My a7 mount (sold) was solid, but my a7R mount has a good bit of wobble to it. I still get good results, but I just don't feel good about the slop, especially when shooting my Otus 55, so I'll be installing the fotodiox mount myself as soon as they ship it to me. Must have been a popular item for them as I got a backorder notice right after buying it.
I don't know how bad the 'wobble' that some people are experiencing really is, but this rotational play in a lens mount is completely unnecessary. I've owned a few lenses for both Canon and Fuji and I can say that they had absolutely NO play even when I tried to hold the lens near the mount and twist it. The fact that I can feel the rotational play in my Sony when zooming/focusing is absolutely ridiculous. I won't believe that it is some sort of safety mechanism. It's poor effing manufacturing if you ask me. And for all the people who say they don't want to trust something that's 'Made in China', it can't be much worst than the A7 itself which is assembled in Thailand from parts that a probably made in China.
Sub Zero wrote:
I don't know how bad the 'wobble' that some people are experiencing really is, but this rotational play in a lens mount is completely unnecessary. I've owned a few lenses for both Canon and Fuji and I can say that they had absolutely NO play even when I tried to hold the lens near the mount and twist it. The fact that I can feel the rotational play in my Sony when zooming/focusing is absolutely ridiculous. I won't believe that it is some sort of safety mechanism. It's poor effing manufacturing if you ask me. And for all the people who say they don't want to trust something that's 'Made in China', it can't be much worst than the A7 itself which is assembled in Thailand from parts that a probably made in China....Show more →
Slight rotational play in a lens mount is completely normal, and shared by all camera manufacturers (Google "camera lens looseness"). Rotational movement has no adverse affects on image quality, as the lens doesn't vary it's distance from the sensor. Some slight tolerance must be designed into the mount to account for temperature effects, and the manufacturing variance of 3rd parties.
grahamb3 wrote:
Slight rotational play in a lens mount is completely normal, and shared by all camera manufacturers (Google "camera lens looseness"). Rotational movement has no adverse affects on image quality, as the lens doesn't vary it's distance from the sensor.
No, perhaps you think this is acceptable but there are many examples of lens mounts from different manufacturers that were designed not to rotate at all and don't.
Not rotating at all is particularly important for for film and video, which (like it or not) most cameras now are designed for.
One of the reasons why I got out of FE mount about a year ago was that I didn't think the mount robust enough for my purposes, this option from Fotodiox for 'hardening' the mount is welcome for me but I might still wait around for an 'A8'.
miguel_13 wrote:
No, perhaps you think this is acceptable but there are many examples of lens mounts from different manufacturers that were designed not to rotate at all and don't.
Not rotating at all is particularly important for for film and video, which (like it or not) most cameras now are designed for.
This isn't a matter of opinion. There's either cases of rotational movement in other mounts or there isn't. A simple web search and you will find the subject well covered, with "complaints" from Canon, Nikon, and others.
I found this observation interesting (quoted from a Nikon lens mount thread).
"There are 360 degrees in a circle so 1 degree movement would be out by 1/360. 0.6 deviation is just over 1/500 - an accuracy (or inaccuracy depending on your point of view) of less than 0.2%. I am sorry but I still do not understand your problem.
If you click your lens home normally and line up your tripod head to get the horizon level - and there is no problem.
If instead after locking the lens home you decide to twist the body on its mount within the tolerance all you need to do is re line up the tripod head - and again there is no problem. I am not saying 0.06 is not detectable. I am suggesting it does not matter if you either click home the lens normally and line up the tripod head, or click home normally, then reverse turn the body on the lens (by less than one fifth of 1% of a circle) and line up your tripod head. Either way you get a level image."
millsart wrote:
Fair enough, but I will say this, having owned the A7, A7r and now A7s, basically since the cameras first came out, I have not lost one moment of sleep worrying about the mounts on the cameras.
This could very well be a well made product (though my $70 Fotodiox RX1 lens hood didn't fit that well, and that would seemingly be a higher end offering for them) but it just seems like a product that is going to solve a problem few if any of us actually will experience.
I've been following the Sony threads on this site since day one, something like 500 pages, I still just continue to see excellent images from talented photographers, using a wide range of glass, and not one issue brought up about a broken mount.
Does that mean it can't happen ? No, but it also doesn't mean it will happen, and it would appear the odds are on my side.
Again, if someone wants to change it, more power to them, seems cheap and easy enough, but still seems like a product designed to solve a problem few if any people (at least in my experience) are having....Show more →
It's a lot like the shutter shock problem. It's there but you will have many users who say it doesn't exist. If one is using the 35 and 55 Sony lenses they would probably not have any issue with shutter shock or flex in the mount.
Like I mentioned, I have owned other body/lens combos and have experienced NO rotational play at all. Surely they must have tolerences built in as well but nothing that it noticeable. That is good engineering. Feeling the lens rotate slightly while zooming and focusing is not a tolerence, that's poor engineering. And because of that, you get the impression that the whole system is fragile and I tend to baby the A7 where as I wouldn't care too much about the Fuji or Canon because they just feel robust. I'm hoping this new mount will just make it feel more solid and this happens with native FE lenses which is what I find unacceptable.
Rotational play has been there on every camera system I've owned in the last too many years. Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Samsung, Sony have all had some. You may not care or notice with AF lenses but manual focus lenses,especially ones with stiffer focus, make the issue more apparent. The fact is the only thing stopping rotational movement is the spring loaded pin on the camera body and the slot for it on the lens. The slot is made bigger than the pin, and the pin is made to have some wiggle room (it can flex in the hole that sorrounds the pin on the mount, because the hole in the mount for the pin to pass-thru is made larger than necessary for the pin, probably to help prevent binding). Now that I think about it that probably why I am getting a little less rotational play with the fotodiox mount. I think the pass-thru hole they have for the pin is a little smaller so the pin can't move around as much when captivated by the lens slot. When you change the mount it is easy to see there is nothing else but the mount keeping the pin from wiggling. Any extra room in the mounts hole allows for the pin to move back and forth - which would allow for lens rotation when enough force is applied. This can happening when using the zoom ring, manual focus, or manual aperture control on the lens.
Only a few things can make the rotational play better. Greater resistance on the lens mount/lens interface, a stronger spring for the pin, a smaller pass-thru hole in the lens mount for the pin, a smaller slot for the pin on the lens/or larger pin for the lens slot.
By design, the standard interface for the camera\lens being used today was never made to be rock solid. The same could probably be said about flex when using plastic lens tabs on the lens mount.
miguel_13 wrote:
One of the reasons why I got out of FE mount about a year ago was that I didn't think the mount robust enough for my purposes, this option from Fotodiox for 'hardening' the mount is welcome for me but I might still wait around for an 'A8'.
You got out of the FE mount before it was on the shelves? I know there's GAS but dang, that's quick!
I must be daft, so plese humour me. I fail to see how rotational play can be a problem. As far as I know a lens projects a circular image, so rotating it by whatever fraction shouldn't matter at all. Now, I am not saying that I wouldn't prefer as system devoid of it. But please educate me, what am i missing?
pdmphoto wrote:
Its not for me but the video people have more problems with it.
This is the reason I'm considering the mount for my A7s. Pretty annoying to have that slight rotation when pulling focus while recording. If this solves it, its worth it to me.
joychris wrote:
This is the reason I'm considering the mount for my A7s. Pretty annoying to have that slight rotation when pulling focus while recording. If this solves it, its worth it to me.
That's interesting you have a problem with the A7s mount given that it's all stainless and is supposed to be an improvement over the metal/ plastic mounts in the other A7's. Are you seeing this rotational issue with native lenses or adapted lenses? If adapted, it could be due to the adapter. I have some adapters that are rock solid with no play whatsoever and others that have a tiny bit of play.
pdmphoto wrote:
Its not for me but the video people have more problems with it. I shoot stills but solid is also preferred, especially when shooting a FF 36MP camera.
REALLY? i'm the video guy here. I haven't see the problem or seeing the need to change the mount. You, on the other hand just assume video people have more problem with it? wow..
joychris wrote:
This is the reason I'm considering the mount for my A7s. Pretty annoying to have that slight rotation when pulling focus while recording. If this solves it, its worth it to me.
you have no idea what you're talking about right? A7s doesn't have the plastic part. Have you shot your A7s with the Dark knight lens yet? focus ring is a bit stiff by design and i haven't see the rotational play. It is in your head only.
Fotodiox needs customer like you to move their stuff.
Bubble wrote:
you have no idea what you're talking about right? A7s doesn't have the plastic part. Have you shot your A7s with the Dark knight lens yet? focus ring is a bit stiff by design and i haven't see the rotational play. It is in your head only.
Fotodiox needs customer like you to move their stuff.
And Sony needs guys like you to move thier stuff. Touche' . BTW, I have an A7r and I am speaking from my own experience. I don't particularly like Fotodiox or Sony!
My guess is that the guy with the A7s is referring to the rotational play that the camera could have because of the issues I already wrote about concerning the pin/hole/slot design. The A7s steel mount doesn't change that any more than the Tough E-mount does (unless it makes for more/less wobble of the pin in the mount).
