The E-mount is a

lens mount A lens mount is an interface – mechanical and often also electrical – between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is a feature of camera systems where the System camera, body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the rangefinder ...

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

for their NEX ("New E-mount eXperience") and ILCE series of

camcorder A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-sw ...

s and

mirrorless camera A mirrorless camera (sometimes referred to as a mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) or digital single-lens mirrorless (DSLM)) is a digital camera which, in contrast to DSLRs, does not use a mirror in order to ensure that the image ...

s. The E-mount supplements Sony's α mount, allowing the company to develop more compact imaging devices while maintaining vignetting with 35mm sensors. E-mount achieves this by: * Minimising mechanical complexity, removing mechanical

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

and

focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

drive. * Shortening the

flange focal distance For an interchangeable lens camera, the flange focal distance (FFD) (also known as the flange-to-film distance, flange focal depth, flange back distance (FBD), flange focal length (FFL), back focus or register, depending on the usage and source ...

to 18 mm compared with earlier offerings from Sony which used 44.5 mm. * Reducing the radius of the flange. * Relying on software to correct vignetting The short flange focal distance prohibits the use of an optical

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is a device on a camera that a photographer uses to determine exactly where the camera is pointed, and approximately how much of that view will be photographed. A viewfinder can be mechanical (indicating only direct ...

, as a mirror box mechanism cannot be included in this reduced distance. Therefore, all E-mount cameras use an

electronic viewfinder An electronic viewfinder (EVF) is a camera viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is displayed on a small screen (usually LCD or OLED) which the photographer can look through when composing their shot. It differs from a live preview sc ...

History

Initially, E-mount was implemented on the

Sony α Sony α (the lower case to Greek language, Greek letter Alpha (letter), alpha, often transliterated as ''Sony Alpha'') is a brand of digital camera. This line has been active since 2006, building upon the Konica Minolta camera technologies, who ...

NEX-3 and NEX-5 consumer-targeted devices with

APS-C Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 30.15 mm field d ...

sized sensors. E-mount integration into Sony

products was provided with the Sony Handycam NEX-VG10. On 24 August 2011, new products were announced, specifically the NEX-5N as a successor for the NEX-5, and the NEX-7 as a prosumer product, as well as the NEX-VG20 as the successor to the NEX-VG10. The Sony E-mount was brought to the 35 mm video camera market with the Sony NEX-FS100. The first third-party camera to use the E-mount was the

Hasselblad Lunar The Sony α NEX-7 is a digital camera announced 24 August 2011 by Sony. It is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and as such inherits a smaller body form factor than a traditional digital single-lens reflex camera, while still retaining th ...

, announced at

Photokina Photokina is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and since 1966 it has been held biennially in Septemb ...

on 18 September 2012 and released in early 2013. In September 2013, Sony announced the first model from new ILCE series, the Sony α3000. In October 2013, the first models with full-frame sensor size were released, the

Sony α7 The Sony α7, α7R, α7S and α7C (the α is sometimes spelled out as Alpha) are four closely related families of full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras. The first two were announced in October 2013,Sony α7R. On 19 April 2017, Sony revealed their new model Model ILCE-9, the Sony α9, characterized as a professional

system. In September 2017, Sony revealed its VENICE high-end digital cinema camera, which records in 6K 16-bit raw format.

Available bodies

List of Sony E-mount cameras:

Available lenses

Third-party lens manufacturers

On 8 February 2011, Sony announced the release of the specifications for the E-mount lens system, allowing for third-party lens makers to create lenses for NEX cameras without having to pay

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

. The mount specifications have been released to registered parties since April 2011. Getting a license for the specifications requires approval by Sony and the signing of a

non-disclosure agreement A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at le ...

. The construction of full-frame manual focus

prime lens In film and photography, a prime lens is a fixed focal length photographic lens (as opposed to a zoom lens), typically with a maximum aperture from f2.8 to f1.2. The term can also mean the primary lens in a combination lens system. Confusion ...

es without any electronics is relatively easier and less costly than the construction of electronic full-frame

autofocus An autofocus (AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system h ...

lenses of any kind. This has encouraged lesser known lens companies to construct full-frame prime lenses with an E-mount. Numerous affordable sharp full-format manual prime lenses with big

s are available with an E-mount.

List of manufacturers of third-party lenses

* Yongnuo * 7Artisans * Anhui ChangGeng Optical Technology Company * AstrHori *

Carl Zeiss AG Zeiss ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany, in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the foundation for today's ...

* Cosina Co., Ltd. * Handevision * Irix Lens *

Samyang Optics Samyang Optics is a South Korean manufacturer of camera lenses for several major brands of third-party Lens mount, mounts for still photography and video cameras. The company was founded in 1972 and has about 150 employees. Samyang exports to 58 ...

/ Rokinon *

Sigma Corporation is a Japanese company, manufacturing cameras, lenses, flashes and other photographic accessories. All Sigma products are produced in the company's own Aizu factory in Bandai, Fukushima, Japan. Although Sigma produces several camera mode ...

* Shenyang Zhongyi Optical and Electronic Company (ZY Optics) * Shenzhen Neewer * SLR Magic * Tamron Co., Ltd. * Tokina * TTArtisan * Venus Optics * Viltrox *

Voigtländer Voigtländer () was a significant long-established company within the optics and photographic industry, headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany, and today continues as a trademark for a range of photographic products. History Voigtländer was fo ...

* Yasuhara * Zunow

Adapting lenses to Sony E-mount

Due to the short

of the Sony E-mount, many lenses can be adapted to be used on the Sony E-mount, although a crop factor will have to be taken into account for all cameras with APS-C or Super-35mm sensor format. Additionally, with the introduction of in-camera

image stabilization Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce motion blur, blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure (photography), exposure. Generally, it compensates for panning (camera), pan an ...

to Sony's newer mirrorless cameras, any adapted lens (regardless of age, brand, or lens mount) can be image stabilized. Nearly all manual lenses can be attached with simple ring-like adapters to Sony's mirrorless cameras, such as for

Canon FD The Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a 35mm single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It served as th ...

, Minolta MC/MD, Leica M, and many others. Manual focus lenses that transmit

Exif Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other system ...

data will require an adapter with electronic contacts, which are generally more expensive to produce. Adapting autofocus lenses to Sony's older E-mount cameras (such as the Sony α6000 and α7) can often be ineffective due to the inability of the camera body to effectively lock-on to a subject, resulting in either

hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

or missed focus. This has largely been remedied in recent years with improved lens adapter performance, as well as the introduction of faster, more accurate autofocusing systems to Sony's more recent cameras (such as the Sony α6500 and Sony α9).

Sony LA-EA adapters

Most A-mount lenses can be used via the Sony LA-EA1, LA-EA2, LA-EA3, LA-EA4, or LA-EA5 mount adapters, which provide electronic contacts and mechanical aperture control. They allow the camera body to control the aperture of the lens and provide automatic exposure and Exif data support. * LA-EA1: APS-C format only; originally only an autoexposure adapter, but a firmware update allows it to autofocus lenses with AF motors (SSM and SAM); most screw driven lenses can be used with manual focus * LA-EA2: APS-C format only; supports phase-detection autofocus with most A-mount lenses. the translucent-mirror directs 30% of the light to the dedicated AF sensor. *LA-EA3: full-frame format compatible; autofocuses lenses with AF motors (SSM and SAM); most screw driven lenses can be used with manual focus * LA-EA4: full-frame format compatible; supports phase-detection autofocus with most A-mount lenses. the translucent-mirror directs 30% of the light to the dedicated AF sensor. *LA-EA5: full-frame format compatible; autofocuses most A-mount lenses; screw driven lenses only with newer camera bodies Non Alpha mount Minolta lenses will not mount on these adapters. Alpha mount Power Zoom/Xi lenses are also not supported. The LA-EA2 and LA-EA4 adapters have fifteen phase-detect AF points, the center three points are cross type. Its tripod mount isn't detachable. During movie mode, the adapter doesn't permit the change of aperture. The translucent-mirror SLT design, which requires a

pellicle mirror A pellicle mirror is an ultra-thin, ultra-lightweight Transparency (optics), semi-transparent mirror employed in the light path of an optical instrument, splitting the light beam into two separate beams, both of reduced light intensity. Splitting t ...

in the light path, causes 1/3 of the light to be reflected to the autofocus sensor. The 1/3 light fall-off equals 1/2 stop and may decrease the image quality accordingly when available light is a limiting factor. Techart offers a unique autofocusing adapter, having a motor that moves the adapter flange along optical axis. It has Leica M-mount on the lens side, but via stacking additional adapter almost any SLR lens can be mounted.

Sony LA-EB adapters

Released at the end of 2019, this lens adapter allows for the mounting of a B4-mount-lens with electronic connection. * LA-EB1: Super 16 format only

List of adaptable lens mounts

The following lens mounts can be used on the Sony E-mount with the use of various adapters available from third parties: * Alpha mount * Sony A-mount (Sony LA-EA1, LA-EA2, LA-EA3, LA-EA4, LA-EA5 with AF and electronic aperture control, 3rd part adapters with aperture ring) * BNCR mount * C-mount * Canon EF and Canon EF-S ( Sigma MC-11 EF-E and other adapters with AF and electronic aperture control, "dumb" adapter variant with tilt available) *

Contax G The Contax G camera line consists of two cameras, the G1 and G2, interchangeable-lens cameras sold by Kyocera under the Contax brand in competition with the Leica Camera, Leica Leica M7, M7, Cosina Voigtländer Bessa-R, and Konica Hexar RF. The G1 ...

*Contax N * Contarex *Contax/Yashica (C/Y) bayonet (an adapter variant with tilt is also available) *

Exakta The Exakta (sometimes Exacta) was a camera produced by the ''Ihagee Kamerawerk'' in Dresden, Germany, founded as the Industrie und Handels-Gesellschaft mbH, in 1912. The inspiration and design of both the VP Exakta and the Kine Exakta are the w ...

lens mount * Fujica X bayonet *Hasselblad Xpan * Konica AR (bayonet) *

Leica M-mount The Leica Camera, Leica M mount is a camera lens mount introduced in 1954 with the Leica M3, and a range of Camera lens, lenses. It has been used on all the Leica M-series cameras and certain accessories (e.g. Visoflex reflex viewing attachment) ...

(bayonet) (adapter with back focusing AF available) *Leica M39 lens mount (LTM/L39) (screw) * Leica R-mount (adapter variant with tilt available) * M42-mount (screw) (adapter variant with tilt available) *

Micro Four Thirds The is a standard released by Olympus Corporation, Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and Camera lens, lenses. Camera bodies are availab ...

* Minolta SR-mount (MD/MC) * Minolta/Konica Minolta A-mount (Minolta/Konica Minolta AF/α/Dynax/Maxxum and Sony α DSLRs) (Sony LA-EA1, LA-EA2, LA-EA3, LA-EA4 with AF and electronic aperture control, and third-party adapters with aperture ring) *

Nikon F-mount The Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35mm format single-lens reflex cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three-lug bayonet mount with a 44mm thro ...

(with AF and electronic aperture control, adapter variant with aperture ring for G lenses available, adapter variant with tilt available) * Olympus OM-mount (adapter variant with tilt available) *

Olympus Pen F The Olympus Pen F, Pen FT and Pen FV are very similar half-frame 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras with interchangeable lenses produced by Olympus of Japan between 1963-1966 (Pen F), 1966-1972 (Pen FT) and 1967-1970 (Pen FV). The o ...

Pentax Auto 110 The Pentax Auto 110 and Pentax Auto 110 Super were fully automatic single-lens reflex cameras manufactured by Asahi Pentax for use with Kodak 110 film cartridges. The Auto 110 was introduced with three interchangeable, fixed focal length lenses ...

Pentax K-mount The Pentax K-mount, sometimes referred to as the "PK-mount", is a bayonet lens mount standard for mounting interchangeable photographic lenses to 35 mm single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras. It was created by Pentax in 1975, and has since been ...

(adapter variant with aperture ring for DA lenses available) * PL mount *

Rollei Rollei () is a German manufacturer of optical instruments founded in 1920 by and in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. Later products included specialty and nostalgic type films for the ...

-mount * Sigma SA-mount ( Sigma MC-11 SA-E with AF and electronic aperture control) * T2-mount (screw)

List of Sony E-mount adapters with a focal reducer

A focal reducer is a device which inserts between main lens and camera and shrinks image circle while simultaneously increasing the f-stop of the lens. The downside is that only lenses from other systems with longer flange distance are accepted. Native E-mount lenses are not supported. * Metabones Speed Booster, from full-frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x * Metabones Speed Booster Ultra, from full-frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x * Zhongyi Lens Turbo, from full-from frame SLR to APS-C, 0.71x * Kipon Baveyes Ultra 0.7x Adapter, from Medium Format SLR to Sony-E full-frame (announced 2016) * Kipon Baveyes L/M-S/E 0.65x, from Leica M-mount to Sony APS-C (announced 2016)

Comparison with similar lens mounts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sony E-mount Lens mounts Camera lenses introduced in 2010 Japanese inventions