olddad60

I have several lenses from my film days that I want to use on my Nikon D3300. They are Canon FL mount, but I have an adapter that will let me mount them on my Nikon. I have a Sigma 135 mm F1.8, and a Solgar 90 - 230 zoom. My question is, has anyone done this, and what results can I expect. Also have the Canon 50 mm F 1.8, and Canon 35 mm. I know that I will have to shoot in manual when using the lenses. Thanks

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

I use my Canon FD, FL and R lenses on my Canon DSLR. For infinity I need an adapter with an optical element that does degrade slightly.
I always use my bellows with the 100mm f4.0 FLM on my digital for beautiful macro shots and no extra element is needed.
I am looking to save my pennies and I would like to get the canon M5 and use all my old FD, FL and R lenses on it with full metering and infinity focus.

So in short use your old lenses, use old Nikon lenses if adapted to mount without damage to your camera.
Just remember you will have no metering capability and have to guess at the exposure. I question also that the Canon lenses on your Nikon will focus to infinity. The other way around all your Nikon lenses new and old work just fine manually on old and EOS Canon cameras with an adapter and will focus to infinity just fine.

olddad60

Thanks for the reply. My adapter does have the optical element, so I can focus to infinity

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Then you should be good to go.
Have fun with them.
Do not expect pixel peeping sharpness but try art photos, black and white made to look old time and don't worry at the hyper sharpness some demand.
Experiment and above all have fun and you will do things others who poo poo this will never do.

BebuLamar

So the biggest draw back is the optical element in the adapter. It would degrade the image some what. You will have no metering nor AF but that's not as big a draw back.

marki3rd Loc: Columbus, Indiana

I have both Canon and Pentax DSLR Cameras and many old film era Pentax manual focus, manual aperture lenses, all of which will focus to infinity on these cameras. The exposure metering works in Aperture Priority or Manual modes. I just have to manually adjust the aperture ring on the lenses and the shutter speed on the camera until the metering indicates correct exposure.

I am not familiar with Nikon or other brands of camera so I wonder why I keep seeing people advise there is no exposure metering. Do Nikon cameras not have any way to use old manual lenses and still get the cameras metering to indicate correct exposure?

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Glad to know about the Pentax compatibility.
No, Nikon 3xxx and 5xxx series shut down metering with the manual lenses and cannot auto focus with many of the new AF lenses. You need to check a compatibility chart to see what works with what. Also older non-converted Nikon lenses can physically damage newer Nikon cameras when trying to mount them on the camera.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Yes. A number of us do do this, and yes they are better for 'art' rather than a replacement for modern lenses. Probably the hardest to adapt are Canon R/FL/FD/FDn to Canon EOS DSLRs, but it can be done. It works better with APS-C than FF EOS DSLRs. An adapter with a lens is relatively easy, and some get very good results, I have gone down the path of using replacement mounts, which is more expensive but has no intermediate glass. Mirrorless cameras are likely a good way to go for old FL glass, without needing intermediate glass.

In addition to old Canon glass I also have old Contax/Yashica lenses, a Russian Helios, and soon an old Micro Nikkor lens to use on our Canon cameras. Just had it re-lubricated and bought an adapter.

They all have a place, and many of these lenses have value which is increasing. They are fun to use when time and subjects permit.

JPL

Mirrorless cameras is the way to go with old film camera lenses like you have. Then you can use glassless adapters and get optimal quality from your lenses. With your current adapter your image quality will suffer noticeable from the glass in the adapter.

marki3rd Loc: Columbus, Indiana

To further clarify what I said in the above post about Pentax and Canon manual lenses on Pentax and Canon DSLRs....

On Pentax DSLRs Pentax manual lenses with M42 Screw Mounts require an M42 to K Mount Adapter, but will focus to infinity with that arrangement. Manual K Mount Lenses will mount sans adapter and focus to infinity. You need to go into the custom menu system and select "Using Aperture Ring" to enable. Then when you mount the lens and turn the camera on you will be asked to input the focal length of the mounted lens. If you don't input the focal length. the camera will assume 50mm.

On Canon DSLRs you will need either a Canon EF Mount to Pentax M42 Mount Adapter or Canon EF Mount to Pentax K Mount Adapter. The Canon Camera will always assume 50mm focal length, but will work perfectly in Av or M Modes, but the exif info will not show the correct focal length (unless it is actually 50mm). If you have suitable software and know how you can always edit the exif to show correct focal length and aperture info.

The reason the Pentax lenses will focus to infinity is because Pentax lenses are set for a slightly longer mount flange to sensor/film distance and adding the thickness of the mount adapter adjusts the flange to sensor distance to be correct for Canon Cameras. This is the beauty of Pentax lenses on Canon Cameras - No optical glass needed or used in the Mount Adapters so you get the full IQ capability of the individual lens, ie. no degradation. Sweet!!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

When manual focusing I get best results with using the live view magnifier as far as it will go, on my point of focus. The manual lenses should work fine as long as you have static subjects. For anything moving, autofocus is pretty much required.

BebuLamar

Using their own matrix metering algorithm, the old lenses without coupling don't supply enough information for it to work. With other metering system Nikon can make it work however, on the newer cameras Nikon decided to make the meter not working at all.

marki3rd Loc: Columbus, Indiana

My question would be why did they do that. Is it just another way to force users to buy new glass. Being able to use high quality old film lenses and still have metering is worthwhile.

BebuLamar

I am not Nikon so I can't answer the question. My guess is that if they decided to make the meter work it would be very confusing to the beginners and the experienced users really don't need the meter.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Are you sure? A 'chipped' adapter is programmable, and can provide both focus confirmation, and focal length and max aperture information. The chip needs to be programmed for each specific lens, so mating adapters to individual lenses can be a good idea, but I do not think that your assertion is correct. If you wish it is even possible to modify EXIF data to show the actual lens information, although not normally the manually set aperture data.