Buying first lens - Need to decide manufacturer

M

Marshallarts

Well-known member
Hi,

At this time I do not own any lenses. Soon I will purchase either a Canon or Nikon SLR and would like my future investment in lenses to complement a 35mm adapter I intend to buy once I go with a manufacturer. TimurCivan's FAQ like Info about 35mm lenses suggests Nikon lenses are better because of difficulty setting aperture on Canon lenses with 35mm adapters but all my many hours of research searching for any additional info or threads about that issue have come up with nothing.

If I were just now deciding, "should I go Nikon or Canon", what should I consider. Believe me when I say I've been looking everywhere over weeks and I cannot believe this hasn't been discussed. Perhaps I'm overlooking something. Can someone help.

Also, sorry but for some reason I cant' unbold this... hahaha
 
Marshallarts said:
Hi,

At this time I do not own any lenses. Soon I will purchase either a Canon or Nikon SLR and would like my future investment in lenses to complement a 35mm adapter I intend to buy once I go with a manufacturer. TimurCivan's FAQ like Info about 35mm lenses suggests Nikon lenses are better because of difficulty setting aperture on Canon lenses with 35mm adapters but all my many hours of research searching for any additional info or threads about that issue have come up with nothing.

If I were just now deciding, "should I go Nikon or Canon", what should I consider. Believe me when I say I've been looking everywhere over weeks and I cannot believe this hasn't been discussed. Perhaps I'm overlooking something. Can someone help.

Also, sorry but for some reason I cant' unbold this... hahaha
Click to expand...

I talked to a good friend of mines father who is has been a professional photographer for over 30 years.
He told me than among CONSUMER level lenses, there is almost no discernable difference between Cannon and Nikon. They are both decent and about equal as for as the glass in concerned.
He also told me that when Im ready to shoot features to rent Zeiss lenses or similar GERMAN made lenses...
YMMV
 
most digital SLR cameras today have an auto aperture. basically the lens will only adjust the aperture when mounted to that specific camera. therefore, I dont think you will be able to use those lenses on any 35 adapter....

now if you buy an older traditional SLR from back in the day like the 70s or 80s, you will be able to use those on the 35 adapter.

nikon or canon? it is really about your preferences, I went with Nikon, because of the ease to adjust aperture and everything else. they seemed a bit less hassle than canon.
 
I love Canon Glass but it's much more difficult to track down lenses as it is with Nikon. Also, I can second what Timur said about the F Stop setting on some Canons is really awkward.

In terms of sharpness they are both similar. In fact the Nikon AI series, I find every bit as sharp as PL mount Zeiss's. If they housed them in Cine like housings, they'd be a huge hit with moviemakers. In fact, many film rental houses rent re-housed longer Nikon lenses 200mm and up. They compete with the Germans.

In short, there's a great supply of Nikons out there and easy to track down just about any focal length. My faves are the 85mm 1.4 and the 135mm 2.0

In fact I got two for sale (what a coincidence).

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=116247

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=116247
 
I'm a big fan of Canon glass. For 35mm adapters the Canon FD lenses are perfect since the aperture is manual too, and it are solid good lenses that can stand some mis-use if you know what I mean. On eBay, you can find these lenses are very cheap too in second hand. Of course Nikon is also okay, and little difference can be found in my opinion, but I have always liked Canon a bit more than Nikon. If you want better glass, Zeiss is the way to go or Cookes but that's expensive of course.
 
Zeiss is given high marks for it's glass. If you go with cookes then you would need a PL adapter or similar to get it to work with your adapter. Another cost factor to remember. Older Nikon lenses are very good for the price.
 
thanks for the many quick and great replies so far. I definitely had no idea that Nikon's were so popular for this very reason (availability).

I may have had bad luck in searching but in ALL my research I have found VERY LITTLE info regarding the lenses on 35mm adapters (specifically problems with certain lenses on 35mm adapters). Considering the hundreds of threads on "which adapter is better" I'm confused why this hasn't come up.

This should also be a hot-topic considering 35mm adapter owners out there would probably love to make dual use of their lenses in photography. There are great still cameras from the past, but i'm looking at getting a digital SLR. It would make sense to consider future use with 35mm adapters along with my criteria when deciding Nikon vs Canon.

Though it makes sense for someone with a stash of old film lenses to make use of them with an adapter, i'm surprised the younger guys starting out haven't discussed this when trying to figure out what lenses to buy.
 
Biggest issue I've had with some Adaptors has been vignetting and edge to edge sharpness with lenses wider than a 24mm. My SG Pro doesn't suffer this. And I'm hoping my LE (any day now) doesn't either.
 
When I purchased my lenses I made sure to get ai or ais lenses since they fit my D70s camera. But my next purchase would be D200 or D300 so I can manually set my lense data in to use for metering. The DX series is out of my price range. Don't buy non-ai'd lenses if u plan to also us it on digital slr camera be cause the focus pin will get damaged on the camera. They are fine for 35mm adapters vs digital AF lenses that closes the iris when not attached to a power source and not good for 35mm adapter use.
 
We've been able to get some outstanding performance using our latest interchangeable imaging element (CF1Le, now shipping) and lenses from f4.5 17-24 zooms, to 500mm f4. Frame performance from these lenses is typically full frame (36mm wide) and with faster lenses, expect to exceeed the standard SLR frame width another 10%.

With regard to lens choice, the Canon FD lenses that we've tested extensively have been the 28mm f2.8, 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8, and 135mm f2.8. This piece was shot with those lenses, as well as a 28-200 zoom.
 
I have Nikon, Canon FD and EOS mounts but stick with Nikon because I don't have to worry if the lens I buy is going to fit the mount which I think is key for someone just getting their first adapter. Nothing sucks more than buying a lens and finding it doesn't fit. When you get to know whats what, then maybe dabble in the others and see what you like for your own personal taste.
 
I have a Zeiss prime set and love it! Zeiss does make Canon primes but the ZF (nikon mount) prime set by Zeiss seems to be more popular. I love my Zeissy
 
I was using a Nikon 17-35 2.8 on a Brevis on Saturday, set at 17mm and there's no vignetting at all. Oh and edge to edge sharpness as well.

By the way Dennis I dropped my Brevis the other day and the 55mm skylight fell out and broke. I have kept the achromat on it to keep the dust out, and when I order the flip can you chuck in a spare piece of glass ) or perspex?

By the way the Brevis bounced (on carpet luckily) but still works perfectly. Horrible feeling though.
 
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Steve, give us a call during business hours and we'll fix you up. Otherwise, just add the comment about the shield and we'll throw it in when the flip modules are here (very soon). If you think dropping the Brevis is an issue, imagine what it goes through in shipping :-)

Glad to hear the 17-35 zoom worked well for you.
 
This is really a non-issue. If you are planning on using your still lenses for stills as well as video, you need to buy the brand that matches the still camera line you choose. IMHO, I would be totally happy with either Nikon or Canon if I were starting from scratch today, both manufacturers make awesome 35mm DSLRs. Since I already owned 6 Nikon lenses, I went with Nikon but if I were starting out today, I would carefully consider Canon as well.

As far as the used market, there are definitely more used Nikon AIS lenses available than Canon which is probably why they are more popular with 35mm adapter users.

You won't go wrong with either and yes, the Zeiss lenses are quite nice as well.

Best,

Dan
 
I wouldn't go with Canon EOS, since they don't have aperture rings (Niether do Nikon "G" lenses), and would be leary of AF with short, light focus movement.
Therefore either Canon FL / FD (Which are oblolete for digicams) or Nikon MF which aren't (Provided your Nikon is reasonably up-market)
Cheers
Dave
 
Beat Takeshi said:
I have Nikon, Canon FD and EOS mounts but stick with Nikon because I don't have to worry if the lens I buy is going to fit the mount which I think is key for someone just getting their first adapter. Nothing sucks more than buying a lens and finding it doesn't fit. When you get to know whats what, then maybe dabble in the others and see what you like for your own personal taste.
Click to expand...

this is what I was gonna say, in the FAQ Timur says he's now leaning towards recommending Nikon for people who are starting out / are not photographers.

you just can't mess it up with Nikon, with Canon there is such a variety and some will fit on your mount, but then will only operate with the iris all the way open or completely closed (unless you hack it by sticking a Q-tip in it), and then I think there's some that won't even work with the Q-Tip hack.)
 
well you can operate the iris normally with fd lenses, most of them have a lockable pin, which stays in place without a qtip, the others, yes using the q-tip works.

i think that canon offers the same quality of glass for a lower price, since the fd's arent usable anymore on the modern cameras, the price is low. nikon is still usable, the price is high. about 80% of the 35mm adapter users buy nikon, about 20% buy canon, figure the economics and you'll get the price for almost the same quality of glass
 
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