Manual Lenses on EOS ??

[mick_trist]

By means of freely available adaptors, it is possible to use Canon FD

and (Pentax) M42 manual lenses on EOS bodies.

 

There is a large volume of used FD lenses available, some of which

are much cheaper than thier EF equivalents (e.g 50mm 1.4).

 

Accepting that I will have to set focus and aperture manually, is

this a "valid" means of obtaining high(er) quality images than buying

EF lenses ?

[gerard]

This topic has been discussen exhaustive on the forum and in the meantime nothing has changed that would require a new discussion. Use the search facility to find an answer to your question. <br>

-regards,

Gerard.

PS: not to look too rude, here's a short answer to your question:

1.- adaptors are not free. Two types: macro FD-EOS & FD-EOS Converter. The former is meant to be used with the FD macro facilities (bellows, macrophoto lenses) and doesn't allow for infinite focus on other FD lenses; the last works with long and expensive FD lenses, retaining infinite focusing. It's a sort of teleconverter, very difficult to find and very expensive.

 

2.- Second hand EF lenses are widely available and are a better choice.

 

3.- see 1 & 2. :-)

[ron c sunshine coast,qld,a]

This IS a good way to get some great quality lenses for use on your EOS .

<br>Basically your options are screw mount(M42)and nikkor lenses.Anything else requires rare adapters or is an optical compromise.Forget using FD lenses-they require an unbelievably expensive genuine converter or crap useless optical converters that just aren't worth it.

 

<br>Nikon adapters are sold on ebay and go for about $30+ and M42 adapters go for abit more than half that

[aaron_c.]

I agree with Gerard - search the forums and you'll find a ton of info. FD to EOS converters are expensive, hard to come by and only work with certain lenses. You're much better off with an M42 to EOS or Nikon AI to EOS converter and lenses. And while you can find lots of used EF lenses, you can find even more used Nikon AI lenses of equal if not better quality. And there are a lot of very good M42 lenses of excellent quality as well. You just need to make sure that you get a good adapter - one than allows for focusing to infinity, and one that easily and securely attached to and detaches from both the lens and your camera.

[david choo]

I don't think most manual CANON lenses work with the new EOS EF mounts. However, lenses from other manufacturers work. But not all lenses. There are $25 adapters that dont guarantee flatness or build and there are $200 ones that do.

[neil_walden]

When using these adapters, exposure readings should not be accepted

without testing. In other words, just because these adapted lenses

provide an exposure readout doesn't mean these readings are accurate. On my EOS3, I have adapters for Pentax screw lenses (my prior system) and the EOS adapter for Tamron Adaptall-2 lenses. In both instances I have to compensate by one and one-third stops to get

accurate exposure. You can check this out by reading the exposure with a trusted Canon EOS lens and then reading the exposure using the same subject (and the same focal length if zoom lenses are being compared) with the adapted lens. Then expose some test shots before

you risk losing important images to poor exposure. Once you know the

proper compensation, it's easy to dial-in the change.

[mick_trist]

Thanks to everyone who has helped here. You've almost certainly saved me running up a blind alley !

 

I've bought an M42 to EOS adaptor and have located several promising lenses. I bought one so far - a Mamiya-Sekkor 55mm/1.4 which should prove sharp.

 

I not the warning about exposure campensation. My understanding and hope is that ny 300D will gaive me an accurate "stop-down" metering without any need for compensation, but we'll see. At least, with digital I'll get immediate feedback.

 

I'm really looking forward to having some lenses with "proper" manual controls !

[gerard]

I know there's nothing wrong my manual focus lenses, but the time you loose stopping down would be a reason strong enough to go directly for EF lenses. The EF 50f/1.8 won't cost you much and you will be hardly pushed to find a sharper lens.<br>

I do use manual lenses and even tried to figure out how to use them with the EOS 30 (see http://eosdoc.com/manuals.asp?q=E7EMFlens). My favourite is a FD Macrophoto 35/2.8 and although painfully sharp and light, the fact I've to stop it down to meter (and use FEC, for example) ruins the whole thing and is really frustrating. So much that I think seriously to go to the MP -E65, that's a manual focus lens, but with an electronic diaphragm. <br>

So, think about it, once, twice... n times, before you go the manual focus + adaptor way.<br>

-regards,

[mick_trist]

I am attempting to adapt older manual lenses for 2 reasons:

 

1 - I'm mean !

 

2 - I prefer the control that manual lens focussing gives me - their depth of field scales are much more intuitive to me than trying to use the EOS automated equivalents, and I like being in control.

 

One of my first shots on the 300D was of 4 ladies sat on a bench. I thought the camera had focussed on their eyes, but downloading the image revealed pin-sharp knees and rather softer faces !

 

Now, I might have made as bad a job of it manually, but at least I would have aimed for the correct point.

 

It is true that there are plenty of good used EF lenses around, but they still command high prices. For example, the first manual lens I've bought cost me about $55. The nearest Canon EF equivalent - 50mm f1.4 - costs over $200. This difference is reflected across all focal lengths.

 

There are some truly superb M42 lenses available - Carl Zeiss and Pentax Super Takumar in particular, not to mention the Mamiya-Sekkor I've just received. The Pentax M42s are considered by many to be among the sharpest and punchiest lenses ever made - as born out by data on photodo.com.

 

So, I reckon that for about $200, maybe less, I can equip myself with 4 meaty primes that will at least match Canon's "mid-range" lenses in performance.

 

What remains to be seen are the actual downsides. Provided I avoid the electrical models, then my biggest potential problem is inaccurate exposure, requireing compensation. How the 300D performs in this respect is key here.

 

The actual task of adjusting the lens is not so bad - this lens I've just bought allows you to swtich between full aperture and stopped down by means of the Auto/Manual switch, so in this respect its already looking easier than the old Zenit I first cut my teeth on.

 

With that (and the exact details may be a little garbled by time !), I had to meter on full aperture, read off the exposure from the meter, which, as I recall, had an adjustment to allow you to set either the shutter and/or aperture and read the corresponding setting, which you then set manually.

 

I will report back when I have some results to share !