Sigma Mc-11 Canon Ef Lens to Sony E Mount Adapter Review

The Sony A7 series is one of the most popular mirrorless systems on the marketplace today, and it'south non just considering of the excellent sensors and video capabilities. Since the first release in late 2013, ane of the principal attractions has been the possibility to suit 35mm lenses from other mirrorless or DSLR systems. The second generation of A7 cameras (excluding the A7s 2) was another big footstep forward in that direction since their phase detection AF became compatible with DSLR lenses.

Excluding the LA-EA3 that Sony designed for its DSLT lenses, all the other adapters are fabricated by 3rd-party manufacturers that mainly produce accessories. Ane of the most popular (and most expensive) is the Metabones Smart Adapter mark 4 merely you can likewise discover products from Fotodiox and Viltrox.

sigma mc-11 review — A6300, 1/100, f/11, ISO 100 – 150-600mm Contemporary

Then along came Sigma, a brand known for its high quality (and in some cases, unique) prime and zoom lenses. The MC-11 announcement surprised me at first since I was expecting to run across some native total-frame East-mount lenses from the brand at some bespeak. Instead, the Japanese visitor decided to release its own adapter designed exclusively for E-mount cameras.

Thinking virtually it, this solution was the fastest and cheapest that Sigma could have possibly come up upward with. The company already has an extensive range of DSLR products which get first-class reviews and are affordable. Why risk investing in a brand new lens series when a simple adapter could do the play tricks?

I was curious to test the Sigma MC-xi for multiple reasons. It is made by Sigma which hopefully ways it can communicate meliorate with lenses of the same brand. Information technology offers complete compatibility with all the camera's settings, can be updated via firmware and comes at a reasonable price. Is it the best AF adapter for Sony E-mount cameras? Let'southward find out!

Note: The adapter exists in two versions: SA (Sigma mount) and EF (Catechism mount). For this article I tested the EF version.

Gear used with the MC-xi for this review:

Sony A7r 2
Sony a6300
Sigma 18-35mm f/1.eight DC HSM Art
Sigma 24-35mm F2 DG HSM Fine art
Sigma 150-600mm f/v-6.iii DG OS HSM Contemporary

Design and ease of utilize

The build quality of the MC-11 is first-class. It is made of metal but is non weather sealed which would take been a welcome addition. The mount mechanism is solid and smooth on both sides, so mounting the adapter or the lens doesn't require extra force.

The accessory includes a mini USB port to receive firmware updates via the Sigma Optimisation Pro software. This can exist helpful to increment the compatibility with additional lenses or improve the performance of the adapter itself. There is however a second function to this story: several lenses require a firmware update too and for that you lot need the Sigma USB dock which is a separate accompaniment. Somehow it would have been great if Sigma had immune you to apply the adapter to update the lens directly, saving you $60.

That existence said, the USB dock is useful not only to update firmware but also to customise settings on the lens. You tin can make micro adjustments for the AF focusing position or turn on the Full-fourth dimension MF part. With certain lenses you can besides customise the optical stabilisation view manner in the finder, change the distance of the focus limiter switch and assign settings to the customisation mode switch. For instance, apropos the latter, I assigned position 1 to Fast AF priority (the focus bespeak is reached as speedily as possible) and position 2 to Smooth AF priority (slower merely smoother autofocus, which can be helpful for video) on the 150-600mm.

To assistance you sympathize if your adapter or lens needs a firmware update, Sigma included a LED light on the MC-11 near the unlock button. It illuminates for 3 seconds when y'all power on the camera. During those three seconds, the LED tin can display four different signals:

Abiding green light : the lens is compatible
Blinking green light : the lens is uniform just a firmware update on the lens is needed
Blinking orange light : the lens is compatible but the adapter needs a firmware update
No light: the lens is not uniform.

The thought of the LED light is bully as it gives you a clear sign of where your combo stands. When I received the lenses, I noticed right away that a firmware update was needed for 3 lenses.

The adapter transmits all the necessary information to the camera including EXIF data. Distortion, chromatic aberration and vignetting are automatically corrected in the OOC JPG if you accept the settings to Auto in the camera. In Lightroom y'all just demand to select Sigma in the Make driblet-down menu and the correct lens contour is loaded automatically.

Equally of now, in that location are 15 Sigma DSLR lenses that are compatible with the adapter. I promise that the list volition increment. Sigma doesn't officially admit compatibility with other EF lenses only several reviews take stated that the adapter also performs well with Canon lenses. Unfortunately I couldn't verify this for myself.

Autofocus performance

The MC-11 makes your Sigma DSLR lens bear similar an Eastward-mount lens. What I mean is that different most adapters, all the AF settings are available including Zone Area, EyeAF and Lock-On. In fact y'all can't select phase or contrast detection manually (the option is greyed out). The latter notwithstanding poses some limitations in my opinion.

In Unmarried-AF manner, the camera tends to select contrast detection and that causes the performance to boring down and produce back-and-forth movements of the internal elements while the camera tries to larn the right focus signal. Information technology is often slower than a native E-mount lens. If you switch to Continuous-AF, the camera starts to employ the stage detection points and the right focus distance is acquired much more quickly. I wish you could even so select the autofocus blazon manually (like with other adapters) equally I believe stage detection works better in both Single and Continuous AF.

Despite the slower operation in Unmarried AF, the cameras never really struggled to larn focus even with modest AF points or indoors. The only really hard scene I encountered was extreme backlit situations like the example below but that tin can be a challenge for native lenses as well. The operation tin can tiresome downward considerably in low light if there isn't enough dissimilarity.

I found EyeAF accurate and fast to employ. It is almost as expert as using an E-mount lens. It only works in Continuous AF only I found information technology to be fast and reliable with static subjects. With moving subjects the results can be less accurate.

Lock-On AF works surprisingly well. The camera rarely loses track of the element it has locked onto, fifty-fifty when it goes outside the frame for a few seconds. It works in both Unmarried and Continuous AF. Over again with the latter, phase detection is used which increases the speed and accuracy. Occasionally the photographic camera tin can lose its lock on the subject and reset simply that is no different to E-mount lenses.

I already shared my experience for birds in flying (read the Scarlet Kites commodity hither) where I got an overall 50% keeper rate with the A7r Ii and 60% with the a6300, which I consider quite good.

However when the variation in speed and distance is more substantial, the camera has more difficulty with continuous AF and continuous shooting. During the Tonfanau motorbike race, the AF simply couldn't follow the bikers exiting from a corner or coming in a straight line. It progressively loses the focus betoken. I got an average keeper rate of 30% with both cameras with the a6300 performing marginally ameliorate. I tested all the Expanse modes and tried different settings like Balanced Emphasis instead of AF priority but the results were ever the aforementioned. The areas that work all-time are Zone and Expand Flexible spot.

If you "pause" the continuous shooting for a few moments or switch to single shooting mode, the AF is faster at keeping rails of the subject. It is not platonic but it seems that high speed shooting slows down the Continuous AF performance severely. So at that place is a way to increase your keeper charge per unit just for sports or wildlife, skipping continuous shooting at 5fps or college can be a large limitation.

Stabilisation and performance for video

With a lens that features optical stabilisation, you activate or de-actuate it with the switch on the lens even with cameras that feature in-body stabilisation such every bit the A7r II. The camera will use 3 axes on the sensor and the 2 axes on the lens.

With lenses that lack Bone, the A7r II, A7s II or A7 II volition use the v-axis in-trunk stabilisation and you tin can activate or de-activate it from the photographic camera. Information technology performs similarly to how information technology performs with E-mount lenses.

For video yous will find the same options available for E-mountain lenses including AF Track Sens and AF Drive Speed.

Overall the Continuous AF performance for video is not bad at all. The camera can alter the focus point fast plenty in many situations. With fast moving subjects, the a6300 is faster thanks to the more avant-garde AF system merely the results won't be perfect.

The only downside is that the lens makes a lot more noise in video mode which can exist annoying if non problematic when y'all need to record sound too.

Determination

The Sigma MC-eleven is an excellent adapter and perhaps the all-time option y'all can detect for your Sony A7r Two, A7 II or a6300 today. Being able to use Lock-On or Zone Surface area is very useful and I utilise these settings with native lenses all the time. The only adapter that comes close to this is the Metabones Mark 4 but its costs double the Sigma.

The only limitation I find annoying is that you tin can't force the camera to utilize phase detection points only. It selects which organization to utilize automatically (like with East-mount lenses) and can deadening downward the speed in Single AF where the photographic camera seems to adopt dissimilarity detection.

For the residual, I can write the same thoughts I would write for any adapter: it makes sense up to a sure point. Yes, you lot can use lenses that are not available in native E-mountain for now such as extreme telephoto lenses. Yes, you can employ some unique lenses like the eighteen-35mm f/ane.8 Art that only Sigma produces. I won't deny at that place are advantages. But these lenses tin also make the camera-lens combo much heavier and more unbalanced.

In the end, it is a solution: not the best but at least you have 1 if you already own these lenses and desire to keep using them or if you need them while waiting for Sony to release an equivalent. I think that amidst all the adapters available, this is definitely the ane to consider right now (for Sigma lenses especially): information technology is one of the nigh complete solutions with a reasonable toll tag. I promise Sigma will bring compatibility with more lenses in the futurity.

What I similar most the Sigma MC-eleven:

good build quality
takes firmware updates
handy LED light shows if your lens is compatible or requires a firmware update
all the AF settings you know and use with Due east-mount lenses are available and functional
Proficient AF operation for stills and video as long as the subject doesn't motion besides fast

What I don't like about the Sigma MC-eleven:

no conditions sealing
the cameras tends to apply contrast detection in S-AF, slowing down the AF speed
don't expect miracles with fast moving subjects like motorbikes
the elements make a lot of noise in movie mode
you lot need the Sigma USB dock to update the lens firmware

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