Techart PRO, which makes optical Leica M autofocus on the Sony A7, available for pre-order

Many of mirrorless owners have rediscovered the pleasure of using older optical systems they possessed in the days of analog, thanks to the wide range of adapters, can permit the use of old lenses on modern digital bodies. Often the use of an adapter involves the loss autofocus, or because the ring simply puts the right to draw away the optics without bringing the electrical contacts, or because even in the presence of the two different systems is no contact would speak. They were born in these years different adapters able to get her to talk different systems, allowing the use of autofocus lenses to their full ability even on bodies that were not studied: the example most in vogue are the Canon EF lenses on mirrorless bodies Sony Alpha A7.

Techart PRO is an adapter that does more: it is in fact able to make optical autofocus born to the manual focus, such as those for the system Leica rangefinder M. In practice, the adapter is equipped with a motor system capable to change the optical distance from the sensor and thus reach the focus: the principle is the same of the bellows. The maximum adjustment being equal to 4.5 mm and should be sufficient to cover the focusing distances of most of the optics.

In the case of Leica optics moving away from the sensor it is such that it allows you to focus on shorter distances of the minimum focus distance of the nominal focus, turning them into almost macro optics. Designed to allow the mounting of optical Leica on Sony bodies (those are optimized A7II Sony and Sony A7RII) also leaves the possibility to use in addition other optical adapters for longer-draw, such as those with graft Leica R or C / Y. The adapter weighs 133 grams and can support optical up to 700 grams in weight. With Bluetooth connectivity allows you to set the parameters of the optics (up to 10) using the app on your smartphone, so you also enable the stabilization in 5 typical Sony axes of the two bodies mentioned. After the first prototypes that had been shown, now the adapter, at least in the US, is finally on sale. The list price is equal to $ 349.