Using analog lens on DSLR?

[sixstringer]

I'm interested in picking up a vintage analog lens to put on my Canon t2i, I will be getting a Fotodiox m42 adapter. Obviously there will be no auto focus using an analog lens but will I be able to use live view for manual focusing or not? Does live view require interaction with the lens?

Thanks

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[Ysarex]

Yes you will be able to use live view for focusing, but you will also be able to use the optical viewfinder for focusing -- live view isn't a requirement.

Joe

 

[sixstringer]

Yes you will be able to use live view for focusing, but you will also be able to use the optical viewfinder for focusing -- live view isn't a requirement.

Joe

Ok thanks, any tips for focusing through the viewfinder? I'm planning on getting probably a 50 1.4 so it might be tricky to eyeball it.

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[dennybeall]

Will this combination allow the light meter to work on the camera?
My old lenses don't on my Nikon so an external light meter is needed.

 

[480sparky]

Check your owners manual for instructions to use the focus assist LED(S) in the viewfinder.

 

[chuasam]

Lens are lenses, they neither produce digits or analogue signals.

 

[480sparky]

Lens are lenses, they neither produce digits or analogue signals.

Some lenses have electronics in them ("digital"), some don't ("analog").

 

[fmw]

I'm not experienced with Canon but I would assume in-camera metering should work in aperture priority or manual mode. You would give up any mode that requires aperture control from the camera. My advice would be to choose a lens with all the capabilities your camera body provides.

 

[john.margetts]

I'm not experienced with Canon but I would assume in-camera metering should work in aperture priority or manual mode. You would give up any mode that requires aperture control from the camera. My advice would be to choose a lens with all the capabilities your camera body provides.

I use my Canon with both my Olympus 50mm lens and my Soviet Helios 44 lens. Yes, you need to close down the aperture before pressing the shutter release - the camera meters properly in aperture priority mode.

 

[dasmith232]

I use M42 lenses frequently with several different bodies (Canon, Nikon and Sony). It works in all cases. Yes, the metering works also. You can use any of the modes, but Av and M will work most consistently. With Av mode, you're setting the shutter and the camera picks the shutter speed. The fact that you're picking the aperture with a mechanical ring doesn't change things.

With some cameras (notably mirrorless), there is a menu option to allow releasing the shutter without a lens attached. With a vintage lens, the camera thinks there is no lens attached. This is true for the M5 and Sony a6000, and many others.

 

[petrochemist]

Many (if not all) Canon bodies need a chipped adapter to operate fully with legacy lenses. Focus confirm will not work without this & I gather some models will refuse to shoot as well.
AFAIK all cameras that don't require this have an option to 'shoot without lens' somewhere in the menus (the wording does vary). This is usually set to NO. Changing it is one of my first steps when I get a new camera!

DSLRs tend to be more difficult to focus manually via the viewfinder than older SLRs, live-view can give a magnified image or focus peaking to help get the image focused exactly where you want (not always the case with focus confirm LEDs).
With mirrorless cameras all the live-view aids are available in the viewfinder.

 

[dasmith232]

Many (if not all) Canon bodies need a chipped adapter to operate fully with legacy lenses. Focus confirm will not work without this & I gather some models will refuse to shoot as well. ...

An excellent point. (I use bellows and a wide variety of adapters on my Canon bodies and have seen this too.) The chipped adapter (usually for 1.4x or 2x teleconverters) is necessary to retain auto-focus.

The other scenario and a big one to watch out for is that if you use an "auto" adapter and a manual lens, the camera will (almost always?) lock up when you actually take the pictures. In some cases the picture will be recorded and you have to cycle power to get control back (e.g., film-bodies, Rebels, 60D). In other cases, the picture will not be recorded and you still have to cycle power (e.g., 5D3).

The auto adapter (auto-focus control and/or aperture control) is often associated with teleconverters (or tele-extenders) or extension tubes. The issue is that the tube tells the camera, "what's attached to you is auto". But then the lens breaks that contract. Often, you can "modify" the flanges on the adapter with a dremmel tool to convert the adapter into a manual focus, but electronically controlled aperture. (I've done this, and you have to be REALLY careful (and accurate) with modification.)

I don't think I've ever been able to get an AF lens and 3rd party adapter to provide focus confirmation (but I haven't really tried that hard to get that). Also, I've not had any problems (ever) with pure manual adapters, which includes various mount adapters (like the M42-EF) or reversing adapters (for macro).

 

[ilscuro]

I use legacy lenses on my Canon dslr's, and to help me focus I use focus peaking, available via magic lantern, it's unbelievably helpful.

 

[petrochemist]

An excellent point. (I use bellows and a wide variety of adapters on my Canon bodies and have seen this too.) The chipped adapter (usually for 1.4x or 2x teleconverters) is necessary to retain auto-focus.

The other scenario and a big one to watch out for is that if you use an "auto" adapter and a manual lens, the camera will (almost always?) lock up when you actually take the pictures. In some cases the picture will be recorded and you have to cycle power to get control back (e.g., film-bodies, Rebels, 60D). In other cases, the picture will not be recorded and you still have to cycle power (e.g., 5D3).

The auto adapter (auto-focus control and/or aperture control) is often associated with teleconverters (or tele-extenders) or extension tubes. The issue is that the tube tells the camera, "what's attached to you is auto". But then the lens breaks that contract. Often, you can "modify" the flanges on the adapter with a dremmel tool to convert the adapter into a manual focus, but electronically controlled aperture. (I've done this, and you have to be REALLY careful (and accurate) with modification.)

I don't think I've ever been able to get an AF lens and 3rd party adapter to provide focus confirmation (but I haven't really tried that hard to get that). Also, I've not had any problems (ever) with pure manual adapters, which includes various mount adapters (like the M42-EF) or reversing adapters (for macro).

Wow that makes it sound complicated. I was annoyed about my cameras default setting being don't shoot if the camera can't talk to the lens! Once that's changed I've always have focus confirm & with some of my cameras image stabilization too even with 80 year old lenses!

The EOS mount is great for adapting lenses but seems to work best when not used with Canon! I find it an ideal intermediate with my MFT cameras - I can fit practically all my SLR lenses to it on one side, and can use several special adapters to link to the camera on the other side. Less than 10% of the lenses I adapt use electrical controls at all, the remaining few just loose aperture control.

 

[greybeard]

All lenses are analog. The microprocessor in the camera looks at the analog images on the sensor and converts the information the sensor sends to digital and then sends those numbers to the card to be recorded. All digital devices have an Analog to Digital and or Digital to Analog converter of some sort (AD and DA) your computer or printer takes the digital description sent to it from the camera card and converts it (digital to analog) back to an analog picture. The digital file on the card is not the picture but, a digital description (recipe) of the picture in the form of a stream of 1's and 0's.