M42 lenses on a Canon -any good ?

[magpieant]

Hi all.

I have been reading up a little on using M42 lenses on my 40D, with the relevant adapter.

A quick search of forums, second hand shops and eBay reveals that there's some pretty decent glass knocking about at some pretty decent prices.

My questions:-

... is it worth having a 'dabble' with ? I've read about opening up the lens to focus then stepping down. How easy is this ?

Will manual focusing eventually drive me mad? I know I could try this with my current glass - just wondering how many people rely on AF to do the job for them.

Am i right in thinking that in AV mode, my camera will meter correctly using the lens and adapter, or do I have to go fully manual ??

Thoughts and comments appreciated as always.

Cheers

Anth

 

[guybrush]

Hi all.

I have been reading up a little on using M42 lenses on my 40D, with the relevant adapter.

A quick search of forums, second hand shops and eBay reveals that there's some pretty decent glass knocking about at some pretty decent prices.

My questions:-

... is it worth having a 'dabble' with ? I've read about opening up the lens to focus then stepping down. How easy is this ?

Will manual focusing eventually drive me mad? I know I could try this with my current glass - just wondering how many people rely on AF to do the job for them.

Am i right in thinking that in AV mode, my camera will meter correctly using the lens and adapter, or do I have to go fully manual ??

Thoughts and comments appreciated as always.

Cheers

Anth

Manual focusing with my PK f1.7 lens certainly drove me mad on my 500D, which is a shame as it's a decent lens. The viewfinder is just too small and doesn't let enough light in. Mind you the XXD series have better viewfinders, although not full frame - they should be better.

Opening up the aperture as wide as you can to focus is just to let more light in, it's easy enough however I only tended to do it on aperture's smaller than f8.

You can get some cracking glass at decent prices if you're willing to look around enough.

 

[BacktotheFuji]

I've used many Canons with manual lenses and had no problems Great tip from Andrew though about focusing wide open then stopping down.

It's a cheap way to get a fast lens e.g. 50/1.8 or 135/2.8.

 

[CaptainPenguin]

I have used fast m42 glass on my 350D & 400D for a few years now got some really nice shots and have no focusing problems despite rather iffy eyesight