Older Canon lenses on Canon DSLR?

[cmonkey]

I have a number of FD lenses for my Canon EF and F1 film cameras (breech

mounts). Will these lenses fit on the newer DSLR bodies, or would I have to also

upgrade my lenses to newer versions? Cheryl

[andyaitken]

Alas the FD mounts are completely different so you will need Canon EOS (AF) mount lenses.

[jcuknz]

It may be possible to use the longer focal length lens with adaptor rings if you are happy not to be able to focus at infinity but generally FDs are a no-no ... sad :-)

[godfrey]

Canon FD lenses cannot work on EOS mount. They cannot be adapted without losing infinity

focus. Canon made an adapter for them some time ago which included a set of optics and

tele magnification to allow infinity focus; they're rare now and difficult to find, besides which

they would only allow the lenses to operate in a fully stopped down, manual focus manner.

 

So overall the best thing to do is to buy EOS mount lenses to suit a Canon digital SLR.

 

Godfrey

[crabseye]

"So overall the best thing to do is to buy EOS mount lenses to suit a Canon digital SLR."

 

And hope Canon don't decide to change lens mounts again in a few years, effectively screwing your investments in glass yet again.

[mark u]

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-manual-lenses/#canonfd

[bobatkins]

And of course...http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html

 

You can fit anything to anything given enough effort and if you ignore things like infinity focus and aperture control.

 

However the bottom line is it's far more trouble than it's worth to try to put FD lenses on an EOS body. In fact it's MUCH easier to put Nikon lenses on an EOS body than Canon FD lenses.

[oceanphysics]

<i>And hope Canon don't decide to change lens mounts again in a few years, effectively screwing your investments in glass yet again.</i>

<p>

Or maybe they'll just do the Nikon death-by-a-thousand-cuts thing where incompatibilities are introduced bit by bit over many years so that you need a 12-dimensional hyper-matrix to figure out what works to what degree with what.

<p>

Grow up.

[leicaglow]

O.P. I haven't seen a 12 dimensional hyper matrix for Nikon lenses. My D200 manual has a half page diagram, and all my older Nikkors work on my D200.

[tommyinca]

The way to use FD Lens is first get the right adapter then get the lens (or not get the adapter, sell your lens).

 

For non-macro (with infinity focus) the option are (in order of quality).

 

a. Canon FD to EOS adapter (for 200mm+ telephoto). One good use is for FD500/f4.5. The Combo is a top quality 630mm f5.6.

 

b. Kenko FD to EOS adapter. This is a rare but quality 1.4XTC. It can be used with all focal length. One good use is for the FD35 T/S.

 

c. No brand FD to Nikon Adapter. This adapter has coated optic and has a much large lens element then the el-cheapo ebay adapter. You will also need a Nikon to EOS adapter to use this

 

d. No brand el-cheapo FD to EOS adapter at ebay.

[rjacksonphoto]

Cheryl,

 

I guess the good news is that you aren't forced into a particular system by having the lenses in hand. When I went digital, I was pretty much forced into Nikon by the 20 or so Nikon lenses I owned. I'm not unhappy-- and the first Nikon lens I ever bought, a Series E 50mm twenty years ago, is still fully functional on my D200 body (sans the AF, of course)-- but you have the opportunity to choose any of a number of good DSLR systems. Of course, you may choose to stay with Canon, too.

[cmonkey]

Thanks for all the feedback. I was hoping the comment I read about Canon only having one lens design that isn't compatible with new bodies, didn't affect me. I'll probably keep some of the Canon equipment for film use, but I'm wide open on which DSLR (and now lens system) to buy. I like the way my friends Nikons handle and the images they get from their cameras. I've seen good things with Canon DSLRs too, but a little leary of the investment in the new lenses. Hopefully they won't change anytime soon, if I go that route.