DSLR's and old lenses

I have been contemplating getting a DSLR. I figure that, while one may have advantages over the other, they all are mostly able to take quite fine photos. Of course, the pic is only as good as the glass and sometimes, one is able to find someone selling old film kit that the lenses are very good. So, my question is: Does anyone use old lenses on their DSLR? I do understand that all automation is lost. Focus, aperture, etc. is all manual. And I am fine with that. One person I found said that he had a very hard time focusing with an old lens. My old SLR has a split image for focusing. Are such screens available for DSLR's? Would one brand of DSLR be more suited for older lenses than others?
--
Greg

When I was a babe, I would talk as a babe, think as a babe. Now I am an old man and realize that as a babe, at least I had an excuse.

oldgeek said:

So, my question is: Does anyone use old lenses on their DSLR? I do understand that all automation is lost. Focus, aperture, etc. is all manual. And I am fine with that.

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Your options for the best compatibility with older lenses seems to be Pentax and Nikon, since both have the same general mounts between their manual and AF lenses, and so good backwards compatibility. Canon and Sony/Minolta are more limited in the sense that both completely changed their mounts when they went to AF lenses, and so older manual lenses from their previous mount won't fit without adapters, if at all. Also, mirrorless cameras are capable of fitting any old manual lens of any mount ever made - overall they have the best compatibility with old lenses, as they can fit any mount, any brand, and can still meter with them.

oldgeek said:

One person I found said that he had a very hard time focusing with an old lens. My old SLR has a split image for focusing. Are such screens available for DSLR's?

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They are - depending on the DSLR. You have to make sure you get a DSLR that allows access to the focus screen to be removed - many do, but some may not, so just check with other owners of that DSLR to be sure before you buy.

oldgeek said:

Would one brand of DSLR be more suited for older lenses than others?

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Again, as far as I know in the DSLRs, Nikons can still mount manual lenses, but with no focus or metering...though some models might not be able to release shutter or have other issues (I do not know enough about the limitations of the entry-level bodies in this regard)...Pentax cameras continue to use Pentax's K mount, so whether autofocus or manual they can work with any Pentax K mount lens of any vintage - and with stabilization in the camera body, they can even stabilize the old lenses. And mirrorless cameras (Panasonic G, Oly Pen, Samsung NX, and Sony NEX) can all accept nearly any SLR or rangefinder mount ever made, maintaining the ability to meter in Aperture Priority mode, and carry over any camera body benefits (stabilization if so equipped, image-stacking if so equipped, etc) to the old lenses.

--
Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

oldgeek said:

I have been contemplating getting a DSLR. I figure that, while one may have advantages over the other, they all are mostly able to take quite fine photos. Of course, the pic is only as good as the glass and sometimes, one is able to find someone selling old film kit that the lenses are very good. So, my question is: Does anyone use old lenses on their DSLR?

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I don't, but I am a Canon user and it isn't worth the bother of trying to use old Canon FD lenses on post 1987 Canon EOS (autofocus) bodies. There are less problems with other brands.

Bear in mind that lens design has improved as well as camera design, and many old lenses, especially cheaper primes and old zooms, are not up to the standard of modern lenses.

oldgeek said:

I do understand that all automation is lost. Focus, aperture, etc. is all manual. And I am fine with that.

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Provided the lens has an aperture ring you can set the aperture on the lens, set the same aperture in the camera and then use aperture priority for exposure.

oldgeek said:

One person I found said that he had a very hard time focusing with an old lens. My old SLR has a split image for focusing. Are such screens available for DSLR's?

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For Canon only on the more expensive models.

oldgeek said:

Would one brand of DSLR be more suited for older lenses than others?

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The best are mirrorless cameras like M4/3, Sony NEX and Samsung EX. You can use just about any lens on these with a suitable adaptor. Manual focusing is easy because you can enlarge the image.

--
Chris R

I use AI'd Nikkors on my D70 and C/Y mount lenses on my wife's Sony NEX.

Katzeye sells split prism (with microprisms) screens to fit many DSLRs. The installation was pretty easy for my Nikon, and the prism doesn't black out at far smaller apertures than my SLR's do, though the viewfinder is smaller than an SLR's (unless you get a full frame camera). I've found that the microprisms are generally more useful than the split prism, on a DSLR.

If your collection of legacy glass spans more than one brand/mount, or you want to consider several options, you might consider something like the u4/3 or NEX. I really prefer using them on the NEX, as it has better electronic focusing indicators, a zoomed in option and an outline around the objects with very high contrast which the camera interprets as being in focus. There are also adapters for nearly everything, too.

Except for Olympus all major DSLR makers use the same mount as was used in their 35mm film cameras which at the end of the film era had both AE and AF. Some film lenses can work with DSLRs with all the automatic featuers. As for manual focus: even if the lens does not autofocus you can use the focus confirmation of the AF mechanism in the vewfinder. Screens with focus aids (katz-eye screens) can be bought.

oldgeek said:

I have been contemplating getting a DSLR. I figure that, while one may have advantages over the other, they all are mostly able to take quite fine photos. Of course, the pic is only as good as the glass and sometimes, one is able to find someone selling old film kit that the lenses are very good. So, my question is: Does anyone use old lenses on their DSLR? I do understand that all automation is lost. Focus, aperture, etc. is all manual. And I am fine with that. One person I found said that he had a very hard time focusing with an old lens. My old SLR has a split image for focusing. Are such screens available for DSLR's? Would one brand of DSLR be more suited for older lenses than others?

Click to expand...

It's certainly common with Nikons. Nikon made some very good lenses which still don't have autofocus equivalents (105mm f/2.5, 50mm f/1.2) and it's relatively easy with the upper-level Nikons. The D7000 and all the higher-priced cameras will meter and operate with aperture-priority autoexposure with any AI lens. You still, of course, have to focus manually, which is a chore with the standard "focusing" screen but quite reasonable with a split-prism screen. The only downside of switching screens is you lose spot metering accuracy because the meter is looking at where the prism is.

I use my 55mm AI Micro Nikkor a lot on my D300 and also use my 105mm f/2.5 for portraits.

What you have to watch out for is, not all old lenses are that good and digital cameras seem to show up a mediocre lens more than film does. So you have to be careful what you get; no sense having to do manual focus to get a poor image.
--
Leonard Migliore

If you just like to play around with old lenses, then you can use certain lenses on certain DSLR's.

And it can be fun if playing around with old lenses is your bag.

However, on cropped-sensored DSLR's the viewfinders are much smaller than the viewfinders on our old film SLR's, so manual focus is NOT easy, especially if you have eyesight issues.

Pentax and Nikon are the two most backward compatible, but you need to check to see if the body you are interested in will allow the use of the old lenses, even if they mount!

But really, it isn't worth the hassle, so your best bet is to just get new lenses that are meant to be used on new cameras.

• Here is a true story . . .

I had a lady purchase a Nikon D7000 body from me a few months back.

She had purchased several old manual focus Nikon-mount lenses (all of different vintages and brands) from a thrift store for $20, and she wanted the D7000 to use all of these old lenses for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Alaska!

She told me that she had read on some internet photography chatboard (after some time she revealed that it was DPReview) that she could save a lot of money by buying old lenses and using them on a new DSLR and that her pictures would be just as good, and the D7000 is what she was talked in to by the chat posters!

I asked her if she had ever used an SLR camera in her life . . . she said no!

She didn't even have a clue how to mount them let alone use them manually on a camera that is meant to be used electronically.

I tried to get her to look at some decent point and shoots . . . no way!

I tried all of the lenses (nine total) on our display model, and only four of them worked (barely), the rest either damaged or just were too old!

I tried to talk her into at least getting the kit with the 18-105VR . . . but she refused . . . didn't want to spend the extra money.

I spent a couple of hours trying to show her how to set the f/stops and shutter speeds and to use the cameras meter (on the lenses that it actually worked with), and she just didn't get it.

And still refused to get the kit!

She bought the body only and said she would figure it all out.

Two months later, she comes in the store all mad at me because none of her Alaska pictures came out from her $1220 camera and lens purchase!

Her trip was ruined because of me, she said!

Well, after several hours of listening to her whine and cry, and even having my boss go through the same pounding, I finally got her to accept the fact that she needed to dump that bag of old lenses and get one that is meant for someone of her experience level.

She went home and thought about it for a couple of weeks and now has a Tamron 18-200 lens and is happy with her new camera.

--
J. D.
Colorado

• "If your insurance company tells you that you don't need a lawyer . . . hire a lawyer!"

It definitely depends on the old lens for sure - then, just as now, there were poor lenses, OK lenses, and great lenses...price was not the factor, just the lens itself and how it performed. Knowing a bit about old lenses, reading reviews about them, and finding others who have used them on digital cameras can help make sure you find the gems - or if the price is good enough you can just take the chance.

I have quite a few absolutely lovely manual lenses that I've bought over the past 4 months...the MOST expensive of which cost me $15.

--
Justin
galleries: http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

I have bought the 1989 Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk 1 lens that works very well, better than the newer plastic fantastic available now. The Canon 35mm f2.0 is dated as well but works very well - its start up date was 1990.

But the reality is that most lenses aren't really worth resurrection, the technology today is better than some much older lenses. I don't mean to say they are all bad, but there aren't that many "great" old lenses worth trying to go through contortions to use it.

Instead you are better off to hit bargains floating out there, like the Vivitar 100 macro (older but works very well and can be purchased very cheaply), the Vivitar 19 - 35mm (which is really 18 - 35mm). Or Samyang has some bargains out there that are new like the Samyang 14 which is a handy lens for landscape photography, even though it can only be used in manual mode (which isn't that big a deal particularly).

Then another way to get bargains is to only purchase used which is what I do more and more.

You aren't the first to have the "eureka" moment thinking hey I could get some great older lenses, but most of us are cheap and if that was a great way to go, they would have been all bought up. Check out your local used market which is better than ebay since you can drive, examine the equipment, then hand over your money.

If you know what you are doing, you can sometimes pick up some bargains on the cheap. Below in this link is a chap selling a T50 camera that is broken with parts for $150. What this guy may not realize is that the lens is probably the original Canon 50mm f1.8 which is better than the new Canon 50 f1.8 Mk 2. I probably could phone him and offer $100 or less and he would take it, as I'm sure almost no one wants to purchase a "broken" camera, of course I wouldn't tell him I was buying the camera to get the lens:

http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-cameras-camcorders-Canon-T-50-camera-W0QQAdIdZ310797900

--
An excellent lens lasts a lifetime, an excellent DSLR, not so long.

rsn48 said:

I have bought the 1989 Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk 1 lens that works very well, better than the newer plastic fantastic available now. The Canon 35mm f2.0 is dated as well but works very well - its start up date was 1990.

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I think it is pretty well known that any Canon EF-mount lens will work on any Canon DSLR.

The OP is talking about older manual focus lenses on newer cameras.

--
J. D.
Colorado

• "If your insurance company tells you that you don't need a lawyer . . . hire a lawyer!"

That is the main reason I bought the D7000, to use my Nikkors from my film Nikons. My D90 would take great pictures with them, but wouldn't meter. The D7000 meters, and is actually easier to focus as it tells you which way to turn the focus ring. I use the focus indicator in both models for focus. You can see that it is close on the glass, and the green dot confirms it.

I have always shot in manual, and I still do even with all of the automation. If you are going to rely on the camera for exposure, and focus it would be best to stay away from the older lenses.
--
Michael

Definitely. The best compatibility with older lenses is in the Pentax range where any K-mount lens fits on any modern DSLR. You need to manual focus of course if the lens is MF, and semi-automatic metering can be done through 'stop-down' mode: you set the aperture you want on the aperture ring, press the green button on the back of the camera, and the camera sets the appropriate shutter speed. MF is easy if you take care - you get the focus confirmation light in the viewfinder and the beep - or you can use live-view and expand the image massively which allows you focus with great precision.

Yes good modern lenses are better than most good older lenses... but good modern lenses can be very expensive and good old lenses can be very cheap. The joy of using older glass is that you can get (for example) lenses such as Pentax M 50mm f/1.7 and 28mm f/2.8 for about £30 - £40 on ebay and they are optically excellent (especially the 50mm). They are also a lot of fun to use if you are shooting things that don't mind if you take a few seconds to focus and set exposure: going out with one prime, and doing everything manually, really makes you think about what you are shooting

I have a several decent zooms and a good macro prime lens... but going for a walk with just the 28mm M lens on my K7 to see what I can find is the best therapy I know of after a busy week:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=37712419

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1036&message=38501089

... and here are a few from my Pentax 135mm f/3.5 M - another ebay bargain.









Best wishes
--
Mike

On my Canon EOS I happily fit a few old 42mm screw mount lenses, via an adapter ring with an AF confirm chip.

I even laid hands on a set set of 39mm screw mount extension tubes on which I use a Nikkor enlarger lens and tack it on to the Canon via another adapter ring.
If you knew how focus manually on a film camera, you should be OK.

I find that the AF confirm chipped adapter ring is a real bonus and my Russian and German lenses give excellent results.

Once you get the hang of it, things go fairly smoothly, just don't try and use such a set-up for sports photography.
With these adaptations, nice and easy does it.

MusicDoctorDJ said:

rsn48 said:

I have bought the 1989 Canon 50mm f1.8 Mk 1 lens that works very well, better than the newer plastic fantastic available now. The Canon 35mm f2.0 is dated as well but works very well - its start up date was 1990.

Click to expand...

I think it is pretty well known that any Canon EF-mount lens will work on any Canon DSLR.

The OP is talking about older manual focus lenses on newer cameras.

Click to expand...

Well, it all depends on if I can find any bargains in lenses and what system those are. I'm not ruling out anything. Well maybe Leica. But I could wish for that!

--
Greg

When I was a babe, I would talk as a babe, think as a babe. Now I am an old man and realize that as a babe, at least I had an excuse.

LeRentier said:

Once you get the hang of it, things go fairly smoothly, just don't try and use such a set-up for sports photography.

Click to expand...

I tend to shoot landscape mostly. It's on geologic time Okay, not really. The right light often lasts less than a minute for me.

--
Greg

When I was a babe, I would talk as a babe, think as a babe. Now I am an old man and realize that as a babe, at least I had an excuse.

If it's saving a few bucks, there's nothing wrong with that.
If it's using old for old's sake, there's a lot wrong with that.

We are blessed with a swathe of 10mp and over cams flooding
the used market, buy there, save a fortune and take great pics.
Some glass is sure to accompany the purchase.

Be aware also, classic glass still commands a hefty price
just as it always did, there are some affordable "nice"
lenses out there, but don't expect bargains at the top end.
Try and pick up a short Minolta for example:
http://www.dyxum.com/lenses/Minolta-AF-16-F2.8-FishEye_lens3.html

If you want to see how well one brand can be supported and documented
by "second hand" people have a look at Dyxum which covers
Sony shooters.

Best your first DSLR is cheap, as it will leave you free to make
a better decision down the track, when you have a few
shots under your belt.

--

Yes it can be done, No it is not always practical... I have a d5000 and one of my favorite lens to play with is the old tamron 90mm 2.5 adaptall. No metering.. full manual settings. If you are in a stable light environment and don't move too much you can manually meter with a few snaps by looking at your in camera histogram. I don't have a split screen but occasionally use the live view for macro stuff.. The bee and the dragonfly images I took the first day I had my lens. They are not perfect but it can be fun knowing you have captured an image on a modern camera with a 30 year old lens... I use this lens only when I'm playing. I was lucky and found this lens for $15 locally so not much invested. There are some adaptall gems out there for very little money and the interchangeable mount system was pretty smart for the era... I'm pretty new to dslr 3 or 4 months and I think it helped me in the learning curve.. For any kind of moving or action I think it would be pretty much not practical unless you are really good with manual settings on the fly...

I will agree with the others that Nikon and Pentax are the best bets for finding decent quality lenses at low prices. So far as I know all Pentax K mount lenses will work on current DSLRs. Most Nikon lenses will fit current bodies, but you need to be cautious of really old non-AI lenses on some bodies. Not all Nikon DSLRs have focusing motors for older autofocus lenses.

Keep in mind that most DLSR sensors are smaller than 35mm film, so lenses will have a smaller field of view -- a 50 gives a view similar to a 75 and so on. Along with this, finders are generally smaller and less bright so manual focus can be difficult.

Older lenses will generally not match the contrast of new models -- coatings have improved greatly. Some like it, some don't.

My advice: If you like to play around with lenses, go for it. If you want to make pictures go with a current model moderate price zoom.

Gato

--
After 40 years of Canon and Nikon I'm now using a camera named after my toaster.

Silver Mirage Gallery:
http://www.silvermirage.com

I use a number of Nikon Ai-s lenses on my D700, particularly for portraits. The ones I have are the 35mm f2, 85mm f2 and 105mm f1.8; also a Voigtlander 58mm f1.4.

The reason I use them is than they are indeed different to modern lenses, lacking the very high contrast which seems to be the sole criterion for a 'good' lens at present; a bit like the 'more pixels on the sensor the better' attitude.

Mebyon K

Sorry, left off the last sentence. The other reason I use them for portraits, and here I am speaking only of the D700, is that a manual focus lens can actually be faster when taking a posed portrait. No messing about getting the focus point on the eye, or other point of critical focus, and then having to recompose the shot.
--
Mebyon K