Old Lenses

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Steve
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I know sombody that used to be a photographer, and has an old (film) SLR, and a set of lenses that I might be able to use. Seing as I have next to no money to buy lenses with, I was wondering if it is possible to attach old lenses to modern SLRs, and what adaptors I would need.

Thanks :)
 
What type of camera do you have?

What lenses does he have? (EXACTLY)
 
I'm curently looking to buy an SLR when I get enough money! But when I do, I'll be getting a Canon 450D.
I don't know off the top of my head what lenses he has, I just wanted to know generally what compatablilty issues there are, and how much people pay for adapters for this kind of thing. :)

Thanks
 
Worms. Can. opened.
 
Might not be worthwhile tbh, unless its an incredible lens. The adaptors available usually mean a loss of some functions due to the electronic contacts. Metering, and the ability to stop down are to of the most common functions lost.
Dean:)
 
SOME lens can be adapted to fit cameras that they are not designed for BUT they will rarely work as well as lenses designed for that camera. Also due to the size of the hole (I use the word to spare confusion) in the camera where the lens attaches some lens cannot be made to fit some bodies.

eg

Because a Nikon lens's mount is smaller than the hole on a Canon it is possible to mount a Nikon lens on a Canon but not vice versa. The reason for this is that because the Canon mount is wider it cannot be fitted inside the whole and as such the focus point cannot be made to hit the CCD.

Also most of these adapters do not and cannot get the electrics to work so you will be stuck with manual focus etc...

You need to know what the lenses are though.
 
If you're short of money, why not use the camera body as well?



Steve.
 
There are plenty of cheap DSLRs about. I bought a cracking D1x for £188 with a load of batteries on here a few weeks ago, add a cheap kit lens of ebay for £45 and you have a decent setup. There is a D40 in the for sale section now HERE for £180 !
 
You can just about get any lens to attach to any camera. But expect to lose all lens-to-camera functions, both electrical and mechnical, and it might not focus on infinity.

If you have an exceptional lens, get lucky of the fitting front, and can put up with a lot of inconvenient manual controls, it can be worth it. Some landscapers do this with fancy German optics.

If it can be done, these folks will have the right adaptor http://www.srb-griturn.com/
 
It depends entirely on the lens and the body.

Old Canon FD lenses can't be attached to new Canon EOS bodies without an adapter.

Old Nikon lenses can be attached to new Nikon bodies, with a few exceptions. You might not get all the functions you want either depending on the body. In fact with certain body and lens combinations you'll get more functions attaching an old Nikon lens to a new Canon body. For example, you can't meter with a D40 and an AI lens, but you can meter with a Canon 350D and an AI lens given the right adapter.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys... From the info here, I'm guessing it's probably more cost effective to try and get a cheap lens kit like cowasaki suggested, rather than lose a lot of quality and features by using an expensive adaptor.
Ebay here I come... :)
 
Well yes, but it still depends on how old his film SLR was... If it was an "old" Canon EOS, then all the lenses will work on almost all current Canon DSLRs. Likewise, almost all Nikon lenses will work on current Nikon DSLR's with a varying degree of compatibility. So I'd suggest you don't rule it out until you've checked what he has!
 
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