BetterPhoto Member |
Can I use lenses from Canon AE-1 on a Canon EOS? Can I use lenses from my Canon AE-1 on a Canon EOS Rebel?
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John P. Sandstedt |
No. When autofocus cameras became available in 1988, only Nikon produced a body that would accept its Nikkor A Series lenses. EOS cameras take EF lenses.
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Jon Close |
Pentax and Nikon both retain their basic bayonet mount design so that their older manual focus lenses may be used on their autofocus and digital bodies, though with some incompatibilities (depending on specific lens and body combination). Minolta and Canon took the opportunity to completely redesign their lens mounts for their autofocus bodies. Minolta MC/MD mount lenses can be used on Maxxum bodies, but only with an adapter. Similarly Canon's FL/FD lenses can only be mounted to EOS bodies with an adapter. While it can be done in both cases, it is rarely worth the bother since the combination is severely "crippled" - stop-down metering only, and the adapters incorporate optical elements to retain infinity focus, but at the expense 2/3 stop smaller effective maximum aperture and degraded optical performance.
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Sharon Day |
Thanks Minolta and Canon! This is why I chose Nikon when I went to a DSLR. Who's to say Canon won't change again one fine day???
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Jon Close |
The same Nikon whose AF-S, G, and VR lenses are not compatible with even their early AF models, much less their older manual focus bodies? ;-) There is far more compatiblilty between the EOS bodies and EF/EF-S lenses (virtually 100%) than there is in the Nikon AF/AF-I/AF-S/G/DX lenses.
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Bob Chance |
As everyone has already stated, you cannot use the older FD/FL lenses on the newer EOS model cameras. This really doesn't have so much to do with autofocus as it does with the lens aperature. Afterall, so long as you can physically mount it to the camera, you can manually focus any lens. The real problem is the aperature on the older FD/FL is manually stopped down, while the newer EF/EF-S lenses are all electronic. Other than going with the adapter that Jon wrote about, there wouldn't be anyway to stop the FD lens down. Years ago when I shot A-series cameras, I also use a reverse adapter that allowed you to mount the lens on the camera backwards for extreme macro. Along with the adapter ring to mount the lens to the camera, it also came with a ring that fitted on camera end of the lens which engaged the stop down lever on the lens so you could manually stop the aperature down. I also used to have a little gizmo that had a slot in it. It fit over the stop down lever and as you pushed the lever over, this piece would fit into place and hold the aperature in it's stopped down position. I agree with Jon too, it really isn't worth it. The loss in quality and usability far outweighs the gain. Bob
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