Canon user question

jbrowning · 06-11-2009, 09:14 AM

Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market?

Thanks
Jim

graphicgr8s · 06-11-2009, 09:16 AM

Originally posted by jbrowning

Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market?

Thanks
Jim

Jim you may want to try posting this on a site like photozo.

jbrowning · 06-11-2009, 09:18 AM

Thanks I will do that.

Jim

k100d · 06-11-2009, 09:20 AM

huh? a camera that does both film and digital? that doesn't exist.
canon used to use an FD mount in the 80s which is incompatible with the current EF mount. however every EF lens should work on every EF camera, but new EF-S lenses do not work on FF bodies.

Gooshin · 06-11-2009, 09:22 AM

canon had two mounts, FD and EF

FD being the older one, which was literarly ditched by Canon in favor of the EF mount.

All current Canon cameras are EF, and FD lenses will not fit, however, there is somewhat of a market out there for them...

If your friend has FD lenses and wants to go digital, suggest to him to try and e-bay the whole lot and start fresh.

If however, he has EF lenses, they will all work with modern Canon digital cameras.

KungPOW · 06-11-2009, 09:22 AM

Originally posted by jbrowning

Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market?

Thanks
Jim

What do you mean by "a Canon body that does both digital and film "?

I assume you are looking for a film body and a DSLR that can each use the lenses?

If the lenses your friend has are EF lenses, then he could use any EOS film body and any Canon DSLR.

If his lenses are the older FD mount, then he is basically out of luck, and can only use the lenses with and older FD mount film body. There is an adaptor for F to EF mount, but it has allot of restrictions, and most people do not use it.

Are his lenses autofocus? If so, then he has EF lenses.

-------------------

Gooshin beat me.

jbrowning · 06-11-2009, 09:33 AM

Thanks everyone for their input I greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry I don't know what lens mount he has or even how old his film body is that he uses.

KungPOW, he is looking for one body that he can shoot both digital and film with.

Thanks
Jim

Gooshin · 06-11-2009, 09:38 AM

Originally posted by jbrowning

Thanks everyone for their input I greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry I don't know what lens mount he has or even how old his film body is that he uses.

KungPOW, he is looking for one body that he can shoot both digital and film with.

Thanks
Jim

there is no such body

unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money.

jbrowning · 06-11-2009, 09:42 AM

Thanks Gooshin, I knew I had never heard of such a body. But I wanted to make sure before I told him wrong.

Thank you all very much for your help on this.
Jim

pingflood · 06-11-2009, 09:50 AM

Originally posted by Gooshin

there is no such body

unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money.

And it'd be pretty tough to find a Canon one.

The good news is that even the higher end Canon film cameras are pretty affordable these days, so you can get a pretty sweet body for cheap. As has been pointed out, if you want to use FD mount lenses stick with an FD mount camera because the adapter isn't very usable.

Side note on the EF/FD switchover: from what I gather Canon wanted to make a clean cut and create a new mount that would handle the future needs rather than keep trying to retrofit things onto the old one. Look at Nikon and the damn compatibility matrix you have to consult whenever putting a lens on a body (oh yeah, this bangs the mirror, oh yeah, this one won't autofocus, that one won't meter...)-- meanwhile, any EF (or E) lens built fits, meters, and autofocuses (except for the E ones which from what I recall are the tilt-shift lenses) on every EF body. 22 years and no incompatibilities. Yeah, it pissed off a LOT of users when they did it, but in the long run they ended up ahead...

k100d · 06-11-2009, 10:26 AM

Originally posted by Gooshin

unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money.

on a side note, not canon but leica
Leica Digital Modul R for the R8 & R9: Digital Photography Review

emr · 06-11-2009, 10:29 AM

Originally posted by pingflood

Yeah, it pissed off a LOT of users when they did it, but in the long run they ended up ahead...

I know it certainly did. My brother-in-law (a fairly big spending photography amateur, currently has a Nikon D3 if he hasn't upgraded to D3x) had a lot of fine FD glass and the change made him go Nikon.

I believe the EF mount came around 1987 ( when I got the first model supporting it, an EOS 650), so if his gear is from within two decades, the glass might work just fine today.

Canon EF lens mount - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

jbrowning · 06-11-2009, 10:55 AM

My friend said the camera he had a the Canon AE-1. From what I can find it had the FD mount. So I think he is going to have to buy new glass to go digital.

Thanks
Jim

emr · 06-11-2009, 10:58 AM

Too bad. It seems FD mount glass can't be used much today except on older film bodies. Lots of fine old FD lenses available for that reason.

Blue · 06-11-2009, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by emr

I know it certainly did. My brother-in-law (a fairly big spending photography amateur, currently has a Nikon D3 if he hasn't upgraded to D3x) had a lot of fine FD glass and the change made him go Nikon.

I believe the EF mount came around 1987 ( when I got the first model supporting it, an EOS 650), so if his gear is from within two decades, the glass might work just fine today.

Canon EF lens mount - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I actually have the Canon adapter to use and FD 50mm Macro on the EOS 10s I have. I later got a EF 50mm macro. I even have a Tamron adaptall 2 mount for Canon EF. I need to eventually get around to selling my Canon Macro stuff including the ring light and bellows. Ironically, this is the only AF film camera I have and the only AF lens I have is the 50mm EF macor.

Originally posted by emr

Too bad. It seems FD mount glass can't be used much today except on older film bodies. Lots of fine old FD lenses available for that reason.

Canon made some lens specific adapters to use FD on EF. The trouble was that they were lens specific and they didn't seem to make many of them. As I mentioned I have one for the 50mm macro FD lens.

06-11-2009, 09:14 AM	#1
jbrowning Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 996	Canon user question Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market? Thanks Jim

06-11-2009, 09:22 AM	#6
KungPOW Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Vancouver, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,699	Originally posted by jbrowning Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market? Thanks Jim What do you mean by "a Canon body that does both digital and film "? I assume you are looking for a film body and a DSLR that can each use the lenses? If the lenses your friend has are EF lenses, then he could use any EOS film body and any Canon DSLR. If his lenses are the older FD mount, then he is basically out of luck, and can only use the lenses with and older FD mount film body. There is an adaptor for F to EF mount, but it has allot of restrictions, and most people do not use it. Are his lenses autofocus? If so, then he has EF lenses. ------------------- Gooshin beat me. Last edited by KungPOW; 06-11-2009 at 09:23 AM. Reason: Gooshin was faster

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06-11-2009, 09:16 AM	#2
graphicgr8s Guest	Originally posted by jbrowning Hello everyone. First of all. NO I'm not switching to Canon. But a friend of mine says he has a lot of Canon lenses for the film days. He is looking for a Canon body that does both digital and film that is compatable with the lenses he has. Sorry I don't know what mount the lenses have or really anything else. Is there such a Canon body out there on the market? Thanks Jim Jim you may want to try posting this on a site like photozo.

06-11-2009, 09:18 AM	#3
jbrowning Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 996 Original Poster	Thanks I will do that. Jim

06-11-2009, 09:20 AM	#4
k100d Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 3,911	huh? a camera that does both film and digital? that doesn't exist. canon used to use an FD mount in the 80s which is incompatible with the current EF mount. however every EF lens should work on every EF camera, but new EF-S lenses do not work on FF bodies.

06-11-2009, 09:22 AM	#5
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610	canon had two mounts, FD and EF FD being the older one, which was literarly ditched by Canon in favor of the EF mount. All current Canon cameras are EF, and FD lenses will not fit, however, there is somewhat of a market out there for them... If your friend has FD lenses and wants to go digital, suggest to him to try and e-bay the whole lot and start fresh. If however, he has EF lenses, they will all work with modern Canon digital cameras.

06-11-2009, 09:33 AM	#7
jbrowning Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 996 Original Poster	Thanks everyone for their input I greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry I don't know what lens mount he has or even how old his film body is that he uses. KungPOW, he is looking for one body that he can shoot both digital and film with. Thanks Jim

06-11-2009, 09:38 AM	#8
Gooshin Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Toronto, the one in Canada. Posts: 5,610	Originally posted by jbrowning Thanks everyone for their input I greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry I don't know what lens mount he has or even how old his film body is that he uses. KungPOW, he is looking for one body that he can shoot both digital and film with. Thanks Jim there is no such body unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money.

06-11-2009, 09:42 AM	#9
jbrowning Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 996 Original Poster	Thanks Gooshin, I knew I had never heard of such a body. But I wanted to make sure before I told him wrong. Thank you all very much for your help on this. Jim

06-11-2009, 09:50 AM	#10
pingflood Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Borås, Sweden Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,169	Originally posted by Gooshin there is no such body unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money. And it'd be pretty tough to find a Canon one. The good news is that even the higher end Canon film cameras are pretty affordable these days, so you can get a pretty sweet body for cheap. As has been pointed out, if you want to use FD mount lenses stick with an FD mount camera because the adapter isn't very usable. Side note on the EF/FD switchover: from what I gather Canon wanted to make a clean cut and create a new mount that would handle the future needs rather than keep trying to retrofit things onto the old one. Look at Nikon and the damn compatibility matrix you have to consult whenever putting a lens on a body (oh yeah, this bangs the mirror, oh yeah, this one won't autofocus, that one won't meter...)-- meanwhile, any EF (or E) lens built fits, meters, and autofocuses (except for the E ones which from what I recall are the tilt-shift lenses) on every EF body. 22 years and no incompatibilities. Yeah, it pissed off a LOT of users when they did it, but in the long run they ended up ahead...

06-11-2009, 10:26 AM	#11
k100d Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Toronto Posts: 3,911	Originally posted by Gooshin unless... you get a medium format camera with a digital back... but thats alot of money. on a side note, not canon but leica Leica Digital Modul R for the R8 & R9: Digital Photography Review

06-11-2009, 10:29 AM	#12
emr Guest	Originally posted by pingflood Yeah, it pissed off a LOT of users when they did it, but in the long run they ended up ahead... I know it certainly did. My brother-in-law (a fairly big spending photography amateur, currently has a Nikon D3 if he hasn't upgraded to D3x) had a lot of fine FD glass and the change made him go Nikon. I believe the EF mount came around 1987 ( when I got the first model supporting it, an EOS 650), so if his gear is from within two decades, the glass might work just fine today. Canon EF lens mount - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

06-11-2009, 10:55 AM	#13
jbrowning Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Colorado Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 996 Original Poster	My friend said the camera he had a the Canon AE-1. From what I can find it had the FD mount. So I think he is going to have to buy new glass to go digital. Thanks Jim

06-11-2009, 10:58 AM	#14
emr Guest	Too bad. It seems FD mount glass can't be used much today except on older film bodies. Lots of fine old FD lenses available for that reason.

06-11-2009, 02:06 PM	#15
Blue Moderator Site Supporter Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Florida Hill Country Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,377	Originally posted by emr I know it certainly did. My brother-in-law (a fairly big spending photography amateur, currently has a Nikon D3 if he hasn't upgraded to D3x) had a lot of fine FD glass and the change made him go Nikon. I believe the EF mount came around 1987 ( when I got the first model supporting it, an EOS 650), so if his gear is from within two decades, the glass might work just fine today. Canon EF lens mount - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I actually have the Canon adapter to use and FD 50mm Macro on the EOS 10s I have. I later got a EF 50mm macro. I even have a Tamron adaptall 2 mount for Canon EF. I need to eventually get around to selling my Canon Macro stuff including the ring light and bellows. Ironically, this is the only AF film camera I have and the only AF lens I have is the 50mm EF macor. Originally posted by emr Too bad. It seems FD mount glass can't be used much today except on older film bodies. Lots of fine old FD lenses available for that reason. Canon made some lens specific adapters to use FD on EF. The trouble was that they were lens specific and they didn't seem to make many of them. As I mentioned I have one for the 50mm macro FD lens.