[TexasTom]

In the 1980s I bought a Pentax model SFII 35mm film camera. I also bought two zoom lenses: a SMC Pentax F Zoom 35-70 mm & 70-210 mm.

I know that old 35 mm film cameras are almost worthless these days, but a friend said that he thought the zoom lenses might work on a DSLR camera housing. Can anyone confirm?

If the lenses won't work, do they have any/much value?

Cheers, Tom

[GatorPentax]

Hey Tom,
If it is for a pentax camera, it'll work on any digital Pentax Dslr on the market today. I currently have a manual 50mm lens built in the early 80's im using on a K100d dslr. This is why pentax is so amazing. Canon and Nikon changes their lens mount so often that lenses 4 years ago wont work on some cameras today. But pentax lenses built 40 years ago can work on cameras today.

[Gaelen]

I have 2 old lenses that I have been using a lot lately

You can definately use them just have to change a few settings as it will try and read the lense and wont work

[clm]

The Pentax F series lenses you have will work without difficulty on a Pentax digital camera. The SMC Pentax F 70-210 has an excellent reputation and sells for about $175. The 35-70 is good but not sought after so much, it goes for $50-ish.

[Chako]

Yes they will work with no problems. I bought a screw mount adapter so that I can use my Takumar 55mm circa 1955 on the camera. How is that for backwards compatibility?

I fear there is some misinformation however. Canon lenses that are older then 4 years will indeed fit Canon cameras. In fact, I do believe that Canon switched over to their EOS line back in 87. Hence all lenses made on or after that date will work with their EOS cameras. Not as good as Pentax but not as bad as the above poster mentioned. I cannot comment on Nikon systems as I know very little about those.

[Lowell Goudge]

Yes they will work with no problems. I bought a screw mount adapter so that I can use my Takumar 55mm circa 1955 on the camera. How is that for backwards compatibility?

I fear there is some misinformation however. Canon lenses that are older then 4 years will indeed fit Canon cameras. In fact, I do believe that Canon switched over to their EOS line back in 87. Hence all lenses made on or after that date will work with their EOS cameras. Not as good as Pentax but not as bad as the above poster mentioned. I cannot comment on Nikon systems as I know very little about those.

You need to be careful about C&#$N. They made I believe 2 lens mount changes, not one, which is why my brother in law switched to N&#$N. The first was to replace their origonal mount with a bayonette, but then they changed again, I think at the time of autofocus, but am not sure.

[Chako]

Sorry, I do not need to be carful with Canon. Their last lens mount change was 20 years ago. It was a good move on their part as their older FD mount could not be retrofitted with AF technology. They needed to redesign it from the ground up to make their products feasible and better. I don't foresee them changing their lens mounts anytime soon either.

Now may I ask why you cannot say "Canon" or "Nikon". The way you write it, its almost like your swearing. I don't understand it.

[MPrince]

Now may I ask why you cannot say "Canon" or "Nikon". The way you write it, its almost like your swearing. I don't understand it.

A lot of people do this with brand names other than their preferred brand so that if someone else does a forum or google search, their post doesn't show up in the search results. The poster was not necessarily being disrespectful to Canon or Nikon, though only he knows for sure.

[roy]

welcome to the forum to. i have 1 AF lens, the kit.. the rest(10) are 20years+ -35years old. i love my old glass.
what part ox Tx do you hale from??

roy

[GaryML]

In the 1980s I bought a Pentax model SFII 35mm film camera. I also bought two zoom lenses: a SMC Pentax F Zoom 35-70 mm & 70-210 mm.

I know that old 35 mm film cameras are almost worthless these days, but a friend said that he thought the zoom lenses might work on a DSLR camera housing. Can anyone confirm?

As others have pointed out, the Pentax F lenses work perfectly well on all Pentax digital SLRs. Please note that the field of view will be smaller, as the digital sensor is only 2/3 the size of a 35mm film frame. Older Pentax lenses will also mount on Pentax digital SLRs but some functionality may be lost (e.g., aperture priority exposure mode is not availabe with type K and M lenses).

Just to correct some mis-information:

All Canon brand EOS lenses work with all Canon EOS cameras, including all digital cameras, with the exception that EF-S lenses are made for the smaller sensor digital models and do not work with full frame cameras. Some older third party lenses have some difficulty with newer cameras due to the fact that the electronics in these lenses is not fully compatible, but the manufacturer may offer to correct this problem for free. Older Canon manual focus lenses (e.g., FD type) are not supported on EOS cameras, AFAIK.

Most Nikon lenses for the F mount will work with the higher end Nikon digital cameras (D1, D2, D3, D100, D200 and D300). The only lenses that won't work are pre-1976 lenses that are not "AI" (Aperture Indexed). However, many older lenses were converted to AI with the replacement of the aperture ring. On compatible bodies, all AI and newer lenses function in all modes supported by the lens, including aperture priority for AI and shutter and program modes for AIS. In this respect, Nikon has the best compatibility with lenses dating back over 30 years. But on lower end digital bodies (D40, D80, etc.) pre-auto-focus lenses will only work in meterless manual mode.

Finally, there are various sorts of adapters to use old lenses with incompatible mounts on various cameras, such as Contax S/Praktica/Pentax M42 screw mount to Pentax K, M42 to Canon EOS, etc. The results will be hit or miss, and generally any automatic aperture function will be lost.