New Techart PRO LMEA9 Adapter faulty. No support from techar

[caledonia84]

My adapter is about 2 weeks old, when switching from close focus to infity focus the motor intermittently locks up and just pulses. After going through all the troubleshooting or leaving it a while it sorts itself. It keeps happening though and is unreliable.

I bought the adapter from the techart website but there is zero support from them and I mean ZERO. The contact form doesn't work so you can't get in touch with them. I payed through PayPal do you think I could open a claim through them?

Hopefully others see this post before spending $400 on one

[RokkorDoctor]

It is a bit suspicious that nowhere on their website are there any "about us" type of pages. They don't say who they are, where they are based, no background story, no product philosophy, no sales terms and conditions, nothing...

Also their copyright reads Copyright 2015 - 2022 TECHART

Only fellow photographer's experiences show that they do indeed exist, have the products they claim they have and do ship them out to customers.

We know that some have good experience with their products, but all the above does not bode well for after-sales support...

[kiddo]

[caspert79]

Definitely try PayPal, but don't wait too long. I once had success in a more difficult case.

[caledonia84]

Thanks guys good points, I've opened a dispute with PayPal, it appears they act as a mediator between you and techart opening up a communication channel. If anything at least it'll get them to talk to me. It's entirely unacceptable that their online contact form has been broken since at least March this year.

[vivaldibow]

Sorry to hear your story. Hopefully your case can be solved in favor of you. I am surprised to learn that Lm-Ea9 is still faulty. My Lm-ea7 sometimes doesn't behave correctly, but it was around $200, so I didn't bother to contact them.

[philslizzy]

These adaptors are a great thing, I was considering upgrading my Sony A7 at one point but I'm reading so many stories about them breaking down or bricking the camera.

Ive used manual focus for over 50 years, no reason to stop now in the light of this.

Let us know how your payPal claim concludes.

[caledonia84]

Bricking the camera 😫😫, didn't even know that was possible with the adapter, new fear unlocked. The PayPal dispute was successful in getting them to talk to me at least. Well I say talk, they gave me an address to send the adapter back to and they haven't answered any more of my messages since. So the adapter is on its way back to Hong Kong to be repaired. I will keep you all updated on how it all goes

[stevemark]

Philipreeve has some information on re-setting a malfunctioning LM-EA9 (scroll down):

https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-techart-lm-ea9-leica-m-to-sony-e-autofocus-adapter/

S

[Alex Kraus]

I own the LM-EA9 myself. First of all, you have to know that AF works only if the AF-detection field is located in the central section of the image. Otherwise is will just "pump" without ever locking to the target. If you have the 3x3 grid activated in the viewfinder, the AF point must be inside the central rectangle. The adapter sometimes tolerates if the AF field is slightly above or below that field, but not right or left of this field. In principle this active zone seem to be a circle with the diameter equaling the diaginal of the mid rectangle.
Stopping down the lens too much can also cause hunting problems of the AF. Better focus and then stop down. The lowest "acceptable" f-stop seems to depend on the optical construction of the lens.
I think there is a good chance that your adapter is not really defective, but you might just have gone bejond its technical possibilities without knowing them. I hope my advice helped to solve the problem. Please keep me (or us) updated.

Good luck!
Alex

[caledonia84]

Thanks for replying Alex, the motor jams and won't focus on anything. The last time I had to reset the firmware to the previous version shoot at f90 and then f2 to rest the lens and it worked then until it jammed again. This is the second version of a £399 adapter I sincerely hope this behaviour is not within its limitations.

I don't have any native sony AF lenses all my others are adapted via a sigma mc11 so I'm used to how the focus grid works.

Techart have had the adapter back for about 5 days now still no further comms from them, I am begining to suspect that they know Paypal will rule in my favour and they just wanted the adapter back before I was refunded. I've never dealt with a company quite like this.

[Alex Kraus]

Oh I see... The motor should for sure not jam! Good luck with the repair

[ace0fclub5]

I’m having a similar issue with mine. It seems like the motors are jammed.
I’ve been trying to reach support from TechArt for a couple months now to no avail…

Really frustrating and disappointing. I like the adapter a lot, when it works.

[visualopsins]

Welcome ace0fclub5

Problem with LM-EA9 motors? Try this: https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-techart-lm-ea9-leica-m-to-sony-e-autofocus-adapter/#Reseting_the_adapter

[jamaeolus]

I have had mine a couple of months with [YET] no issues. Quite a bit better than the previous version in terms of size, ergonomics, speed and, conceptually, i like the port for firmware update, though I've not used it yet.

[Slalom]

Mostly affecting tele lenses but may also come into play with any large apeture lenses. Most of my knowledge is based on the old version.

The lens has to set to a range that means focus can be acheived with the adapter moving the whole lense through the adapters range of movement.

So if you are focusing on the horizon - set the focus at least at the hyperfocal distance. or 10M+.

If you are working close up have the focus at 3M-.

In practice this is not onerous, put lens on adapter add to camera, guess a focal length on the lens. power up, half press shuter, sorted.

a lot of facts and contributers here, Including the guy whoose review is further up this thread.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1768605

[GrahamR]

Phillp Reeves reset instructions works,

[caledonia84]

Yes the instructions worked for the reset until it happened again and then again. I got a refund eventually through a pay pal dispute, although I was still short the cost of shipping the faulty adapter back to them. All in I cannot recommend dealing with Techart themselves they are a total nightmare.

[visualopsins]

[caspert79]

[caledonia84]

[visualopsins]

[RokkorDoctor]

Unfortunately this is where technical feasibility bumps into the economic reality of marketing strategy.

The likes of SONY, NIKON, CANON etc. could manufacture a reliable autofocus adapter for their own mirrorless cameras if they wanted to, in a range of different legacy mounts. It wouldn't be cheap, but they could do it.

I'm not even sure this would eat into the sales of their current autofocus lenses much; I actually doubt it would make much difference, but maybe they take a different view.

[visualopsins]