To chip or not to chip: I have 9 or 10 adapters to mount various old film lenses (mostly M42) on my Canon DSLR. Some have flanges, some don't. Some have chips, some don't. I have dealt...

graybeard

I have 9 or 10 adapters to mount various old film lenses (mostly M42) on my Canon DSLR. Some have flanges, some don't. Some have chips, some don't. I have dealt with the flange/no flange question on a previous post. Now for the chips...... for those adapters that were "programmable" they allow you to receive the "focus confirmation" that sets off a beep and a green light when your MANUAL focus is correct. Neither chipped adapters without this "programmable" feature, nor unchipped adapters do this, but leave you to visually decide if the focus is correct. However, all varieties of adapters I have, even the unchipped "dumb" ones, allow metering. The programmable chipped ones, which seem to all be made of stainless steel, are the most expensive, the unprogammeable chipped adapters, made of black metal, are next, and the cheapest, also of black metal, are the "dumb" unchipped ones. This at least is my understanding of how they function. Does anybody have any more they can contribute ??

tcthome Loc: NJ

If I had to guess. The lens has nothing to do with the light meter which is inside the camera.

leftj Loc: Texas

graybeard wrote:

I have 9 or 10 adapters to mount various old film ... (show quote)

Don't know what all this is about. Fuji, and I think most mirror-less cameras have focus peaking which works no mater what adapter you use.

AZNikon Loc: Mesa, AZ

When in doubt, putt!

User ID

tcthome wrote:

If I had to guess. The lens has nothing to do with the light meter which is inside the camera.

None of my lenses have built-in light meters. Also never heard of one.

User ID

leftj wrote:

Don't know what all this is about. Fuji, and I think most mirror-less cameras have focus peaking which works no mater what adapter you use.

You don’t know ? Try reading slower, or maybe out loud. You will find that the OP does not use a Fuji. He uses an SLR. It’s in the first sentence ... slow down !

leftj Loc: Texas

User ID wrote:

You don’t know ? Try reading slower, or maybe out loud. You will find that the OP does not use a Fuji. He uses an SLR. It’s in the first sentence ... slow down !

Yes Mother

BebuLamar

When using old lenses on DSLR I care about 2 things.
1. I can focus to infinity without a lens element in the adapter.
2. It allows me to focus at full aperture and automatically stops down to set aperture during the exposure.

I don't care about whether the meter works or not.

User ID

BebuLamar wrote:

When using old lenses on DSLR I care about 2 things.
1. I can focus to infinity without a lens element in the adapter.
2. It allows me to focus at full aperture and automatically stops down to set aperture during the exposure.

I don't care about whether the meter works or not.

Pretty much same here. I use many EOS lenses on Sonys and I read all those posts about how the AF is slow or screwed up. Who cares ? I got auto iris action and also the Sony IBIS reads the FL. Who wants to keep resetting that FL data every time you zoom to anther FL. Even with primes, I don’t hafta input a new FL each and every time when swapping lenses.

As you said, meter coupling is an optional convenience. I’ll use it if it works.

Don’t know whether you’re into IBIS big time, but I find the auto input of FL is at least as important to me as the auto iris stop down.

BebuLamar

User ID wrote:

Pretty much same here. I use many EOS lenses on So... (show quote)

Well I don't have any DSLR with IBIS so it's a moot issue plus I don't use old zoom either.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

graybeard wrote:

I have 9 or 10 adapters to mount various old film ... (show quote)

When I used Zeiss manual focus lenses on my Nikon gear, I liked the chipped lenses because they not only gave me metering information, but more importantly, they gave me focus information.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

billnikon wrote:

When I used Zeiss manual focus lenses on my Nikon gear, I liked the chipped lenses because they not only gave me metering information, but more importantly, they gave me focus information.

Bill, I don’t think I’m understanding you correctly. I understand the adapter passing lens aperture information to the camera, but the focus information, either contrast detection or phase detection (not the AF drive to the lens) is derived entirely within the camera isn’t, so how does any information from the lens or adapter affect it? I’m confused.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

tcthome wrote:

If I had to guess. The lens has nothing to do with the light meter which is inside the camera.

The lens determines the amount of light hitting the sensor in my cameras so they have a lot to do with the light meter.
This includes old FD, FL and R lenses, Nikkor lenses and a variety of other lenses.
All have a lot to do with the light meter as they allow the light to properly hit it.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

TriX wrote:

Bill, I don’t think I’m understanding you correctly. I understand the adapter passing lens aperture information to the camera, but the focus information, either contrast detection or phase detection (not the AF drive to the lens) is derived entirely within the camera isn’t, so how does any information from the lens or adapter affect it? I’m confused.

With the chip I get a focus dot when I rotate the focusing ring, the dot tells me I am now in focus.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

The Df, to mention at least one Nikon, will meter, and the electronic rangefinder works, with no chip in the lens. In fact, no mechanical or even physical contact with the camera is required.
Yes, I’m aware that this thread has already been hijacked by mention of Nikon - graybeard has a Canon.