Lens Adapters - cross platform

Urban Grimshaw

Urban Grimshaw

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I've been hearing a few tales of lens adapters recently. Fitting old Canon Lenses to your new Canon DSLR, which I know have been around a little while now, but also fitting varying mounts to different Cameras, say Nikon to Canon.

What's the deal with this. Can it be done? And is it worth it?
 
It's certainly possible....

37587_122999231078414_100001050131285_127778_2151317_n.jpg


:nuts:
 
Lots of adapters around for EOS mount. Just a quick eBay search reveals how many different adapters there are...

A lot of them require stop down metering though and almost all would require manual focusing (not especially easy on an APS-C sensor camera with no split image rangefinder) but it's certainly possible, and certainly worth a look if you've got a stash of good old lenses, especially if you've got some primes.
 
Aside from the extra consideration in shooting the photo (metering, focus, etc), is there any image quality lost through the adapter, or is it marginal?
 
Urban Grimshaw said:
Aside from the extra consideration in shooting the photo (metering, focus, etc), is there any image quality lost through the adapter, or is it marginal?
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none id say, i dont have much online to show you but this was from an Olympus Zuiko 28mm f2.8 mounted on a Canon 1Dmk3 + ebay adapter.

its razor sharp..


722Q3082 by neilgates, on Flickr
 
Most adaptors for canon shouldn't cause any image quality loss.
The adapter is just a metal ring with EF bayonet on the back and the other mount on the front. Because of the large diameter of the EF mount (compared to most other mounts), the adaptor can position the lens with the correct flange distance, so correct infinity focus can be achieved without a corrective optical element so no optical quality is lost.

The advantage to it is that you can get some nice glass very cheap compared to actual EF mount stuff. For example you can get a pentax takumar 50mm f/1.4 M42 mount for under £100
If you're confident with manual focus then it's definitely worth it for the quality glass for low cost.

Manual focus g on here seems to be the person to talk to about old lenses, he's got a large collection he uses with adaptors on canon bodies and knows what's what.

Here's a test shot I took with a pentax SMC 50mm f/1.7 on my 40D (focus is on the smooth <---> tight ring)


And a 100% crop (SOOC jpg with sharpening set at 4)
_MG_3323-2.jpg
 
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Hope no-one minds me asking a follow up question on this thread.
I have some old Minolta MD lenses which I would like to mount on my Canon 50D. I have looked at adapters and read lots of posts (various web sites). My undertstanding was that I had only two options. Either buy the "metal ring" type adapater and lose infinity focus or buy an adapater with a glass element and (possibly) lose some image quality. Following on from SQUISHY'S comment above, have I been reading things wrongly? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
 
It's not really something I need at the moment. But it's good to know the options for future ref. And I do like a bargain :thumbs: My Dad and Brother both shoot Nikon too...so there's the potential to borrow some lenses.

I'm guessing the different mounts have different electronics involved. Will most mounts actively take care of the metering? Or will some of the cheaper ones be missing this? So that the camera knows the aperture, I mean. Or will this be missing on all lenses along with the autofocus?
 
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No, I think minolta is one of the only other brands with a large diameter bayonet, so you would either loose infinity focus or have to have a corrective element.


Metering is fine with whatever you put on the front. The camera meters through the lens, so you just keep the lens stopped down to the aperture you want and it'll meter fine in Av mode.
Newer nikon G glass won't work easily with most adaptors because G lenses don't have aperture rings. Novoflex do a special adaptor to allow you to alter the aperture on G series lenses, but I think it more expensive. Nikon D lenses work fine with cheapo adaptors though.

One thing you can pay a bit more for is an AF confirm chip in the adaptor. This is a little microchip with electronic contacts that just tells the camera there is a lens there, so the camera with light up the focus points in the viewfinder when it detects focus has been achieved. Can make manual focus a bit easier, especially through small viewfinders with focus screens optimised for brightness rather than manual focus.
 
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I use a number of my Canon FD lenses on my 450D using an EOS-FD converter. Sample below was with the Canon 100mm f4 FD macro and 50mm tube.




IMG_2801 by killwilly, on Flickr
 
I'd quite like to try other brands' AF lenses on my sony. There are adapters for the NEX for all sorts but are there decent adapters for the slrs? Ideally I would like to retain AF with AF lenses. The old minolta MD fit lenses are also tempting, particularly the 500mm mirror.
 
You won't retain AF with any lens that wasn't designed for that mount.
 
Wyshniukas said:
Do you use any specific adapter? eBay prices are very competitive compared to Lens Doctor adapater which sells at £70 or something.
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I bought mine off eBay from a Chinese website for less than £20 delivered. It does have removable glass, which is supposed to allow the lens to focus to infinity. However, mine does not, so I removed the glass and just use it for Macro work.
 
squishy said:
You won't retain AF with any lens that wasn't designed for that mount.
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Ah. Suspected that might be the case.

Was thinking of going for MD adapter instead but apparently with an adapter you don't retain metering either. MF I can live with but trudging round with a light meter or guessing is one step too far :bonk:
 
The camera should meter with anything on the front of it in Aperture priority mode.
It's done through the lens.

I think what people mean when they say 'it won't retain metering' is that it will be stopped down metering, i.e, the aperture you select will always be set, rather then just as you take the shot.
 
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squishy said:
The camera should meter with anything on the front of it in Aperture priority mode.
It's done through the lens.

I think what people mean when they say 'it won't retain metering' is that it will be stopped down metering, i.e, the aperture you select will always be set, rather then just as you take the shot.
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Er. I think you might have to explain that again only more slowly!

Are you saying normal program AE mode won't work but I'd have to set an aperture via AP mode and stick with that? Or do you mean I'd have to set that aperture on the lens itself and set the same one in AP mode on the camera for the exposure to be correct?
 
i bought an adapter so i could use my old pka mounted lenses on my new canon 500d eos ...............i have'nt tried it out properly but what i have tried looks promising

heres where i purchased it from http://www.srb-griturn.com/index.asp

friendly firm too:thumbs:
 
srichards said:
Er. I think you might have to explain that again only more slowly!

Are you saying normal program AE mode won't work but I'd have to set an aperture via AP mode and stick with that? Or do you mean I'd have to set that aperture on the lens itself and set the same one in AP mode on the camera for the exposure to be correct?
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You set the aperture using the aperture ring on the lens and shoot in AP mode.
The camera's metering sensor will then 'see' the amount of light being let through and meter going on that.
 
Squishy's pretty much covered things here :)

As already stated, Canon EOS DSLRs will meter with pretty much any lens in front of them. Mount the lens onto the adapter, mount the lens onto the camera and switch to aperture priority mode. Set the camera to the maximum aperture available (usually f1.4, but this varies by adapter). Focus, set the aperture on the lens and shoot away! When shooting at f8 and above you may find that the camera over or under expose, so a small amount of exposure compensation may be required.

Canons can take M42, Pentax PK lenses (though not safely on full frame cameras), Contax/Yashica lenses, Nikon lenses (G lenses are more difficult to adapt, but adapters for these particular Nikon lenses are now coming down in price), Olympus OM lenses and Leica R lenses. Praktica PB lenses and Exakta lenses can be adapted but probably won't reach infinity due to small sensor register distance difference.

Minolta MD and Canon FD lenses are generally not a great idea on Canon cameras as an adapter with an optical element is required to gain infinity focusing (or more than just a few feet normally). The glass adapters reduce sharpness a touch, but also act as a mild teleconverter, slowing the lenses and reducing IQ in the corners. They work well on micro 4/3 cameras and Sony Nex bodies though!

As for adapters, the Lens Doctor talks badly of sellers advertising lenses with a small amoutn of dust inside, hoping to increase sales. I've never seen dust affect image quality! I've no idea what the adapter quality is, but I still wouldn't recommend it. Even Canon only intended their OEM adapters to be used with long L lenses.

I would, however, recommend adapters with an EMF chip. These chips can be programmed via the camera body to record focal length and max aperture. The best bit though, is that you can micro adjust the AF confirm. Normal AF chips aren't calibrated to every Canon body, so the red lights in the viewfinder can light when your subject isn't actually fully in focus...a right pain!

Hope this has been helpful!
 
squishy said:
You set the aperture using the aperture ring on the lens and shoot in AP mode.
The camera's metering sensor will then 'see' the amount of light being let through and meter going on that.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, thanks :thumbs:
 
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