Should I let my old 35mm lenses influence what brand of dslr I buy?

[carl_nagy]

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I am in the process of purchasing my first DSLR, debating between the major brands and was ready to settle on the Nikon D90 or Canon XSi when I remembered about several old lenses I'd inherited years back. They consist of a Nikkor 28mm 1:2.8 and a 50mm 1:2 that were being used on an old Nikon FM2 and a Takumar 55mm 1:1.8, a Soligor 135mm 1:2.8, an Image 80-200mm 1:4.5 and a 28mm 1:2.8 (Nikon I think but mounted on a Pentax) all being used on an old 35mm Pentax.</p>

<p>I was interested to know if anybody had any thoughts on whether I should stick to a Nikon or Pentax DSLR to take advantage of some of these lenses, or if its not really worth it as most of the lenses are nothing special. In which case I would most-likely purchase a Canon DSLR as they seem slightly cheaper and just as functional. One last question, I'd read that when mounting these old lenses on DSLRs my 28mm would actually be 28x1.6mm. Is this true?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the help!</p>

<p>Carl</p>

 

[starvy]

<p>old lenses do work on modern cameras with the right adaptor. however, much depends on what you wish to do with old lenses. i use a lot of older lenses with my sony a100 body. a canon body should take all those lenses with modification.</p>

[paddler4]

<p>I gave up on using my wonderful old Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 after reading this:<br>

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html</p>

[jackaldridge]

<p>If you do buy a 'not full-frame' sensor camera you will have a different field of view than you had with your 35mm film camera. Most crop sensor cameras are equivalent to 1.6x the focal length of your lens when you talk about field of view..<br>

I have several FD Canon lenses...I seldom use them on my Canon digital gear even though they are great lenses...my eyes just don't work as well and I have to use autofocus a lot (not possible with older lenses)...so that may enter into your decision as well...<br>

This is not a bad time to sell film gear... you may want to look at completed auctions on EBay to see if selling your lenses is an option...<br>

Just a few thoughts...</p>

 

[ron_steedman]

<p>Jack, Dan - Have you seen the Live View feature on the newer Canon bodies? It lets you see the viewfinder image on the LCD screen, and even zoom in if you want. As a result you can achieve razor-sharp focus, better than autofocus does, even without good eyesight. Of course, this process takes time, so it's only suitable for certain types of subjects. But it may give your old lenses a new lease on life.</p>

[jackaldridge]

<p>Yes Ron.. I have a 5D Mkii and love live view.<br>

Haven't used it with my FD's but I will give it a try.<br>

Thanks for the suggestion...</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>None of those lenses are worth that much. I would not consider them when starting a DSLR system. I would sell them and start from scratch.</p>

[graham_line]

<p>My cabinet includes a couple decades of Nikon lenses, and I still use specialized older lenses like a Micro-Nikkor. But unless you're working off a tripod with fixed subjects, using the older lenses throws away many of the advantages of modern bodies. The good news is that current zooms are as good as most primes of 20 years ago, and you only need one or two lenses for most situations.</p>

[tom_anderson9]

Carl,<p>

When I switched from 35mm to digital, I had some old manual focus lenses that would work on the new digital camera, Nikon in my case. Except for the macros, I really don't use the manual focus lenses anymore. Like mine, yours are OK, but not worth basing a camera decision on, in my opinion.

<p>

As far as picking your camera brand, I'd suggest taking a look at what lenses are available in Nikon, Canon, and others, and taking a look at the cameras themselves. There's not enough cost difference between any of them to matter more than what you like, again just in my opinion.

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I think what kind of lenses you already own is probably the biggest factor in deciding what kind of camera to buy when first going into digital. I've shot Nikon for more than 30 years and own about 15 Nikon lenses, so I would never have considered any other brand when I bought my D200. For many photographers, their investment in lenses far exceeds their investment in camera bodies so it wouldn't make sense to buy a body that's a different brand and have to buy all new lenses. Same for dedicated flash units and anything else that's specific to the brand. All of your old Nikon lenses will work just fine on a current Nikon digital body with no need to any kind of adaptor.</p>

[phule]

<p>[[i gave up on using my wonderful old Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 after reading this:]]</p>

<p>But have you seen the adapters for the Panasonic G1 and GH1?</p>

[craig_gillette]

<p>While there may be ways to use older lenses on new bodies, sometimes it's with reduced functionalities. It also depends on the quality of the older lenses. If the "collections" are limited in number or are casual/consumer level lenses, you may find that you don't get enough benefit from sticking with them to allow that to be a factor in choosing a system. I'd suggest checking at KEH on the lenses to see what current selling prices are (if they list them, etc.).</p>

<p>However, there's nothing particularly wrong with either Nikon nor pentax so even if the lenses aren't stunning, you could still look to see what use they might be.</p>