A Good Adapter, but need updated
By Yongren
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2022-07-04
I bought a Fringer EF-Mount Lens to FUJIFILM GFX Camera Auto Adapter for my GFX 50R from B&H couple months ago, it is a very good adapter, therefore I decide to buy another Fringer EF-FX Pro II Lens Mount Adapter for my XT20.
This is also a good adapter, I put EF35/1.4, EF85/1.2, EF100/2.8, EF200/1.8, EF100-400 onto XT20, all work fine without focus hunting, fast and accurate, also keep all the data which is a good function. I finally deduct 1 star, as it does not work with EF300/2.8 IS. Hope this will be fixed in next firmware update.
In depth review
By Douglas
Rated 3 out of 5
Date: 2022-02-28
This won't be a review that says It doesn't work at all! or It is the best thing ever. It is precisely because of products like this one that I tend to roll my eyes at online reviews. The YT reviews for this product are ridiculous hack jobs of no value at all. I am still deciding whether to keep my adapter (and honestly my Fuji X gear which does not have an adequate wildlife lens) - but I have completed a large test matrix over the last 48+ hours with over 2,200 pictures taken. Still more to complete in the matrix - but what I have so far is very useful. Here are the caveats to my review:
- I only tested with 2 lenses - a Sigma 500mm f/4 sport connected to my X-T4 and a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. Both are in the matrix of supported/tested lenses on the Fringer adapter website.
- All of my testing has been outdoors (albeit in everything from rain to fog to bright sunshine thanks to Texas weather in February) - so nothing I say reflects any testing inside in the type of lighting you would have in a house.
Prior to testing I ensure the latest FW was installed (2.10) and read the manuals for the lenses and for the adapter (and found some key bits of information in the process). The big things were turning off IS on the camera - period (Fringer says 100mm or below you can leave it on, but that doesn't really apply here - so it stayed off during serious testing), and turning off IS on the lenses when on a tripod. This is standard practice with Fuji anyway as anyone who has ever shot with the 100-400 on a tripod and gotten mushy images will know. That said - I tried both out anyway because... well why wouldn't I?
Here is what my matrix was comprised of:
- IS on and off in camera
- IS off, 1 on, and 2 on for the Sigma, off/on for the Canon
- Handheld vs on tripod
- Wide open aperture vs 1, 2, 3 and 4 stops down
- Single, continuous and manual focus modes on camera
- Single point and zone focus on the camera (tracking is on the agenda tomorrow)
- Boost vs normal mode for the camera (Fringer says normal and my results concur)
First - the bad (and there is a lot).
- The short and sweet version if you don't want to read and read and read. The adapter only works in manual focus mode and when all IS assistance is off, single focus is on, and the single point is at its largest or zone is 5x5+, on a tripod, no boost mode, and the aperture as wide as you can get it (which is a problem as under manual focus conditions both lenses are at their best when stopped down at least one stop). PS - when I say works, I mean early 2000s autofocus quality and results and a tack sharp (usable) hit rate for BiF of around 40% and ~60% stationary objects. Set your expectations.
- Turn on IS in any situation and this things causes lenses to hunt like a pack of Blue Ticks. You can't even see the subject to see if you are aiming correctly. It is maddening. There is a cheat and that is manually cranking the lens to Infinity/close to actual distance and then aiming at the subject (which you will be able to see if you guessed close to right on distance). BUT - even if you get the lens to lock on, every image I got back was soft without exception. Turn off IS - period.
- Fringer mentions phase points and for the X-T4 this should be a benefit, but there are some caveats (which they note). If you use single point you will need to make sure the point is large enough to cover a few phase points. I only got acceptable results with single point at its largest. Zone works well with the camera in S and the matrix set to 5+5 or more. Continuous does not work well regardless - but I had better luck with Continuous and Single Point for what it is worth. Again - didn't work well.
- This adapter turns boost mode into refuse to focus and instead continuously hunt mode. Don't use it.
- Wide open focus is better than 1 stop down which is better than 2 stops which is better than... Honestly - at F11 it is unusable. Ugh.
- Despite the use of phase points the lenses do not focus unless there is considerable contrast. Shooting dark birds in flight against a wooded background produced 100% out of focus images. Turned on setting to wait to shoot until focus is locked and the camera simply did nothing. Even in single point with a stationary object the camera doesn't even try to focus if there isn't clear contrast. This is BAAAAAAD.
Now for the good.
- When the lens focuses and is not busy hunting or being interfered with by any IS the image quality is exactly what you would expect out of these two lenses. The Sigma in particular is eye popping. $6,000 lens, right?
- The adapter is built very well. Brass everywhere, smooth, tactile motion in the aperture ring (though no labeling), and the inside is coated to avoid any light bouncing around.
- When using manual focus mode the effect in the EVF is what you would expect on a DSLR - not a mirrorless. In focus is in focus, out of focus is out of focus. You can get the peaking, but the visual works well and is nice. Everything I did using manual focus was spot on and tack sharp. I shoot my GFX 100 and 50s using manual focus 80% of the time - but almost never do on my X-T4, so this is probably faint praise.
- At 100mm the results were better than at any other focal range, so if you are thinking about this to be able to pop some Canon lenses on your Fuji for snapshots, portraits or MAYBE even landscapes then I suspect you may be very happy.
This adapter for me was a last ditch effort to save my Fuji X relationship. The 100-400 is an amateur lens that produces amateur results even in skilled hands and the 200mm f/2 falls about 150mm shy of being useful for wildlife (optically it is pretty nice, but not worth $6K in my opinion. The Sigma eats it's lunch in terms of image quality). Fuji has a 150-600 on the roadmap and I am tempted to wait to see what it is, but I suspect it will be a cheapo aimed at competing with the full-frame 150-600mm amateur lenses from Sigma and Tamron. Not good enough for me any more. Ultimately the question for me is do I keep this and hope Fuji produces a worthwhile lens thus keeping me as a customer and using this adapter to occasionally mount a useful piece of glass. No easy answers as Nikon only has one decent video camera and mirrorless camera and they are the same camera (Z9) and it isn't available. Sony can't get wildlife lenses to anyone it seems (the 200-600mm is a lens I have used and it is strictly amateur) and the A1 is both overpriced and uses non-standard memory cards. I will never understand why anyone uses Canon for wildlife. Every video about overexposing for wildlife shooting comes from a Canon shooter for a reason. Wish this was easier - but I digress.
Hopefully my experience helps someone else out. Again - if you are doing portrait work and don't mind manual focus (which I use exclusively for all but dimly lit portraits) then I believe you will be very happy with this adapter and will have a world of great lenses opened up to you. I can't say what your results will be if you shoot below 100 mm since I didn't test that. If you are looking to shoot wildlife with your Fuji and close the gap left by their lack of good wildlife lenses then I am leaning strongly toward concluding you need a new brand of camera. A shame since Fuji makes some seriously good APS-C gear that is rugged, well sealed, tough as nails, and a real boon to those of us who want the free extra reach that APS-C brings.
Photos show the results when you get it right and when it is just a little off (swan) as happens often.
Side notes:
- I chose the Canon mount because the Nikon F AF has a reputation for being challenging for adapters. I am not a Canon shooter and rented the lenses for the purpose of testing everything together. The idea was that if Canon is easier to build adapters for then they would be the most favorable solution. Take this assumption for what it is worth.
- Photos are copyrighted.
Quick focus with Canon (FX) EF STM lens Lineup.40mm1.8
By frederick
Rated 4 out of 5
Date: 2022-01-20
Very Good engineering and works as it says. Sharp and strong fit on body. Lens 's with light motors focus faster. Best with non-complex lens designs for quicker focus. Change focal lengths, and you will change the speed of your focus speed freddy b. All electronics worked fine, focus, and exif data
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