New LA-VE2 Monster Adapter for Vectis

I'm also coming from a 10+ years usage of Vectis S-1 and RD-3000. After my last frozen APS rolls were consumed, I put the whole Vectis system on display. Glad we have now the chance to revive these lenses.

Just got the mail confirmation, that the adapter parcel is in my P.O.Box.
As soon I'm back home (end of January) I will acquire a used a6xxx series camera as a "new" Vectis body and will start testing and shooting too.

I'm excited of the discussions and results I saw until now in several forum posts.

BTW: Shouldn't we maintain these lenses as additional ex-Minolta mount in the lens database too?

mariuszlo wrote: As a result of your discussion, I purchased two S-1 cameras with four lenses (50 macro, 22-80, 80-240 and 28-56). So I already have half of the existing lenses. For now I will try cameras with film. But someday I will want to buy the LA-VE2 adapter. Is it available somewhere?

The only film you can get for APS cameras is about ten years out of date with an unknown storage history .
If you shoot it at box speed it will probably come out underexposed .

These are a couple of shots I took at a zoo with the Minolta Vectis S-1 and the 56-170mm .
It was a dark day and raining hard all day , too heavy to get the digital cameras out , but I was the only one with a camera that was built to use in the rain !
I think it was a Fuji film , ISO 200 . I would have given it an extra couple of stops of light , but as there was that little light the exposures would have been too long for hand held shooting . Even on a tripod the animal would have walked off before the shutter closed !
The resulting scans from the lab were pretty poor , consistent with under exposed film .
Your films probably five years older than this was when used .

The rest of the film I have will have more exposure . I still need to get around to altering a film developing spool to develop it myself though .


Cockatoo by Neil , on Flickr


Little Parrakeet by Neil , on Flickr

Perhaps anyone can share experience with AF performance of Vectis lenses on Vectis cameras. Perhaps we are expecting too much from the LA-VE2 adapter?

Edited by Snegren - 20 October 2022 at 21:49

neilt3 wrote: I started having a play around with it and was initially disappointed .

So was I, but after some more testing I'm more optimistic.

My adapter has a little bit of play and when the contacts are not in, exactly, the right position, the communication stops. Especially my 25-150 has this problem. I get an F90 (!) aperture and the image is blank. Turning the lens 1mm solves the problem but the lens is not recognised; the FL is correct but the exif makes it a 28-56, which probably was the lens I was using before the 25-150.

Sometimes the lenses freeze. Turning the camera off and on again solves this.

It's a quirky adapter and it's good to know the software can be updated. I suppose it doesn't help that Vectis lenses are a mixed bunch. Some are AF only for some reason, most are of soso quality (the front lens (group) of my 22-80 fell out when I cleaned it with a lens pen :-(); and they are 25 years old, and mediocre lenses don't wear well. Also, the electronics seem to be quite complicated.

Maybe my expectations were based on my experience with the combination of LA-EA5 + Minolta AF A-mount lenses; although quite a few lenses are older, this combination is in a different league.

But, by working with the Vectis adapter + lenses, we'll learn how to deal with its quirkiness and at the end of the day, I agree with Paul: the fact that we can use these lenses is already a miracle.

darosa wrote: Got it yesterday. Testing it now on a7r4. 17mm good, 50 macro Ok. It needs good light. Last night I tried the 25-150, didn't work at all. I had the 400 on a7m3. No AF, only MF; VERY SHARP 🙂. I'll clean the contacts on the lenses that don't work (properly): these lenses have been in cupboards for 20 years. So far mixed feelings. s

I started having a play around with it and was initially disappointed .
It had already gone dark so the only light was from the ceiling light .
The exposure being f/5.6 , SS 1/250 sec , ISO 12,800 . Camera being the a7Riv .

The 25-150mmwas slow and hunting , not locking focus . the 50mm macro was rapid AF'ing , backwards and forwards , but not locking onto anything .
The 400mm , forget it .

On the conclusion they wouldn't be sending out something that didn't work to this point , despite the low light , I reckoned it was how I'd got the camera set up .

In this light my Sony FE , Canon EF on a Sigma MC-11 and Minolta / Sony A-mount on an LA-EA5 all work fine .

I changed the Focus mode from DMF to AF-A , and the focus area to Expand flexible spot from Flexible spot : S .

I've used these lenses on the Minolta Vectis S-1 and S-100 APS film SLRs and the digital Minolta DiMage RD-3000 , so from an AF speed , I know what to expect , and to be honest , it's not a very high bar !

So after doing these changes it's working much better in low light .
hopefully I'll get chance to use them in daylight tomorrow , if not it'll be next week .

First observations ( low light ) ;
25-150mm , slower AF , but does lock focus . point at a light , improves a bit .
22-80mm , quite quick and accurate .
80-240mm APO , quite quick and accurate .
56-170mm , not a lens I had a high opinion previously , but used today I'm surprised at the AF speed ( only slightly slow rather than very slow ! )

50mm macro . distance ; quite quick and accurate .
near distance , reasonable AF speed .
Macro , as expected , quite slow , struggling to lock on . should do better in daylight .

$00mm f/8 Reflex , under an LED lightbulb , no surprise here , it's struggling to do anything , partially due to minimum focus distance , partially due to shallow DOF to find focus with , but especially down to fairly dark conditions . Didn't expect anything else really .

17mm . Hmmm .
Really struggling here with this one . Manual focus is spot on , AF is well off .
With such a wide field of view , low contrast and low light , I think this is where the problem is .

I also have the 28-56mm (?) zoom lens somewhere to try when I find it .
Never found the point of it really , so I'm not likely to use it now !

But to summarise at this early point , if your struggling to focus , check your settings .

I've started a Vectis thread for photos made with and discussions about LA-VE2.

I'm in work for another 7 hours .
I WANT TO GO HOME !
Just had an email saying mine has arrived !

Shame about the NEX 7 not working in AF mode . That's contrast detect AF only and no on sensor PDAF that's the reason .
I'll probably use mine on the a7Riv mostly in crop mode , but I'll wait for used a6600 prices coming down so it can work with this , the LA-EA5 and the new M mount adapter .

6 hours 37 minutes to go ..........