EF Lens adapter / EF Lenses / EOS Lens

[Bill Ravens]

I've got a heckuva lot of older Canon HD lenses. Has anyone tried these? I'm thinking of using a Canon EOS adapter and an HD to EF adapter sold by B&H photo coupled together. Does anyone know if this combo works?

[Jeff Donald]

To the best of my knowledge it works. The viewfinder probably will show no lens and it'll be manual focus and manual exposure. Somebody here had an OpTex one, but I think it's a lot more money than the B &H adapter.

Jeff

[Bill Ravens]

Just doing some research on my question, above, I found an article explaining that the HD lenses are very difficult to adapt to the EF mount because of geometrical considerations. There is a rather rare canon adapter(available on ebay) that contains an optic(like a tele-converter) except that this optic isn't perfect(duh). In the end, the author does not recommend this ...;-(

[Andrew Leigh]

Hi

Would have jumped in earlier but was on vacation.

T'was I who had mentioned that the Sigma 500 lens was not a good buy based on a couple of inputs. It would appear as if the the lens at the farther reaches vignettes badly and that the the lens is not crisp.

I have just returned from the bush where my 75 - 300mm lens was a much used item. I would love the 100 - 400mm but the price is too steep for me. I have no problems with the lens other than at times it is hard to focus in low light conditions. Very hard to keep steady, for me pans at full zoom are not possible and the slightest touch causes problems. Have to believe the 400 at full zoom must be even worse, don't know how one would keep a 500mm lens steady at full zoom. On a sturdy bench with sandbages you could get it right but would be unable to follow subject matter.

On the other hand I regularly run out of lens. Have come to the conclusion looser framed good steady footage is better than tightly framed bad shaky footage.

Jacques

I have used the XL-1 for birds to great effect. At the risk of stating the obvious a couple of techniques I have used involve, where possible moving the angle to include the background foilage this facilitates better exposure. Full and tight framing. Moving angle to lessen the sun glare. When you say you have done everything on the exposure side I assume this means you have also used the AE Shift wheel. Use of a good polariser. Changing the time of day (not always possible) late afternoon sunlight from behind softens the harshness and helps greatly.

Cheers
Andrew

[Zac Stein]

Anyone had any experience using these?


These lenses are ALOT cheaper and easier to find around here... especially the large array of used lenses floating around.


I understand a fast lense would be needed... i was wondering if anyone has used these, could explain their experience with these.

Also, i am totally new to all this, are there other lense brands that fit the eos mount/holder/attachmen?

And has anybody used these... please be as specific as u could...

thanx
kermie

[Adrian Douglas]

Kermie,

do a search on 'EOS lenses' and I think you will find what you are looking for.

One thing to remember though, when using 35mm still lenses that the focal length is multiplied by a factor of 7.2 which means a standard 50mm becomes a telephoto 360mm.

[Zac Stein]

I did a search but found no actual example pictures...

or really much useful information....

i was hoping that people would talk about their experiences using them, the quality of output, which ones to look for... if other lenses fit the adapter...


i found very very little info on that... more talks of wild life shoots and what i should get...

rather than actual discussion of the lenses.

kermie

[Jacques Mersereau]

Hi,

the first thing to know about the EOS adapter is there is
a magnification factor of 7.2X. So, a 100mm becomes a
720. Great for wildlife shooting where you need long lens,
but not so great for wanting a wide zoom to remain a
wide zoom.

That said, good glass makes all difference. My EV 100-400mm IS
35mm lens is sharper and has better color saturation than either
the 16X and 3X video lens I own.

There is another adapter called the PS Technik ($8,000)
that allows the use of all kinds of lens, including film lens,
without magnification. Incredible images, but at a very
high cost.

There are many posts and threads concerning this issue, so
get a cup of coffee and check them out.

[Zac Stein]

Are there any very small lenses available , that are very fast...

the reason i want one of these lenses, if more the improved images... relative cheapness involved in this process vs the mini35 solutions... and also the ease of controlling DOF with these (inherently having a much shallower DOF).

Has anyone had experience with very small lenses... that are fast... for my use i wouldn't really need something bigger than a 20-88 or something similar....

anyways

kermie

[Jeff Donald]

Hi Kermie,

It sounds like what your looking for is small, fast and cheap. Unfortunatly it doesn't exist. Fast lenses are never cheap. For the complete line up of EOS EF lenses look here http://www.usa.canon.com/eflenses/lineup/index.html They even show MTF charts.

It also sounds like your trying to get shallow depth of field and your thinking that using 35mm lenses will achieve it. Unfortunatly, it will not. They do not inherently have more DOF. Review the two ongoing threads and you'll see that just switching to 35mm lenses won't affect DOF the way you hope.

Jeff

[Dylan Couper]

Yep. Kermie, I think you are going down the wrong track here my friend. Even if you got that 20-88 lens you mentioned, you are still looking at an equivalent of around 140-600mm once it's on the XL1.

[Zac Stein]

no i meant a lense that would equal a 20-88mm focal length on the xl1.....

kermie


ohh well............ there is no easy solution to a difficult problem :)

[Dylan Couper]

Kermie, that would mean you would need a 2.7-12mm lens.

I'm not a Canon rep, but the smallest EF lens I've seen was a 14mm, which will be about 100mm on the XL1.
Oh, and it's about $2300us.

You are half right, there are easy solutions, just very, very expensive. :)

[Zac Stein]

HAHAH :)


I think ANYTHING can be done with enough money thrown at it.

The resoning i want these lenses is obvious, they are capable of producing a nicer image for me.

What is funny is, i could never spend $8000 on a mini35 if my output was still in the end PAL resolution, i cant see the worth.

But maybe something will come along, i don't have to get a canon branded lens, and who knows some browning rusted 25 yr old lense may come my way that produces some wonderful image that i could never imagine.

kermie

[Adrian Douglas]

Kermie,

If you go to Optex's site you will find a number of adapters for various lenses like Nikon, Canon FD and a few others. The problem with these adapters is they are only mechnical adapters, ie mount to mount, and do not communicate electronically with the XL1. You will always have the 'no lens' warning blinking in your VF and will not be able to use the digital effects, slow shutter speeds and digi zoom.

If this in not a problem for you then I'd suggest Canons FD range of lenses, quality glass at superseeded prices. I've seen 300/f4L lenses for about $200 in various secondhand camera stores in Brisbane.