LA-EA3 vs LA-EA5 Adaptor

Hello again.

Today i would like to talk a bit about the two adaptors as the official sony site is useless and most reviews are just clickbaits. Maybe someone of you has some indepth experience.

In theory EA3 + EA5 should behave idential - on my A7iii - as both dont support screwdrive AF (thanks sony), which i dont need or even want anyway, luckily. BUT general AF on EA5 should actually function better as some (or should i say most?) lenses were almost unusable with the EA3.
To name some: sony 70-400G1 + tamron 70-300 USD could almost not acquire focus - with LA-EA4 they worked as they should, but with the usual SLT problems, so i sold all of them.
sony 70-400G2, sigma 35 1,4 + tamron 90 2,8 (all of those lenses are newer/more recent) worked significantly better in AF, although of course underperforming compared to native lenses. So the EA3 is not all that bad.. but:

1. My point i want to make: As the LA-EA5 is basically EA3+EA4 combined, should mean, at least in theory, even the mentioned 70-400G1 should focus better on my A7iii as the SLT technology of the EA4 is not required for screwdrive/older lenses in general, because it would be weird anyway to sell a new item that doesnt even work properly with official sony lenses. Can someone confirm something similar?

2. Another annoying thing about the EA3: Unless you are shooting the max. aperture, there is always some little *click* sound when taking a picture. I would blame some weird aperture closing mechanism within the adaptor, as the silent shutter doesnt do such thing obviously. Is this still a thing on the EA5?

3. One more interesting thought: Shouldnt all of those adaptors actually quite greatly improve the magnification, as the distance between lens and camera is bigger compared to their native mount?

Thanks

A68noob wrote: 3. One more interesting thought: Shouldnt all of those adaptors actually quite greatly improve the magnification, as the distance between lens and camera is bigger compared to their native mount?

Nope, the only thing that counts is the distance between the lens and the sensor and that remains the same. If it doesn't your photo's would be blurry/unsharp.

The distance between lens and camera as such is irrelevant, the only thing that counts is the distance between the lens and the sensor, the E-mount cameras just have a smaller distance between sensor and flange than A-mount cameras, so you need to add a "tube" to get an A-mount lens at the correct distance from the sensor in an E-mount camera. This tube doesn't add any magnification or macro capability and with the tube/adapter in place on an E-mount full frame camera the lens has the same magnification, MFD and other optical attributes as if it were used on a FF A mount camera like the A900 or A99.

Most people report very good performance with an LA-EA3 or LA-EA5 with the lenses you had trouble with. Are you sure you didn't have a faulty LA-EA3 adapter or dirty contacts?

Gary Friedman has several YT vids on these adapters and I find quite informative. I will include links at the end.
I currently use an A7iii. I use the LA-EA4 with my A mount lenses. I have zero experience with the other adapters. The LA-EA4 can be modified for better autofocus by removing the mirror and installing an aftermarket circuit board. I have no issues with the LA-EA4 but my intentions are to eliminate my A mount glass and go with more native FE lenses. Looking forward to the acquisition of an A1 or whatever top model is available as I can afford the purchase at such time.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXsV3UJcwdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FvusonVmmM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xy4GZURBkF0



Edited by RonnieJ. - 10 July 2022 at 14:16

Ihave the LA-EA5 for use with the a6600. All of my screw driven lenses are fully functional including old minolta glass. Lenses that were never sharp enough or had back or front focus issues(zoom teles where micro adjust on my a77ii could only be "averaged" for them...though my primes were fairly adjustable) suddenly behave like very expensive glass(taking into account maximum aperture range). My minolta nifty 50 1.7 was always a bit quirky and unpredictable now allows me more keepers at wider apertures than I ever had before. My minolta beer can f4 stays razor sharp at F4 no matter the distance. Sony motorized lenses do well though my tamron 18-270 tele pz focus tends to hunt with this adaptor(aperture works great)...I keep it on the 77ii instead where it shoots very well.

My old kit 18-55 sam ii tele lens out performs with this set up and the expanded high iso/lo noise capabilities of the a6600 makes this lens quite useful when caught with a must take shot in a darker environment. The shots are almost uniformly sharp and bang on in focus.

My other unsung hero is my sony 55-200 sam ii(4.5 to 6.3) with this combination. I like using it on a mixed light to grey day using f8 1/1000 sec at 400 to 600 iso to capture birds in motion. With the a6600 and the La-ea5...nothing can beat it other than G or ziess tele glass but alas no budget for such richness.

For street work or short notice portraits my macro sony f2.8 30mm macro lens. At 2.8 shoots regular or macro with pin point sharpness. Portrait shots are great using this lens and adaptor.

I haven't tried my tamron 10-24mm tele yet with this combo.

An honorable mention goes to my tamron 70 to 300 F4.5 to 5.6 with macro screw driven tele...if I keep it at f5.6-8,it is sharp to the long end end with nary a hunt, depending on light or iso. Works with a KENKO 2.0x magnifying step up lens amazingly well out to 600mm with a tripod(900mm considering the apsc 1,5x crop factor). An added plus is rock solid focus when in macro mode and tripod>

Finally we come to my new Sony Full frame 50mm 1.4 screw drive lens. Twilight and indoor shoots without flash just open right up and do well with this adaptor and camera combo. No micro adjustment needed ever on anyof these lenses due to focus at the sensor tech. I can image the pores on skin at 20 or 30 feet in average indoor light(with the proper iso and aperture) when cropping a photo close up.

This La-ea5 saves your screw driven glass when using the a6600, a7iv, a9 and a1 cameras...though one person swears the screw drive with one of the a7iii(s?) lenses.

I haven't tried the La-ea 3. Was going to get it with a a6000 series camera but when I heard about the La-ea 5 deisgned to work autofocus with the a6600...I got that combo instead. Very Happy!