Novoflex Canon EF Lens to Leica SL Adapter: list of compatible/tested lenses

[steppenw0lf]

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With a purely mechanical adapter you can use any lens.

But lenses in EOS mount have then no aperture control. (They need to be used wide open, or with the help of a Canon body the aperture can be "controlled" by pre-setting it. So usually a Nikon version (D or G type) is easier to use with "dumb" = mechanical adapters.)

[Paul J]

I am keen to find out how the 200mm f1.8L works on the SL. Anyone know?

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[steppenw0lf]

With a purely mechanical adapter you can use any lens.

But lenses in EOS mount have then no aperture control. (They need to be used wide open, or with the help of a Canon body the aperture can be "controlled" by pre-setting it. So usually a Nikon version (D or G type) is easier to use with "dumb" = mechanical adapters.)

 

Sorry, I forgot to add "and with the zoom feature on the joystick"  (just as M lenses).

With a purely mechanical adapter any lens can be used with the zoom feature on the joystick, which is quite convenient.

E.g. I use the Nikkor 2/135 DC. It is very sharp and contrasty, if you understand how DC works.  

(And with internal focus like the Canon, Sigma and Samyang 135mm, resulting in constant length, which is more "user-friendly" than other 135mm that are more popular, e.g. Zeiss)

Edited May 21, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[Sandokan]

With a Nikon G lens you need a G adaptor which has a mechanical ring that closes the aperture. Normal Nikon adaptors for the D or AI can be used with the lens aperture dial.

 

 

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[AlexP]

I am keen to find out how the 200mm f1.8L works on the SL. Anyone know?

I have the 200mm F/2 IS and it is very very slow.

[thighslapper]

Having had an abortive and rather dispiriting experience with the Canon EOS/SL adapter and the new Sigma Art 135/1.8 I received a copy of the Nikon-SL adapter and a Nikon fit version of the 135/1.8

 

Apart from being noisy and the lens elements clattering back and forth dementedly it does actually focus very accurately and fairly fast 

 

The SL reports it rather oddly as 138mm and supplies no lens identity apart from 'Nikon Lens Adapter for Leica SL'.

 

Low light performance (ie 6400 iso level at f1.4) is fine. Images are insanely sharp ...... possibly the sharpest lens I have.....

 

Top LCD readout of distance used manually is useless .... at infinity it registers 16m .... presumably something to do with the lens being unrecognised and the camera/adapter having no baseline data to work with.

 

If I can get used to the impression that the lens is going to rattle itself to bits when focussing I think I will keep it. Mostly for portraiture and landscape for detail/subject isolation where the 24-90 is too short and I can't face carting the 90-280 up mountains. As it has the same 82mm filter thread as the 24-90 my Formatt Polarised/filter gear will work without adapters. Colour rendition is excellent.

 

It will focus on Sammy the dog ..... which is my litmus test for accuracy ..... being black and featureless .... but isn't really fast enough to lock on him when moving. I'm just pleased it works after the Canon EOS-SL fiasco.

 

I've managed to find zero info and reports about the performance of the Nikon adapter compared to the Canon version. 

 

f1.8

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Edited May 24, 2017 by thighslapper

[AlexP]

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reason you don't see much "talk" about the nikon adapter due to the "E" label on the lens. Only 6 Nikon lens have the "E" label. The new Sigma ART (85/135 in Nikon mount) has the "E" label. I bought the Novoflex Nikon version before and returned since i don't want to buy more Nikon lenses when i already have range in Canon version.

Edited May 25, 2017 by AlexP

[helged]

 

 

I've managed to find zero info and reports about the performance of the Nikon adapter compared to the Canon version. 

reason you don't see much "talk" about the nikon adapter due to the "E" label on the lens. Only 6 Nikon lens have the "E" label. The new Sigma ART (85/135 in Nikon mount) has the "E" label.

 

Nikon 300mm f4 PE (Fresnel) works ok wrt focus and otherwise with the electronic Novoflex Nikon adapter. Nikon 400mm f2.8E is not so easy to focus on the SL (so here I typically do manual focus or, preferably, using the manual Novoflex adapter).

 

Glad to hear that Sigma ART 85/135 works in Nikon mount!

Edited May 25, 2017 by helged

[steppenw0lf]

Is there a list to see which Art lenses in Nikon mount are of the E type ?

Up until now I thought all were of the D or G type and so not usable with the AF adapter  (or only manually). Obviously this is now not true anymore.

This will also make the Novoflex Nikon AF adapter more popular.

[Vogelweide]

sorry didn't see the "ART"... ;-)

Edited May 25, 2017 by Vogelweide

[AlexP]

Is there a list to see which Art lenses in Nikon mount are of the E type ?

Up until now I thought all were of the D or G type and so not usable with the AF adapter  (or only manually). Obviously this is now not true anymore.

This will also make the Novoflex Nikon AF adapter more popular.

you will have to make sure the lens using electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism (Stand for the "E"). As of right now, Sigma 14ART, 85ART, 135 ART , 24-70 ART, 100-400 C are all using electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism = compatible with Novoflex adapter.

 

However, i don't count much on novoflex. This is a long battle. Just like when metabones with Sony A series camera just release. They're at the 5th generation already.

Edited May 26, 2017 by AlexP

[helged]

Anyone knowing when the Sigma 14mm f1.8 ART will be released?

[AlanYWM]

I had the opportunity to test the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 MkII on the SL today. I know it has been reported that this setup will autofocus with average speed. But I would not say that the AF was accurate most of the time. I reckoned at least 30% of the photos were slightly off focus. The operation was carried out inside a well lit shop. I am not sure if this was just an isolated case or is this the norm. 

[steppenw0lf]

Yes I agree that AF with adapted lenses is often not as precise as manual focusing with the EVF. So I often switch to manual control to do small corrections. That is the big advantage of the native SL lenses - focus is usually very precise (and also very fast with the zooms). And this will be the reason for me to switch to the native glass as soon as more is available.

 

On the SL I can directly compare both results. On a DSLR (where these lenses come from) it is not so easy for me to check the quality of focus directly. There I also had the impression that focus "precision" was not 100% consistent. And also a certain percentage (your 30% maybe) was slightly off. But usually I only found out back at home on the bigger screen. And could not correct anymore.

So I do not know if it is a new problem of adaptation or if the lenses always were not perfectly precise (on any platform).

 

That is why I was so happy focusing manually with the SL, which I used the first few months exclusively with R and M lenses. The precision simply seemed much better.

 

So the AF adapted lenses are not working perfectly. But if you are aware of this you get decent/usable results. And this way you can continue using your current equipment and switch step by step. And you can use lenses that are specialized and not available in native mount (like e.g. T/S lenses or portrait lenses with Defocus Control or Fresnel constructions ...).

 

Using mechanical adaptation is usually more fun - it is like photography 25 years ago, but with a sensor which means a lot higher ISO values. I like that very much. (and don't miss the AF).

[SKL2017]

I have tested both novoflex adaptors of canon and Nikon in AFS mode.

1. I find canon EF 70-200 F4 （non IS version， 1st generation) super fast and accurate! Even faster than SL 90-280mm. It is light in weight and in amazing picture quality!

2.Besides, EF 24-70mm F2.8 of 1st version is also very fast and better than 2nd version.

3. Nikon 105E got good focusing speed with novoflex adaptor on SL, but cannot compare with D810 speed!

[blacksinner]

i've used these lenses the most to shot the last 20 wedding gigs with no issue. Very consistent focus and reliability.

 

16-35mm f/2.8 mkiii

24-70mm f/2.8 mkii

24-105mm f/4 mkii

50mm f/1.2

Sigma 85 ART

Sigma 135 ART

 

I don't really know what kind of lens you have and your expectation would be. I do this for a living and i wouldn't want to mess with it on a "live gig" You also should know that AF-C will not available with this adapter so forget about trying to burst it at 11fps. If you want fast, auto focus, AF-C get the T lens (11-23, 35) while waiting for Leica to release more SL lenses. or check out the Handevision IBERIT, 5 lenses are out now. (24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm f/2.4). All native mount, MF. Price is also very affordable.

All i got from the adapter is hang, restart, significant decrease on high speed burst shooting. Not fast autofocus.

 

I use

70-200mm f2.8 ii

tc 2x iii

400mm f5.6

And tried other lenses

Sigma 85mm f1.4 art

 

The most annoying part is it always hang and reboot itself.

You didn't experience any of this?

 

 

 

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[TheGodParticle/Hari]

Any experience with the sigma 12-24 DG HSM? I'm looking for a WA for interiors, but I don't shoot interiors often, so the canon 11-24 isn't interesting to me at its price.

 

 

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[steppenw0lf]

All i got from the adapter is hang, restart, significant decrease on high speed burst shooting. Not fast autofocus.

The most annoying part is it always hang and reboot itself.

You didn't experience any of this?

 

 

Are you a fast shooter ?    When shooting fast I also once had a blocking camera.

Since then I am more careful - take fewer pictures with more thinking between them, then the adapter is quite reliable.

But sometimes I encounter that AF is simply off and not getting better anymore. So I need to reboot (but there is no blocked camera).

 

It is possible to use EF lenses, but it is no fun (not as much fun as SL lenses or EF lenses on Canon). And you have to be aware that there could come problems any time - and a reboot is needed.

 

For me it is clear, as soon as there are native lenses I will try to avoid more and more the AF adapted lenses. Contrary to that the mechanically adapted lenses are great fun - but of course without AF.

Edited July 6, 2017 by steppenw0lf

[steppenw0lf]

To avoid the decrease in high speed burst use only mechanically adapted lenses - with them you reach the maximum.

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica L-Mount

[rgacpa]

Does anyone know if the Canon TS-E (24 in particular) works with this adapter? Last I heard was you had to set the aperture on a Canon body, then put it on the SL...

Thanks in advance.

 

 

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