HDSLR Lenses

[Richard Cooper]

James,
Yes, the Nikons work well for video on the Canon DSLR (I use the 7D) but be aware, the old Nikon (Nikkor) primes, with some of them anyway, the focus ring on the lens moves back and forth a little while focusing which can be a pain if you are using a follow focus.

You will need a Nikon to Canon-EOS adapter, and I would suggest one adapter for each Nikkor lens you have as they are sometimes difficult to get back off the lens. Just have one for each and it will work well for lens changes on set. Keeps everything simple.

I found these on ebay ($14.95 each): https://shop.ebay.com/kawaphoto/m.html
I ordered 5 of them, one for each lens and they work great.

Hope this helps.

Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com

[Michael Sacci]

Yes you need an adapter for them. For video you need fast lenses in you are working indoors which drives the price up. If you are serious about shooting video you need to be looking at lenses that are at least 4.0 but 2.8 is even better. Any faster and the price goes through the roof except for 50mm.

The reason I got all the old Nikon lenses was because they are cheap, 3 lenses for under $250 for everything including new caps and step-up rings. I want go fast L series lenses from Canon but I cannot afford them right now. By buying the Nikon lenses I know I can resell them for cost to what I paid for them when I get the better lenses. So for me it was a no brainer.

With old film cameras the Lenses was the main thing, it didn’t really matter what body you had but in the digital world that is not true anymore but I think you can still say that the lens is more important than the body.

So if you need to buy new and auto focus lenses don’t go cheap.

[Norman Pogson]

I don’t notice a lens creep on old Nikon lenses, also if you get the Nikon EOS adapter, do as Michael Sacci suggested in another thread, get some Ebay Canon rear lens caps for the Nikon lenses if you have a dedicated EOS adapter fitted full time. I just bought four sets for $4.60 incl shipping from Hong Kong.

You can get adapters for Olympus and Pentax old lenses, be sure the lens has an aperture ring on the lens.

My Canon 7D Blog

[Michael Sacci]

Weird thing about my adapters, I had to get true Canon rear caps, the 3rd party ones didn’t work (but they did on Canon EF and EF-S lenses).

[Norman Pogson]

I just got a bunch of third party ones, yet they look like Canon, even have the logo on and fit perfectly, they came as a set with body cap.

My Canon 7D Blog

[Robbie Carman]

Another option with some of the older lenses (or really any lens) is to get them converted to a cine style lens. You can the focus ring going in the right direction, de-click the aperture ring so you can do splits etc. Some of these guys will even press fit follow focus gears onto the lens. Lots of companies doing this these days. Check out these guys https://www.ducloslenses.com/Duclos_Lenses/Main.html. I know several people that have used them to convert old nikon primes to cine style lenses

Robbie Carman
—————-
Colorist and Author
Check out my new Books:
Video Made on a Mac
Apple Pro Training Series DVDSP
From Still To Motion

[David Decker]

I have been purchasing a nice collection of old Nikon (Nikkor) lenses for my 7D, and have noticed the slight back and forth movement of the focus ring. I am waiting for my D/Focus to ship, but have wondered if this might be an issue, which you seem to confirm. Do you run into a limited focus range where the gears are in contact, or can you find a sweet spot for your follow focus where you have the full range of focus with your lenses? Just curious. (seems like their might be a market for a wider lens gear to solve this issue)

Also, regarding the nikon/canon adapter – I was advised to get a “good one”, as some of the lower quality ones have some play in them. I heard about Rayqual adapters and only found them available here https://tinyurl.com/23mtobh – and they do ship to the US. Good info on their website. I ended up going with a CameraQuest adapter out of Los Angeles as I could get it shipped very quickly. The adapter is very solid and precise, but don’t think I could afford one for each lens. Here is their link: https://tinyurl.com/c4fcq

David Decker

[Scott Thomas]

Any suggestions for an old, very wide angle (14 – 17mm or so) Nikon lens that would work well with a canon 5D?

Thanks