MLee

I am trying to get back into photography. I need some advice about what equipment to add to what I have, or about starting fresh with new equipment. Would it help to give a list of what I have used in the past (way back 20 years ago past) and what may now be used with new equipment? I am not in the market to sell my photography, but I do sell fabric and fiber items that I make.

I now have a bit of money to invest in new equipment and, after doing some research, I still don't know what to purchase. I have lens from my Canon A1 and AT-1 that may could be used with adapters, but trying to decide which adapters to purchase is not happening. Does anyone have any idea of how to plan my journey to go forward at this poing
MLee

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Welcome MLee Welcome to our forum.

jack schade Loc: La Pine Oregon

Welcome to the forum. If you have a Camera club in your area I suggest joining and talking with the members for advice. They will probably let you handle some of their rquipment as well and you will likely find something that will work for you.

Jack

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

MLee.
I wish I had better news. If you like Canon, stick with Canon. Canon lenses from back then won't just stick on your new digital camera body. I am an ex-Canon user, not because I like Nikon better, but I inherited a LOT of quality glass that would work perfectly with newer DSLR bodies.

My suggestion would be to get your hands on a few different brands, even Sony Mirrorless, and see what feels best. The bad news of not being able to fully use your old glass (and still have auto functions), is offset by the fact that you aren't stuck with just one brand. I think all makes and models these days are capable of producing stellar results. If you go to a store (local camera store?) and actually feel them, and test them out, the decision will probably make itself.

I'm not a Nikon fanatic, but I wouldn't switch without a great reason, like inheriting even more expensive lenses than I already have.

MLee

Thanks for the reply, but joining another club is not for me right now. I am in several guilds and clubs, that are for my fiber work. So I just have to depend on research now. Are there no adapters to use with the Vivitar lens (Fd and Fl) that I already have. But I am not opposed to purchase new lens. I know I must have a new body.
MLee

MLee

Thank you for this reply, but I went to the best (reputation) store in the area, and all they wanted was to sell me new and told me my old equipment was worthless. I realize the bodies are not what I will use now, but I thought there were adapters for the lens to use with digital equipment now. Am I wrong?
MLee

Nature_Shooter Loc: Chesterfield Missouri

Welcome! Looking forward to your posts and pictures. Happy shooting!

VTMatwood Loc: Displaced Vermonta in Central New Hampsha

I believe that you can get an adapter to allow your FD lenses to be used with the EOS system for about $50 or so. Not sure as to how well they work or if there is any impact on image quality... but you can likely still use em.

MikeMck Loc: Southern Maryland on the Bay

Welcome!

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Welcome to the forum.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

gessman Loc: Colorado

Welcome to UHH. To cut to the chase about adapting FD mount lens to EOS cameras, the news isn't very promising. you can do it but your images may not be satisfactory for you as you develop more with digital. There are 2 types of adapters, one with no lens built in and one with a lens. The non-lens version will only focus close up, around 10 feet out and is only good for closeups. The other kind with a lens magnifies your image about 1 1/2 times and negatively affects the sharpness and quality of your images. If you're very picky about the quality, it may not be what you want. It's ok for experimenting but if you're serious, that's about it because the sharpness and contrast won't be competitive with what you'll see in images from current equipment, some of which can be "fixed" with post processing. You can always shoot film. Film is alive and well. Canon made drastic changes in the shift from FD to EOS and it's very likely it was to keep us from successfully doing what you want to do. You may want to consider buying used from ebay.com, keh.com, and other sources available, adorama.com or bhphoto.com, all reputable and reliable sources with short term warranties.

gessman Loc: Colorado

To briefly follow up with a recommendation, you can get better use of your FD lens by adapting them to a mirrorless camera such as a Sony a6000. All activity will be manual only but there are features in the a6000 that will help you take full advantage of the FD lens such as focus peaking and Clear Image Zoom, to list a couple. I shoot Canon and Sony and enjoy using some FD lens on the Sony bodies. All manual adapters are cheap and EOS autofocus lens can also be adapted, retaining many of the native features, with the Sigma MC-11 adapter. There's a lot of possibilities that require a little study.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Get a new camera and new lens(es) to go with it. If you get a kit from somewhere like Sam's Club you can get Canon or Nikon and the camera will be all you'd need to get started. It could be all you'll ever need. In Nikon, the D5500 would be a lot of camera with full features for stills and video and do all you could think up.
You could spend a lot of money on a full frame professional camera but 90% chance you'd just be wasting your money.

photophly Loc: Old Bridge NJ

Welcome to the Hog