Autofocus Adapter Canon EF to Leica SL by Novoflex

[Joshua Lowe]

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It's sounding more and more like the AF is not going to be practically useful outside of fairly limited circumstances.  That said it's still something I'd buy because it would let me use the 135 F2L and 85 1.2L II with manual focus and full aperture control.

[haydenc]

Hi all, 

I received one of these units today.

 

I only used it for 5-10 minutes.

I have no reference for Auto focus with the SL as I only use M or R lenses.

 

That said I grabbed the only lens I could see near me which was the 70-200 F2.8. It did auto focus and lock onto the focus point.

It did seem a little slow, but as I don't own either of the Leica auto focus lenses, I don't know how it compares.

 

In aperture priority you change the Aperture with the back dial. It just worked as expected.

 

My main gripe is that you can't use continuous focus. That was the main reason I bought this adapter as I have 2 young kids and sometimes I just want to put the camera on autofocus. When you go into Focus mode it only has AFs and Manual. AFc is not listed or greyed out. It just isn't there.

I wonder if that is something that will be added in later on. 

I am sure that Novoflex would have had to work with Leica to get this adapter working, so hopefully it will add more functionality over time.

 

The main lenses I want to test are:

85 F1.2, 100mm Macro, 100-400mm, 1.4 extender, as well as more with the 70-200 F2.8.

I have about 10 Canon lenses that I have been holding onto. 

I have really missed not having access to 100-400mm and Macro lenses since I moved to the M240 3 years ago.

 

I will test it in a range of environments over the weekend and see how if goes.

[rafikiphoto]

Is this adapter generally available now?

[steppenw0lf]

Is this adapter generally available now?

 

It depends on the country. In Germany it is available at Novoflex - maybe also at dealers.

In the neighbourhood countries it is not available yet (maybe in 1 to 2 weeks). The further away you go from Germany the longer it seems until it is available. Ask your local Novoflex importer/representative, or ask Novoflex Germany. I think there is a list of importers on the Novoflex website.

This is just my current impression, no official statement.

[Ivar B]

It depends on the country. In Germany it is available at Novoflex - maybe also at dealers.

In the neighbourhood countries it is not available yet (maybe in 1 to 2 weeks). The further away you go from Germany the longer it seems until it is available. Ask your local Novoflex importer/representative, or ask Novoflex Germany. I think there is a list of importers on the Novoflex website.

This is just my current impression, no official statement.

 

I just checked with a large dealer in Berlin and was told that it will be available by mid July.

[steppenw0lf]

Novoflex told me last week that it will be available in Switzerland in 1-2 weeks. And that I should check with my local contact:  Perrot Image SA in Nidau, Switzerland.

 

There is the international distributor list:

https://www.novoflex.com/en/service--support/international-distributors/

 

For Norway it is Focus Nordic Norway in Rud, www.focusnordic.no

Try to send mail to      info@focusnordic.no

[Sandokan]

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You can also try http://www.novoflex-shop.ch/ who seem to sell it less than other resellers (the one in my town sells it at full Swiss retail).

 

Novoflex told me last week that it will be available in Switzerland in 1-2 weeks. And that I should check with my local contact:  Perrot Image SA in Nidau, Switzerland.

 

There is the international distributor list:

https://www.novoflex.com/en/service--support/international-distributors/

 

For Norway it is Focus Nordic Norway in Rud, www.focusnordic.no

Try to send mail to      info@focusnordic.no

[haydenc]

I got mine from Mainline Photographics in Australia.

I spoke to them as soon as it was announced to reserve 1.

I was told it would be in within the week. Then they emailed to say it would be in late July.

Then I got another message saying they had 1 and to put the order in. A day later I had the adapter.

It might be worth seeing if they have any others.

[Ario Arioldi]

I got mine from Mainline Photographics in Australia.

I spoke to them as soon as it was announced to reserve 1.

I was told it would be in within the week. Then they emailed to say it would be in late July.

Then I got another message saying they had 1 and to put the order in. A day later I had the adapter.

It might be worth seeing if they have any others.

It will be nice to have also your feedback.

TIA

[haydenc]

I gave this adapter a decent test today.
Unfortunately it is not ready for prime time!
 
I took it to my son's soccer game with the Canon 70-200 F2.8.
Focus is slow and unreliable. The camera locks up quite often. Sometimes the focus hunts back and forth, back and forth and can't seem to lock onto anything. To fix that, you need to turn the camera off and on again. Sometimes more than once, then it starts to work again. 
Occasionally you get a shot that is completely over exposed to white or the opposite to black.
 
ONe strange thing is that I thought I will just use manual focus, and I put it in a faster drive mode to get some sequences.
Even in manual focus, the frame rate is very slow.
So Was using Aperture Priority mode, I thought maybe the camera has to work to set the aperture after each frame.
However when I moved to Manual and fixed the ISO, Shutter speed and Aperture the frame rate was still the same about 2-3 frames per second when in full high speed continuous shooting.
 
An interesting observation, I was able to look at the behaviour of the Aperture when Canon lenses are attached to the SL. IF you change the aperture using the back dial, it immediately changes the aperture in the lens. 
This is different to how a canon lens behaves on a canon body. When on a Canon, if you dial in the aperture it doesn't do anything and keeps the lens wide open.
The canon will only stop down to the selected aperture when you take a shot, then open back up to wide open again. (Or also by hitting the depth of field preview button). This is to ensure you can see the world as brightly as possible as you are looking directly through the lens.
 
Over the course of the day I shot with another 2 lenses. 50mm F2.5 and one of my all time favourites the 85mm 1.2.
At one point I was getting slightly overexposed images in bright reflected sunlight with 50 ISO, 1/16,000 shutter and A of 1.2!!
Lucky I had ISO 50 available and the electronic shutter up to 16,000 otherwise I would have had to stop down 3-4 stops.
 
I read the manual when I got home and it does say that the adapter can/will get updates from the camera body. And directs the user to the Leica website. So that says to me that this adapter has been a joint project between Novoflex and Leica, especially if Leica are allowing Novoflex to embed the adapter firmware inside the camera firmware!
 

As it stands now, you could not rely on this adapter if you really need to get the shot. 

It is great to be able to use Canon lenses on the SL with full electronic aperture support. Auto focus is nice to have but slow.

For best results you need to use manual focus.

WHich made me have the thought, if I have to shoot manual focus to get the best results, then why not use a M lenses or an R lense and keep the Canon EF lenses for Canon bodies...

[Steve Spencer]

If I get the adapter, I hope to use it with Zeiss lenses designed for the Canon mount. These are all manual focus, so autofocus isn't an issue, but camera control of the aperture is. Has anybody tried this combination?

[haydenc]

If I get the adapter, I hope to use it with Zeiss lenses designed for the Canon mount. These are all manual focus, so autofocus isn't an issue, but camera control of the aperture is. Has anybody tried this combination?

 

I have 1 EF mount Zeiss lens. I have been struggling to find my Canon gear as most of it hasn't been used for over 3 years.

I am a bit ashamed to say that I have found some things covered in dust etc. Certainly not how I would treat any of my Leica kit!

 

After the disappointing day yesterday with the adapter, I think I will still keep it. 

I will let you know when I find the Zeiss!

[dkCambridgeshire]

Users' initial disappointing experiences will likely affect potential sales. I would not contemplate buying the adapter until its performance is improved.  Wondering if shortcomings can be addressed via firmware update and if so how soon? 

 

dunk

[artur5]

I'm not optimistic about that. We know that Novoflex, while excelling in mechanical manufacturing, isn't a 'electronics' company. The fact that the adapter's firmware must be updated by the camera is a clear sign of that. We also know that Leica relies mostly on third party companies for software and electronics  (/be it Panasonic or whoever). There're three parts involved in the process and that means a lot of feedback between them to fine tune the adapter.  
IMetabones, in all likelihood, is the only responsible for the Sony-E to Canon EF adapters. Even so, it took them quite a while to improve the performance up to current levels, which are already very good but far from perfect.  I'd expect that this Novoflex SL-EOS adapter will take a considerable amount of time to be really worthwhile, if ever ( at least, for what good and fast AF is concerned).

[rafikiphoto]

Users' initial disappointing experiences will likely affect potential sales. I would not contemplate buying the adapter until its performance is improved.  Wondering if shortcomings can be addressed via firmware update and if so how soon? 

 

dunk

 

I agree. My initial excitement has been dulled by the reports so far. It is a lot of money to shell out for something seemingly still in development.

[Steve Spencer]

I'm not optimistic about that. We know that Novoflex, while excelling in mechanical manufacturing, isn't a 'electronics' company. The fact that the adapter's firmware must be updated by the camera is a clear sign of that. We also know that Leica relies mostly on third party companies for software and electronics  (/be it Panasonic or whoever). There're three parts involved in the process and that means a lot of feedback between them to fine tune the adapter.  

IMetabones, in all likelihood, is the only responsible for the Sony-E to Canon EF adapters. Even so, it took them quite a while to improve the performance up to current levels, which are already very good but far from perfect.  I'd expect that this Novoflex SL-EOS adapter will take a considerable amount of time to be really worthwhile, if ever ( at least, for what good and fast AF is concerned).

 

To add to the pessimism the AF on the SL is solely by contrast detection, AFAIK. Almost all Canon lenses were designed to focus with phase detect AF. They can focus with contrast detection, but even on Canon cameras, including reports with the brand new 1DX II, they aren't very fast when focussed with contrast detect AF. I think we cannot expect fast AF with this adapter any time in the foreseeable future. If you don't care about AF speed, or use manual focus lenses like Canon's tilt shift lenses or their MP65 macro, or the Zeiss ZE mount lenses, then I think in the pretty near future it will work pretty well. So, I think you can be happy with it for some kinds of uses but fast AF is unlikely to be one of them.

[DezFoto]

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.

[helged]

Based on the Novoflex ad and reported experiences with FE-lenses reported above, I would guess that Zeiss Otus can be used on the SL. Anyone to confirm this?

[thighslapper]

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? 

 

I have to agree ...... and was exactly why I dumped all my non-Leica gear in the first place.

 

Whilst adapters allow you to use all manner of stuff on a camera body I can't see why anyone can complain about them not working as well as the native lenses do. 

 

AF with the 24-90 and 90-280 is exceptionally fast and reliable ...... expecting even halfway decent performance or a full feature set with a Novoflex/Canon combo is being a bit optimistic. 

 

Having said that ..... if I had a cupboard full of Canon lenses I would have got one ..... and I suspect after a short while it would have gone back in the cupboard with the lenses ...... and all the Visoflex gear and Telyt lenses ..... just too much trouble and aggravation 

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[Steve Spencer]

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.

 

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.