF points since a7R sensor is contrast AF only – but 79-points still beats the 15-point PDAF of the current LA-EA4.
As long as they cover a large enough area I can live with just a few points! Incidentally, I’ve seen people questioning the utility of a new LA-EAx adapter, saying that Sony should focus on FE native lenses. But A-mount glass is, IMHO, unbeatable in terms of price-quality ratio, not to mention that several focal lengths are still unavailable in the FE line. And, BTW, someone will have to take the Minolta 100/2.8 macro out of my cold dead hands 😉
Before your fingers go cold and dead you owe it to yourself to check out the Sony FE 90 F2.8 Macro G OSS. It blows away the A-mount 100 2.8 Macro and well as the best macros from Canon & Nikon, the old macro that’s even close is the manual focus Zeiss 100 Macro in 2nd place.
Hello,
as of today, do you think an upgraded version of the LA-EA4 adapter will be some day available? Regards
I only know that a firmware update is coming for LA-EA3. Unfortunately, a firmware update could not add AF points to LA-EA4.
I must admit that, as a completely amateur photographer, with a few nice A-mount full-frame lenses, such as the original Sony 70-400 G, 100/2.8 macro, Tamron 70-200/2.8 and a few nice pre-digital lenses (e.g. Minolta 135/2.8, 50/1.4 and Tokina 20-35), a better LA-EA4 would make me feel a lot more comfortable making the switch to E-Mount full-frame.
Cant wait for this. Everytime the sun sets i revert back to canon cause my a7 series with laea4 is painful to use. Not only i would ditch canon and keep using a7, it would certainly push me to upgrade to a9 so i could use all my minolta white barrel high speed glass. Yes i could use sony 300/2.8 and longer ssm lenses with laea3, but i dont feel like carrying 10+ thousands glass in hand every other night. Sony please update la-ea4!
I believe the Minolta 70-200 2.8 is a SSM lens, too.
Yes, please! an updated adapter is what I need for my much loved Minolta 80-200 2.8 HS APO
That lens is before my time, but doesn’t the HS in the name refer to SSM?
If so, you’d want Sony LA-EA3 Lens Mount Adapter – not LA-EA4. If you know anyone with a LA-EA3, you should try it out.
I’ve seen the HS referred to as “High Speed” in various posts. The lens has screw driven focus.
This guy has a solution. The video is a year & a half old (currently Feb 2019) and there STILL seems to be no commercially available solution, but I think I’m gonna try his DIY method (probably with the techart pro knockoff from Fotodiox, to make the experiment a less expensive risk).
He has DIY instructions on a second video (not linked here, but easy to find on his YouTube channel), which advises that the mod requires a time investment of about an hour or two. https://youtu.be/iibTedxg0G8
1. Bear in mind that these adapters offer a maximum of 4.5 mm focus movement. That’s great for wide angle lenses and fairly decent for normal lenses but utterly worthless for telephoto glass 100mm and up.
2. The max load they can move (Lens + M-mount to E-Mount adapter) is 10.6 oz
3. They’re only suitable for cameras that offer 3rd party PDAF: a7 II, a7R II, a7 III, a7R III, a9, a6300, a6400 & a6500.
Have you had a chance to experiment?
I really wish Sony would come out with something along the lines of an LA-EA3 with a built-in motor. The LA-EA4 is so outdated and its autofocus is so slow it’s embarrassing. I can adapt Canon lenses to my Sony bodies with better autofocus.
i really pray for the Sony to release a new firmware ou a new adapter… i need to use the 135mm 1.8 zeiss on a7riii with more focus points and eye-af :((((( or please just eye-af with the face detection… :(((( com’on sonyyyyy!!!
the 135mm 1.8 have so missed focus with la-ea4… that is not possible to use for pro services… 🙁
Never. Gonna. Happen.
Sony 135mm f/1.8 CZ is great glass cobbled by a horribly outdated Minolta screw-drive AF design that is simply not up to the fast response required for acceptable Eye AF. That’s not to say it’s impossible to implement – simply that it would be horribly slow at best.
Sony FE 135mm F1.8 GM not only offers incredibly fast and accurate Eye AF but it’s actually sharper than the Zeiss A-mount version – which is to say it’s amazing!
But the zeiss 135mm 1.8 on sony a99ii works great with eye-af! i think its possible to do a better adapter…
At this point I would not hold your breath on a newer version of this adapter.
Ask Techart to reverse engineer one!
Why dink around with the LA-EA4 and still lose 1/3 stop of light and lose eye AF?
Autofocus in the 3rd gen Sony a7’s is very fast with even a Sigma MC-11 (which supports eye AF) and Canon glass.
I can’t stomach losing eye autofocus. If I’m going to use the LA-EA4, I may have well have kept my original a7 (or a7ii).
Why not an LA-EA3ii with a screw drive? I’m dying to use the Minolta APO 80-200 High Speed on my a7riii. It’s optical perfection (IMO).
Since I’m here, has anyone tried the Minolta lens with the LA-EA4 on the 3rd gen a7’s Sonys?
Isn’t that a SSM lens? You want Sony LA-EA3 for SSM lenses.
The Minolta APO High Speed 80-200 2.8 is screw drive, unfortunately. It’s easily sharp enough and I just love the tonality and colors.
Please Sony! Let the A Mount go with dignity and pride. Release a new adapter with screw drive motors. I’d love to use my 135mm ZA and Minolta 80-200 2.8 on my A7riii!
Old Nikon AF technology doesn’t adapt well either, but isn’t the 80-200 a High Speed SSM lens? Sony LA-EA3 is the best adapter for SSM lenses.
I have a Minolta 80-200 A mount (the white one), and its screw driven.
Is it this one? Doesn’t “High Speed” refer to SSM?
Thank you Omar for giving a better explanation of the lens. Brian, yes, the link you provided shows the same lens. Here is a link to the screw drive of the lens.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/3e5gycecuoqe7ja/minolta%2080-200.jpg?dl=0
Hi Brian, although the Minolta 80-200 has a High Speed designation it is Pre-SSM and uses screw drive mechanism. It is a very fast focusing lens with a lot of torque. It is even faster than the 70-200 SSM version and the color reproduction is simply beautiful. Also very sharp with some chromatic aberrations, but overall a beautiful lens.
Thanks for the clarification. It’s odd that Minolta chose to use the same designation for screw drive lenses as the did for their SSM glass 70-200 2.8 HS, 300 2.8 HS & 600 F4 HS, but in that case you do need LA-EA4
Middle of 2020 and sony still didn’t update LA-EA4 in any way. No firmware update, no option to use camera AF instead adapter, nothing! Adapter is still selling in the same package from 2013!
If Sony refuses then a third-party would build one then there may be a cat and mouse game of Sony releasing firmware updates to kill such an adapter. That would be a real shame because it will convince many folks to switch brands.
It is technically feasible, here is a working demo https://www.facebook.com/groups/SonyAlphaTalk/permalink/1388000578057048/ of an adapter that uses on-sensor phase detect with Sony/Minolta A mount lenses without limitations.