Pros & Cons
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- Adapts Nikon F lenses to Sony mirrorless cameras.
- Aperture control for G and E lenses.
- Autofocus for AF-S and AF-I lenses.
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- No autofocus support for screw-drive lenses.
- Some operating quirks.
Adapters that allow you to mount Canon lenses to Sony bodies are pretty common, but we've only seen a couple that do the same with Nikon lenses. The Fotodiox Fusion Smart AF Adapter (Nikon to Sony) ($349.95) is one of them. It carries a premium price over the similar Fusion adapter for Canon lenses, but delivers more consistent performance and fills a smaller niche.
Design
The Fusion adapter is a small cylinder with a square bottom that allows it to rest upright and includes a tripod socket thread. It's not removable like the foot found on the similar Fotodiox Fusion adapter for Canon lenses. In a move meant to set it apart from the crowd from a visual perspective, the front mount, which is where you attach Nikon lenses, is finished in gold, and the lens release button is bright red.
Compatibility and Performance
The adapter works with all modern Nikkor lenses with internal focus motors—dubbed AF-S—and some older AF-I lenses as well. It supports electronic aperture control for G and E lenses, neither of which offer physical aperture rings. If you have an older screw-drive autofocus Nikkor lens you can still use it, you just won't get autofocus support. You may want to consider the Techart PRO ($279.00 at Amazon) adapter if you're in that boat. It adds autofocus to manual focus lenses, and accepts Leica M lenses. However, it's a simple matter to add a second adapter to go from Leica M to Nikon F. You just have to be careful to use small, lighter lenses with that sort of combination—prime lenses will be fine, but zooms are out of the question.
I tested the adapter with the AF-S Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E ED ($1,896.00 at Amazon) and the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary ($849.00 at Amazon) . Both performed quite well in terms of autofocus, with my only issue appearing when trying to use the Sigma at the telephoto end in dim light—my Alpha 7R II ($1,798.00 at Amazon) test body hunted for focus in that situation, but that's not out of the ordinary when using a narrow aperture lens in dim light.
Both AF-S and AF-C focus is supported, and you can adjust focus when recording video. The camera won't automatically adjust for focus when recording video in AF-C like it will with a native lens, but you can trigger it to reacquire focus with a tap of the shutter button. Support for video recording is a big plus, as you can take a lens without image stabilization like the 105mm f/1.4 and shoot handheld 4K footage that's free of jitters thanks to the A7R II's in-body stabilization—that's something you won't get with a Nikon D810 ($1,996.95 at Amazon) .
You'll only get this level of performance with Sony bodies that allow third-party lenses to use on-sensor phase detection, which is the same story as the Sigma MC-11 ($164.00 at Amazon) adapter that we recommend for use with Canon lenses. At this time those models are the Alpha 7R II, the Alpha 7 II ($898.00 at Amazon) , the Alpha 6300 ($589.00 at Amazon) , and the Alpha 6500.
I did encounter some odd behavior from the adapter during testing. In general, using it slows the start up time of the Alpha 7R II. I'd have to wait anywhere from 5 to 10 seconds in order to have the camera ready to take a photo, in contrast to the 1.6 seconds the camera clocked in our lab tests when paired with a native lens. During this duration you're greeted with a black screen.
And there were times when I'd start the camera and exposure on the lens would be way, way off. The Alpha 7R II was being told that the 105mm f/1.4 had a fixed f/90 aperture and was defaulting to insanely long shutter speeds to compensate, which resulted in a completely blown-out white exposure preview. Turning the camera off and on again fixed the issue, but it happened a few times in testing. Let's hope that Fotodiox can get to the bottom of this issue and address it via a firmware update.
Conclusions
Adapting Nikon lenses with full autofocus to the Sony mirrorless system has proven to be a tricky proposition. There aren't as many options as there are for Canon lens owners, and they tend to be pricey, so it's important to get one that works well. The Fotodiox comes through in the focus department, but has some operational quirks. The only other solution on the market at this time is Commlite CM-ENF-E Nikon F Lens to Sony E-Mount AF ($399), which we've not yet been able to test. That particular adapter is also sold under the Vello brand for the same price.