FD lens and a Canon Digital Rebel questions

swcolleen

Hi! I am hoping someone here can help me in simple term.s I tend to get so confused with camera "specs" and I have always had good luck finding help here before so I am taking my chances. Please forgive me for my silly questions.

I have a canon digital rebel (6.3 mp). So far, the only lens I have is the one it came with (18-55). My grandfather has given me a zoom lens that the man at the camera store said was an FD lens. He said that I will need to get an FD to EOS mount. I think I have found one on ebay and adorma's website.

I guess my question is, will this work? I understand that I will have to use the manual focus and I don;t mind that at all. I have read I need to do some metering or something like that but I am sure I can sort that out next!

I have some other old film SLR lens as well and I would love to find out how to know what adapter I would need -I am sure its a different one for each lens with my luck! Is there a way to know just by looking at the lens?

ANY info or help on this subject would be appreciated. I would really like to find a way to use these lens I have and some more my grandfather said he has for me-I know the lens I have and the ones he has are decent and I hate to see them just collect dust since I am using my rebel these days and not film. I take photos for fun-its a hobby of mine-and I am the designated photographer for family events. Of course I would love to get to selling photos some day but I need to figure out my cameras and lens all first! I include this information because whatever I do/get, it will be a lot of trial and error and eperiementing but that is ok with me-this is my hobby and so I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars on all new lens to have fun....does that make sense?

Anyway...I know I Have rambled enough, thanks in advance for any help or info!

Colleen

Jeffro

swcolleen wrote:

I have some other old film SLR lens as well and I would love to find out how to know what adapter I would need...

What kind of other old "film" SLR lenses do you have?

swcolleen

Jeffro wrote:

What kind of other old "film" SLR lenses do you have?

I am not sure but I will check and get back to you-I have them packed in the closet since I haven't used them but I was going to pull them out later tonight or tomorrow when I get some time.

ziggy53

Colleen,

I have the Adorama FD to EOS adapter, and it's not horrible but not very good either.

A previous post:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=140388&postcount=4

A great explanation of using older lenses on modern Canon EOS bodies:

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html


I've had much better luck using Pentax Screw/M42/Universal mount lenses with a simple adapter.

ziggy53

gtc

me too
I use m42 Pentax screwmount with a cameraquest adapter on a 20d-works very well-eg strong, no slop,rotation and infinity focus is fine.

Some adapters are the wrong thickness and don't allow infinity focus.

I am using super multi coated takumars...you can get adapters for contax zeiss .olympus...have a look at cameraquest.

If you have some of the 'special' FD lenses it may be worth doing-let us know whats in the bag!

Greg

swcolleen

thanks for the info and links .I am going to go check them out. I will get the other lens out tonight and post their info then.

thanks-I knew I could count on help here!

swcolleen

Ok, so I got out my old camera bag and took a look at the equipment. I am SOOO NOT technical when it comes to cameras (I get so confused by EOS EF AF FD....you get the picture!) so instead of trying to figure out what each of these cameras and lens are, I took some pics and I hope some of you might be able to give me some information. Please forgive my novice-ness. I have always had a tough time with the technical aspect and the what is what lens of photography. I just know what lens I use with what camera and what I wanted to do with it.

Here are the photos:



















I am sorry for all the pics...I appreciate ANY info and help you can offer!

THanks!!!

Colleen

ziggy53

Hi Colleen,

You appear to have three different cameras, with three different lens mounts (unfortunately incompatible with each other.)

The Canon AE-1 was a very sweet camera in its day (I have an AE-1Program), but it is manual focus and the lenses are not directly compatible with modern Canon EOS cameras, including all the digital series cameras.

The Chinon looks to be an early screw mount, designed to be compatible with the Pentax screw mount. You might be able to use these lenses with a Canon digital SLR using an adapter, but I'm not sure about the lenses you show, and they may not be worthwhile.

The Minolta Maxxum 7000 was a jewel in its day, and the only camera shown with auto-focus. Minolta sold a ton of these cameras and I believe they still have a following today.

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/maxxum7k/index.htm

The two flashes you show are pretty old and may actually be dangerous used on a modern dSLR or digicam because of their trigger voltage. You can check for that voltage here:

http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

ziggy53

gtc

hmm
a few old zooms,which by todays standards are probably not very good-maybe just fit a couple of your best lens to your best film body,load it up with slide film or B&W and keep it as a back up.

you may be able to sell some of the rest to a dealer and use the proceeds to buy some other lenses.don't expect a lot of money.

if you want to get into low cost manual focus primes check out the adapters that are available and start shopping for lenses over the web.

as ziggy says m42 screwmount is the least problematic and cheapest to adapt.

swcolleen

Thanks for the info Ziggy53 and gtc! I appreciate your knowledge and the time you took to write. I will check out those links about the minolta and the voltage. I know all of it is old and honestly, I have always liked the manual cameras best for when I was shooting a photograph and the automatic more for parties where I just shoot to cover it all! When I used to use the manual cameras I was better at remember the what is what of the settings b/c I had to do it! Now I can't remember anything and I get so confused on the automatic cameras.

Anyway, thanks again for the input. I think I will look into seeing if I can do anything with the minolta lens. I won't get rid of any of the cameras-too much sentimental value and as much as I love digital b/c it feeds my photography habit more economically than when I used film, I like knowing I can go take some film shots here and there as well!

Thanks again.

claudermilk

Neat collection of gear. ziggy summed it up well. As far as conversion goes, since the Canon FD lens is a 50/1.8, IMHO it isn't worth converting, just buy a new EOS-mount 50/1.8 for $70; then converters cost more than that.

That Minolta stuff is quite good, I originally had that very camera which got replaced with a 7000i after getting stolen. Still have it and that same 70-210 lens. Good stuff.

The Minolta flash is obviously only good with the 7000 body. The Vivitar should work with the AE-1 and Chinon, I wouldn't use it with anything newer as it may have too high of a trigger voltage (read: fried body).

Overall, each is a completely separate stand-alone grouping of gear and probably not worth trying to adapt to modern bodies.

Jane B.

claudermilk wrote:

Neat collection of gear. ziggy summed it up well. As far as conversion goes, since the Canon FD lens is a 50/1.8, IMHO it isn't worth converting, just buy a new EOS-mount 50/1.8 for $70; then converters cost more than that.

That Minolta stuff is quite good, I originally had that very camera which got replaced with a 7000i after getting stolen. Still have it and that same 70-210 lens. Good stuff.

The Minolta flash is obviously only good with the 7000 body. The Vivitar should work with the AE-1 and Chinon, I wouldn't use it with anything newer as it may have too high of a trigger voltage (read: fried body).

Overall, each is a completely separate stand-alone grouping of gear and probably not worth trying to adapt to modern bodies.

Chris, I think you may well be to pickey about what is worth adapting.

I have some M42 screw mount lenses from the 1970's that were not expensive even then (one was not even new then!). But, they have proven good enough to really have some fun with on a Canon with a EOS mount. I first used them on one of the early film cameras with the EOS mount (the 620) and now on a D60. They don't need to be the very best quality to be fun — especially considering how simple an adapter, and thus less costly, this particular combination takes.

I have not used it; but have read many times of a "safe sink" (sp?) adapter to use the older flashes on the current cameras.
Jane

ziggy53

Jane B. wrote:

Chris, I think you may well be to pickey about what is worth adapting.

I have some M42 screw mount lenses from the 1970's that were not expensive even then (one was not even new then!). But, they have proven good enough to really have some fun with on a Canon with a EOS mount. I first used them on one of the early film cameras with the EOS mount (the 620) and now on a D60. They don't need to be the very best quality to be fun — especially considering how simple an adapter, and thus less costly, this particular combination takes.

I have not used it; but have read many times of a "safe sink" (sp?) adapter to use the older flashes on the current cameras.
Jane

Jane,

I am one of "those" people who choose to use older M42/Pentax screw-mount/Universal screw-mount lenses. The ones I like are the Pentax 50mm, f1.4SMC Takumar, the Vivitar 105mm, f2.8 (I think the Pentax 105mm, f2.8SMC may be very similar) and a really old Vivitar 500mm, f6.3.

http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=38398
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=37003
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=34881
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=27214

I have tried many other lenses, but they just left me wanting better quality. I have not found any older zooms of enough quality to be worth the trouble.

Regarding the "Safe-Sync", I am one who pointed that out to others, but since the cost of a Safe-Sync is close to the cost of some new flashes that are designed for digital cameras, I think most folks are going for a newer flash instead. You can also "slave" flashes to provide safety for the camera. I currently radio slave some Sunpak 611 handle-mount flashes that are rated at around 200 volts trigger voltage (confirmed by me with a D-VOM).

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=327830&postcount=3
http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=327881&postcount=6

ziggy53

swcolleen

So am I right to believe there is an adapter for the minolta stuff that might be fun to try with the rebel? Like I said originally, this is a hobby for me, something I enjoy and so I am always looking to try and whatever I can to see how it goes!
And I do plan to get the FD lens adapter for the other lens my grandfather gave me (what I originally asked about-not pictured though) so am I right to understand that may work with the other FD lens I showed-even if it really isnt; much of a lens!
I know this is not the right thread for this, but does anyone know a good place to locate a good list of what lens DO work with the rebel....I will go search that now too but I thought I would ask!

So wonderful knowledge....thanks!

claudermilk

Jane B. wrote:

Chris, I think you may well be to pickey about what is worth adapting.

I have some M42 screw mount lenses from the 1970's that were not expensive even then (one was not even new then!). But, they have proven good enough to really have some fun with on a Canon with a EOS mount. I first used them on one of the early film cameras with the EOS mount (the 620) and now on a D60. They don't need to be the very best quality to be fun — especially considering how simple an adapter, and thus less costly, this particular combination takes.

I have not used it; but have read many times of a "safe sink" (sp?) adapter to use the older flashes on the current cameras.
Jane

Perhaps. I re-read Colleen's post & I missed that she used to use the full-manual cameras. For the M42 mount, that may work fine. I still wouldn't bother with adapting the FD 50/1.8 since an EOS 50/1.8 is only $70. I'm not sure if the Maxxum lenses even can be adapted, no hits on google for a Maxxum-EOS adapter.

If it were me, I'd practice with the EOS body and get really comfortable with it before messing with adapted lenses.

Edit: Colleen posted whil I was re-re-writing this Just do a google search on "eos mount adapter" to get several starting places.

ziggy53

swcolleen wrote:

So am I right to believe there is an adapter for the minolta stuff that might be fun to try with the rebel? Like I said originally, this is a hobby for me, something I enjoy and so I am always looking to try and whatever I can to see how it goes!
And I do plan to get the FD lens adapter for the other lens my grandfather gave me (what I originally asked about-not pictured though) so am I right to understand that may work with the other FD lens I showed-even if it really isnt; much of a lens!
I know this is not the right thread for this, but does anyone know a good place to locate a good list of what lens DO work with the rebel....I will go search that now too but I thought I would ask!

So wonderful knowledge....thanks!

Colleen,

The Minolta is not likely to ever have an adapter made because there are too many differences between the focus mechanism etc., and because, sadly, there are not that many old Minolta lenses with much demand in any market.

I gave the best link I know of in a previous post to you regarding which lenses do work on the dRebel cameras:

http://www.dgrin.com/showpost.php?p=358200&postcount=4

Personally, I still recommend older Pentax Screw-Mount/M42 SMC fixed focal length for the best values in manual lenses.

A simple adapter is here:

http://www.adorama.com/CZPUEOS.html?searchinfo=adapter%20eos&item_no=13

A (probably) better, certainly more costly, adapter here:

http://www.cameraquest.com/frames/4saleReos.htm

An FD/EOS adapter here:

http://www.adorama.com/CZFDEOSA.html?searchinfo=adapter%20eos&item_no=19

ziggy53

swcolleen

thanks for the links ziggy...going to go look now!

swcolleen

thanks for all the info and help. i think i will get the FD to EOS adapter for $40 to use with the lens my grandfather just gave me and just seek out new lens for the digital rebel. I always get confused with figuring out what lens/companies do and dont have lens that work with the digital rebel (new not old) and so hopefully i can find some that look good and are priced right. i am sure there is a thread withthat info somewhere here!

thanks

colleen

swcolleen

one more question...

IF I was to decide to sell the equipment I showed, are there places anyone can recomend to try? And are there any guidelines or anything to get an idea of their value so not to get ripped off...something like the blue book value with cars? I know it wouldn't be much which is why I would more than likely NOT sell/trade in but my husband made a good point tonight that people gave me those cameras to use and if I have moved to digital and I am not using them, then they aren't being used the way the people would want and they would probably prefer i traded them in to get something I would and could use.

anyway...i know that if I do decide to look into it I just dont want to get ripped off. I have seen the ads in outdoor photographer for places that will give you quotes and if you dont like it they send it back....anyone ever try that?

ok-enough rambling....going to go read the boards now!

ziggy53

swcolleen wrote:

thanks for all the info and help. i think i will get the FD to EOS adapter for $40 to use with the lens my grandfather just gave me and just seek out new lens for the digital rebel. I always get confused with figuring out what lens/companies do and dont have lens that work with the digital rebel (new not old) and so hopefully i can find some that look good and are priced right. i am sure there is a thread withthat info somewhere here!

thanks

colleen

Colleen,

There are lots of lenses from lots of different manufacturers. For Canon EOS cameras there is Canon, Sigma, Tamron and Tokina. There are good and bad lenses in each lineup. It is important to understand that different lenses are used in different circumstances. There is no one "best" lens or manufacturer because of all the different variables.

PhotoZone has some great reviews for many popular lenses.

http://www.photozone.de/8Reviews/index.html

PhotoDo has some new management and is testing new lenses regularly.

http://photodo.com/

A few comparative tests here, thanks to GTC and ChuckH:

http://16-9.net/lens_tests/35mm_test.html

Andy likes:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/

I also go to PBase and search for specific lenses and sample images (they say "cameras", but you search by manufacturer:

http://www.pbase.com/cameras

Keep us posted,

ziggy53

ziggy53

swcolleen wrote:

one more question...

IF I was to decide to sell the equipment I showed, are there places anyone can recomend to try? And are there any guidelines or anything to get an idea of their value so not to get ripped off...something like the blue book value with cars? I know it wouldn't be much which is why I would more than likely NOT sell/trade in but my husband made a good point tonight that people gave me those cameras to use and if I have moved to digital and I am not using them, then they aren't being used the way the people would want and they would probably prefer i traded them in to get something I would and could use.

anyway...i know that if I do decide to look into it I just dont want to get ripped off. I have seen the ads in outdoor photographer for places that will give you quotes and if you dont like it they send it back....anyone ever try that?

ok-enough rambling....going to go read the boards now!

EBay has a very handy way to determine the value of popular items using "Completed Listings" search. It only goes back 15 days, so it may not cover everything you want to sell.

---

To search by completed listings:

• Click the “Advanced Search” link located at the top of most eBay pages.
• Enter your keywords and any other search information.
• Select the Completed listings only checkbox.
• Click the Search button.
  Note: If you are not currently signed-in, you will be prompted to do so before you can see your search results.

---

Also use Google and search for the items, adding "+price" to the search (without the quotes). (The +price in the search line means that the word "price" must be included in the returned sites, which means you will see what others are selling things for.

Adorama, B and H and KEH all have used photographic items for sale. Scan through their listings to get a feel for prices. They also buy items, so you can get a quote. I believe they will all return goods at your request, if you don't like the price they are willing to give. I think they list their respective policies online.

ziggy53

swcolleen

Thanks for all the info Ziggy53! It looks like I will have some research to do during my *cough* downtime tomorrow at work! Motivation to get my reports done early in the day!

thanks-I will keep you posted here!