Are old Canon lenses any use on a DSLR?

[Kermit power]

I'm just wondering if there would be any benefit to seeking out things like old 'L' primes? The sort of thing that might only get used from time to time where you couldn't justify the cost of a current lens?

Not fussed about having to focus manually, and given the speed and ease with which you can get close enough to the right exposure when shooting in RAW, I'm not worried if I have to set speed and exposure in Manual. All that matters is that the glass is of good quality, and can be used on a crop-sensored DSLR.

Can anyone give me a rough idea of what lenses could or couldn't be used, and whether they require any sort of adaptors?

[miniman]

Any Canon EF lenses will work on a Canon DSLR. They will be 1.6x their stated size. i.e. 100mm = effective 160mm. I think there are various adapters on eBay for non-EF mount lenses.

Edit - sorry, EF, not AF.

Edited by miniman on Thursday 19th February 14:34

[Gemm]

I believe all the L lenses are EF mount, so there shouldn't be any problem using them. (I haven't done any research on this, so correct me if I'm wrong)

EDIT: correction! After a quick research, I now know there were some FD L lenses.

Edited by Gemm on Thursday 19th February 14:41

[Ravell]

If it has an EF or EF-S lens mount it should work just fine, AF and all. The older FD Lens mount before AF became common won't fit though. They switched mounts around 1987.

[SamHH]

Any Canon EF-mount lens (made since about 1987) will work on a modern Canon SLR with full functionality and without needing an adapter. Their price tends to reflect that.

Lenses made for other mounts, Canon or otherwise, will require an adapter and will lose the ability to autofocus (if it had that ability in the first place). For lens mounts that have a flange to film distance (the distance between the rear of the lens and the film) greater than the flange to film distance of the EF mount, an adapter is just a metal ring that allows the lens to physically fit onto the camera. Nikon F mount lenses and M42 mount lenses fall into this category. For lens mounts that have a smaller flange to film distance (like Canon's previous mount, FD), you lose the ability to focus to infinity unless you have an adapter that includes an optical element. I suppose you lose some quality by putting extra glass in there though. When they launched the EF mount Canon made some FD to EF optical adapters that are supposedly very good quality and now highly sought after.

If you can get it to fit on the camera and focus, any lens designed for 35mm film should work with a DSLR. Obviously though, good quality lenses can still cost a fair bit. Have a look on eBay to get an idea

miniman said:

Any Canon AF lenses will work on a Canon DSLR.

Being really anal, I think there were some FD lenses that could autofocus.

Edited by SamHH on Thursday 19th February 14:54

[tog]

SamHH said:

miniman said:

Any Canon AF lenses will work on a Canon DSLR.

Being really anal, I think there were some FD lenses that could autofocus.

There were, but they're still FD mount not EF mount. They were for the pre-EOS autofocus Canon T80 of the mid-eighties.

[SamHH]

tog said:

There were, but they're still FD mount not EF mount. They were for the pre-EOS autofocus Canon T80 of the mid-eighties.

Yes, that's what I meant: that not any Canon AF lens will work on a Canon digital SLR because some of the lenses were FD fit whereas all of the DSLRs use the EF mount.

[Titanium lover]

Noticed a huge swing over to using CONTAX lenses with canon DSLR's. Manual focus is the new "black" !

[RobDickinson]

Basicaly if its good and an EF mount it wont be cheap used.

Good glass holds its price. Even the 80-200L (with no USM...) keeps its price well!

[tog]

RobDickinson said:

Basicaly if its good and an EF mount it wont be cheap used.

Good glass holds its price. Even the 80-200L (with no USM...) keeps its price well!

But that is a wonderful lens. I've kept mine as a backup to the modern version, but still use it a bit, especially if I want to be discreet as the black finish is much more subtle.