Author Topic: Old Lenses  (Read 5172 times)

Old Lenses
« on: 12 June, 2020, 10:36:09 am »
As opposed to old cameras.

First shots with a Vivitar 200mm F3.5 prime on a M4/3 adaptor this morning.
Blimey this ones a keeper. I need to stop down for more depth of field (these were F8) but you get the idea.
These were shot through the window so not as clear as could be and its raining.





I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #1 on: 20 June, 2020, 11:25:54 pm »
I've got a Canon FD 300/4 L that's waiting for me to get a suitable mirrorless body.

It didn't get sold because the market for manual focus lenses after autofocus wasn't good, and at the time I was using it with a 10mm eyepiece adapter as a 30x75 spotting scope. It's no good on a DSLR because FD was the shortest lens to film register about, and any mount adapter would need negative thickness.

Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #2 on: 21 June, 2020, 10:48:11 pm »
I have my father-in-law's Pentax K-mount 400mm manual lens. Works fine on DSLRs, though I need to practice more.

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Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #3 on: 26 June, 2020, 09:00:55 pm »
Have been looking at telephoto lenses as am not happy with my budget Nikon 70 -300 DX AF-S VR 4.5 - 5.6.  Have decided to revert to my Tamron 500m f8 mirror lens bought back in December 1985 and still going strong.  It was used to good effective at the London Olympics as the sort barrel didn't attract attention, and made it into the one Cricket World Cup match I got to last summer for much the same reason.
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Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #4 on: 26 June, 2020, 09:54:31 pm »
I have had a lock down eBay spree. Buying old lenes dirt cheap. Most under £20.

So far the one I like best is a Sigma Mini Wide 28mm F2.8. This works really well on a micro 4/3rds. Like a nifty 50 on a full frame.
I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.

Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #5 on: 24 January, 2021, 04:04:36 pm »
I have my father-in-law's Pentax K-mount 400mm manual lens. Works fine on DSLRs, though I need to practice more.
Is that K or KA? I have been debating getting a cheap secondhand Pentax dslr and using my old K lenses (but they don't have a manual stop-down on them which probably makes the idea a bit unworkable).

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Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #6 on: 24 January, 2021, 08:17:05 pm »
I've got a Canon FD 300/4 L that's waiting for me to get a suitable mirrorless body.

It didn't get sold because the market for manual focus lenses after autofocus wasn't good, and at the time I was using it with a 10mm eyepiece adapter as a 30x75 spotting scope. It's no good on a DSLR because FD was the shortest lens to film register about, and any mount adapter would need negative thickness.

Do you get the full focal range out of them on mirroless then? the main thing stopping convertor plates being a viable product (though some are out there) for EF bodies was you lost (IIRC) infinity.

I got what seemed like an absolute bargain on a T90 a while back, think I paid 60 quid.
Seller got back to be saying "We've got various lenses too do you want them" erm aye.

But I use them on FD bodies so don't qualify for this thread (but I'll stay and look at the pictures)

Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #7 on: 24 January, 2021, 11:57:32 pm »
I have my father-in-law's Pentax K-mount 400mm manual lens. Works fine on DSLRs, though I need to practice more.
Is that K or KA? I have been debating getting a cheap secondhand Pentax dslr and using my old K lenses (but they don't have a manual stop-down on them which probably makes the idea a bit unworkable).
It's K-mount, from long before KA was introduced. The best source of advice is the Pentax forums, but it definitely works.

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Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #8 on: 02 February, 2021, 06:00:05 pm »
Was looking at an old canon 70-210 f4 autofocus lens was going to offer £50 as it comes with a film camera and light meter and other bits I don't care about.

Re: Old Lenses
« Reply #9 on: 04 February, 2021, 10:05:46 pm »
I've got a Canon FD 300/4 L that's waiting for me to get a suitable mirrorless body.
Do you get the full focal range out of them on mirroless then? the main thing stopping convertor plates being a viable product (though some are out there) for EF bodies was you lost (IIRC) infinity.
Yes, you do.

Mirrorless cameras don't need to leave space for a flapping mirror between the lens and image plane, so the lens mount is quite a bit closer to the image plane, leaving a fair amount of space left for the adapter whilst still putting the lens the correct distance from the sensor.

Canon FD has a lens mount to film plane distance of 42 mm
Canon EF-M has a lens mount to sensor plane distance of 18 mm, which means your adapter has to be 24 mm between its two mounts
Canon EF/EF-S is a lens to sensor distance of 44 mm, meaning an FD lens to EF adaptor would have to mount the lens 2 mm inside the camera body in order to retain infinity focus, which obviously isn't going to happen. Even a thin adapter would work like a ~5 mm extension tube.
Apparently it was possible to change the mount on some lenses from FD to EF. At the time, Canon produced a mount converter which retained infinity focus, but acted as a ~1.2x teleconverter. I'm led to believe they almost all went to pros with big expensive lenses, and are now like hen's teeth. You can get 3rd party versions still, but since they don't cost more than the straight tube adapters, I can't imagine the effect on the lens image quality is good.

A bit of a google shows FD adapters for EF-M, RF, Sony NEX, Fuji X, μ4/3, Nikon Z, Leica L, mostly around £25 - £30

FD lenses are fully mechanical, so there isn't auto-anything from the camera end. Manual focus, manual or aperture priority metering/exposure, and quite probably manual pre-exposure stop down