I'm using adapted manual Nikon mount lenses (Zeiss ZF.2) on the Canon EOS R. I also do this on an A7III.
I'm struggling with the Canon because of a few things:
- I can't double-tap the subject on the screen to magnify it. With my A7III this is not a problem.
- I can't select a point that has to be magnified before actually going into magnification. On the EOS R you press the magnification button and then have to search for the subject. Time consuming.
- Half-pressing the shutter button doesn't exit magnification, you first have to press another button.
With a Canon mount lens in MF mode I don't have some of these issues, it's only with adapted lenses that don't communicate with the camera.
Am I overlooking something or is the EOS R really this cumbersome when using adapted lenses (that don't have communication with the camera)?
In the 1DII days, you couldn't use an adapted lens at all, because of a hidden microswitch in the body mount. When an adapted lens was attached, the nearest flange on the adapter would contact the switch, and the camera would not shoot unless it had comms with the lens. The easiest fix was to grind down the adapter flange a bit, so that it did not contact the switch.
Another issue that pops up from time to time is when you use a Canon Extender with an adapted lens. The camera would not shoot unless it could get a response from the lens, through the Extender. IOW, seeing as you have Canon Extender attached, nobody in their right mind would attach an alt lens to it - right? The fix for that was to "tape the contacts". I prefer to put an insulating ring (anulus) of mylar sheet plastic over the camera mount contacts, and set the camera "shoot without lens" to "on".
It's likely that the EOS R has very different settings, but there might be a way to cope with some of the issues, especially with the "not a Canon lens" syndrome.
I suggest you send a polite sitrep to Canon, briefly outlining these issues. Over time (hopefully a short time), this and similar sitreps from other FM Canon + Alt users will help to build the case for future firmware updates to fix these issues. In the past, Canon hasn't been too progressive with firmware (e.g. compared to Fujifilm), but recent discussions about the EOS R suggest that future FW updates for the R-series may be more comprehensive.
Very good suggestion by jcolwell.
Yes, please report this in detail to Canon and suggest a fix via firmware update. The camera has all the tools to deal with manual focus and it would add to its value to do it as smooth as possible with any lens.
I've been having a lot of fun using adapted manual lenses with the R. I configured the touch bar thing to assist with magnification. My current settings are:
* Hold left side for a second or two to activate/deactivate the bar. (My large thumb would be accidentally activating it all the time without this setting.)
* Slide right to increase magnification, left to decrease
* Tap left side once to toggle the viewfinder level on and off
* I have no setting for tapping the right side, again because of my large thumb.
* When magnification has been activated, pressing the set button instantly drops back to no magnification, and pressing the info button instantly goes to full magnification.
I haven't finished playing with settings yet; these are just what I've found in a first pass. I may find something that works better tomorrow.
But I am having a lot of fun using my old Olympus OM Zuikos on the R, as well as some other manual focus Rokinons and my 'broken' Laowa 105/2 STF. (The chip/contacts that are supposed to communicate with the camera are missing.) The R is just a huge imrovement over any of the Canon DSLRs I've tried for vintage manual focus lenses.
I am not surprised to see that the usage of older manual focus lenses is more cumbersome on the EOS R. Canon pushes since years to have their own AF based lenses used - it became also harder for manual focus lens users in the 5D MkIII DSLR and successor models after the replacement of a better focusing matt screen was made difficult. I wouldn't bother with the EOS R if third party manual focus or Canon FD lenses are the main intent to be used with a MLC and rather look for competitive FF MLC models.
I also have the touchbar configured for magnification. It still won’t change anything about being able to choose the area that needs to be magnified before actually doing so. You need to search for the subject in magnified view. You also can’t double-tap the screen on the subject. This is all no problem with my Sony A7III. Compared to a DSLR the R is clearly superior for manual lenses, but not compared to the Sony A7/A9 cameras.
I will pass my comments to Canon and hope for improvements in future firmware.
Oh, I also tried some of my older Lensbaby optics with the R. That was interesting, as the really 'retro' or downgrade optics are incapable of triggering focus peaking at apertures wider than f/5.6. Just not sharp enough.
Jochenb wrote:
I also have the touchbar configured for magnification. It still won’t change anything about being able to choose the area that needs to be magnified before actually doing so. You need to search for the subject in magnified view. You also can’t double-tap the screen on the subject. This is all no problem with my Sony A7III. Compared to a DSLR the R is clearly superior for manual lenses, but not compared to the Sony A7/A9 cameras.
I will pass my comments to Canon and hope for improvements in future firmware.
It's weird that there is no box to move around when there is "no lens" mounted. One of my OM adapters has a chip that actually works and I'm able to move the box around and zoom in as expected (my other adapters w/ chips won't even operate though so I have to break them off). Hopefully this is something Canon can address in a future update.
- I can't select a point that has to be magnified before actually going into magnification. On the EOS R you press the magnification button and then have to search for the subject. Time consuming.
- Half-pressing the shutter button doesn't exit magnification, you first have to press another button.
Jochenb wrote:
- Half-pressing the shutter button doesn't exit magnification, you first have to press another button.
Nice thread to see other option information here in Alt forum.
I haven't test others on Z7 as I have default use zoom and move all the time. But this particular item is the same implementation as Nikon. It is not that bad for tripod LCD shooting but very cumbersome for EVF shooting depend on which button you used for zoom. it may hard to reach during EVF shooting, especially for reaching twice before shooting.
I touch the magnify icon on the rear lcd, but as others have said, its not easy to magnify the exact spot you want. I can slide the point around using the rear lcd, but when I go into mag mode, it starts in the left center of the screen. There must be something I'm missing.
I find focus peaking does not give as good of focus as I want, but 5X magnification works to focus accurately, once I get the area you want shown on the screen.
I need to spend more time with it, and find if there is a solution, but have not found one so far.
The camera focuses so well with AF lenses that I will likely only use MF lenses when tethered or on a tripod. I thought that with focus peaking that I could get critical focus with my old Sigma 600mm Mirror, but 5X mag focusing manually is so much more accurate.
scalesusa wrote:
...The camera focuses so well with AF lenses that I will likely only use MF lenses when tethered or on a tripod. I thought that with focus peaking that I could get critical focus with my old Sigma 600mm Mirror, but 5X mag focusing manually is so much more accurate.
Most of my manual focus lens shooting is on a tripod, with the LV magnified image on the rear LCD or on my phone. The best solution I've found so far for handheld manual focus (with a DSLR) is using a Zacuto Z-Finder on the rear LCD. It's very stable, but definitely a kludge and not well-suited for all situations.
jcolwell wrote:
The best solution I've found so far for handheld manual focus (with a DSLR) is using a Zacuto Z-Finder on the rear LCD. It's very stable, but definitely a kludge and not well-suited for all situations.
Yeah, when I had an A7 I got so frustrated with the Z-Finder I actually designed an accessory support to deal with it. Hardly anybody bought one though, sadly. So if you want to order a dozen (or few dozen) for posterity here's the link http://www.elliscamera.com/products/asp-a7s/index.php
phidong wrote:
It's weird that there is no box to move around when there is "no lens" mounted. One of my OM adapters has a chip that actually works and I'm able to move the box around and zoom in as expected (my other adapters w/ chips won't even operate though so I have to break them off). Hopefully this is something Canon can address in a future update.
Can you tell me which OM adapter you have that works? I bought a Fotodiox OM - EOS adapter with focus confirmation chip. But putting an OM lens on it, and then mounting it on the Canon RF - EF adapter, puts the camera in an error state. It becomes unresponsive, opening and closing the shutter on a 2-second cycle. I have to power off the camera to get the shutter to stop actuating.
The same adapter works fine on my 5D Mark IV, allowing me to shoot normally or in live view mode, though I see little benefit to keeping it if it will only work on the DSLRs. It's not like the added EXIF information is particularly useful. It shows as a 65,535 mm f/1.4 lens.
Followup -- I figured out why the Fotodiox adapter with focus confirmation chip was sending such wacky values to the EXIF on my 5D Mark IV. It's because it's equipped with a programmable 'Dandelion' chip, and I hadn't gone through the steps to program it with my preferred values. I thought that maybe programming it with reasonable values would allow it to work on the EOS R, so I did that, setting the maximum aperture value to f/1.6 and the focal length to 77 mm. (I picked those values because they're "reasonable" numbers and I don't own any actual lenses with a max aperture of f/1.6.)
Unfortunately, while the programming went well, and the EXIF values on photos shot with the 5D4 match what I set, it didn't make any difference to the EOS R. It still locks up when it's powered on with the adapter in place. If anybody can point me at an adapter that features a focus confirmation chip and still works when stacked on the RF-EF adapter, I would appreciate it.
moondigger wrote:
Can you tell me which OM adapter you have that works? I bought a Fotodiox OM - EOS adapter with focus confirmation chip. But putting an OM lens on it, and then mounting it on the Canon RF - EF adapter, puts the camera in an error state. It becomes unresponsive, opening and closing the shutter on a 2-second cycle. I have to power off the camera to get the shutter to stop actuating.
The same adapter works fine on my 5D Mark IV, allowing me to shoot normally or in live view mode, though I see little benefit to keeping it if it will only work on the DSLRs. It's not like the added EXIF information is particularly useful. It shows as a 65,535 mm f/1.4 lens. ...Show more →
Sorry I'm not sure. I bought these several years ago. I had 3 adapters (2 OM and one CY) with chips and 1 of the 3 worked. The others throw errors as you've noticed (but worked fine on my 5d2).
EOS R has an option to fire the shutter w/ no lens attached. I wonder if not showing the focusing box is just a bug (it should really show up if you have that option enabled).
The fix for that was to "tape the contacts". I prefer to put an insulating ring (anulus) of mylar sheet plastic over the camera mount contacts, and set the camera "shoot without lens" to "on". 
