Posted by Austin Booth on June 17, 2009 at 9:03 PM
I've been considering trying out adapters so I can use old MF prime lenses on my 40d. I already have just about all the range I need covered with my current AF lenses and I wanted to experiment a little. I have some old nikkor lenses from my dads old camera that I was thinking about getting an F-mount to EOS adapter for. I've noticed that you can get some fast primes for reasonably cheap on ebay, many of them for under $100 like the Canon FD 50mm f/1.4. I also know of a camera shop near my house that has a lot of old used lenses like that. I shoot landscapes mostly and I manual focus using live view most of the time. I was wondering if these lenses may be of use to me? Does anyone else have any experience using these sorts of lenses on DSLRs for landscapes? Is there any reason not to give it a try? I wouldn't be risking damaging my camera would I?
Posted by Dan Borzynski on June 17, 2009 at 11:00 PM
The mounts for FD and EOS lenses are not compatible with each other. There does exist adapters, but you have to give something up. The one I am most familiar with is essentially an extension tube with the appropriate mounts on it, so you give up focus at infinity. I've heard about a second type that has a glass element in it, but it acts like a teleconvertor, and not a very good one at that.
If you are going to go this route, or only want one specific lens such as a 500 f4, my two main suggestions woudl be an FD film body (which are really cheap right now) or a Nikon DSLR for that lens. The latter suggestion is not going to be as cheap since Nikon has been better about backwards compatibility with their gear.
Posted by Austin Booth on June 18, 2009 at 2:02 AM
Ok so I guess I couldn't use an FD lens. I've looked it up and they actually do have a very thin nikkor f-mount to eos mount that does focus to infinity so I could definitely still use the nikkor lenses I already have. Unfortunately I would not be able to focus to infinity with my old minolta 45mm f/2 either...bummer.
I have used some of my Mamiya 645 manual focus lenses on my EOS bodies via an adapter. Because the lenses were designed for MF you do not lose infinity focus by putting an adapter/spacer between the lens and the body. The optics are 1st rate and can be had relatively cheap on eBay. I recently bought a 10-210mm zoom for about $100 that had a MSRP of $1800 when new. The one drawback is that you are in total manual mode but if you aren't shooting action it isn't a large problem.
Austin give Scott Andrews a call at Canon and he can turn you on to a few guys making adapters. He is the CPS guy in DC and was the NPS guy for about 30 years. He is also the lead advisior for all things photography related to NASA. Tell him I said hello. Scott Andrews lsandrews@me.com
Discussion
4 repliesIf you are going to go this route, or only want one specific lens such as a 500 f4, my two main suggestions woudl be an FD film body (which are really cheap right now) or a Nikon DSLR for that lens. The latter suggestion is not going to be as cheap since Nikon has been better about backwards compatibility with their gear.
Doug Graham