Canon video lenses on dlsr body?

[penst]

Stupid question possibly, but what would the 20, 16 or 13x wide angle Canon XL cam SD video lenses do and perform like on a 550d ,7d or MkII body? and or the newer HD video lenses for the XL series cams? Would they even work and or focusable for too small a resolving area for the larger sensor of the dlsr's? If memory serves me the SD lenses didn't work for HD as they were too soft but maybe the HD lenses would if they could even be backwards adapted?

Related... anyone try to mate the GH1 lenses to the Canon body's yet?

[morgan_moore]

image circle

the size of chip covered by a lens

vid lenses image circle is way too small for DSLRs

S

[ydgmdlu]

It's impossible. Same goes for using Micro Four Thirds lenses on Canon EF bodies.

1) There are no adapters available. And for good reason.
2) You need to learn about flange focal distance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance). Even if you could hack a mount somehow, the lens would only be useful for macro (extreme close-up) photography.
3) You also need to learn about focal lengths and their relation to image formats. Even in the telephoto range, the focal lengths used for video cameras would be very short for large-sensor DSLRs, short enough to be considered ultra-wide.
4) The ultimate reason is that video lenses were designed to cover small video sensors. The image circle projected by a video lens would have a diameter somewhere between the size of a pinhead and a dime. This is exactly why you can't use Canon EF-S lenses on EF cameras, even if you could mount them.

[jonE5]

slr lenses are better quality optics anyway arent they?

[ydgmdlu]

slr lenses are better quality optics anyway arent they?
Not necessarily.

[penst]

It's impossible. Same goes for using Micro Four Thirds lenses on Canon EF bodies.

1) There are no adapters available. And for good reason.
2) You need to learn about flange focal distance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance). Even if you could hack a mount somehow, the lens would only be useful for macro (extreme close-up) photography.
3) You also need to learn about focal lengths and their relation to image formats. Even in the telephoto range, the focal lengths used for video cameras would be very short for large-sensor DSLRs, short enough to be considered ultra-wide.
4) The ultimate reason is that video lenses were designed to cover small video sensors. The image circle projected by a video lens would have a diameter somewhere between the size of a pinhead and a dime. This is exactly why you can't use Canon EF-S lenses on EF cameras, even if you could mount them.

Forums are great in respect to a person doesn't really "need to learn" anything when there are such knowledgeable folks out here willing to impart their wisdom.

[ydgmdlu]

Forums are great in respect to a person doesn't really "need to learn" anything when there are such knowledgeable folks out here willing to impart their wisdom.
I'm sorry to be blunt, but if you had learned about these basic issues, then you would not have had to ask your original question. I'm only trying to highlight the areas in which your lack of knowledge led you to make some mistaken assumptions.

If you want to know how the lens from one system might be adapted to another system, then there's no question that you would "need to learn" the underlying principles that either make such adaptation possible or not. Google and Wikipedia are your friends. And when you're working with equipment and technology, there are things that you "need to learn."

All right, I might've been too blunt by using that phrase. Substitute "Please read about" in place of "You need to learn."

Please note that you even admitted that it might've been a stupid question. I'm not going to call you stupid for asking the question, but so many so-called "stupid questions" are the result of making overzealous and unwarranted intuitive leaps. Asking, "Why can't these lenses be adapted for use on Canon DSLRs?" or "Why hasn't anyone seemed to have tried?" and "What am I missing here?" is quite different than:

Would they even work and or focusable for too small a resolving area for the larger sensor of the dlsr's? If memory serves me the SD lenses didn't work for HD as they were too soft but maybe the HD lenses would if they could even be backwards adapted?
IMO—and I'm sure that many will disagree with this—admitting total ignorance is better than having misguided ideas due to partial ignorance. As they say, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."