Best M lens Adapter for Sony E-Mount?

[Urushi]

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I was recently gifted an M10 as well as 6 Leica lenses and I would like to use some of the lenses on a Sony E mount namely the A7IV and ZV-E1. I am wondering what adapter is best. All of the lenses are modern.

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[J S H]

I have had great results with the Hawk's Factory helicoid adapter. They can be a little hard to find, but worth seeking out. They function flawlessly and have a great infinity adjustment feature. If your M lenses focus accurately at the infinity hard stop, you can set infinity to be perfect on the Sony body, which is not easy to accomplish via other methods when adapting to Sony. The macro feature is excellent as well. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1113921-REG/hawks_hkslm2semhv5_leica_m_lens_for.html

[spydrxx]

I'm sure there might be a "best" one, but I've found that virtually all of them do a fine job. I prefer Fotodiox which are plentiful and relatively inexpensive.

[Martin B]

I am using since many years a cheap Fotodiox M/NEX adapter to use M lenses on my A7R. IMO no reason to pay $$$ for more expensive adapters. 

Btw, you must be very lucky to be gifted this camera and all the M lenses....!

[Urushi]

What about the Voigtlander VM Close Focus mount? Also looking at the novoflex and metabones options.

[Martin B]

1 hour ago, Urushi said:

What about the Voigtlander VM Close Focus mount? Also looking at the novoflex and metabones options.

Good options if you are not bothering spending money for it. Cheaper and as effective option for close focus is getting inexpensive extension tubes....

[pgk]

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I have used Metabones without any problems.

[BastianK]

If you care about the infinity hard stop either the metabones or one of the later Hawk's factory with adjustable hard infinity stop.
I don't consider the Hawk's adapters overly durable, had to replace one after a few years of usage as the mechanics were not as tight anymore.
That being said I liked it enough to get another one.
Simply not a great choice with heavy lenses though.

TTArtisan 6-bit adapter is another very nice option to get Exif data and not having to mess with the IBIS setting all the time:
https://phillipreeve.net/blog/ttartisan-leica-m-to-e-6-bit-adapter-product-of-the-year/

If it has to be close focus and you want to use heavy lenses the Voigtlander VM-E is the one to beat.
All brass, more durable than the Hawk's.

All the Fotodiox, 7Artisans, Quenox whatever close focus adapters were bad and I cannot recommend those at all.

Another interesting option you might not be aware of is the Techart LM-EA9 adapter that will turn your M-mount lenses into AF lenses (with some limitations):
https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-techart-lm-ea9-leica-m-to-sony-e-autofocus-adapter/

[lct]

3 hours ago, Urushi said:

What about the Voigtlander VM Close Focus mount?

My favorite besides the Novoflex but mine has no close-focus capabilities so the VME is almost stuck on my Kolari mod A7r2.

[MaTiHH]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb BastianK:

Another interesting option you might not be aware of is the Techart LM-EA9 adapter that will turn your M-mount lenses into AF lenses (with some limitations):

My choice after reading Bastians review. Very usable if not looking for sports photography. Also using the Voigtlander VM-E Close Focus for manual work and am very happy with it as well.

[spydrxx]

2 hours ago, MaTiHH said:

My choice after reading Bastians review. Very usable if not looking for sports photography. Also using the Voigtlander VM-E Close Focus for manual work and am very happy with it as well.

The Techart can be quite handy but isn't really suitable for fast action sports as you really have to pay attention to the little viewfinder squares showing exactly what is being focused on. I do love mine though!

[widi5006]

I have used the Voigtlander M-E adapter and it works great....not the cheapest though.

Also use the Techart LM-AE9 when I just want to take snapshots and cant be bothered with manual focus....works well with some minor quirks, just not for fast action as others mentioned.

[Photoworks]

On 5/14/2023 at 11:36 PM, Urushi said:

I was recently gifted an M10 as well as 6 Leica lenses and I would like to use some of the lenses on a Sony E mount namely the A7IV and ZV-E1. I am wondering what adapter is best. All of the lenses are modern.

Just keep in mind that most wide angles don't work as well on Sony sensors, you will get smearing and blurry in the corners, even at f22

There are many adapters out there. I have used Techart, it is nice that it works with eye-AF. but you would have a manual one too. I got metabone and TTartison.

I didn't have any good experience with Fotodiox. Internal reflection with some lenses and side-to-side plane tolerances are not good on a few adapters.

[MaTiHH]

vor 6 Stunden schrieb Photoworks:

Just keep in mind that most wide angles don't work as well on Sony sensors, you will get smearing and blurry in the corners, even at f22

That's history with most of the newer Sony models.

[rolu]

vor 20 Stunden schrieb MaTiHH:

That's history with most of the newer Sony models.

That is interesting! Could you elaborate on this, please?

The SL is much too bulky for my taste. I'm waiting for a "L" with the form factor of an M for much too long time now, what Sony is able to produce with the A7C and Sigma with the FP, however without a fully mechanical shutter if I am correct.

[Photoworks]

On 5/16/2023 at 2:56 PM, MaTiHH said:

That's history with most of the newer Sony models.

what cameras are we talking about?

I have the A7R4 and a7R5 and the smearing is the same.

[calvin83]

I have Voigtlander VM-E Close Focus Adapter and a cheap Chinese brass adapter with infinity lock. The Voigtlander are better for using Leica/Voigtlander M mount but it won't mount my 7artisan 35/2.0. I have to use the Chinese brass adapter for the 7artisan 35/2.0.

[lct]

20 minutes ago, calvin83 said:

The Voigtlander are better for using Leica/Voigtlander M mount but it won't mount my 7artisan 35/2.0. I have to use the Chinese brass adapter for the 7artisan 35/2.0.

Different experience here. My VME close focus adapter works normally with my 7artisans 35/2. It is an early copy of this lens, though, with native 6-bit coding.

Edited May 19, 2023 by lct

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[calvin83]

8 minutes ago, lct said:

Different experience here. My VME close focus adapter works normally with my 7artisans 35/2. It is an early copy, though, with native 6-bit coding.

My 7artisans 35/2 is the early copy with a large coupling cam. It is the coupling cam that interfere with the internal baffle on the VM-E Close Focus Adapter.

Edited May 19, 2023 by calvin83

[lct]

13 minutes ago, calvin83 said:

My 7artisans 35/2 is the early copy with a large coupling cam. It is the coupling cam that interfere with the internal baffle on the VM-E Close Focus Adapter.

Is your copy 6-bit coded? Just curious.