If you still had 3 Canon EF lenses from 20 plus years ago...

[TimmyD11]

I have a 20+ year old Canon EOS A2 that I broke and then put away and forgot about as I moved away from photography and started to get into other things.

I have 3 lenses with that, one more than I thought, all Canon lenses, and I'm not sure how good they are, or how good they would be on a modern Canon DSLR, if they fit and the autofucus works. (and someone mentioned in another thread there might be aperture issues with a new DSLR body and older lenses intended for a Canon 35mm film SLR)

The lenses are:


Canon EF 85mm 1:1.8

Canon EF 28-105mm 1:3.5-4.5

Canon EF 70-210mm 1:4


I don't know if this glass is compatible or good enough to build around or if I should just sell for whatever I can get and start over...

but it looks like I now have the option to build around these lenses.

I just don't want to do it if the lenses are less than good or if they will give me problems with a new Canon DSLR.

I also don't want to be tied down to that simply because I have them if there is a better way to go...

and so if I sold these lenses, depending on what I can get for them, perhaps I can up my budget for my next camera and lenses, whatever way I go.

Thoughts?

 

[Peeb]

Here is some analysis of (what appear to be) these lenses:

Canon 85mm f/1.8 Review
Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM Lens Review
Canon 70-210mm review

Note that 2 of those 3 reviews are from Ken Rockwell, who is somewhat controversial in that he expresses his personal beliefs as if they are gospel fact and you need to read with a cynical eye towards opinion versus fact. Still, he does provide information that I find useful.

My suspicion (WITHOUT FACT) is that these lenses should do just fine on a modern Canon body, but were I you I would do 2 things for sure:

1) wait for a true canon authority on this site to confirm this; and
2) find someone locally with a modern canon body and try them out to be sure.

As Rockwell points out, these vintage lenses will lack VR and modern coatings, but I suspect that they still have many fine images left in them. I'll watch this thread to see where it goes. Good luck!

 

[TimmyD11]

Can anybody teach me about "crop sensors" and how a DSLR with an APS-C sensor and these original 35mm SLR lenses will interact? Advantages and disadvantages?

 

[Peeb]

Can anybody teach me about "crop sensors" and how a DSLR with an APS-C sensor and these original 35mm SLR lenses will interact? Advantages and disadvantages?

The 'crop' factor for canon is 1.6, which means when you mount a traditional 'full frame' lens (like 35mm film cameras) on a 'crop' body, you must multiply the lens focal length by 1.6 to approximate what the lens would 'look' like in a traditional full frame field of view.

For Example, a lens marked 100mm will have the same 'look' and field of view on a crop camera as a 16omm lens. Benefit: obviously more perceived 'reach' in that a lens marked 100mm appears to get you out to 160 (or 200 gets out to 320 and so on). Also, since you are only capturing the center of the lens view, your edge sharpness is usually excellent. Drawback: there is much that the lens caught that did not get transmitted to the sensor as the sensor wasn't wide and tall enough to capture it. Hence, a 'crop' lens with identical focal lengths can be made smaller, lighter, and (usually) cheaper.

My take on the whole topic, anyhow.

Here's a link: Understanding Crop Factor

 

[TimmyD11]

So then theoretically my 70-210 might now be a pretty good 336mm grizzly bear at safe distance in Glacier National Park lense?

 

[Peeb]

So then theoretically my 70-210 might now be a pretty good 336mm grizzly bear at safe distance in Glacier National Park lense?

Which would be thrilling/terrifying (OK- more terrifying than thrilling, but....)

 

[TimmyD11]

So should I get a Canon 80D and pair them with the lenses I have, as a start?

 

[TimmyD11]

Alright, at least answer me this if you can: what necessary or unnecessary functions am I getting with an $1100 DSLR that I'm not getting with a $600 or $800 DSLR?