Recycle

[Liam Bunce]

I have now been using my A6500 for over 12 months and have found it to be a great transition from my D7000, the thing is that I have some very good sigma lenses that have become redundant (so I thought) apparently Sigma do a mount conversion service and I were wondering if anyone with Alamy have ever tried this service and if so what were your findings?

 

Liam

[Marianne]

Haven't but wish I'd known might have tried it for the one Sigma lens I had that I really loved.  Sold it for nearly what I paid for it though, so not the end of the world.

I'd imagine they do an excellent job. If you use the service let us know how it works. It would make the lens lighter than using with an adapter, so it seems like it might well be worth it. 

[Bryan]

I've used my Canon fit Sigma 100-300 f4 lens with the a6500. Not had the mount converted, but use a Commlite adapter. The adapter is mechanically well constructed but the electronics leave something to be desired. You can rely upon the aperture setting and the camera does read the focal length, but the autofocus isn't reliably usable. Given that most of my lenses are manual focus, this isn't of any great concern to me, but I guess it might be an issue for most folk. The adapter also works, in a similar fashion, with my native Canon lenses.

 

See my blog for more details - the adapter - using the 100-300 lens

 

Image TWDYYP was shot using the Sigma on the a6500

Edited August 13, 2019 by Bryan

[Liam Bunce]

10 hours ago, Bryan said:

I've used my Canon fit Sigma 100-300 f4 lens with the a6500. Not had the mount converted, but use a Commlite adapter. The adapter is mechanically well constructed but the electronics leave something to be desired. You can rely upon the aperture setting and the camera does read the focal length, but the autofocus isn't reliably usable. Given that most of my lenses are manual focus, this isn't of any great concern to me, but I guess it might be an issue for most folk. The adapter also works, in a similar fashion, with my native Canon lenses.

 

See my blog for more details - the adaper - using the 100-300 lens

 

Image TWDYYP was shot using the Sigma on the a6500

Nice image and informative Blog Bryan.

 

I did have a look at the adapter sometime ago but I think I would prefer the mount conversion rather than putting my 6500 through the added weight and length, as I am looking to change the mounts on both my 10-20 f3.5 and the 120-400 f4.5-5.6      

[Marianne]

3 minutes ago, Liam Bunce said:

Nice image and informative Blog Bryan.

 

I did have a look at the adapter sometime ago but I think I would prefer the mount conversion rather than putting my 6500 through the added weight and length, as I am looking to change the mounts on both my 10-20 f3.5 and the 120-400 f4.5-5.6      

 

Liam, I think that sounds good. I really wish I'd known about their conversion service. I have a few different adapters I've bought for my mirrorless cameras to use my original Olympus lenses (from my SLR, an OM-1) and from my Nikons to use on the Olympus and Sony. I didn't want the added weight for the larger zoom lenses, so sold them. They are all manual and I use them with various prime lenses, some manual, some autofocus that I now use manually. They all work well but I had read that using the autofocus with an adapter did not work as well, which is why I think that having the mount conversions instead sounds like it would work better.

 

A caveat: I would just be sure that the mount conversion means they are re-tooling the mount - I had that done way back in 2006 with some Nikon lenses I bought that did not work on DSLRs and there was no added weight (it was done by a professor at UMichigan if I recall correctly). If they are just adding on the equivalent of an adapter to your lens it will add weight. I purchased a Rokinon 8mm fisheye for my Sony and did not realize that to make it work with the Sony mount, what they did was add on the equivalent of a thick adapter , making the lens longer and heavier than it is for DSLRs. I still like the lens (LR and Camera RAW can "fix" the fisheye and make it a regular super wide angle shot if you want) but it is very heavy, defeating the whole idea of going with a lighter mirrorless camera. 

 

Do you have a link for the mount conversion?

[Liam Bunce]

15 hours ago, Marianne said:

 

Liam, I think that sounds good. I really wish I'd known about their conversion service. I have a few different adapters I've bought for my mirrorless cameras to use my original Olympus lenses (from my SLR, an OM-1) and from my Nikons to use on the Olympus and Sony. I didn't want the added weight for the larger zoom lenses, so sold them. They are all manual and I use them with various prime lenses, some manual, some autofocus that I now use manually. They all work well but I had read that using the autofocus with an adapter did not work as well, which is why I think that having the mount conversions instead sounds like it would work better.

 

A caveat: I would just be sure that the mount conversion means they are re-tooling the mount - I had that done way back in 2006 with some Nikon lenses I bought that did not work on DSLRs and there was no added weight (it was done by a professor at UMichigan if I recall correctly). If they are just adding on the equivalent of an adapter to your lens it will add weight. I purchased a Rokinon 8mm fisheye for my Sony and did not realize that to make it work with the Sony mount, what they did was add on the equivalent of a thick adapter , making the lens longer and heavier than it is for DSLRs. I still like the lens (LR and Camera RAW can "fix" the fisheye and make it a regular super wide angle shot if you want) but it is very heavy, defeating the whole idea of going with a lighter mirrorless camera. 

 

Do you have a link for the mount conversion?

Marianne, my sentiments entirely I did not wish to overload the camera mount.

 

Prices start from around £105 which is much better than paying out for a new lens.

 

https://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/mount-conversion-service/

[Bryan]

I guess that a proper conversion is the best answer, but just to be clear, the Commlite adapter has its own tripod bush, so you don't put any appreciable load on the camera mount when using longer lenses on a tripod, while of course a long telephoto also has a tripod bush so the load is taken elsewhere. All the camera supports is its own weight.

[Marianne]

Thanks for the link Liam. I guess they have the same thing in the US. It will definitely be something I keep in mind when deciding on buying lenses in the future. I really loved the Sigma 50-500mm so sharp and so well balanced despite its huge size. I've considered some of the Sigma art lenses as they make them for the Sony. While I think I'll be sticking with the Sony system at this point, you never know, so good to know I could convert one in the future if I laid out all that cash for one of the lenses.  It's a really smart idea on their part.  That was the hardest thing about giving up my Nikons, selling so many of my lenses, but I'm glad I made the switch, though now that they are in the mirrorless game, I may wish I'd kept a few more of my lenses. 

[Ed Rooney]

Or you might consider selling or trading those lenses with MPB.

 

https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=Cj0KCQjwv8nqBRDGARIsAHfR9wBPE8Fa8XfSBo7e03KQeBwgDKzO_nIw7raitWne447sdvRl0yn_U7MaAiDzEALw_wcB