After working with the Metabones adapter for the Sony A7r with my Canon lenses for a while, I’ve decided to write a review of my experiences anyway.

From what I was reading on other reviews or video reviews of this adapter with the Sony A7r, I was under the impression that this thing was perfect, that everything was great, or at least acceptable.

And although it works great for what I do, I’ve encountered many problems. It’s a great adapter, but using it is a bit high-maintenance.

Autofocus Speeds

For everyday photography, I find the adapter to be a little cumbersome. It’s slightly too slow to autofocus for everyday street photography. But for landscape photography, where you don’t need autofocus, it’s great.

It seems to spend a lot of time seeking and making micro-adjustments. It makes it just a little too slow for any moving subject matter.

Exposure Sspeeds

I’ve tested auto exposure speeds side by side with my Zeiss 35mm lens and noticed absolutely no noticeable difference in autofocus.

Camera Interface and Control

I have also seen other reviewers have issues with it not working. Mine quit working after a week or so and I didn’t know why. But I figured out a reason and solution. After messing with the unit I noticed that if any of the screws on the back of the mount get lost even the slightest, the adapter would lose F-stop functionality and eventually quit working altogether. This requires some maintenance and effort. I have to always make sure I carry the hex bit to check tightness so it doesn’t give me problems mid-shoot.

Issues I have when the screws are lost are:

Flashing F-stop reading or loss of F-stop control.
Images are underexposed, or the exposure is incorrect for my camera settings.
The record randomly stops when in Video Mode.

All around, it’s not a bad unit. My goal was to get it so I could have more lens options for my Sony A7r and it gives me that support. But for everyday use, I still stick with my Zeiss Sonnar 35mm lens.

As far as image quality, there is no loss. I also don’t notice any extra chromatic aberrations on ultra-wide lenses as I’ve seen others report.