Lens manufacturer Viltrox has a new lens adapter for Sony E-mount, which hopes to bring AF to your vintage manual focus PL-E Cine lenses.
The NexusFocus F1 will give content creators using Sony mirrorless cameras the ability to use older, vintage Cine lenses in their work. This will give creators much more creative freedom with the look and feel of their video without sacrificing the mod-con of autofocus. In short, using vintage cine lenses no longer needs to be confined to the pros.
According to Viltrox, "The NexusFocus F1 is a compact, lightweight adapter that fits unobtrusively in between the lens and the camera body."
The new adapter utilizes Sony’s powerful phase-detection system and AI subject recognition, according to Viltrox. It leverages the power and processing speed of the camera's advanced AF and processor to work the lens motors for aperture, focus, and zoom, "thus revitalizing manual lenses with powerful autofocus capabilities."
Sure, MF is fun and highly accurate in the hands of a skilled camera operator. But by using the camera's AF, this adapter will deliver "precise, repeatable focus performance." Essentially, it's easier to hit focus and repeatedly do so across takes.
The NexusFocus F1 won't use LiDAR-based distance estimation to determine focus, either, which is common with other adapters, and which Viltrox says can cause parallax-related focusing inaccuracies.
Viltrox's intention with this adapter is to give specific owners of vintage Cine lenses more creative freedom. These lenses are often employed by larger productions, but may be a little too complex and slow for smaller-time projects: solo shooters, small crews and even enthusiasts. "Freed from the constraints of manual focusing... creators can enjoy cinematic-level imaging, with effortless control and precision," says Viltrox.
App-based lens calibration
AF obviously needs to be calibrated based on lenses — a difficult job with old vintage lenses. Theoretically, that shouldn't be an issue with the NexusFocus F1.
"The Viltrox NexusFocus mobile app allows for effortless setup, with a wide range of lens calibration profiles ready-to-go," says Viltrox. "The system automatically detects calibration status on startup."
Again, this should make it much easier for owners of PL-E Cine lenses to simply pick up a lens, strap it to their Sony camera with the adapter and get shooting.
Availability and outlook
Currently, the NexusFocus F1 is in Kickstarter, with lens kits starting at $699 for the earliest pledgers, rising to $1,099 for the last early adopter kit. So we can reasonably expect the adapter to cost in the $1,000 region once it drops fully.
Obviously, it's important to be wary of Kickstarter products, but with Viltrox, you're in pretty safe hands. This is a major lens manufacturer that releases lenses constantly (which begs the question: why does it need to use Kickstarter?)
Currently, this adapter is only for Sony E-mount, which makes sense. Sony's AF is regarded by many as the best in the business, and given this adapter leverages the camera's AF so heavily, that's kinda what it needs.
The E-mount is also heavily used by content creators, especially amateurs, semi-pros and enthusiasts, making this the widest market.
Still, it'd be lovely to see this adapter coming to other mounts, like the L mount for Lumix full frame shooters. I'd also personally love to see something similar for other APS-C mounts, too. I love the look of vintage cine lenses, so it'd be cool to maybe one day strap a vintage Super 35 lens to my Fuji and see what the results look like!
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