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Autofocus Adapter Canon EF to Leica SL by Novoflex


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If think if you want to add some of the Zeiss lenses for Canon mount (such as the Otus, Milvus, and ZE lenses), then it could make a lot of sense. These manual focus lenses, IMO, would be much nicer to focus with the high quality EVF on the SL. I think if somebody wants to use these lenses, as I probably do, this adapter can be a good solution and a lot better solution than a Canon camera. 

 

Sorry to disagree, but I prefer the ZF.2 type of lenses, as they still have the old fashioned mechanical aperture. So unless you have only Canon, you are probably better off buying these lenses with Nikon F mount.

I agree that these lenses work very well on the SL - especially the Zeiss colors are very attractive (but that's also true for the older (and smaller and cheaper) Contax lenses).

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Sorry to disagree, but I prefer the ZF.2 type of lenses, as they still have the old fashioned mechanical aperture. So unless you have only Canon, you are probably better off buying these lenses with Nikon F mount.

I agree that these lenses work very well on the SL - especially the Zeiss colors are very attractive (but that's also true for the older (and smaller and cheaper) Contax lenses).

 

Yes, the ZF.2 lenses are option that many people might prefer with the mechanical aperture, but personally I much prefer the focus rotation of the Canon lenses (the same as Leica and Zeiss Contax/Yashica mount), and if the adapter allows automatic aperture than would be a bonus for the Canon variety as well. Personally, I would get the Canon lenses, but there is lots of room for personal preference here.

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Although I imagine it would be nice to fill the gap in Leica's lens lineup with off-brand lenses, I think it kind of defeats the point of buying into a Leica system, does it not? The SL body is nice, but at that price point you could get 1DX Mk II which is designed to work with Canon lenses.

 

 

I think you obviously have not a complete view of the Leica R and M line. There are many gaps.

By the way, I would not call Nikon or Canon "off-brand", rather another brand. (I used mainly Nikon since 2000, so Leica is the exotic in the digital world, not the others).

You would be foolish not to close the gaps with suitable lenses, but for me there are Contax Zeiss, Nikon, Pentax, Otus Zeiss, and finally also Canon.

But why Canon ?     Canon is for me far inferior to Nikon in the wideangles. I use Canon mainly for its teles. But I would not necessarily want these teles on the SL, as they work much better on Canon bodies. So in the end there is not many a gap a Canon lens can fill. One exception are maybe the tilt-shift lenses.

But there are many other gaps that I filled with Nikon or Contax or Otus or you name it.

 

This way I have now for the SL a line-up that is almost "gap-free", which I have for no other brand.

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I had the opportunity to test the adaptor (a demo unit) for a couple of hours with Canon 11-24, Canon 35/1.4, Canon 70-200 f:4 (non IS) and Sigma ART 24-35. Only the Sigma lens gave me troubles with AF, the other were pretty fine, not perfect but usable.

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Interesting - I was guessing you were going to say the newer 35L.  The original 35L is a bit lighter, definitely shorter, so its balance on the SL was probably okay, even despite the added length from the adapter.

 

Has Novoflex every published a list of which Canon lenses work and which don't?

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Interesting - I was guessing you were going to say the newer 35L.  The original 35L is a bit lighter, definitely shorter, so its balance on the SL was probably okay, even despite the added length from the adapter.

 

Has Novoflex every published a list of which Canon lenses work and which don't?

I do not have anymore Canon lenses, I have just used some second hand sample loaned by my dealer.

The 35/1.4 I have used for this short test was balancing very well on the SL.

I am not aware of any list of approved lens, I have just red somewhere that there are 30 Canon Eos lenses which are supposed to work with the adapter. I did ask about that list to Novoflex sometime back but I didn't get any reply.

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Not very exciting but the SL with the Canon 17mm TSE

 

Gordon

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Another to show the lack of vignetting or colour fringing. You can see it in the VF but not in the file.

 

One thing is. The camera thinks this is an AF lens. So you need to push the bottom left to magnify, instead of the joystick. other than that it's smooth sailing.

 

Sorry the photos aren't pretty but I've not had a nice property to shoot in the last day or so.

 

Gordon

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Hi Gordon -  Have you happened to try any lenses with the AF / MF button on the barrel?  Maybe if the lens is in MF mode (as set on the Canon lens barrel), then maybe the thumb-stick will work for magnification?

 

Has anybody tried the adapter with some Zeiss ZE lenses or the newer Zeiss Milvus ZE lenses?

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I only have one Canon AF lens which is the EF 24-70 F4LIS. Still need to push the lower left button for magnification. This is fine as it's the same as using a SL lens. The joystick push turns peaking on and off. AF with this lens didn't work for a few minutes but then seemed to kick in. It is *OK*. Not as quick as a native but not hopeless. But also misses in some situations (probably can't get enough contrast).

 

A few things: The 24-70f4LIS shows up as an EF200mm f2L in the profiles section. Secondly if AF doesn't work when turning the camera on the switching to MF and back to AF on the lens activates the AF functionality. AF actually works a bit better than I expected it to.

 

I didn't buy it for Canon AF lenses and only put this one on (which I keep as a backup to use on my Sony) since you guys/gals asked so nicely. :) It's nice to know I can use this lens in an emergency if my 24-90 goes down.

 

For what I want it for (TSE and MPE lenses this seems to be a great solution. I use those lenses on a tripod anyway so the button doesn't bother me. After my tests I am confident I can sell most of my Sony gear (I'll keep the A7R2 for high resolution work) and utilise the SL for a greater part of my work flow.

 

I have a good workflow for people but I still don't have the SL files dialled in for real estate and architecture like I do with the Sony's. I've got those super crisp and bright, which my clients love. It'll take a bit to get that from the SL. So it looks like I need to make some profiles that work in this situation.

 

The upside is that I find it far easier to manually focus the TSE lenses on the SL than the Sony. I have a switch for moving between the EVF and LCD (this really bugs me on the Sony. Olympus do it the best) and the inbuilt horizon is way better on the SL, which I use all the time. Once I get the files dialled in it'll be great.

 

Overall if you're wanting TSE lenses on the SL the ones I use (17 and 45 in Canon and 85mm in Nikon) all work great on the SL with no real issues. You can but the adaptor now and get the functionality you need.

 

Gordon

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I think you obviously have not a complete view of the Leica R and M line. There are many gaps.

By the way, I would not call Nikon or Canon "off-brand", rather another brand. (I used mainly Nikon since 2000, so Leica is the exotic in the digital world, not the others).

You would be foolish not to close the gaps with suitable lenses, but for me there are Contax Zeiss, Nikon, Pentax, Otus Zeiss, and finally also Canon.

But why Canon ?     Canon is for me far inferior to Nikon in the wideangles. I use Canon mainly for its teles. But I would not necessarily want these teles on the SL, as they work much better on Canon bodies. So in the end there is not many a gap a Canon lens can fill. One exception are maybe the tilt-shift lenses.

But there are many other gaps that I filled with Nikon or Contax or Otus or you name it.

 

This way I have now for the SL a line-up that is almost "gap-free", which I have for no other brand.

 

It would be fairer, perhaps, to say that Canon and Nikon lenses are 'off-brand' inasmuch as they are not made for the SL. Agreed about tilt-shift lenses. Canon's newest are amazing.

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I just found - and bought - a Canon 17mm TS-E in great conditions (I'd say very close to LN), which will be delivered to me as soon as my dealer gets the Novoflex adapter I ordered from him. Looking forward to trying this setup with my SL! :D

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  • 4 weeks later...

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Overall if you're wanting TSE lenses on the SL the ones I use (17 and 45 in Canon and 85mm in Nikon) all work great on the SL with no real issues. You can but the adaptor now and get the functionality you need.

 

Gordon

Do you find images taken with these Nikon & Canon lenses on SL to resolve better than their native camera bodies? Wondering whether the absence of AA filter on SL will make these lenses perform better with SL.

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Do you find images taken with these Nikon & Canon lenses on SL to resolve better than their native camera bodies? Wondering whether the absence of AA filter on SL will make these lenses perform better with SL.

 

Sorry, But I don't know. I've never used any of my T/S lenses on a native body. Even my friend, who is a Canon shooter, uses a Sony A7R for his T/S lenses.

 

However, I can say that now I have the settings dialled in I'm getting fabulous results from these lenses on the Leica. I've just added a 24mm TSE to complete the set. I'm certainly using less sharpening than I would on a Canon or Sony body with their super thick cover glass. If I use sharpening (in LR) of 70 on the Sony I need about 35 on the SL.

 

Gordon

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have the EOS-SL adaptor for the last 3 weeks in use and would like to share my experience:

 

Some Canon lens are working fine like the 1.4/24mm II, the 1,4/35mm and the 2.8/300mm. They are recognized correctly and the autofocus is pretty fast (faster than Canon live view on the 5DSr)

Some lens are not recognized correctly i.e. the 8-15mm is believed to be the 18-55 mm. In this case the autofocus is slow or does not work at all. You can still use them with manual focus.

 

Most interesting for me is the use of Zeiss lenses (15mm; 50mm Macro and the 135mm). Focusing with the SL is much easier compared to the Canon bodies. All Zeiss lenses are shown as Voigtländer lens in the Exif file. But interestingly, if you activate the lens correction in LR, the correct lens profile is selected.

 

Andreas

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I mistakenly thought that given the price, this Novoflex adapter would work perfectly with all EOS lenses.  Guess I'll wait on buying one for now.  When I had my M240 I purchased a "dumb" fotodiox M to EOS adapter. By "dumb", I mean it does nothing but connect.  Now I use it in a pinch with my SL and it works great.  My 1.4 Summilux is in for repair and I was renting.  Got sick of paying for the cost of renting and waiting for the repair so I relegated myself to the Canon 35 F2.  It's not a perfect everyday solution, but as a capable backup, you can't beat the price and reliability. For the few times I'd need it, I can preset my aperture using my backup Canon body.  For architecture interiors, I set any wide Canon lens at F16.  IF I'm shooting run-and-gun PR, I'd set the same lens at F2.8.  For my 24-105 or 70-200 F 4 lenses, I'd set it for 5.6.  Fully manual but again, it works well in a pinch and I didn't waste $500+ on a "not ready for prime time" adapter.  Thankfully, my 35 1.4 is due back from Leica this week and I can't wait!  It's a stellar performer on the SL.

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