Autofocus Adapter Canon EF to Leica SL by Novoflex

[rriley]

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Has anyone tried the Canon CN-E (Cinema) lens on and SL with the Novoflex Adapter?

 

I couldn't get the shutter to fire!

 

My other Canon lenses work OK.

[chris_tribble]

Having just bought an SL - though not yet taken delivery - I'm curious to know if there's any more experience to report on in using EOS lenses on the SL. I'm particularly interested in how autofocus works with the L series lenses like 70-200 f2.8 and 24-70 f2.8, also the 135 f2. If these workhorses are good on the SL I can live without IS.

THANKS

[Guest VVJ]

New article on the adapter:

http://www.soundimageplus.com/soundimageplus/2016/8/30/novoflex-canon-eos-ef-lens-to-leica-sl-typ-601-af-adapter

[ramarren]

That's another rather dumb review. Bad mouthing Leica lenses with no good reason, an evaluation of performance with nothing to ground it against, etc.

 

I read it this way: "I was all set to dump these crappy Canon lenses and bought this AF adapter to try them on the SL. Wow, those Leica lenses are EXPENSIVE. I'm shocked that these Canon lenses perform better than they did on the Sony. Wow, those Leica lenses are expensive. You think I want to spend that money for the Leica lens that is (rumored) by Panasonic? Hell no. These Canon lenses perform better on the SL than on the crappy Sony I had, so they must be great. After all, other Leica lenses do well on the Leica sensors. Wow, those Leica lenses are EXPENSIVE. Well, with crappy Canon lenses working this well on the great Leica sensor, who needs those EXPENSIVE Leica lenses? Sure, they don't focus very well, but heck, I'm used to that from Medium Format and they're not as EXPENSIVE as those Leica lenses. I'll sure never buy any of those EXPENSIVE Leica lenses now!" 

 

Coupled with truly mediocre photos that could have been shot through a Coke bottle bottom...

Just pure nonsense. 

[FlashGordonPhotography]

New article on the adapter:

http://www.soundimageplus.com/soundimageplus/2016/8/30/novoflex-canon-eos-ef-lens-to-leica-sl-typ-601-af-adapter

 

 

I like Davids writing and I mostly agree with his conclusions. He's made one error. Magnification is available. Like all AF lenses it's via the bottom left button. The adaptor thinks all compatible lenses are Af so even the TSE lenses and MPE need to have magnification set this way.

 

Gordon

[scott kirkpatrick]

New article on the adapter:

http://www.soundimageplus.com/soundimageplus/2016/8/30/novoflex-canon-eos-ef-lens-to-leica-sl-typ-601-af-adapter

I found the article informative  What was news to me was the extent of the cooperation between Leica and Novoflex.  All sorts of information successfully passes from the Canon lenses into the EXIF, and there is at least rudimentary connection to the contrast-detect AF that works for some lenses.  The article doesn't say if you can see what lens you are hosting on the camera itself or just in the output files.  Of course the lenses work better on SL than on Sony R7 -- we've seen this with dumber adapters already.  

 

I am not expecting Leica to write lens profiles for EOS lenses, as alternative means for further corrections exist, and there is no business interest in it for them.  My guess is that Novoflex has an interface specification, but doesn't know enough details of either Leica's or Canon's algorithms for autofocus to make everything work for lenses designed by different engineering teams over a period of many years. 

 

scott

[pgk]

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New article on the adapter:

http://www.soundimageplus.com/soundimageplus/2016/8/30/novoflex-canon-eos-ef-lens-to-leica-sl-typ-601-af-adapter

 

Ummmm. The first image shows anti-vignetting (is that the word?) - lighter corners - and in all honesty the stately home images are really of little consequence to AF/MF which should't really give either any problems in such bright light. As with many such pieces it looks like 'first impressions' rather than anything else and as such is useful (although I'd like to have seen more useful imagery) but it certainly isn't a review. I'm far from surprised that earlier lenses don't work - Canon upgrade stuff all the time and sometimes this isn't so obvious (processing speed increases for example) so not all lenses were ever likely to operate on a level playing field. I'm a bit dubious when anyone says that they have trouble 'picking up' a camera and lens combination though ....

 

Its early days and I'm watching to see how the SL and adapters progress which I'm sure that they will.

[HeinzX]

I now have owned the SL, the 24/90 and the Novoflex adapter for some weeks. As I own some Canon lenses I have checked them together with the Novoflex adapter and this is a sum up what I have found out and of course only my 2 Cents:

 

Canon 11/24  - all functions, AF quick

 

Canon MP-E 65 works fine - magnification works, lens has no autofocus itself - therefore no autofocus

 

Canon 70/200 2.8 IS II USM quick AF, same lens together with Canon Extender 2 x III - AF works, but much more slower than together with the Canon 5 D III

 

Canon Macro 100 mm (old version, not the L), AF works, but not very well in macro distances with low contrast  - same as together with the Canons.

 

Canon Macro 180 mm (an old lens, but a very good one) - AF with good performance.

 

The technical quality of pictures with all these  lenses is very good.

 

What does not work with the adapter is the IS - with no Canon lens - that is specification of the adapter. This does not effect me very much, because of the lenses mentioned above only the 70/200 has an IS. And I have read, that the AFc is not working.

 

In addition to my own experiences I have contacted Novoflex and asked, if the 50/1,2 and the 85/1,2 II would work with the adapter and the AF, and the answer was yes Of course that does not make it clear, how good the AF works. . In former times I had both lenses, and for some purposes - not for all - they were excellent  and the have a very nice bokeh. The 50/1.2 is a little bit similiar to the old  M Noctilux 1:1,0. And the 85/1,2 II is a very heavy lens with big amounts of glass and slow  AF by wire. But it is one of the best lenses for portraits I know. Regarding the AF by wire, I was a little bit surprised, that this AF works together with the adapter.

 

The 50/1,2 might be a option for me later on - if the coming Leica 50/1,4 will have an excessive price. The lens is not extraordinary expensive.

[chris_tribble]

There's enough here to make this adapter intriguing. I may order. The other obvious thought I'd how Canon FD lenses work with the SL. I've held on to a 300 L F4 New series lens and a Canon to M adapter. It was not a happy combination on the M240 with its poor evf. I'll be interested to see how it performs on the new camera. What fun! Any one with experience here?

[steppenw0lf]

It will work perfectly. I have adapted many different brands and never found problems. The sensor works very nicely with high quality optics, no matter who produced them.

Buy the M to L adapter and you are done. (if you do not have it already).

Go to the photo section and you will find many examples of "exotic" brands adapted to the SL. Some with remarkable results.

 

E.g. Douglas Herr of wildlightphoto is/was also using Canon FD lenses on the SL.

[rafikiphoto]

There's enough here to make this adapter intriguing. I may order. The other obvious thought I'd how Canon FD lenses work with the SL. I've held on to a 300 L F4 New series lens and a Canon to M adapter. It was not a happy combination on the M240 with its poor evf. I'll be interested to see how it performs on the new camera. What fun! Any one with experience here?

 

Yes, the FD 300L f4 is a superb lens as you know and my Novoflex FD to M linked the M to L adaptor works just fine with it here.

[meerec]

I thought I’d share my experience with the Novoflex EOS-to-SL adapter, which I received this week from Leica Boutique Perth.

 

In short, this solution, which I bought specifically to use with my Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II lens on the SL, is not viable. It reduces this set of AUD $20,000 worth of gear to rubbish. Although it works in principle, i.e. the lens communicates its data to the camera, and lens and exposure parameters are written into EXIF for image files, and the SL can control the lens’ aperture — but that’s where it really stops.

 

Although the quality of the images is acceptable if not good or very good, the performance is unacceptable.

 

AF function with the above lens is very slow, very erratic, hunting for focus even in good day light. If you put the 1.4x or the 2x extender on to make the lens 420mm or 600mm respectively, the AF performance is crippled even further. I can occasionally use the AF function with the lens alone, with any of the extenders, only MF can be practically used. To add to the issue, the AF function stops working just minutes into usage, the SL will not focus anymore. The only way to re-enable it is to power off the camera, and unmount the lens from the adapter. This is not right.

 

Continuous shooting with the above lens, naked or with any of the extenders is crippled form the original 11fps that SL is capable of to 2.5-3fps. Unusable for any wildlife or sport photography. Combining this issue with the above AF issues and malfunction makes this solution (i.e. the Novoflex adapter plus the high quality 300/2.8L II Canon Pro ultra telephoto) not fit for purpose for wildlife, sport or any similar application.

 

Continuous focus mode, AFc, is not enabled with the Novoflex adapter at all, which again makes it very limiting for any serious use for wildlife and sport photography.

 

I tried the adapter with the Canon 100/2.8L II macro lens. Focussing for macro is manual so I hoped for at least some good results, however the images were not sharp and satisfying either.

 

Here is a link to a few pics taken with the two lenses: https://www.flickr.com/photos/meerec/shares/rjq2ge

300/2.8 was shot alone as well as with the two extenders 1.4x and 2x.

 

My verdict is this combo is not fit for purpose and I will be returning the adapter ...

[HeinzX]

Obviously the Novoflex Adapter works well with some lenses and not well with others. It seems that combination with lenses with longer focal length than 200 mm are not working satisfactory. For those, who use the 11/24 it is a very good solution, and even with the 70/200 2.8 IS II results are  good. As far as Macro lenses are concerned, I had good results with the MP-E 65 (this lens has no AF), the "old" Macro 100 2.8 (non L) in manual mode - AF works but nit properly in each situation, and the Macro 180 mm - good in AF mode too.  So it depends on that what lenses are intended to use. And for real macros it is always adviseable to use a tripod and be very careful regarding the wind if the macros are made outdoor - but that is a always the case and has nothing to do with the adapter or the camera.

[rafikiphoto]

I wonder if we can expect some updates to improve performance and, dare I wish, IS?

[Joshua Lowe]

Anyone tried the 135 f2L with the Novoflex adapter?  

[FlashGordonPhotography]

I thought I’d share my experience with the Novoflex EOS-to-SL adapter, which I received this week from Leica Boutique Perth.

 

In short, this solution, which I bought specifically to use with my Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II lens on the SL, is not viable. It reduces this set of AUD $20,000 worth of gear to rubbish. Although it works in principle, i.e. the lens communicates its data to the camera, and lens and exposure parameters are written into EXIF for image files, and the SL can control the lens’ aperture — but that’s where it really stops.

 

Although the quality of the images is acceptable if not good or very good, the performance is unacceptable.

 

AF function with the above lens is very slow, very erratic, hunting for focus even in good day light. If you put the 1.4x or the 2x extender on to make the lens 420mm or 600mm respectively, the AF performance is crippled even further. I can occasionally use the AF function with the lens alone, with any of the extenders, only MF can be practically used. To add to the issue, the AF function stops working just minutes into usage, the SL will not focus anymore. The only way to re-enable it is to power off the camera, and unmount the lens from the adapter. This is not right.

 

Continuous shooting with the above lens, naked or with any of the extenders is crippled form the original 11fps that SL is capable of to 2.5-3fps. Unusable for any wildlife or sport photography. Combining this issue with the above AF issues and malfunction makes this solution (i.e. the Novoflex adapter plus the high quality 300/2.8L II Canon Pro ultra telephoto) not fit for purpose for wildlife, sport or any similar application.

 

Continuous focus mode, AFc, is not enabled with the Novoflex adapter at all, which again makes it very limiting for any serious use for wildlife and sport photography.

 

I tried the adapter with the Canon 100/2.8L II macro lens. Focussing for macro is manual so I hoped for at least some good results, however the images were not sharp and satisfying either.

 

Here is a link to a few pics taken with the two lenses: https://www.flickr.com/photos/meerec/shares/rjq2ge

300/2.8 was shot alone as well as with the two extenders 1.4x and 2x.

 

My verdict is this combo is not fit for purpose and I will be returning the adapter ...

 

Considering the ISO's you were using I thought the samples you linked were fine. IQ didn't seem to be an issue really. Were these handheld or on a tripod?

 

It is disappointing that the AF on the lenses isn't any good. I'm not surprised the tele-converters don't work with AF but 2.8 lenses should at least get somewhere. Is your 300mm the current version? Maybe Novoflex haven't added the mk2 to the compatible list.

 

Gordon

[meerec]

Considering the ISO's you were using I thought the samples you linked were fine. IQ didn't seem to be an issue really. Were these handheld or on a tripod?

 

It is disappointing that the AF on the lenses isn't any good. I'm not surprised the tele-converters don't work with AF but 2.8 lenses should at least get somewhere. Is your 300mm the current version? Maybe Novoflex haven't added the mk2 to the compatible list.

 

Gordon

 

 

Had to use high ISO in the late afternoon light and overcast sky to shoot at 1/300s - 1/600s hand held in absence of OIS – I can hand hold this lens on Canon 1D4 down to 1/30s otherwise with the IS. The exercise was not to achieve a great IQ of the images but to see how viable the solution is :-) and it proved what I set out to do. I mentioned that the IQ was quite good. But performance was none.

 

The 300 is the latest version of the flagship Canon 300, one of the finest glass Canon ever made. And it's not like it was released only last week, I've owned it for several years now since it was released to the market. Novoflex had had lots of time to consider and test this important Canon lens with the adapter. I can only assume that all other super Canon telephotos: 400/2.8, 500/4, 600/4, 800/5.6 will have the same problems. As for the extenders, all of these super telephotos are used with the 1.4x and 2x regularly on the Canon bodies with no degradation of speed of AF, tracking or lesser IQ.

 

I don't want to sound like a Canon fan boy, I'm merely looking for solutions to eliminate Canon from life, given I've chosen the SL as my system camera now. However I don't see this is going to happen any time soon. I will continue using SL + M lenses, and the SL VE 90-280 zoom for anything wide, and Canon 1D4 + 300++ for wildlife photography.

[FlashGordonPhotography]

Had to use high ISO in the late afternoon light and overcast sky to shoot at 1/300s - 1/600s hand held in absence of OIS – I can hand hold this lens on Canon 1D4 down to 1/30s otherwise with the IS. The exercise was not to achieve a great IQ of the images but to see how viable the solution is :-) and it proved what I set out to do. I mentioned that the IQ was quite good. But performance was none.

 

The 300 is the latest version of the flagship Canon 300, one of the finest glass Canon ever made. And it's not like it was released only last week, I've owned it for several years now since it was released to the market. Novoflex had had lots of time to consider and test this important Canon lens with the adapter. I can only assume that all other super Canon telephotos: 400/2.8, 500/4, 600/4, 800/5.6 will have the same problems. As for the extenders, all of these super telephotos are used with the 1.4x and 2x regularly on the Canon bodies with no degradation of speed of AF, tracking or lesser IQ.

 

I don't want to sound like a Canon fan boy, I'm merely looking for solutions to eliminate Canon from life, given I've chosen the SL as my system camera now. However I don't see this is going to happen any time soon. I will continue using SL + M lenses, and the SL VE 90-280 zoom for anything wide, and Canon 1D4 + 300++ for wildlife photography.

 

 

I think that's what's going to happen into the foreseeable future. A CDAF camera just isn't going to drive PDAF lenses in a sports environment. That's exactly why Sony and Fuji have now got PDAF on chip sensors. The SL is a fantastic general purpose camera but it isn't a sports camera, regardless of any claims Leica may or may not make. And the 1D4 was essentially made specifically to drive those long white lenses as quickly as possible. Almost anything other than a 1 series is bound to be disappointing.

 

There's a bunch of good reasons why the tele converters aren't going to be great on a CDAF body, let alone one not designed for them. I would hope that the Canon doesn't have any issues with them. Remember though it's not so long ago you'd be back to manual focus with the f4 tele and a 2x and glacial AF with a 2.8 lens. The performance your getting on the 1D4 is a relatively recent thing as the dedicated PDAF sensors have been tweeted and cajoled into better AF performance with slower lenses.

 

As for Novoflex testing the 300 and other super teles. I don't think it's going to happen. They're a very small percentage of the Canon lens market. The vast majority of SL shooters coming from Canon land will have the zoom trinity and a few fast primes. Followed by the TS lenses which are easy because they're manual focus. 3-600mm lenses are important to you but you're in the minority when it comes to sheer numbers of Canon users who might be switching to the SL. Especially when the SL is never going to come close to even a mid range Canon body for tracking focus.

 

I think if you want to get your wide zoom to work on the SL (or the T/S lenses or the 85L etc) because Leica don't have one you'll be happy with the adaptor. But getting the really specialised lenses to work will be a no go. Except the T/S lenses because they don't have AF. Leica (like Sony), who are involved with the adaptors development (the adaptor firmware updates are in the camera firmware) are doing this to get more buyers into the system while they develop the lens range. Once those lenses arrive they'll be hoping we change to the Leica version. But I think we're a long long way from a 300mm 2.8.

 

I think if you go in expecting the adaptor to be great then you'll be disappointed a whole lot. If you go in with extremely modest expectations then you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Gordon

[meerec]

Gordo

 

I think that's what's going to happen into the foreseeable future. A CDAF camera just isn't going to drive PDAF lenses in a sports environment. That's exactly why Sony and Fuji have now got PDAF on chip sensors. The SL is a fantastic general purpose camera but it isn't a sports camera, regardless of any claims Leica may or may not make. And the 1D4 was essentially made specifically to drive those long white lenses as quickly as possible. Almost anything other than a 1 series is bound to be disappointing.

 

There's a bunch of good reasons why the tele converters aren't going to be great on a CDAF body, let alone one not designed for them. I would hope that the Canon doesn't have any issues with them. Remember though it's not so long ago you'd be back to manual focus with the f4 tele and a 2x and glacial AF with a 2.8 lens. The performance your getting on the 1D4 is a relatively recent thing as the dedicated PDAF sensors have been tweeted and cajoled into better AF performance with slower lenses.

 

As for Novoflex testing the 300 and other super teles. I don't think it's going to happen. They're a very small percentage of the Canon lens market. The vast majority of SL shooters coming from Canon land will have the zoom trinity and a few fast primes. Followed by the TS lenses which are easy because they're manual focus. 3-600mm lenses are important to you but you're in the minority when it comes to sheer numbers of Canon users who might be switching to the SL. Especially when the SL is never going to come close to even a mid range Canon body for tracking focus.

 

I think if you want to get your wide zoom to work on the SL (or the T/S lenses or the 85L etc) because Leica don't have one you'll be happy with the adaptor. But getting the really specialised lenses to work will be a no go. Except the T/S lenses because they don't have AF. Leica (like Sony), who are involved with the adaptors development (the adaptor firmware updates are in the camera firmware) are doing this to get more buyers into the system while they develop the lens range. Once those lenses arrive they'll be hoping we change to the Leica version. But I think we're a long long way from a 300mm 2.8.

 

I think if you go in expecting the adaptor to be great then you'll be disappointed a whole lot. If you go in with extremely modest expectations then you'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

Gordon

 

 

 

Gordon -- totally agree.

 

I've already sold the Canon trinity zooms, the 85L and 50L and even TS-E 24 II. I'm well covered for all of this with SL + a set of fine M lenses + recently acquired M macro adapter + insanely wide Voigtlanders 10mm and 15mm.

 

I only needed the Novoflex adapter to explore how feasible it is to use SL for wildlife photography. It is not. I will be returning the Novoflex adapter to Perth as it is not fit for my purpose. And I hope my little exercise will help others understand what SL is good at and what the Novoflex EOS to SL adapter can effectively be used for.

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[Guest VVJ]

But I think we're a long long way from a 300mm 2.8.

 

I personally have little need for 300mm or longer but I would agree with your assessment.

 

If the S may be any indication the longest lens is 180mm and this is after 3 bodies and almost 8 years of availability...

 

Even assuming (and hoping) that the SL finds wider acceptance than the S I would be surprised if we see a 300mm lens during the first 5 years...