I upgraded it from version 5 to 6 in preparing for A7III as I naturally assume the AF is similar to A9 and A7RIII.
Guess I was wrong....
As this is the official Tachart thread has any rep hinted when A7III will be officially supported?
Techart are spectacularly bad at communicating so I wouldn't expect any hints before a new firmware version is actually released. In any case, given that the A7RIII is "officially supported" but (in my experience) is unusable, the only official support that is meaningful will be first-hand reports from multiple FM members. In the meantime, you can downgrade your TAP to v5 and use it with your A7RII. (If I sound cynical, that's not the case. I really like the TAP but, after 18 months, I've learned to work within the constraints the TAP imposes rather than expect it to work as originally -- or "officially" -- promised.)
genji wrote:
Techart are spectacularly bad at communicating so I wouldn't expect any hints before a new firmware version is actually released. In any case, given that the A7RIII is "officially supported" but (in my experience) is unusable, the only official support that is meaningful will be first-hand reports from multiple FM members. In the meantime, you can downgrade your TAP to v5 and use it with your A7RII. (If I sound cynical, that's not the case. I really like the TAP but, after 18 months, I've learned to work within the constraints the TAP imposes rather than expect it to work as originally -- or "officially" -- promised.)...Show more →
Thanks genji.
Just curious - I can't be the only person using TAP on an A7III, so I would like to hear from other A7III owners if they are experiencing similar issue.
Or does v5 at least work unlike v6 which in my experience the camera doesn't even recognise the adapter?
Just curious - I can't be the only person using TAP on an A7III, so I would like to hear from other A7III owners if they are experiencing similar issue.
Or does v5 at least work unlike v6 which in my experience the camera doesn't even recognise the adapter?
I use TAP with v6 and works good with A7III with center AF area.
The only issue is when using wide angle, 28mm or wider, outer AF points do not lock the focus.
With 35mm or longer FL, outer focus points work as well.
khiromu wrote:
I use TAP with v6 and works good with A7III with center AF area.
The only issue is when using wide angle, 28mm or wider, outer AF points do not lock the focus.
With 35mm or longer FL, outer focus points work as well.
Hiromu
That's bad news to me....
My TAP on v6 is like getting disengaged and not being recognized by A7III, continues to work fine on my A7RII thou.
May I ask what firmware version do you have on your A7III?
Hello everyone,
Could someone please confirm whether K&F concept MD to M and K&F concept M42 to M adapters are working with TAP or not?
Thank you so much!
trantan1602 wrote:
Hello everyone,
Could someone please confirm whether K&F concept MD to M and K&F concept M42 to M adapters are working with TAP or not?
Thank you so much!
It is not given, I tested 4 TAP and 10 different M42/PK/MD/OM adapters. About 50% of all combination was working OK, so you probably will be better off ordering few and trying them out.
In the very first page of this thread there is a list of surely tested adapters in various mounts that work with the TAP (for example K&F Canon EF to Leica M doesn't work, while other K&F adapters in other mounts do).
Don't really think this is adapter's fault. I found out, that TAP adapters have some variation between their mounts as well. Few times the K&F adapter worked fine on 2-3 TAP's and wouldn't fit on another couple.
It was working sweetly until today when (for the first time) I selected the TAP to be parked at max extension in manual mode using f/40 in the given procedure. Now I can't engage AF (I have the pad down key set as an AF/MF toggle). As a sense check, I can confirm that native Sony lenses still switch from AF/MF, but the TAP is permanently parked in MF mode and doesn't recognise the AF/MF toggle. It still wiggles back & forth when I power the camera on, but stubbornly refuses to be told to go back to AF (i.e. the AF/MF toggle does nothing). All AF menu options in the camera are greyed out while the TAP is present.
Edit ... I should have confirmed that I have tried resetting the TAP back to a standard focal length for which the manual says 'after shoot' (at say f/32 corresponding to a 135 mm FL), autofocus.
Am I just overlooking something ? If not, I hope that a firmware reload* will sort it out, but any suggestions or insights appreciated.
*Second edit ... So I decided to reload the firmware but I can't. The TAP is now invisible to the Android firmware updater as per the error message "firmware list download failure". Attempted on both A7II and A7RIII. So unless I can 'get back in', it appears that a TAP setting described in the TAP manual has effectively bricked a TAP.
Arghhhhh !!!!!
Third edit ... It's alive again. I used the "Andriod APP for data settings" (sic) which initially didn't find a TAP, and then it did. I ran it, saw the success message, toggled MF to AF, and voila, the TAP is now functioning once more. Very weird.
Nice to hear you solved your issue, guess your experience can save some headaches to some other people even..
How is your overall experience paired with the A7RIII in terms of:
- battery drain
- AF-S with central and outer points (do they actually work?)
- AF-C at least with central point (is it usable at least for slow moving subjects?)
Compared to the A7II, it's not an issue. That's not to say there's not some battery drain while the A7RIII is switched off, it's just that I haven't noticed any.
- AF-S with central and outer points (do they actually work?)
Yes, and it's pretty good in low-light too. It's immensely better on the A7RIII than it is on the A7II with small targets. I was experimenting with the Minolta MD 50 f/2 (notoriously sharp across the field wide open) and the TAP was nailing focus as well as I could do with MF using a medium or small flexible spot anywhere within the phase detect zone, in a large room lit centrally by just one LED bulb.
- AF-C at least with central point (is it usable at least for slow moving subjects?)
In my opinion there's way too much hunting with AF-C to make it useful for tracking, and the focus speed is simply too slow for even nailing a single moving person/object in AF-S or AF-C.
On the A7RIII though, eye-AF is great (but by no means perfect) and can used with silent shutter to grab some quick shots at events that'd be much harder to achieve with manual focus.
Perfect thanks, sounds quite encouraging, I plan to use it mostly with a C/Y Distagon 35 F1.4, which is really very near the weight limit of the TAP, so will see how it turns out..
It's still nowhere close to native functionality or speed. Also, if the subject is amongst others with low contrast and has a bright light source behind it, or with haze or flare around it, you should pretty much not bother and just use MF instead. But so long as the lens is sharp near wide open, and the TAP isn't attempting its phase detection stuff in the conditions described above, it could work nicely for you.
Tirpitz666 wrote:
Perfect thanks, sounds quite encouraging, I plan to use it mostly with a C/Y Distagon 35 F1.4, which is really very near the weight limit of the TAP, so will see how it turns out..
I've been using the TAP since it was first released and have tried it with my Distagon C/Y 35/1.4 and many other lenses. I personally believe that, given its current design, the stated weight limit of the TAP is wildly optimistic.
Tirpitz666 wrote:
I'm afraid so also, so do you think that the C/Y 35 would just be too heavy for the TAP to handle?
Do I risk the infamous wobbling after some time?
In theory I should have a ca. 100 grams "buffer" vs the stated maximum limit, but it's a quite bulky lens nonetheless.
Although I think the C/Y 35/1.4 is too heavy for the TAP to handle, I have no doubt that other FM TAP users would disagree. The commonly suggested method for using heavy lenses with the TAP is to support the lens and allow the TAP to move the camera body back and forth. But I've never understood why this doesn't simply put the same stress (if not more stress, since an A7II/III or A7RII/III will weigh more than many "heavy" lenses) on the TAP, albeit in the opposite direction.
As for whether you'll risk invoking the wobble by using the C/Y 35/1.4, I honestly can't say because no-one has been able to establish that heavy lenses cause the wobble. My gut feeling was that it was too heavy for the TAP which was a great disappointment since the C/Y 35/1.4 (and the even heavier Summilux-R 35/1.4) are amongst my favorite lenses of all time. Still, after that single trial use, I decided to restrict the weight of any lens I used with the TAP (or the weight of the lens plus adapter for non-Leica lenses) to half the stated weight limit i.e. to 350g.
What was exactly that held you back after the first trial?
Perceived "fatigue" of the TAP to move the lens back and forth? Slower movement than with a lighter lens?
I guess that holding the lens and move the camera could prove less stressful for the TAP only in case of lenses that weight more than the camera (i.e. more than ca. 600 gr), otherwise I agree that shouldn't make a difference. Besides, I'm a back-button focuser, so moving the camera back and forth is a no go for me...
P.S. since the C/Y 35 F1.4 has a floating element, did you notice any difference in perfomance in close focus if you shifted the lens from infinity to closer focus and then focus with the TAP or just keeping the lens at infinity?
