Mirrorless Cameras and DSLR lenses: I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because...

franburst

I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because people are switching to mirrorless cameras. The clerk's answer surprised me. He said that with an adapter, the DSLR lenses are faster and were being kept for use on the mirrorless cameras.
I'm looking forward to what others have to say about this.

SteveZas Loc: Lemont, Illinois

franburst wrote:

I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because people are switching to mirrorless cameras. The clerk's answer surprised me. He said that with an adapter, the DSLR lenses are faster and were being kept for use on the mirrorless cameras.
I'm looking forward to what others have to say about this.

I’m not sure if they are faster or not. But I have used an adapter for my lenses on a Canon 5R. I see no difference in speed. My normal camera is an older Canon 5D SR so the pixels are about the same or a little less on the 5 R. The detail and resolution are mostly better on the 5 R. I have used lenses designed for the mirrorless, and they are noticeably better.

pendennis

Maybe the clerk should be selling shoes instead of cameras.

DSLR lenses are not inherently faster. A 50mm f/1.4 lens, whether a Nikkor AF, or a Nikkor Z series, has the same relative aperture. If you used the AF lens on a Z camera with the FTZ adapter, you should get the same meter reading, assuming all other factors are equal. Nikon makes a number of lenses with the same focal length, aperture, etc. for both types of cameras.

Alphabravo2020

I am considering a mirrorless camera but there are only one or two "mirrorless" lenses that I would be interested in. I would only go to a mirrorless camera for the improved focusing and vibration technology.

To your point, I think there are about 100 Z mount lenses (first and third party) compared to about 400 F mount lenses (just Nikkor). When you add third party native F mount lenses I'd guess the number is over 1000. I'd think this spoiled for choices is a good reason to uses adapted lenses.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

SteveZas wrote:

I’m not sure if they are faster or not. But I have used an adapter for my lenses on a Canon 5R. I see no difference in speed. My normal camera is an older Canon 5D SR so the pixels are about the same or a little less on the 5 R. The detail and resolution are mostly better on the 5 R. I have used lenses designed for the mirrorless, and they are noticeably better.

Faster as in light gathering? ƒ1.8 is "faster" than ƒ5.6. (the ƒ1.8 simply allows the use of a faster shutter speed.)
But if the same aperture would be used on both cameras under the same conditions, how would it be faster?

"noticeably better", in what respect? clarity?

therwol Loc: USA

franburst wrote:

I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because people are switching to mirrorless cameras. The clerk's answer surprised me. He said that with an adapter, the DSLR lenses are faster and were being kept for use on the mirrorless cameras.
I'm looking forward to what others have to say about this.

My take on it is that the adaptor is simply to allow the older lenses to function on the newer cameras. Nothing more than that. Without this functionality, I think you'd see sales of mirrorless cameras a fraction of what they are. A camera "upgrade" isn't an upgrade if you can't use your thousands of dollars worth of lenses you already own. New lenses in the old mount(s) are being discontinued, and new lenses in the new mounts are becoming available. First time buyers would be wise to buy mirrorless lenses (Nikon Z, for example) with their new mirrorless cameras. Forget the old stuff unless you're looking for a used bargain or unless you're a DSLR diehard.

zug55 Loc: Naivasha, Kenya, and Austin, Texas

Looks like your camera store has a large inventory of DSLR lenses they want to move out the door.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

franburst wrote:

I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because people are switching to mirrorless cameras. The clerk's answer surprised me. He said that with an adapter, the DSLR lenses are faster and were being kept for use on the mirrorless cameras.
I'm looking forward to what others have to say about this.

What a mirrorless camera with adapter will do for you is give the dSLR or SLR lens the benefit of in-body image stabilization, IF your mirrorless body has a built-in stabilizer.

Otherwise, SPEED OF autofocus performance (for AF dSLR lenses) can actually suffer. Of course, DUMB adapters that simply mount the lens will render your lenses annoying to use. They disable AF, in-lens stabilization, communication of lens data to the body, and automatic aperture (diaphragm) control.

A lot of the equation depends upon the lens brand, age, features, the specific adapter used, and your new camera's capabilities.

rmorrison1116 Loc: Near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

franburst wrote:

I was in a local camera store yesterday looking at used DSLR lenses. I asked the clerk if there were a lot of lenses available for sale because people are switching to mirrorless cameras. The clerk's answer surprised me. He said that with an adapter, the DSLR lenses are faster and were being kept for use on the mirrorless cameras.
I'm looking forward to what others have to say about this.

The lenses may be "faster" if the adapter is also a speed booster. Speed boosters play a roll in photography, but I don't recommend them for everyday photography. I own a lot of EF mount lenses so I use EF to RF adapters on my EOS R bodies. The EF lenses work great on my R bodies, but they are not any faster.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

rmorrison1116 wrote:

The lenses may be "faster" if the adapter is also a speed booster. Speed boosters play a roll in photography, but I don't recommend them for everyday photography. I own a lot of EF mount lenses so I use EF to RF adapters on my EOS R bodies. The EF lenses work great on my R bodies, but they are not any faster.

MetaBones SpeedBoosters are very popular with film makers using Black Magic and Lumix Micro 4/3 bodies, especially with Canon EF and EF-S mount lenses. The most popular combination is the .71x SpeedBooster with the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 ART lens.

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

Some info if you need it..
I don't know what camera you are using but these are the Nikon lenses compatible with the Nikon FTZ adaptor...
My Sigma lenses are also compatible...35mm 1:1.4 DG Art, Sigma 18-200 "C": and my Sigma 150-600mm..

The highlighted ones are my Nikon lenses, I no longer have the 35mm

(Download)

SteveInConverse Loc: South Texas

I have exactly one lens adapted to my EF mount Canon... A Pentax Super Takumar 50mm 1.2 in M42 mount. It takes pretty good pics but I don't use it too much. If I had a bunch of vintage lenses or maybe lenses from another ecosystem, I would definitely try to leverage them with my newer camera.

deerpark243 Loc: La Mirada, California, USA

SX2002 wrote:

Some info if you need it..
I don't know what camera you are using but these are the Nikon lenses compatible with the Nikon FTZ adaptor...
My Sigma lenses are also compatible...35mm 1:1.4 DG Art, Sigma 18-200 "C": and my Sigma 150-600mm..

Jerry G Loc: Waterford, Michigan and Florida

I have seen some reviews that say some f mount lenses focus faster on z mount cameras than they do on f mount cameras.

tcthome Loc: NJ

Jerry G wrote:

I have seen some reviews that say some f mount lenses focus faster on z mount cameras than they do on f mount cameras.

It probably means the camera focuses faster.