One of the great things about owning a mirrorless camera is it's flexibility when it comes to adapting lenses from other manufacturers. I personally use the Sony Alpha mirrorless system and since its inception, various companies have developed different lens mount adapters to allow the use of lenses from other manufacturers. This is great but only the major brands get the attention for autofocus adapter development. The older and less remembered lens mounts typically only get a very simple dummy adapter that does not transmit any information from the lens to the camera body. This all changes with the Fotodiox Pro Pronto adapter.
The Pronto is essentially a lens mount adapter for converting Leica M mount lenses to Sony E mount. The main difference between this and any other adapter is that this one has a built-in motor that allows for autofocus and has support for AFS, AFC and face detection. Eye AF and lock on AF do not work. You can also change the focus area from wide to center or flexible spot but remember that by reducing the focus area, you can get a reduction in overall focus speed.
This adapter autofocuses by physically moving the lens in and out within a 4.5mm range and according to Fotodiox, this should be enough for most lenses. A benefit of this method would be that you are also able to improve the minimum focusing distance of a lens by essentially using the adapter as an extension tube. This is great because rangefinder lenses are typically not very good at close focusing. With M mount lenses, the minimum focusing distance is typically around .7 of a meter or 2.3’.
This adapter can support a lens setup up to 2 lbs or 907 grams. That is huge considering that the Sony A7RII that I mount this adapter to only weighs 625 grams. My Sony 16-35mm f/4 weighs 518 grams. My Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM? 886 grams. Still under the max load capacity of this adapter. When you start looking at the weight of various lenses, you start to realize just how much this adapter can muster and I have to say, I’m quite impressed.
Now you may be saying to yourself, this is all well but I don’t own Leica M mount lenses so I have no use for this adapter. Well, maybe not. Remember, the lenses from other manufacturers can easily be adapted to the Leica M mount. For example, here is a Nikon lens adapted to the Leica M mount with the use of another adapter. This, in turn, means that I can use this and other Nikon F lenses with the Pronto adapter to not only mount to my Sony E mount camera but also achieve autofocus with these older manual focus lenses. Of course, this is not just exclusive to Nikon F mount lenses, but really any lens that can be adapted to Leica M and this is why this adapter is so amazing. It opens up a whole new world for those who have manual focus lenses but want autofocus capabilities.
It should be noted that this adapter is designed to be used with E mount cameras that feature phase detection and was not intended to support cameras with only contrast detection autofocus. If you’re interested in using this device, make sure that your camera body is compatible. Current Sony cameras with Phase Detection AF include the Sony a6300/a6500, a7II/a7III, A7RII/a7RIII and a9.
Another thing to note would be noise that this adapter makes. The focusing motor of the adapter is audible, but it’s hard to complain about this because it is what it is. If some minor focusing noise means that I can autofocus my manual lenses, then I’ll take it. Also, if you’re interested in using this adapter in any scenario where there’s background noise like in the city, it’s likely that the noise of the city will drown out the noise of the adapter. In quiet locations like a studio, a library, or a church, sure people a few feet away may notice the noise but any significant distance and they won't hear a thing. I personally don’t think the noise is that big a deal.
Since we are talking about an adapter that allows for autofocus, I’m sure you’re wondering just how well this adapter performs. This is tough to express because autofocus performance can be somewhat subjective. It’s really based on the gear that you use and what you’re used to. For example, I often use the Nikon N2020 which was one of the early pioneers of autofocus. In comparison to today’s cameras, the autofocus on the N2020 is atrocious but it was just about the best of its time. I still often use this camera and am able to capture images with its slow autofocus system and in comparison, the Pronto on the A7RII destroys the autofocus on the N2020 so that’s great.
Since I'm mounting the Pronto on a Sony camera, how do I think it performs in comparison to Sony native lenses? This is tough to say because it depends. In good lighting, this adapter can perform flawlessness and autofocus is very fast. Just about as fast as a native lens. On the other hand, in certain dark scenes, the autofocus can be nearly unusable where a native lens will likely still be able to perform. So autofocus performance can fluctuate and is greatly dependent on lighting conditions.
My main intention for this adapter is to use it in street photography scenarios and after being able to try it out on the street, I would say that I’m happy with the adapter’s performance. It was able to handle the constant changing environment throughout the day and that's what I need. At the end of the day, this adapter is meant to allow me to autofocus with my manual lenses and I think it does an excellent job at it. For my purposes, this adapter is a winner and comes highly recommended.
If you're considering on buying any of these products, please support my work by using the links below.
Fotodiox Pro Pronto Leica M Mount to Sony E Mount Adapter https://amzn.to/2NCFLFZ
Nikon F to Leica M Adapter https://amzn.to/2uUKZF3
Sony A7RII https://amzn.to/2LDe2V3
Sony FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM Lens https://amzn.to/2uzrsuq
Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS Lens https://amzn.to/2JED5VG
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