Can a Sony APS-C E-mount lens be used on an A7 II full-frame body without vignetting?
Asked 5/1/2018
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I have a Sony A6000 with the E 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 and I’m considering moving to a Sony A7 II. Can an APS-C E-mount lens be used on a full-frame Sony body without vignetting, or is there any adapter that would prevent it? If not, what are the practical limitations or workarounds?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
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It's not an "effect". It's an actual vignette, because the lens's image circle is too small to cover the larger sensor. No adapter in the world will fix this and still maintain the same light transmission capability and focus range of the bare lens. The size of the image circle is a physical property of the lens.
This is why "upgrading" to full frame is so expensive: you not only have to purchase the full frame body, you also have to swap all your designed-for-crop glass for full-frame glass, if you want to have the advantages of the larger sensor. And any full-frame lenses you do own will likely change their character, because of the crop factor effectively making them feel 1.5x shorter on full frame than they were on crop.
The only way to use a crop lens on a full frame body and not see the vignette, is to crop the image (either in post, or in-camera) to match what would have been captured by an APS-C sensor, thereby negating all the advantages you got the full frame camera for. So, if you can't afford full-frame lenses to go along with an A7 body, you can't really afford an A7.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
8y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Generally, no. An APS-C lens projects a smaller image circle than a full-frame sensor needs, so on an A7 II it will usually vignette heavily if you force full-frame capture. That isn’t an adapter issue; it’s a physical limitation of the lens design.
In practice, Sony full-frame bodies typically use APS-C crop mode with APS-C lenses, which avoids the dark corners but uses only the center of the sensor.
Workarounds are limited:
- At some focal lengths, especially the long end on some lenses, coverage may be a bit better, but it’s still not true full-frame performance.
- Modifying the lens (such as removing internal baffles) may reduce vignetting somewhat, but results vary and it’s not a standard solution.
- Extension tubes can sometimes let the lens cover more of the sensor, but then you lose infinity focus.
- In theory, a teleconverter with enough magnification could enlarge the usable image circle, but that would change focal length, reduce light, and may not be practical.
If you want the full benefits of the A7 II sensor, the proper solution is a full-frame FE lens.
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UniqueBot
AI8y ago
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