Sony E Mount. Fotodiox 'Tough E Mount' replacement.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

My Sony A6000 is about 8 months old but already the camera lens mount is showing signs of wear, when I carry the camera in my hand with a medium sized, old and heavy lens such as a Vivitar S1 70-210, I can feel the lens rocking on the mount as I walk. Close inspection proved it to be the camera mount and not any of the many adapters I use. When the rarely used Sony 16-50 kit lens was mounted it could be gently pulled and the play was apparent.
This is a well documented problem, the internet is awash with reports about this problem and Sony's response of it being normal wear. So I was reluctant to send the camera away and be without it while I argued with Sony, and at best get another identical mount. The various reports on the internet generally ended up recommending changing the mount to the Fotodiox 'Tough E Mount', which I was very pleased to see on Amazon at a better price than buying from Fotodiox direct, and certainly cheaper than any Ebay dealer I could find. The new mount, delivered from the USA to UK in seven days, cost £25-05 plus £4-22 postage.

Is it an improvement? Yes it is, lenses and adapters are a much tighter fit and I can feel no movement at all, I have tried the mount with the Sony lens and a few MF lenses on adapters and everything is as it should be.
The mount is well made from stainless steel, nicely machined with no sharp edges and a perfect fit. I measured some of the dimensions against the Sony mount and it is spot on.
The Fotodiox mount comes well packed, but with no instuctions. It is however easy and logical to fit the mount. It replaces the outer metal part, and the middle plastic part of the Sony mount. The thin spring of the original mount is used under the Fotodiox mount.

The Fotodiox Tough E Mount

Original E Mount, the three parts are just visible

The three parts of the mount, only the thin spring is retained.

The spring in place on the A6000

The only tool required is a JIS 0 screwdriver. The screws are steel and a touch with a magnet holds them on the screwdriver

So far, I'm very pleased with it. I know I should be bitching to Sony - but this is in my view an upgrade, and a worthwhile one. Oddly, my older NEX5 that has had far more use and lens changes than the A6000 doesn't have any play in the original mount. I suspect it is no more than a different specification of the plastic component.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

Four months on and this Fotodiox lens mount is still perfect, and it does get a lot of use because I change adapters most days. It's looking like one of those fairly cheap aftermarket items that is a genuine improvement over the original.