In this article I wanted to discuss and show you, the auto focus abilities of the Sony A7r II with some Sigma A-mount Lenses via the Sony LAEA3 lens adapter.. I’ll be testing the A-Mount Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 DG HSM II Lens, A-Mount 50mm f/1.4 Art Lens and the LA-EA3 lens adapter to be more specific 😉

I touched on this briefly in my last article and mentioned that the auto focus sucked with both lenses, but I was mistaken. I was using flexible spot with the 12-24mm lens and that mode for some reason barely works. The focus just hunts around and I got pretty frustrated. As it turns out, flexible spot was the issue and when using Center Focus or Average Focus Modes, the Auto focus performance is totally acceptable on the 12-24mm lens. Very similar to my Canon 17-40mm lens with the Metabones lens adapter for example. The 50mm f/1.4 lens did not work no matter what I tried though.

I did some focus testing in the lab this morning and I recorded the action so you can see for yourself what I am talking about. It’s a short video and will give you an idea on the performance you can expect with this set-up.

Auto Focus Testing

Closing Remarks

It’s a shame the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens does not focus at all with the LAEA3 lens adapter on the Sony A7r II. Clearly the LAEA4 w/ translucent mirror technology would be a better choice for this particular lens.

The Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 DG HSM II Lens after more detailed testing did really good overall. I’m sorry I jumped the gun and said it sucked the other day. This was because I switched from wide area focus mode to flexible spot. The A7r II was focusing on the wrong part of the scene, so I usually use flexible spot in these cases. In hindsight I should have went with center focus mode and just focused then re-composed my scene.

Lesson learned and the bottom line here is don’t use flexible spot with the 12-24mm lens and LA-EA3 lens adapter combination 😉 If you want to use the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens then be sure to use the LAEA4 Lens adapter with the built in translucent mirror. That should do the trick and I will test this @ BHPhoto on Thursday as I mentioned in the last article. I will be on their new Podcast!! 

The next video I will re-lease will be on customizing your A7r II camera with custom button programing that is different than the default settings. Moving around the flexible spot for example can be made much easier than having to go into the menu like I was over and over. I also wanted to show how you can use the zoom feature, even when using primes lenses which is a killer feature for video in particular, because no IQ is lost in that process. I also wanted to show off how to configure the camera for focusing with a button on the back as apposed to using the shutter button half way. A lot of people like this method and it’s about time I show you how to set it up if curious 😉

Any ideas for other custom settings you would like me to cover?
Anything you guys want me to test specifically while I’m physically at BHPhoto tomorrow?

Please let me know in the comments below…

Thanks for checking in and I’ll catch up with you guys later! Comments and questions always welcomed and strongly encouraged…
Jay