Sony E-mount

Sony α7 E-mount

Sony NEX-5 E-mount

The E-mount is a lens mount designed by Sony for their NEX ("New E-mount eXperience") and ILCE series of camcorders and mirrorless cameras.^[1] The E-mount supplements Sony's A-mount allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining compatibility with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by:

• Minimizing mechanical complexity, removing mechanical aperture and focus drive.
• Shortening the flange focal distance to 18 mm compared with earlier offerings from Sony which used 44.5 mm.
• Reducing the radius of the flange.

The short flange focal distance prohibits the use of an optical viewfinder as a mirror box mechanism cannot be included in this reduced distance. As such all E-mount cameras use an electronic viewfinder.

Development overview

Initially E-mount was implemented on the Sony α NEX-3 and NEX-5 consumer targeted devices with APS-C sized sensors.^[2] E-mount integration into Sony camcorder products was provided with the Sony Handycam NEX-VG10.^[3] On 24 August 2011 new products were announced, specifically the NEX-5N as a successor for the NEX-5, and the NEX-7 as a prosumer product,^[4] as well as the NEX-VG20 as the successor to the NEX-VG10. The Sony E-mount was brought to the 35 millimeter video camera market with the Sony NEX-FS100.^[5]

The first third-party camera to use the E-mount was the Hasselblad Lunar, announced at photokina on 18 September 2012 and released in early 2013.^[6][7]

In September 2013, Sony announced the first model from new ILCE series, the Sony α3000. In October 2013, the first models with full-frame sensor size were released, the Sony α7 and Sony α7R.

On 19 April 2017, Sony revealed their new model Model ILCE-9, the Sony α9, characterized as a true professional mirrorless camera system.

Available bodies

List of Sony E-mount cameras:

Available lenses

Third-party lens manufacturers

Sony NEX-5 with Sigma 30mm F2.8 EX DN lens.

On 8 February 2011 Sony announced the release of the specifications for the E-mount lens system allowing for third-party lens makers to create lenses for the NEX cameras without having to pay royalties. The mount specifications have been released to registered parties since April 2011.^[21] Getting a license for the specifications requires approval by Sony and the signing of a non-disclosure agreement.^[22]

The construction of full frame manual focus prime lenses without any electronics is relatively easier and less costly than the construction of electronic full frame autofocus lenses of any kind. Additionally, the E-mount Sony α7 series are the only full frame mirrorless cameras and have more electronic aids for manual focusing than full-frame DSLRs.^[23] Both these facts have encouraged lesser known lens companies to construct full frame prime lenses with E-mount. Numerous affordable sharp full-format manual prime lenses with big apertures are available with E-mount.

List of manufacturers of third-party lenses

• Anhui ChangGeng Optical Technology Company
• Carl Zeiss AG
• Cosina Co., Ltd.
• Handevision
• Samyang Optics / Rokinon
• Sigma Corporation
• Shenyang Zhongyi Optical and Electronic Company (ZY Optics)^[24]
• Shenzhen Neewer
• SLR Magic
• Tamron Co., Ltd.
• Tokina
• Venus Optics
• Voigtländer
• Yasuhara^[25]
• Zunow

Adapting lenses to Sony E-mount

Sony α7 with an adapted Carl Zeiss Biogon 28mm F2.8 lens for Contax G mount.

Due to the short flange focal distance of the Sony E-mount, many lenses can be adapted to be used on the Sony E-mount, although a crop factor will have to be taken into account for all cameras with APS-C or Super-35mm sensor format. Additionally with the introduction of in-camera image stabilization to Sony's newer mirrorless cameras, any adapted lens (regardless of age, brand, or lens mount) can be image stabilized.

Nearly all manual lenses can be attached with simple ring-like adapters to Sony's mirrorless cameras, such as for Canon FD, Minolta MC/MD, Leica M, and many others. Manual focus lenses that transmit EXIF data will require an adapter with electronic contacts, which are generally more expensive to produce.

Adapting autofocus lenses to Sony's older E-mount cameras (such as the Sony α6000 and α7) can often be ineffective due to the inability of the camera body to effectively lock-on to a subject, resulting in either hunting or missed focus. This has largely been remedied in recent years with improved lens adapter performance, as well as the introduction of faster, more accurate autofocusing systems to Sony's more recent cameras (such as the Sony α6500 and Sony α9).

Sony LA-EA adapters

The Sony LA-EA4 adapter

Any A-mount lenses can be used via the Sony LA-EA1,^[26] LA-EA2, LA-EA3, or LA-EA4 mount adapters which provide electronic contacts and electro-mechanical diaphragm control. They allow the camera body to control the aperture of the lens and provide automatic exposure and Exif data support.

• LA-EA1: APS-C format only; autofocus motor lenses (SSM and SAM) only; screw driven lenses can be used with manual focus only; adapter does not need optical elements in the light path and thus will not change image quality in any way. ^[27]

• LA-EA2: APS-C format only; adapters support fast phase-detection autofocus with all A-mount lenses (except for the few dedicated manual focus A-mount lenses), including screw-driven AF lenses. However, their translucent-mirror design requires an optical element in the light path and thus causes a light fall-off of about 30% and a slight decrease in image quality for the autofocus to work.

• LA-EA3: full-frame format compatible; autofocus motor lenses (SSM and SAM) only; screw driven lenses can be used with manual focus only; adapter does not need optical elements in the light path and thus will not change image quality in any way.

• LA-EA4: full-frame format compatible; adapters support fast phase-detection autofocus with all A-mount lenses (except for the few dedicated manual focus A-mount lenses), including screw-driven AF lenses. However, their translucent-mirror design requires an optical element in the light path and thus causes a light fall-off of about 30% and a slight decrease in image quality for the autofocus to work.

Techart offers unique autofocusing adapter which has motor which moves adapter flange along optical axis. It has Leica M-mount on the lens side, but via stacking additional adapter almost any SLR lens can be mounted.^[28]

List of adaptable lens mounts

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L IS lens adapted to the Sony NEX-5 with a "dummy" non-electronic adapter.

The following lens mounts can be used on the Sony E-mount with the use of various adapters available from third parties:^[29]

• Alpa mount
• Sony A-mount (Sony LA-EA1, LA-EA2, LA-EA3, LA-EA4 with AF and electronic aperture control, 3rd part adapters with aperture ring)
• BNCR mount
• C-mount
• Canon EF and Canon EF-S (Sigma MC-11 EF-E and other adapters with AF and electronic aperture control, "dumb" adapter variant with tilt available)
• Canon FD
• Contax G
• Contarex
• Contax/Yashica (C/Y) bayonet (an adapter variant with tilt is also available)
• Exakta lens mount
• Fujica X bayonet
• Hasselblad Xpan
• Konica AR (bayonet)
• Leica M-mount (bayonet) (adapter with back focusing AF available)
• Leica M39 lens mount (LTM/L39) (screw)
• Leica R-mount (adapter variant with tilt available)
• M42-mount (screw) (adapter variant with tilt available)
• Micro Four Thirds
• Minolta SR-mount (MD/MC)
• Minolta/Konica Minolta A-mount (Minolta/Konica Minolta AF/α/Dynax/Maxxum and Sony α DSLRs) (Sony LA-EA1, LA-EA2, LA-EA3, LA-EA4 with AF and electronic aperture control, and third-party adapters with aperture ring)
• Nikon F-mount (with AF and electronic aperture control, adapter variant with aperture ring for G lenses available, adapter variant with tilt available)
• Olympus OM-mount (adapter variant with tilt available)
• Olympus Pen F
• Pentax Auto 110
• Pentax K-mount (adapter variant with aperture ring for DA lenses available)
• PL mount
• Rollei-mount
• Sigma SA-mount (Sigma MC-11 SA-E with AF and electronic aperture control)
• T2-mount (screw)

List of Sony E-mount adapters with a focal reducer

Focal reducer is a device which inserts between main lens and camera and shrinks image circle while simultaneously increasing f-stop of the lens. The downside is than only lens from other systems with longer flange distance are accepted. Native E-mount lenses are not supported.

• Metabones Speed Booster, from full-frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x
• Metabones Speed Booster Ultra, from full-frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x
• Zhongyi Lens Turbo, from full-from frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x
• Kipon Baveyes Ultra 0.7x Adapter, from Medium Format SLR to Sony-E full frame (Announced 3 March 2016)
• Kipon Baveyes L/M-S/E 0.65x, from Leica M-mount to Sony APS-C (Announced 24 November 2016)

Comparison with similar lens mounts

See also

• List of Sony E-mount cameras
• List of Sony E-mount lenses
• List of third-party E-mount lenses

References