Nikkor on 7D: all I need to know and why I cannot fint it

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dsp_418

Active member
Lately I've started to think to sell my Canon 28-135 and buy a sharper Nikkor.
Things I know:


Things I don't know:

  • Which kind of Nikkor I should by, manual or autofocus and or any kind of details about Niikor that could compromise the proper functioning on the 7D
  • Which are the limits of a Nikkor on the 7D?
  • Which could be the right lens?
I guess I'm looking for a 20 or 24mm but I'm not sure. I want a wide lens, but not exaggerated.
Also I'm thinking to replace my Canon 50mm 1.8 and get a *real* 50mm for the crop sensor of the 7D. Again, maybe the Nikkor could be sharper than the Canon but which one should I buy?

Now on the budget: assuming I'll sell my 28-135 I'd spend probably around 300 bucks for a good used Nikkor. I'm looking on eBay and all the items I find are kinda expensive, more than my budget.
One thing that's pretty confusing to me is that all my friends told me: the cool thing about the DSLR is that you can also use old really good lenses on it, and they're cheap!
Why I cannot find those lenses?

Thanks for any help or advice.
 
We sell a ton of these Canon EOS to Nikon Adapter Rings and from the looks of B&H customer reviews, folks like them a lot. The adapter rings do not carry any electonics contacts to the 7D, therefore there is zero risk of damaging your camera with them.

You should look for Zeiss ZF, or Nikon/Nikkor lenses with full manual focus and aperture rings. Should be a ton of them on ebay these days as 35mm adapter folks migrate to newer platforms. Many of the newer Nikon lenses have electronic aperture...you don't want this. I'm a huge fan (and we use them all the time) of the Zeiss ZF mount lenses specifically for their contrast and organic color rendering. They're expensive but worth every penny IMHO. The crop factor is a stinker, which is why I gravitate towards the 5D. There's a good argument to invest in at least one APS-C format lens to take care of wide angle shots. Fast wide angle "vintage" full frame lenses are expensive to start with which is why you're not finding them too cheap used.

Cheers,
Dennis.
 
dsp_418 said:
One thing that's pretty confusing to me is that all my friends told me: the cool thing about the DSLR is that you can also use old really good lenses on it, and they're cheap!
Why I cannot find those lenses?
Click to expand...

Because all the video DSLR users are buying them up :)

Seriously, Nikkor lenses are high quality and a well maintained copy will guard it's original value, even overtake it. Wide angles are particularly expensive. $300 is probably not enough budget for a 20-24mm Nikon prime.

I purchased an old Nikon AI-50mm f1.4 for about $120, but they are very common. It's a great lens, though.

Also, remember, if you use your camera for fun shooting (stills or video), you may get sick of manually focussing and having jittery video. It's nice to have an IS autofocus lens like an 18-55 to grab and go for casual outings; and it can be had for $60-100.
 
Thanks for your replies.

@ Dennis: The ring on Cinevate looks nice.
@ steventimothy: which 18.-55 are you talking about for that price?

On a Nikkor is the AIS fine for the 7D?
 
@ Jordan: wow! that thread is really interesting, lot of stuff! I've spent a day browsing eBay and looking for vintage lenses.

I've found some Yashica even if they don't look vintage, but the price is ridiculous and I'd like to give them a try.
Theoretically I should be able to mount the Yashica on the 7D, any case I shouldn't be able to do it?
The Yashica I've found is nice, but I'm not sure whether I can mount it on the 7D or not.

One thing about the article on bobatkins website: he talks about the 'Flange Back' and I'm kinda confused about it. On the table it seems that only Nikons with a 46.5mm flange back can be mounted on the EOS: does that mean that all the Nikkor 24 or 28mm I see around they have a Flange Back of 46.5mm?
Where can I find information about this Flange Back? I've never seen that info among the details on the Cameras pages...
 
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dsp_418 said:
@ Jordan: wow! that thread is really interesting, lot of stuff! I've spent a day browsing eBay and looking for vintage lenses.

I've found some Yashica even if they don't look vintage, but the price is ridiculous and I'd like to give them a try.
Theoretically I should be able to mount the Yashica on the 7D, any case I shouldn't be able to do it?
The Yashica I've found is nice, but I'm not sure whether I can mount it on the 7D or not.

One thing about the article on bobatkins website: he talks about the 'Flange Back' and I'm kinda confused about it. On the table it seems that only Nikons with a 46.5mm flange back can be mounted on the EOS: does that mean that all the Nikkor 24 or 28mm I see around they have a Flange Back of 46.5mm?
Where can I find information about this Flange Back? I've never seen that info among the details on the Cameras pages...
Click to expand...

You can definitely mount a Yashica lens on a 7D, you just need a Contax/Yashica - Eos adapter, which are readily available. Yashica lenses are only so-so in general, however. Probably not as good as any Nikon equivalent focal length and aperture, but certainly usable. There were some pretty cool Yashica macros but aside from that, Yashica lenses were nothing to write home about, they were just decent lenses and not much more than that.
 
dsp_418 said:
Thanks for your replies.
@ steventimothy: which 18.-55 are you talking about for that price?

On a Nikkor is the AIS fine for the 7D?
Click to expand...

The stock, Canon 18-55 f3.5-5.5 with IS. There are lots of them on ebay because it's the stock lens with the 550D, and people ditch them on ebay to get better lenses, but there's nothing wrong with it for stills or video. It's just not very fast, and you can't zoom with it when shooting video, or the f-stop might change. But it's sharp enough; it's fine as a shooting-around lens.

The Nikkor-S lenses, AI or AIS will all mount on the 7D with, for example, a "consumer" fotodiox adapter. Avoid any newer Nikkor lens that doesn't have an external f-stop ring, obviously.

Ironically, the Nikkor-S can be mounted on a Canon EOS with a simple adapter like a Fotodiox, but can't be mounted on a Nikon DSLR without being "AI'd".
 
Thank you for your replies!
I think I'll skip the Yashica and I'll see if buy a used Nikon or maybe the Canon 18-55.
Now I'll look around for some video sample of both lenses possibly with the 7D.
 
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