Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

New fredmiranda.com Mobile Site

New Feature: SMS Notification alert

New Feature: Buy & Sell Watchlist

FM Forums | Sony Forum | Join Upload & Sell

MC-11 and ART primes

lukeiam
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · MC-11 and ART primes

I'm thinking of grabbing a Sony now that the system has really developed. I'd like to use some Sigma lenses for EF mount (mainly, the 50 ART) because I can see grabbing a Canon body down the road..

How does the MC-11 perform? Like native? Thanks

Oct 23, 2023 at 06:53 AM

Gunzorro
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · MC-11 and ART primes

The Sigma MC-11 performs great on Sony. I've got three, and used them on a7R, a7RII and a7R4.

I also use the Sigma Art lenses on the newer Canon R body via EF-RF adapter by Canon.

I've got the Sigma 24, 28 and 50 lenses.

The adapters also work very well on Canon and Sony with Zeiss' excellent ZE manual focus lenses.

Great lenses by Sigma and Zeiss!

Oct 23, 2023 at 07:27 AM

lukeiam
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · MC-11 and ART primes

Gunzorro wrote:
The Sigma MC-11 performs great on Sony. I've got three, and used them on a7R, a7RII and a7R4.

I also use the Sigma Art lenses on the newer Canon R body via EF-RF adapter by Canon.

I've got the Sigma 24, 28 and 50 lenses.

The adapters also work very well on Canon and Sony with Zeiss' excellent ZE manual focus lenses.

Great lenses by Sigma and Zeiss!

Thank you! Do they AF like they do on DSLRs or compared to the Sony "built-in MC11" versions? You know those....

Oct 23, 2023 at 07:31 AM

AGeoJO
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · MC-11 and ART primes

Not quite like native AF-wise and for sure less suitable for fast action photography, but depending on your usage, it may be sufficient. That’s the short answer…

Oct 23, 2023 at 07:36 AM

lukeiam
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · MC-11 and ART primes

AGeoJO wrote:
Not quite like native AF-wise and for sure less suitable for fast action photography, but depending on your usage, it may be sufficient. That’s the short answer…

Ok good to know...Thanks. Yeah, the Sony versions of the ART line are very fast...Native speed. So maybe this is a bust

Oct 23, 2023 at 07:52 AM

Gunzorro
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · MC-11 and ART primes

lukeiam wrote:
Thank you! Do they AF like they do on DSLRs or compared to the Sony "built-in MC11" versions? You know those....

Both Sony a7-series and the newer Canon R are much better than earlier Canon (and Nikon and others) at nailing focus without going through tedious testing and adjustment to dial-in focus corrections.

As Joshua said, for fast paced work, adapted lenses are always at a slight disadvantage. But for me, shooting a lot of manual focus lenses, the speed of focus isn't terribly important, only the focus accuracy. I don't notice any downside to adapting Canon EF lenses (including Sigma Art) to Sony via MC-11. Personally, I have much more rewarding experience and accuracy shooting Canon TS-E and other manual focus lenses on Sony mirrorless than I did with Canon native EF-mount bodies.

Anyone shooting manual focus lenses isn't terribly interested in focus speed, more interested in focusing accuracy or specific plane of focus. For that, I'm an outlier as far as my opinion and experience go.

Oct 23, 2023 at 08:01 AM

tschopp
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · MC-11 and ART primes

I tried the MC-11 with the canon 135 and art 50. Ultimately I gave up and moved to native glass. Most of the time it was fine, but sometimes it missed. I wanted a system that would just nail focus, the MC-11 wasn't it. If you are less demanding, it can work. I would look at comparing prices on used native Sony mount.

Oct 23, 2023 at 08:26 AM

Robin Smith
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · MC-11 and ART primes

I am not convinced that any EF to Sony AF adapter is 100% reliable. The seem to work some of the time and then hiccup at some vital moment, either no AF or the camera will crash for some reason. Other times they work quite well. You need to look carefully at the specs. Most give lists of lenses they are meant to work with. But "work' may mean different things to different people. Single shot usually works, but not always, continuous much less so. The MC-11 is really only stated to work with Sigma lenses not Canon ones. As stated above it really depends on your tolerance for irritation. I think the only adapters that work well are the Canon EF to RF and probably the Nikon F to Z, and probably the Sony A to E(?), and even these have various limitations depending on the lens.

I (regrettably) gave up my EF lenses and got Sony lenses. If you like manual focus it's not an issue, just get any adapter with electronic contacts. The electronic link works so camera functions work fine (EXIF, aperture control etc). It's the AF that is unreliable.

Oct 23, 2023 at 10:18 AM

Gunzorro
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · MC-11 and ART primes

Robin Smith wrote:
I am not convinced that any EF to Sony AF adapter is 100% reliable. The seem to work some of the time and then hiccup at some vital moment, either no AF or the camera will crash for some reason. Other times they work quite well. You need to look carefully at the specs. Most give lists of lenses they are meant to work with. But "work' may mean different things to different people. Single shot usually works, but not always, continuous much less so. The MC-11 is really only stated to work with Sigma lenses not Canon ones....Show more →

I can see your point with regard to continuous AF, and possibly video with adapters not working well (some other brands, not really at all!).

I have three Sigma MC-11s and they all work just about as well as native Sony lenses for MF and single-shot AF. Like you, I would recommend only same brand for best lenses for continuous and tracking AF, such as Sony GM for Sony, and Canon RF L for sports and video.

I should mention that I'm on kind of a budget and buy most lenses used here on B&S, such as Loxia, Batis and Canon EF L, and no longer taking photos professionally for pay.

There is always a trade-off, whichever way you go!

Oct 23, 2023 at 12:05 PM

kaldur
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · MC-11 and ART primes

The only EF lenses I've used with an MC11 is a (Global Vision that is guaranteed compatible) Sigma 100-400, as well as a (later) Canon EF 400 5,6 and Canon EF 35/2 IS USM. In all cases I did not experience an issue with accuracy close to the center in decent light, AF speed and accuracy deteriorated toward the edges and in dim lighting, more so for the Canon lenses than the Sigma. I've not heard anyone say the Sigma dSLR design E-mount lenses are significantly better AF wise than their EF + mc11 counterparts but I haven't heard of a lot of comparisons either. Most seemed to say the "native" Sony Sigmas merely had an MC11 adapter built in, at any rate I can't really see how they would be much better than their EF + MC11 counterparts.

I wouldn't use the MC11 for fast paced sports or in dim lighting conditions or if I needed af points that worked to the sides of the frame but I will say that I used the 100-400 on an A7rii no less for an airshow (in broad daylight) with jets and propeller planes (super fast af isn't really needed) and was never especially disappointed with either lens. It depends on what you are used to I guess. The Sigma worked better with AF-C than AF-S I thought whereas the Canons did not work as well with AF-C.

Oct 23, 2023 at 12:18 PM

skid00skid00
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · MC-11 and ART primes

I'm shooting a 35 1.4 Art with the MC11, on an A1, for meteors. Did some tests to see how it focused. It seems maybe a bit slower than 24-105 and 200-600.

I'm also shooting a 100 Art Macro in FE mount.

No problems with either.

Oct 23, 2023 at 03:34 PM

MAubrey
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · MC-11 and ART primes

The Art lenses on the MC-11 are basically as good as they are on a Canon body. The real issue I think most people experience is that the focusing motors in these lenses aren't as fast as modern native lenses to begin with.

I have the 24-35mm f/2, the 28mm f/1.4 and the 135mm f/1.8 and continue to eye the 40mm and the 105mm. The newer ones are definitely superior to the older ones.

Oct 23, 2023 at 05:27 PM

Critters
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · MC-11 and ART primes

My experience with the MC-11 has been with Canon EF lenses and has been very positive. The A7R5 has worked flawlessly with my 70-300 L and 16-35 f4 lenses. I have not shot rapidly moving critters yet so that is unknown, but the focus seems as fast as my Sony 70-350 G on that camera as well as the new 70-200 G.

Oct 24, 2023 at 05:13 AM

QuietOC
Online
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · MC-11 and ART primes

Focus can be faster with adapted lenses because the Sony AF method for adapted lenses doesn't use contrast detect like the native Fast Hybrid AF. The Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM on the MC-11 was often quicker than the native Sony FE 85mm F1.8. When the Canon lens was on the Metabones with Advanced Mode (native emulation) then it would be slower than the native lens. The Canon EF 50mm F1.8 STM with native emulation is slower than the native Sony FE 50mm F1.8.

Some were choosing to not use the MC-11 with Sigma Global Vision lenses because of the slowness of Fast Hybrid AF and instead using another adapter to use the quicker phase-detect only adapted AF. There is no way to disable the native emulation on the MC-11 with supported lenses. There is no native emulation on the MC-11 for unsupported lenses (i.e., non Global Vision lenses).

Oct 24, 2023 at 06:31 AM

jjcpa
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · MC-11 and ART primes

I have a MC-11 and mainly use it on A9. When I tried it on my A7Rii, I feel AF is not as good as it on A9. Not sure whether it is my body or A9 works better with MC-11 than A7Rii. I tried Sigma 28mm, 40mm, 105mm and Canon 35mmL V2 and 50mmL. I only shoot my sons.

Oct 24, 2023 at 10:08 AM

Critters
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · MC-11 and ART primes

The MC-11 did not work well on my Sony A7R3. Worked better on the A7R4 but is better still on the A7R5.
I have gone through too many iterations of this camera

Oct 24, 2023 at 11:27 AM

Gunzorro
Offline
• • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · MC-11 and ART primes

My MC-11's (3 copies) work fine on a7R2 and a7R4. YMMV

Oct 25, 2023 at 07:32 AM


FM Forums \| Sony Forum \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.