Dumb Newby question, lens compatability.

Dave in Wales

Dave in Wales

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This must have been asked before, I just can't find it.

I'm new to DSLR's, I have an old (as new condition) Canon fit Tamron lens built for 35mm film..........
AF28-200mm Lens. AF28-200mm f/3.8-5.6LD Aspherical (IF)

The camera was an old EOS10.

If this were used on say a 500D what would I loose?

D in W
 
The lens will physically fit if its EF mount, but depending how old it is it may cause your camera to throw an ERR99 wobbly as the EOS system has seen changes since the earlier lenses were made. I know this for sure as I had some Sigma EF lenses that wouldn't work properly with my old 350D, I had about a 1 in 10 success rate when using them. To clear the Err99 message just switch the camera off and back on again. You may not have any problems but don't panic if you do!
 
I've got an old Tamron 80-210 I use on my 40D. Originally the adapter I used was for a FD fit Canon film camera. All I did was by a new Tamron EF fit adapter. The lens is manual focus, so that hasn't changed. The only thing I have lost is the ability for the camera to stop the aperture down, as this is a mechanical function on my lens, and on the current EOS cameras, it's an elctrical function.

All this means in reality is that I have to remember to stop the lens down to my required aperture manually before pressing the shutter button.
 
Ste Manns said:
The lens will physically fit if its EF mount, but depending how old it is it may cause your camera to throw an ERR99 wobbly as the EOS system has seen changes since the earlier lenses were made.
Click to expand...

I think it's more of a case of 3rd party lenses being 99% rather than 100% compatible with Canon's electronics. Canon don't make their EF spec available to Sigma, Tamron etc., which forces the 3rd party lens manufacturers to reverse-engineer their lenses. They'll guarantee compatibility with whatever cameras are on the market at the time, but compatibility with future models is a bit more hit-and-miss.

A Canon-branded EF lens intended for a Canon EOS film camera should work with no problems on a crop or full-frame EOS DSLR. An example is the Canon 50mm f/1.0, which was discontinued back in 2000 (now superceded by the 50mm f/1.2), but is still much sought-after for its low-light capabilities on Canon DSLRs, and changes hands for silly money.

A.
 
Does the OP have a friend with a 500D? If so, he might be able to persuade the mate to let him try the lens on the body to see if it works. Pretty sure there'll be no physical problems fitting the lens to the body but there could be electronic and communication problems (I don't think these can cause any damage to the body or lens but perhaps someone with more knowlege could confirm this before my advice is taken).

The pros and cons of using older lenses aimed at film users are as follows (IMO)

Pros:-
Crop sensor cameras use the centre of the image circle, usually better thaqn the edges.
The crop factor gives the lens an apparent extra reach (1.6x in the case of Canons).
Should the user decide in the future to go to a Full Frame body, the lens should give them FF coverage.

Cons:-
There may be electronic and communication problems with 3rd party older lenses.
Older lenses may have less effective coatings which can cause extra flare and ghosting on DSLRs.
The crop factor means that a certain amount of the field of view at the wide end is lost.
Canon users might point and giggle at the lack of a grey barrel and/or red ring on the lens...
 
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