Nikon Lens to Sony E-mount Cameras

[VidThreeNorth]

I hope people will not mind that I am just "parking" this information here.

I am only mildly interested in these adapters because I have no Nikon lenses and my a5000's focussing system is too weak to support these particular advanced adapters anyway. But I am curious about this because for years now, adapting Nikon lenses to Sony's E-mount has been a problem that has looked like it might have been solved, but leaving us disappointed after testing.
[2017-12-24 - reworded]

Maybe this year is the year that things become acceptable.

The Vello review is of the 2017 version 4 adapter. If you check around, that is a discontinued product and version 5 is available.

I think the Commlite is the latest model.

"Vello Nikon F Mount to Sony E-Mount AF Lens Adapter" posted by "Lensvid", Aug 8, 2017


"Nikon-to-Sony AUTOFOCUS Lens Adapter - COMMLITE EN-EF1 PRO ‍" posted by "Sean Michael", Sept 2, 2017


Anybody interested in this stuff?

 

[IronMaskDuval]

Why buy a sony body if you won't commit to the system? If you're shooting fast targets, sony lenses are the way to go; otherwise, you can just manual focus and not have to worry about these types of adapters.

 

[dxqcanada]

I can see a point to "adapting" lenses to a different system, but I also do see @IronMaskDuval point about using native lenses.
I have a NEX, and I do have an adapter for my A-mount lenses ... but I found that using native lenses more suitable for the camera itself.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

I can see a point to "adapting" lenses to a different system, but I also do see @IronMaskDuval point about using native lenses.
I have a NEX, and I do have an adapter for my A-mount lenses ... but I found that using native lenses more suitable for the camera itself.

I adapt legacy lenses. I have an a7 and hate its autofocus system, but I love what the sensor and Contax lenses do together that I deal with the body. I had an NEX 7 ouat, but I thought imaged were quite sterile.

 

[480sparky]

I have an a6300 and a manual Nikon F to Sony E adapter. When I need to use either of the Sony lenses for their AF ability, I'll use one of those. But if I want to toss on a fisheye, macro or a über-long Nikon lens, I get out the adapter and focus manually.

Manual focus isn't impossible to do. Photographers have been doing it for the past 175 years.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

I have an a6300 and a manual Nikon F to Sony E adapter. When I need to use either of the Sony lenses for their AF ability, I'll use one of those. But if I want to toss on a fisheye, macro or a über-long Nikon lens, I get out the adapter and focus manually.

Manual focus isn't impossible to do. Photographers have been doing it for the past 175 years.

Even easier with awesome focus peaking

 

[dxqcanada]

I really wish I had a "split screen" focusing for my NEX.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

. . .
Even easier with awesome focus peaking

I tried the "focus peaking" on the a5000 for a few months and found that it got in my way more than it helped. I have found this on a couple of other cameras as well. I just do not seem to get the hang of it. The magnification works well for me. So I guess I will stick to that on this camera.

As for these advanced adapters, I think generally they are good for people who have a large number of legacy lenses in general. You would end up having some lenses that are not too frequently used that it would make little sense in replacing.

Also, having recently tried a Maxxum lens on my a5000, I think that the focus helix ratio is designed primarily for auto-focus use. I felt that I was struggling with it a bit. It was not terrible, but I found it took more effort than focussing lenses that were solely designed for manual focus. If this is or it becomes typical of auto-focus lenses in general, and really, it looks like we will see mainly auto-focus lenses in the future, then I think people could find these advanced adapters worth the cost to cover their legacy collections.
[2017-12-27 Fixed Typo]

 

[Derrel]

As he mentioned in the second video, this advanced Comlite adapter allows Nikkor VR lenses to utilize their VR on the Sony bodies...a very valuable feature! Being able to use a neat zoom like Nikon's 200-500mm AF-S VR-G on a Sony body makes the $300 adapter worthy the money, in my book. Lenses are very valuable tools...they stay with many shooters for a long, long time. I can see the value in having AF, and in having VR, from an adapted lens. This adapter gives many,many more lens options for Sony users, and as such, that makes it a valuable tool.

 

[maramos]

Yes. Have seen the new YouTube reviews finally of a working adapter. I switched to Sony when my Nikon d300 body died. Decided it was a good time to try this new mirrorless style. I do have a Sony 50mm 1.8, 18-105 f4, but would be nice to use my older Nikon 80-200 2.8 with autofocus. Have been using my Nikon lenses with the basic adapter and manually focusing. Sony 70-200 2.8 is crazy expensive. Would rather buy the $400 adapter and use the nikon lenses I bought years ago.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

This will probably be the last link that I'll post to this topic because I think the answer is fairly established that the Nikon lens adapters have reached a point where they are worth trying out. If you have the "more common" lenses, there is a reasonable chance that many of them will work:

"Nikon F to Sony E Adapters TESTED - (Autofocus, Metering and VR)",
Posted by"Matt Granger", May 1, 2018
""

 

[greybeard]

If you have a lot of Nikon AF-S lenses, this makes sense. I have the A6000 and I have a mechanical Nikon and Minolta adapter. I've played around with both of them quite a bit but, when it is time to get serious about things, I mount nikon to nikon and sony to sony.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

I New Brand of Adapter "Monster Adapter"

I am adding this note about the "Monster Adapter" LA-FE1 because it claims better hardware. That might mean a faster processor to do conversions, or possibly better precision due to less latency or more data provided to the camera body. In other words, "I don't know what is going on but it sounds like it should be good." If this is the company supplying adapters for others, then it is likely the same improvements will roll out for the other brands too, so if you wait a while you might get a better product. But none of this is for certain.

"MonsterAdapter’s new LA-FE1 adds AF support to Nikon AF-I, AF-P and AF-S lenses on select Sony cameras"
Posted Feb 14, 2021, Gannon Burgett for DPReview.com
"MonsterAdapter’s new LA-FE1 adds AF support to Nikon AF-I, AF-P and AF-S lenses on select Sony cameras"