Let me preface this by saying that I know jack shit about professional-quality cameras. I'm just trying to relay her situation and see if any of you wise photographers might have some advice...

So my wife is now in charge of Yearbook at her school. She's not that adept at photography (yet) and just found out that the cameras that the school uses are 35 mm SLR, each of a different brand. She's trying to figure out if the lenses from the film SLR will work on a new DSLR, ie are the lenses interchangeable assuming you use the same brand camera or something? If so, she may be able to convince the school to get a body and use the older lenses. If not, are there certain classifications of lenses she needs to look out for. Are they categorized in some way?

As far as specific cameras, she said she has a Nikon FM10, Canon Rebel 2000, and a Minolta Maxxum. I think she's going to see if the school could get a higher end digital SLR and probably a few point and shoots as backups or for multiple events. I dont know.

I did find this on the internets, so it gives me the impression that there isnt a standard lens fitting, but that the DSLR's run with the same lens fittings as the old one.

Quote :

"Canon, Nikon and Pentax have all developed digital SLR cameras using the same lens mounts as on their respective film SLR cameras.[citation needed] Konica Minolta did the same, but in 2006 sold their camera technology to Sony, who now build DSLRs based on the Minolta lens mount. Samsung builds DSLRs based on the Pentax lens mount. Olympus, on the other hand, chose to create a new digital-only Four Thirds System SLR standard, adopted later by Panasonic and Leica."

I guess I'm just looking for tips or experiences with specific cameras or just information from the more experienced people out there that she could take and use to figure out what advice she needs to give the school. Are DSLR's pretty much necessary? Could you use a good point and shoot as a backup, or would that be a mistake? Thanks for any advice you guys might have. I just want her to do the best she can and get some reliable info.

8/23/2008 12:17:00 AM

The lenses are brand specific, ie Canon lenses go for Canon bodies and not Nikon, and vice versa. There are also cheaper, third party manufacturers of lenses that would probably be ideal for a high school year book class, with the top brand usually being Sigma.

That being said, all Canon lenses made in the last 20 years that work on 35mm cameras will also work on newer digital SLRs. Additionally, pretty much any lens Nikon has made in the last 50 years or so will work on all their cameras. So in answer to your question, yes they should be able to use their old lenses when they upgrade.

8/23/2008 1:09:17 AM

Quote :

"That being said, all Canon lenses made in the last 20 years that work on 35mm cameras will also work on newer digital SLRs. Additionally, pretty much any lens Nikon has made in the last 50 years or so will work on all their cameras. So in answer to your question, yes they should be able to use their old lenses when they upgrade."

You're stretching it on the "made in the last 20 years" statement and there is a good chance that their current cameras are older than 20 years.

Canon has a good reputation for providing compatibility (or backwards compatibility) with their lenses, but you still have to consider the lens mount. The best thing to do would be to sample the cameras that she has today and google it to find out what lens they are using. Canon XXXX lens mount would be a good starting point. Most of their current digital stuff uses EF-S which is also compatible with their EF lenses. If your old Canon body takes FD mount lenses then they will not be compatible without some sort of adapter. FD was in use up until 1990 and there is a good chance that's what you have. In that case, expect to buy new lenses to fit the digital cameras.

Nikon does not have a good track record on lens compatibility. While their older lenses might physically fit they tend to have a lot of problems with light metering and auto focus not working when you put an old lens on a new body. In fact, that is one thing that has turned a lot of photographers away from Nikon. When people invest in nice lenses they expect to be able to carry them over when they upgrade the camera body and unfortunately Nikon hasn't really met that need.

I have no idea on the Minolta, but I'd expect it to be more of the same story.

Your best bet is to get model numbers for their existing cameras and start Googling.

8/23/2008 2:36:33 AM

What she should do is go to somewhere like Wolf Camera with the lenses and try them to see if they'll fit on the DSLRs. They should have no issue with her doing.

8/23/2008 10:58:29 AM

The problem is that they might fit, but there may be a lot of features that don't work as in my Nikon example. I still think Google is the way to go. There are plenty of compatibility charts out there that will show you what will work and what won't.

8/23/2008 11:04:41 AM

But I would think you could figure a lot of that out playing around with the camera after you slap the lens on couldn't you?

8/23/2008 11:10:19 AM

We'll start doing that. Thanks for the info. I assumed if they fit then they'd work. Now I know to watch out for other stuff.

8/23/2008 11:10:29 AM