Canon Lens film vs digital

[\\'anderer]

I just purchased A Canon digital rebel XTI for my wife and myself for christmas. I can't wait for it to arrive. I purchased the kit zoom lens it was only $50 more than the body alone. We also have a collection of Canon film camereas both manual and autofocus.

From doing some reading I see that because of the digital sensor size compared to the film size, the focal lengths that I'm familiar with will be different, no problem. what I want to know Is;

1. I have some really nice manual focus lenses I want to keep. Is there any drawback (picture quality) to using the film lenses on the digital. (With an adaptor of course).

2. Can I use the digital lens on the film camera, or because of the smaller lens will it look like I'm looking out of a porthole?

3. Do I sell all my old lenses and use that money for a quality zoom. (the old lenses range from 17mm to 300mm all fixed focal length)

As many of you have stated in other posts "get a quality lens" . I'm hoping my acient manual focus lenses will do the job, and I'll use the cheapie zoom when I dont want to carry around a 50lb camera bag.

[Robthebrit]

You cannot use canon digital lenses on a 35mm film camera or on a digital with a full size sensor (eos 1D or 5D).

The standard canon EOS lens is known as an EF lens and will have a red locator dot on the mount, these lenses can be used on either 35mm or digital but when used on a digital with a APC sized sensor you will get the 1.6x focal length issue. Canon digital lenses are known as EFS lenses and have a white locator dot on the mount. These lenses work as expected on a digital body with the smaller APC sensor and do not have the 1.6x focal length factor. These lenses cannot be mounted on a 35mm camera or a full size digital due to the clearance between the back of the lens and the mirror.

If you spend any real money on glass then get the EF series, they are higher quality, there is far more choice and you can use them on all cameras. It looks as if canon will gradually move to full size sensors making EFS lenses useless. The only EFS lens I have is the one that came with the Rebel when I bought it.

Rob

[cruiser guy]

I was faced with the same dilemma that you are now. I had Nikon film lenses all manual focus as well as about 4-5 film bodies. I have, over the past two months, sold all my old manual focus film lenses (probably 8 lenses in total) as well as the bodies and used the proceeds to purchase 3 autofocus zoom lenses that cover a greater range than my old lenses did (I bought a Nikon D1 last year to "get into" digital SLR's).
I had mostly fixed focal length lenses from 20mm all the way to 500mm along with a macro lens and a couple of zooms.
I now have a 12-24mm zoom which is a digital only lens (it DOES look like you're looking out a porthole on a film camera), a 24-120mm zoom and an 80-400mm zoom. This covers the gammit from 18mm to 600mm in traditional 35mm lenses.
I think this will work better as I'll be more apt to have the right lens with me and I won't have such a huge pile of stuff to pack around. I found that the functions on the D1 worked OK with the manual focus lenses but I think that the new lenses will work easier and faster.
The ONLY drawback I've noticed is poor low light performance on the D1 (too much digital "noise").

[Jonathan Hanson]

Wanderer, if I were you I would sell the manual lenses and invest in new zoom lenses, which will enable you to take advantage of all the features of the Rebel (and I'm not sure it's possible to use the manual lenses even with an adapter).

Zoom lens quality has improved immensely in the last decade, with the advent of cheaper exotic glass, simplified manufacturing techniques for aspheric elements, and better coatings. Two or three zooms can now take the place of a whole bag full of fixed lenses, and produce publishable results.

I agree that full-size sensors are probably the wave of the future, but don't count out the APC sensor. A nice pro or advanced amateur combination is an APC camera such as a 20D or 30D for wildlife work (so you get the free extra focal length with EF lenses), and a 5D with the full-size sensor for normal and wide-angle use.

[bigreen505]

1. I have some really nice manual focus lenses I want to keep. Is there any drawback (picture quality) to using the film lenses on the digital. (With an adaptor of course).

There are three lens mounts, FD, EF (EOS), and EF-S (which is not really a separate mount, but is not compatible with full frame cameras, film or digital). You cannot use FD mount lenses on an EOS camera in any sane way because the flange-to-film distance is smaller with the FD lenses. Adapting them requires an adapter with a lens in it, degrading the image quality. They are expensive too, around $300 for the good ones that retain infinity focus.

If you prefer manual focus to autofucus, you can use lenses from Leica R, Zeiss, Nikon F (not G), Pentax, Hasselblad or just about anything else with an adapter. There is an autofocus adapter for Leica and Zeiss lenses that retain focus confitmation for about $80.

2. Can I use the digital lens on the film camera, or because of the smaller lens will it look like I'm looking out of a porthole?

If you are talking an EOS film camera, yes any EF series lens will fit. EF-S will not (only about three lenses in that line). If you are talking about an FD mount camera, no EOS lenses are compatible because the aperture is controlled electronically through the camera, not with a ring on the lens.

3. Do I sell all my old lenses and use that money for a quality zoom. (the old lenses range from 17mm to 300mm all fixed focal length)

They won't fetch much money if they are old FD lenses. Just use them for film on your current camera.

[\\'anderer]

Great information, It sounds like the best thing for me is to purchase EF lenses so that I could use my film EOS as a backup.

I will have to decide the fate of my F1 and lenses (they will probably end up in a box with other old and interesting cameras I have, that I can't seem to part with)

Thanks for all the great input
Mike