imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

and, the 200 micro ....

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Vintage, manual focus Nikon F mount lenses are for the most part very easily adapted for use on modern Canon EOS/EF cameras.

Those adapters you listed are probably all made in the same factory. Most of those names are "rebranders"... don't actually make anything themselves, just buy it and have their brand name stamped on it (much as Vivitar, Kodak, Polaroid and many others do).

There are two types of adapters: chipped and unchipped. The chipped ones are more expensive and have built-in electronic contacts, the primary benefit of which is that they allow the EOS camera's Focus Confirmation to work. You have to set the camera to One Shot mode while you still have a modern, autofocus lens on it, remover that and then install the adapted lens. (Focus Confirmation is not available in AI Servo mode and you cannot change the focus mode with no lens or with the adapted lens installed on the camera.)

I recommend the chipped adapters in spite of their higher cost, simply because modern autofocus cameras are not very "manual focus friendly", i.e. they don't have many of the focus assist features that were built into vintage, manual focus cameras. So Focus Confirmation can be quite helpful getting accurate focus.

Yes, at least some of the chips can be user-programmed to record basic lens info in image ESIF metadata. Not much more than lens focal length and it's rated max aperture, though. It won't show the aperture used or anything else.

With the adapter you will need to manually control the lens aperture, too (thus only lenses with an aperture control ring on them can be adapted). Set the camera to M for fully manual exposure control, or B for really long manual exposures (more than 30 seconds). Av or Aperture Priority mode will also work, if you want auto exposure. Auto ISO should work too (for what it's worth... and if your particular camera has it). Do not use Tv (Shutter Piority), P (Program), Full Auto (Green Box on some Canon, A+ on others), CA (Creative Auto) or any of the "Scene" Modes found on some Canon cameras. These will not give correct exposure.

Other things that can help manual focus include replacement focus screens available for some camera models. Canon makes some, and there are some made by third parties, too (Katzeye and others).

You also can use Live View on many Canon models to manually focus. The ability to zoom in 10X in LV can be helpful.

None of these are fast, are most useful when shooting relatively stationary subjects. When you stop the lens down manually, your viewfinder will dim down along with it. At some point (usually around f8 or f11, depending upon ambient conditions), it can be hard to focus and Focus Confirmation doesn't have enough light to work either.

The Canon EOS/EF lens mount was deliberately designed oversize and with greater lens register (distance from the flange to the film/sensor plane), in order to allow many other lens mounts to be adapted for use on the EOS/EF cameras. Canon probably got the idea from Konica K/AR, which was designed the same way in the 1960s. The idea was that if a camera can accommodate a wide variety of other manufacturers' lenses, consumers are more likely to opt for that camera when switching systems.

As a result, the EOS/EF mount can work with Nikon and a number of other manufacturer lens mounts, via adapters. You'll find more info about adapting lenses here...

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html

JBPDXOR Loc: Oregon

For those of you who wish to adapt Canon FD lens to EOS DSLR cameras use this focus and link. Then select the lens to adapt. Watch the videos to see how it is accomplished.
I converted a 50mm F1.4 and am very happy even though I manually have to focus and F stop.
Oh by the way, I too bought one of those cheap FD adapters with the optics. Yup way to soft.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-FL-55mm-1-2-EDMIKA-EOS-EF-lens-mount-conversion-converter-adapter-kit-/181352219773

Garyminor Loc: Raleigh, NC

Sharpie,

Thanks for your comments, and humor.

It arrived a few days ago, and it seems to work very well.
It clicked onto my old Nikon lens, then the assembly clicked onto the Canon EOS just like I expected. I can detach and attach the lens and adapter as a unit, just like I do the native Canon lens.

The focus confirm chip works only when the shutter is half pressed, but when it does, it emits a beep and flashes a red grid in the viewfinder, as well as a small green dot at the bottom of the viewfinder.

It can be programmed to "know" the lens minimum f-stop and focal length. The instructions are very confusing, but they work.

However, having said all of that, I would not recommend using a lens without auto aperture and auto focus for anything other than static objects. It can be done, but unless the lens is very special (expensive) I would buy a modern lens instead. I will be using this adapter on a Micro-NIKKOR 105mm lens for portraits or close-ups.

Thanks to all of you on the Ugly forum.

Gary

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

Very good observations. It is nice to hear your thoughts on this, especially this one:

"It can be programmed to "know" the lens minimum f-stop and focal length. The instructions are very confusing, but they work. I would not recommend using a lens without auto aperture and auto focus for anything other than static objects. It can be done, but unless the lens is very special (expensive) I would buy a modern lens instead."

I completely agree. I have adapted some older Canon FD lenses to use in a similar way, which is harder, but can still be done in many cases. There are very real limitations. I have had many people express that it is so much easier with Nikon, Pentax or whatever that it just isn't worth it with older Canon glass. It is definitely harder with old Canon glass, but you bring out a different and more important perspective on this.

What I really appreciate is your observation that even when the end result works it has limitations and really is only worth doing for exceptional lenses, and even then they have limited application, and are not a cheap alternative to modern auto-everything lenses.

They do have their place for some of us.

In my opinion, the real measure is not the difficulty of making the conversion, but the value of the end result.

You expressed that extremely well, thank-you.

BebuLamar

I heard this guy Tony Northrup said that Nikon has better sensor but their lenses are not as good as Canon so what you're doing is trying to use the worst?
Just kidding as I don't believe what he said.

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

Well that is an interesting perspective.

Can you tell us a little more please?

BebuLamar

This guy Tony Northrup who has quite a few videos on the web. I think you know who he is. He is a Canon shooter but he said he wanted to move over to Nikon because Nikon cameras have better sensor but he found out that Nikon lenses are not good enough for him.
So if what he said was true then using a Nikon lens on Canon body would be using both the lesser lens and the lesser body together.

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

Tilt!