Film SLR lens on DSLR?

[amateuraperture]

Can you use lenses from film SLRs on digital SLRs?

 

[Lodd]

Depends. Nikon have used the same mount for 90 years or so.
What lens do you wanna use on which camera?

 

[Restomage]

5 Star question.

 

[Josh66]

Well, it depends on what camera and lenses you're talking about, but generally - yes.

Based on your signature, I see that you shoot Canon. Anything made after 1987 will be interchangeable with digital bodies, mostly.

As long as it's the EF mount, you're good.

 

[Dao]

If you mean old lens that was designed for Canon film camera, as long as it has a EF mount, it will work.

I used to own few old EF mount lenses that were made in the 80s and they all work 100% in the my Canon EOS DSLR

 

[amateuraperture]

The reason I ask is that I see on craigslist a lot of old canon film cameras for cheap and usually have a nice lens attached...

 

[Light Artisan]

I usually see them with kit lenses attached, you're lucky.

 

[Dao]

The reason I ask is that I see on craigslist a lot of old canon film cameras for cheap and usually have a nice lens attached...

If the listed camera is an Canon EOS film camera, the lens that works with that film camera should work with the digital EOS.

 

[sobolik]

The reason I ask is that I see on craigslist a lot of old canon film cameras for cheap and usually have a nice lens attached...

Proceed with educated caution:

"[SIZE=+3]SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY[/SIZE]

Nikon​

Most Nikon camera and lenses made since 1959 are compatible with each other.​

The Nikon system is so renowned for its multi-decade interoperability that I have a Nikon System Compatibility page discussing it.​

Canon​

Canon cameras can use Nikon lenses, but Nikon cameras can't use Canon lenses.​

On the other hand, Canon flushed compatibility down the toilet in 1985 when it created a new and completely incompatible system of AF cameras and lenses called EOS. Nothing works together before or after the great divide of 1985.

​

To Canon's credit, the new EOS system is a better design than the old Nikon mount,



but old Canon FD manual focus lenses, once promoted as "timeless" by Canon, are useless today on modern Canon cameras.


Contrast this to Nikon, where just about every lens ever made works swell, with few limitations, on every brand new camera.​

Every Canon AF lens works on every Canon AF camera, including the digital SLRs, except for Canon's EF-S lenses, which only work on some of the newest 1.6x cameras. 1980's Canon AF lenses work great on every current Canon camera."

​

Nikon vs. Canon

 

[Light Artisan]

^ You should at least quote/credit the source of your info (Ken Rockwell).

 

[MichiganFarts]

^ You should at least quote/credit the source of your info (Ken Rockwell).

-The Internets

Duhh! :lmao:

 

[sobolik]

^ You should at least quote/credit the source of your info (Ken Rockwell).

The average completely illiterate person could easily identify the source by clicking on the provided link to the source.

 

[Josh66]

The reason I ask is that I see on craigslist a lot of old canon film cameras for cheap and usually have a nice lens attached...

Proceed with educated caution:

"[SIZE=+3]SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY[/SIZE]

Nikon​

Most Nikon camera and lenses made since 1959 are compatible with each other.​

The Nikon system is so renowned for its multi-decade interoperability that I have a Nikon System Compatibility page discussing it.​

Canon​

Canon cameras can use Nikon lenses, but Nikon cameras can't use Canon lenses.​

On the other hand, Canon flushed compatibility down the toilet in 1985 when it created a new and completely incompatible system of AF cameras and lenses called EOS. Nothing works together before or after the great divide of 1985.

​

To Canon's credit, the new EOS system is a better design than the old Nikon mount,



but old Canon FD manual focus lenses, once promoted as "timeless" by Canon, are useless today on modern Canon cameras.


Contrast this to Nikon, where just about every lens ever made works swell, with few limitations, on every brand new camera.​

Every Canon AF lens works on every Canon AF camera, including the digital SLRs, except for Canon's EF-S lenses, which only work on some of the newest 1.6x cameras. 1980's Canon AF lenses work great on every current Canon camera."

​

Nikon vs. Canon

It's like Big Mike once said - Canon chose to piss people off in the 80's, Nikon chose to piss people off today.