SL2: Sigma MC-21 vs Novoflex Adapters for Canon EF Lenses Test

[OHW]

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I just ordered an SL2-S. I have also ordered the MC21 and hope to be able to use my Canon 100-400 IS II lens on my new camara. Does anyone here have experience with it?

I I also ordered a used 24-90 mm lens. It is heavy for private holiday use. Can Canon 50 mm 1.8 work with MC21 or will it be necessary with eg Sigma 45 mm 2.8?

Edited February 14, 2021 by OHW

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[beewee]

29 minutes ago, OHW said:

Can Canon 50 mm 1.8 work with MC21 or will it be necessary with eg Sigma 45 mm 2.8?

It should work but the focus is much slower than any lens used on its native system. If you already have the adapter then sure, but I wouldn’t buy the adapter just for this lens.

 The auto focus with the mc21 at telephoto range is really only useful for stationary objects shooting on a stable platform like a tripod or monopod. On the canon 5Dii, I would be comfortable handholding the 300/2.8 while on a boat or helicopter but the auto focus it too slow for that type of shooting while using the mc21 on the SL2-S.

[PCPix]

If this helps anybody with older Canon EF L-series lenses with MC-21 on SL2:

17-35 2.8 L : Focusses, but at the last moment slips to noticeable/substantial back or front focus, depending on whether the start of focus was infinity or close up. Body Stabilisation works.  Usability.... not as an AF lens, but ok as MF  

35 1.4 L (Mk I): As above

70-200 2.8 (Mk I non-stabilised): As above

70-200 2.8 (Mk I non-stabilised) with 1.4x (Mk I): Better, hitting focus with much more reliability 

24-70 2.8 L (Mk I) - no problems, works as expected 

The lens that surprised me was the 35/1.4 L which is possibly the fastest focussing lens on an EOS1DX I’ve ever experienced, was diabolically slow (and totally inaccurate) on the MC-21/SL2.

The 70-200 with a converter (effectively f/4) was fast and accurate - leading me to speculate that the smaller aperture on a USM lens gives a better outcome than the wide aperture options?

My 17-35 and 70-200 were both in the region of 25 years old, although the 70-200 is still in the ‘new’ catalogue and could have a revamped firmware making a newer version of the Mk I possibly ok?? 

If you’re moving from Canon, my advice would be to take all your lenses somewhere you can put an MC-21 on the body you want and test. I was expecting far better results than what I got plus the inability to separate thumb focus from the shutter release is a right royal pain.... 

My daughter now has a bag of Canon L lenses and the MC-21 was returned as ‘not suitable for my application’

Hope this helps somebody....

 

[Eclectic Man]

Has anyone updated the firmware on their MC-21 and seen an improvement on the focusing capabilities with their Canon EF glass?

If you want to continue using Canon lenses on a high resolution mirrorless camera, then surely the Canon R5 with an EF to RF mount adapter would be a better bet than the SL(2)?  My 300 f/4 lens is completely useless on the SL2, but the 300 f/2.8 does auto-focus, albeit slowly.

[PCPix]

3 minutes ago, Eclectic Man said:

Has anyone updated the firmware on their MC-21 and seen an improvement on the focusing capabilities with their Canon EF glass?

My experiences were last week using the latest update... (see post above)

Agree with you on R5 if you want to keep all your EF Canon lenses working properly  - but not if you’re planning on using wider M-lenses (which is is important to me)

[beewee]

5 hours ago, Eclectic Man said:

Has anyone updated the firmware on their MC-21 and seen an improvement on the focusing capabilities with their Canon EF glass?

I’ve only tested with v1.3 FW on the MC-21 which hasn’t been updated since June 2020.

[chris_tribble]

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On 2/16/2021 at 6:15 PM, PCPix said:

If you’re moving from Canon, my advice would be to take all your lenses somewhere you can put an MC-21 on the body you want and test. I was expecting far better results than what I got plus the inability to separate thumb focus from the shutter release is a right royal pain.... 

This is very much my experience. I’d probably have saved money if I’d stuck with parallel systems (M10 with primes + Canon 5D4 for zooms and the wonderful 85 1.2 mk II).  I too thought I would be able to use some Canon glass on the SL2 -and was disappointed. 
In the end I’m really pleased I’ve switched and have a small stable of core M glass (28, 35, 50, 135) for RF and the great SL 24-90 / 90-280 zooms plus 75 for portraits and 35 for everyday. It’s not been an inexpensive process, but I now feel I’m set for whatever opportunities arise when I get my life back!

Edited February 17, 2021 by chris_tribble

[fzero]

On 12/21/2019 at 6:38 AM, Leicaiste said:

F lenses mounted on the SL2 via the

I have the SL and SL2, and MC-21, and a number of Canon lenses as I try to exit Canon gear. WIth the SL2 (2.0 fw) and the MC-21 (1.3fw) I cannot shoot at medium or high burst mode. The camera gives me an error message: "Battery Power Not Sufficient for 4k Recording and Burst Shooting". Are there any settings to get around this? If the AF is slow and the burst mode is not an option, it kills my enthusiasm for this converter altogether. I've tried the 70-200 2.8 II, the 100-400 II, and the old 500mm f4 lenses.  I have read posts saying the 400mm DO II works great but do you have burst mode with it?    If there is not a workaround, does anyone have a suggestion for reaching 500mm+ ?      Thanks.

[michali]

9 hours ago, fzero said:

I have the SL and SL2, and MC-21, and a number of Canon lenses as I try to exit Canon gear. WIth the SL2 (2.0 fw) and the MC-21 (1.3fw) I cannot shoot at medium or high burst mode. The camera gives me an error message: "Battery Power Not Sufficient for 4k Recording and Burst Shooting". Are there any settings to get around this? If the AF is slow and the burst mode is not an option, it kills my enthusiasm for this converter altogether. I've tried the 70-200 2.8 II, the 100-400 II, and the old 500mm f4 lenses.  I have read posts saying the 400mm DO II works great but do you have burst mode with it?    If there is not a workaround, does anyone have a suggestion for reaching 500mm+ ?      Thanks.

With a fully charged battery you can shoot in high burst mode until the battery drops to about 75% & then you get the insufficient power message, it's irritating.

There's a workaround: Insert a fully charged battery & connect an external power bank & you can shoot in high burst mode, see pic. I also have the Canon 400mm DOll & 1.4x TC mounted which takes you to 560mm with no loss in IQ.

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[OHW]

To those who may be interested, I can inform you that my Canon lens 100-400 II IS USM works smoothly on my new SL2-S when the Sigma MC-21 adapter is mounted. Super sharp and reasonably fast AF, but only AFs.

[fzero]

@OHW - thanks for that. Could I trouble you to share your settings when using the MC-21 + 100-400 II (for shutter type - electronic, hybrid, etc, and burst mode), as well as if you have OIS on the lens / IBIS on the body active? With a fully charged battery I get a minute of shooting in and then I get the error message about battery insufficient. 

[fzero]

16 hours ago, michali said:

With a fully charged battery you can shoot in high burst mode until the battery drops to about 75% & then you get the insufficient power message, it's irritating.

There's a workaround: Insert a fully charged battery & connect an external power bank & you can shoot in high burst mode, see pic. I also have the Canon 400mm DOll & 1.4x TC mounted which takes you to 560mm with no loss in IQ.

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@michali Thank you so much. Do you need to turn off Lens Image Stabilization or put the camera in a certain shutter mode or burst setting to get this to work? At 560mm with plenty of room to crop you're in great shape with that setup.

Would you mind share the specs on that power source? Zendure _______?   Thanks.

I'll try the external power source method out. I have a mix of lenses on the short side; Sigma Art L mount, old manual-focus Leica, and the usual Canon zooms, and on the telephoto I have the Canon 100-400 II, 70-200 II, and the 500 f4. And I have the SL and SL2, and a dead Canon DSLR I would rather not replace.  The SL2 gives me insufficient battery warning for burst on the Sigma Art lenses sometimes, and almost always on the long Canon lenses with the MC21. The SL does not have battery warning with the Sigma lenses, but of course won't take the MC21 for the long ones. It's all kind of a mess! Do you know if the Leica battery grip fixes the problem, or perhaps only delays it? I'm sure your solution is cheaper/better, if we don't mind the cord.

Edited February 20, 2021 by fzero

[michali]

19 hours ago, fzero said:

@michali Thank you so much. Do you need to turn off Lens Image Stabilization or put the camera in a certain shutter mode or burst setting to get this to work? At 560mm with plenty of room to crop you're in great shape with that setup.

Would you mind share the specs on that power source? Zendure _______?   Thanks.

I'll try the external power source method out. I have a mix of lenses on the short side; Sigma Art L mount, old manual-focus Leica, and the usual Canon zooms, and on the telephoto I have the Canon 100-400 II, 70-200 II, and the 500 f4. And I have the SL and SL2, and a dead Canon DSLR I would rather not replace.  The SL2 gives me insufficient battery warning for burst on the Sigma Art lenses sometimes, and almost always on the long Canon lenses with the MC21. The SL does not have battery warning with the Sigma lenses, but of course won't take the MC21 for the long ones. It's all kind of a mess! Do you know if the Leica battery grip fixes the problem, or perhaps only delays it? I'm sure your solution is cheaper/better, if we don't mind the cord.

Image stabilisation is greyed out when I use the MC-21 with the Canon 400mm DO ll. The lens' IS takes over & works very well.

This is the Zendure power bank I'm using: Zendure ZDA6PD-s 45W PD Power Bank  A6PD 20100mAh   I suspect that as long as you can keep the battery charge topped up with the charger you shouldn't get the insufficient power warning. Not sure if the battery grip will make a difference.

I don't really do much burst shooting but when on the rare occasions when I do & get the message it irritates me.  I I recall reading that apparently this also happens with Leica L lenses but only @ about 25% battery power. I'll try some burst shooting with my VE 90-280mm L & see what happens.

[fzero]

8 hours ago, michali said:

Image stabilisation is greyed out when I use the MC-21 with the Canon 400mm DO ll. The lens' IS takes over & works very well.

This is the Zendure power bank I'm using: Zendure ZDA6PD-s 45W PD Power Bank  A6PD 20100mAh   I suspect that as long as you can keep the battery charge topped up with the charger you shouldn't get the insufficient power warning. Not sure if the battery grip will make a difference.

I don't really do much burst shooting but when on the rare occasions when I do & get the message it irritates me.  I I recall reading that apparently this also happens with Leica L lenses but only @ about 25% battery power. I'll try some burst shooting with my VE 90-280mm L & see what happens.

Thanks! At the least this external battery solution reduces reliance on those $250 Leica batteries that clearly are insufficient for everything the SL wants to do for us. I'm going to keep running the SL2 and various lenses through their paces and if I have any revelations I will be sure to share.

[BernardC]

9 hours ago, fzero said:

At the least this external battery solution reduces reliance on those $250 Leica batteries that clearly are insufficient for everything the SL wants to do for us.

To be fair, the issue mostly happens with third-party (Canon) lenses that aren't officially supported by Sigma's adapter. There were some issues with non-Leica L-Mount lenses in the past, but those were fixed months ago.

[fzero]

4 hours ago, BernardC said:

To be fair, the issue mostly happens with third-party (Canon) lenses that aren't officially supported by Sigma's adapter. There were some issues with non-Leica L-Mount lenses in the past, but those were fixed months ago.

Thanks. On my SL2 with no adapter I get the battery a lot with L-mount Sigma Art lenses.

[BernardC]

1 hour ago, fzero said:

Thanks. On my SL2 with no adapter I get the battery a lot with L-mount Sigma Art lenses.

Are you on the latest firmware for both camera and lens?

[fzero]

22 minutes ago, BernardC said:

Are you on the latest firmware for both camera and lens?

Camera yes, lenses I'm not sure. I bought the Sigma dock, but haven't been able to get it to work yet because the software requires me to update my entire OS which causes a cascade of software expenses I'm not willing to spend yet. I am going to try on another computer this week. Thanks.

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[fzero]

21 minutes ago, fzero said:

Camera yes, lenses I'm not sure. I bought the Sigma dock, but haven't been able to get it to work yet because the software requires me to update my entire OS which causes a cascade of software expenses I'm not willing to spend yet. I am going to try on another computer this week. Thanks.

I misunderstood, updating firmware as needed through the sd card. Thanks so much.

[RBB]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:51 PM, michali said:

I'll try some burst shooting with my VE 90-280mm L & see what happens.

Would be happy to know you're results with the 90-280.