35mm Lenses to dLRS Camera?

[Jackson_state]

Not sure if this is something that can, or can't be done but I've got a handful of lenses for a 35mm camera and would like to know if they could be used on a dLRS.

My grandfather was a semi-professional photographer and I have seven lenses that fit his Nikon N90s camera. I borrowed a friends Canon EOS Rebel T2i with the hopes of getting into digital photography since I've got a ton of equipment. I know the lenses won't fit directly but is there something I can buy to adapt them to a dLSR?

 

[480sparky]

There are adapters to put Nikon F-mount lenses on Canons.

Adapters to put Canon lenses on Nikon bodies are hard to come by and tend to get pricey due to requiring lens elements.

 

[photoguy99]

They'll work a lot better and without much hassle on a Nikon DSLR. If you are willing to go up to a midrange body, they'll work perfectly, most likely.

On the consumer bodies they'll still work but with pretty severe limits.

 

[dennybeall]

Really old lenses , say from a Nikon "F", won't connect easily or at all on modern bodies. Newer lenses, say from an N90 film Nikon, may click right on but no auto functions.
I have a really old lens that with a bit of cutting with a Dremel went on the D5300 but it's totally manual, no auto focus, no light meter readings, etc. In total manual mode you can use the old lens or you can just hit your head on the wall.........
If you have instances where you'll use manual mode anyway then the older lenses would be good for you.

 

[greybeard]

Just exactly what lenses do you have? Take a few shots of them with your phone and post them.

 

[Mr.Photo]

If they are all Nikon brand lenses take a look at this site using the serial numbers on the lens. It will tell you when it was manufactured and exactly what lens it is.

As someone said above the mid level and up Nikon bodies (D7xxx and all of Nikon's FX full frame bodies) can use many of the older lenses dating back as early as the late 70's and early 80's.

 

[wfooshee]

Nikon, unlike Canon, did not change the physical properties of the lens mount when auto-focus was introduced. For that reason, modern cameras can still mount most legacy Nikon lenses. With the exception of the G lenses, current lenses can mount and work on ancient bodies, as well.

Basic Nikon compatibility notes: (For reference, the D40 and D60 fall into the same category as D3x00 and D5x00 for lens compatibility.)

Original F-mount, made before 1977 and not converted to AI (post-1977) will mount to D3x00 and D5x00, but nothing automatic works; no metering, no auto-exposure, manual settings only. Do not attempt to mount them to any other digital SLR, as part of the aperture ring needs to overlap part of the camera, which is hard to do with steel.

AI (introduced in 1977,) or AI-converted (a pre-AI lens that's been modified to behave as AI) will mount on current cameras. On the D3x00 and D5x00 (and any D-2-digits) it's manual all the way, with no metering. On higher cameras it will meter, and you can use aperture-priority as well as manual exposure.

Any original AF or AF-D lens will mount to all Nikon dSLRs, but will not auto-focus on D3x00 and D5x00, as those cameras don't have the focus motor in the body that all of Nikon's early AF cameras had. They will meter, but AF (no '-D') will not use the meter's 3D features, as they don't send distance information to the camera.

Anything that's AF-S is 100% on all dSLRs and most film cameras. No AF, of course, on non-AF bodies, but the lens will mount and use any of the camera's functions, except for G lenses on bodies which require an aperture ring on the lens (which is very old film bodies - all the digital bodies use G lenses OK.)

As to the OP's actual question, using Nikon lenses on Canon cameras, there are adapters to do that, but no automatic functions pass through those adapters, making it something you really really want to do if you're going to do it.

Putting Canon lenses on Nikon cameras doesn't work, even with adapters, unless the adapter has a corrective lens, which will ALWAY degrade the lens's usability. The reason is that the distance from the sensor surface to the lens mount surface is larger on Nikon than it is on Canon. That difference means the thickness of an adapter can be used to put a Nikon lens at the right distance from the Canon sensor to focus correctly. A Canon lens on a Nikon camera is too far from the sensor even without the thickness of any adapter ring, so it won't focus to infinity. That's where corrective optics are necessary, making the adapter more expensive and more compromising.

 

[petrochemist]

Putting Canon lenses on Nikon cameras doesn't work, even with adapters, unless the adapter has a corrective lens, which will ALWAY degrade the lens's usability. The reason is that the distance from the sensor surface to the lens mount surface is larger on Nikon than it is on Canon. That difference means the thickness of an adapter can be used to put a Nikon lens at the right distance from the Canon sensor to focus correctly. A Canon lens on a Nikon camera is too far from the sensor even without the thickness of any adapter ring, so it won't focus to infinity. That's where corrective optics are necessary, making the adapter more expensive and more compromising.

One slight addition to this. There are adapters without the corrective lens out there, these can't focus to infinity how far they fall short will depend on the focal length of the lens. Longer focal length lenses are less effected by the increased rear distance. I suspect the increased distance might be enough to stop some lenses from focusing at all (longest focus of very wide lenses might be within the lens).

There are many photographers who love adapting legacy lenses for their DSLRs (I've used a 1934 Kodak lens on mine as well as quite a few others) but for someone starting out I think sticking to lenses that work well with your camera is a good idea! If you've got loads of quality Nikon lenses don't bother with the Canon. If you want to try them without investing in an expensive body and don't know anyone who can lend you a suitable camera, either buy a used Nikon body that supports their features reasonably, or rent a body.