Can I use these old lenses? (part2)

[Colon]

Hi. Yesterday I asked about using my old Tamron lenses and was asked to post pix. It seems I can't according to the rules?
I have had a closer look at the gear and can tell the following. The 2x tele converter fits the body with no adaptor ring. Then the 28-58mm lense, the 75-250mm zoom and the 500mm fixed lense all fit using adaptall 2 rings.

My original question was can I use these old circa 1980 lenses on any DSLR body? I will obviously save myself a bundle if I can and I'm prepared to accept that the newer stuff will be better (?) but at least I can hit the ground running and upgrade over time. A previous reply indicated that I might have to set exposure and focus manually. Manual focus doesn't TOO bad but manual exposure? Is this a major problem to an amature?
Thanks to all those who educate us "noobs"!

 

[benhasajeep]

Some of the higher end bodies will allow you to meter in all metering modes. Some of the less expensive DSLR's may just give you just spot metering. The camera manual will let you know.

Now of course if you buy a camera with a different mount than what you currently have the adaptors for, you will need to get new ones for what ever body you buy. If you have to buy new adaptors you may be better of just buying a camera and a kit lens. Not to be rude but the lenses you have are nothing stellar in performance. The new kit lenses should be up to par with them quality wise, and are inexpensive. Plus you can get lower priced body and get more functional use from it.

As for the metering. If you buy a body that does not allow at least spot metering with your current lenses, you will then need a hand held meter. But that means spending more money again. Using a digital camera you could go without a meter and use rules of thumb for initial exposure calculations. Check the results, adjust, take another picture, and so on. But that is time consuming.

I suggest is finding out what system the original lenses are for (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, etc). And pick up a body and kit lens that matches. That way at least you have a decent lens to use for when you don't have the time to play with the old lenses.

It can be done, and I use manual focus lenses on my cameras on occasions, I even use Nikon lenses on my Canon body occasionally. But sometimes you just want to push the button and get a pic without all the work.

 

[usayit]

* I doubt any Canon DSLR will work easily.. Adaptalls are back in the FD timeframe.
Minolta is in the same boat. Pretty much leaves you with either Nikon or Pentax if you still choose to leverage these lenses with the adaptall 2.

* Adaptall 2 adapters are cheap now a days (see keh.com and ebay.com). Your previous post said Contax camera so you'll have to figure in the cost of a new adapter. No DSLR with Contax mount exists today.

* As mentioned, you'll have to manually focus. Be aware that there are almost no DSLRs that come with a focus prism screen. Some will allow you to add it later on but that is also an added expense. I have no problem focusing without the prism screen BUT I would imagine someone with tired eyes might.

* Both nikon and pentax will allow you to meter manually. I can't speak for nikon but I can for pentax (and samsung DSLRs which are pentax rebrands) since I collect a bunch of lenses in K and M42 mount. Pentax DSLRs still maintain decent compatibility with older K-mount lenses due to the aperture linkage they still build into every body. In fact, my macro "setup" involves a tamron 90mm f/2.5 macro attached to a Samsung GX-1L (Pentax *ist DL rebrand) with a ring light. A long time ago, I had a posted my initial experience with the camera. It should give you an idea of what is involved (at least for my pentax/samsung). THe first point is relative (but also dependent on the camera.. so each body might be different)

From the thread: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...forum-photo-gallery/109445-pentax-ist-ds.html

"Just an update to this short thread.

One of my late night ebay browsing found a Samsung GX-1L which is essentially a Pentax *ist DL2 rebranded. I put in a pretty low bid not expecting to win... and presto.. I won. Final bid... $200 bucks + shipping and that includes the Kit lens. Well... it arrived today and after playin around with it for a few minutes, I'm pretty sure this is the best found bargain to date. Yeh.. its not a collectible and doesn't look right in my display case... but who cares?

* All my old lenses work Both K and KA even though the camera sepecifically mentions only KA and KAF. There are few settings that got the manual k-mounts without the "A" setting on the aperture work. 1) "AE-L on M expr" needs to be set to 2 to allow the "AE-L" button function as the stop-down metering in aperture priority. 2) "Use Aperture ring" has to be set to 2 to allow you to use lenses even though they are not set in the "A" setting. 3) Move the switch from "AF" to "M" or else the camera will try to focus prior to letting you trip the shutter. 4) The camera has to be set to full "M" manual mode. Once you set 1 and 2, you can leave it that way even though you switching between AF lenses and Manual K-mounts. Once all set, you basically focus, set your aperture via the lens ring, hit AE-L (stops down and sets shutter), and then press the shutter. Works pretty seemlessly. I got a kick out of mounting my older screw mount M42 lenses too.
* AA batteries is pretty cool. Easy to find anywhere. Not sure about how long a single charge lasts.
* Darn "prism hump" from which the flash pops out of, sticks out enough to block the view of the aperture rings of manual lenses. A little annoying but you can still see it from the side.
* Write speed to the SD is slow.
* AF is slower BUT I think this has to do with my expectations. I've been shooting with a Canon 1D mark II+L lenses for years now. By comparison, my Canon is super speedy. In general, the operation of the camera reminded me of my old 10D.
* Prism is bright enough to manual focus but I do miss split prism. The AF light does come on when you are in focus which is a workable alternative.
* Build seems at par with the other lower line cameras from nikon and canon.
* Camera menus are pretty straight forward and easy to figure out. Font looks like it came out of the old DOS days...heheh lol.
* The Camera is VERY compact.. just like what Pentax was known for. Still bigger than the well known ME bodies.
* Screen is big and bright. Slightly bigger than my 1D-MarkII.
* No low-light "red" assist lamp. Camera's AF will chase in low light.

Overall... I think Pentax is headed towards the right path which is a big relief for this ol'Pentax user. If the K10D and K20D are a major improvement over this camera, which I hear they are, then Pentax just needs to re-establish itself in the professional community to stay on track.


In summary.. I'm so freakin amazed that I got this nice camera for this little. woohoo...

My only problem.... what to say when the rest of my friends and family see this camera and say "Another camera!!????""

 

[usayit]

btw...

The 500mm Tamron adaptall. Is it the mirror lens? If so, I *might* be interested in it if you choose not to use it... depending on price and condition.

(Just another lens to add to my collection.. lol)



As the previous poster said, you might want to just consider buying a used DSLR of your choosing with a kit lens.

 

[Colon]

Guys - thanks so much for your sage advice. If I consider my severe lack of knowlage on the obsticals and how they are overcome, I would be wise to scrap the lenses and cough up for matching equipment from the get go. It was worth an ask tho.

USAYIT: The lense is the mirror type but I am in South Africa so I doubt it would be cost effective to post.

Thanks again everyone. I'm sure I'll be back when I get set up. Til then I will carry on with the Fuji Finepix. I have actually leared a lot even at that level and can still get good milage out of it but I'm interested in birds so tic tok.......