Canon vintage primes

[dakyoo]

Hi, I currently have a 7D body mostly with zoom lenses but trying to find
some alternative prime lens, and the L lenses are a bit out of my budget
and would like to get some opinion on other alternative primes with very narrow DOF
and preferably wide angle, anything below 50mm i guess

current lenses i have:
EF-S 10-22mm // EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS II // EF-S15-85mm // EF 50mm 1.8 II

Thanks in advance!

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Old Canon prime lenses (FL, FD, etc) do not fit on current EOS bodies.  A few of the high end expensive ones have modification kits (only some are practical to modify).

On the other hand, many other Vintage Camera Lenses can be easily adapted with a inexpensive adapter.  Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, M42, even Zeiss Hassleblad lenses can be had cheaply and work well with a Canon DSLR.  However, don't expect all those old primes to be up to the resolution standards of a modern DSLR lens.  Those that are truly excellent can sell for many times the price of a "L" lens.

Get a old Nikon, Pentax or Olympus lens and a $15 adapter and try it out.  There is a alternative gear forum on Fred Miranda where they discuss alternative lenses, the discussion tends to gravitate to the expensive alternatives sometimes.

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html

Have fun!

[Edwin Herdman]

Old Canon prime lenses (FL, FD, etc) do not fit on current EOS bodies.  A few of the high end expensive ones have modification kits (only some are practical to modify).

Good luck finding those, though, as Ed Mika's adapters are just dribbling out and being snapped up as they are released.  Your best bet is to get a lens that you know is going to receive an adapter run.  Aftermarket purchase opportunities for adapted Canon lenses seem to be nil to none, since nobody's parting with them yet.

[ontarian]

Hey folks,  An EdMika EOS enabled lens is about to hit market for anyone looking for a great long distance prime, check out the below message I got.  They may be rare, but they are out there. -Ed Mika

Dear ed_mika,

Jakub,

I have a Canon 600mm FD lens with one of your adapters. My wife is pregnant and it is now very unlikely that I'll be using it for awhile. Before I put it up for sale, thought I would reach out to let you know, figuring you might have people asking you about them.

I'm in the Bay Area, CA and will entertain offers.
Thanks!

- free_wheelin

[Axilrod]

Hi, I currently have a 7D body mostly with zoom lenses but trying to find
some alternative prime lens, and the L lenses are a bit out of my budget
and would like to get some opinion on other alternative primes with very narrow DOF
and preferably wide angle, anything below 50mm i guess

current lenses i have:
EF-S 10-22mm // EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS II // EF-S15-85mm // EF 50mm 1.8 II

Thanks in advance!

You would love the 16-35 on the 7D, it's not super wide, but it's like a 27-55 FF equivalent, which is a pretty useful range.  Also, the bokeh is so circular it looks amazing on an aps-c sensor.  It's a great lens (only zoom I kept out of 24-70, 70-200 2.8IS), definitely worth playing around with.

Now I personally love the Tokina too, very solid build quality, great price, and super wide on an aps-c sensor.  I honestly think you would have more fun with this lens since you have an APS-C sensor.  Either way, I've used both (on FF and APSC) and I think you would enjoy either of them, try renting them to play around with. 

[dakyoo]

Thanks for all the feed backs folks, i'll be looking into the adapters to get some other
alternative prime lenses.

As for the 16-35mm, I guess I would have to rent it out and see how it is for myself.
Very interesting though, haven't heard someone mentioning having a wonderful bokeh.

Thanks again.

[AprilForever]

M42 mount lenses work great with the adapters, which are quite cheap. There are a TON of cheap m42 lenses on ebay, though most of them are only about f2.8... and rarely wider than 28mm... except the occasional takumars, which seem to usually go for about 100-150ish...

[scrappydog]

I have a number of non-Canon primes, none of which are wideangle, that I use with my 60D.  The mounts are M42 and all require manual focusing.  A few recommendations of lenses that I own:

• Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm f/3.5: sharp, excellent contrast, legendary bokeh.
• Helios 44 58mm f/2.0: weak contrast (can be bumped in post-processing), and a very unique radial bokeh characteristic of the Zeiss Biotar design.  The radial bokeh is strongest when shooting for DoF.
• Helios 40 85mm f/1.5: similar to Helios 44, but with more extreme radial bokeh.  This is a highly collectable lens and is very expensive.