A Photography forum. PhotoBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PhotoBanter.com forum » Digital Photography » Digital Photography
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Legacy Lens Compatibilty Question



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old November 14th 04, 04:20 PM
Paul B
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Legacy Lens Compatibilty Question

I want to make the move into a Digital SLR.

I've inherited a 35mm Minolta X-370 SLR camera body and two lenses from a
relative. I was wondering if the two lenses were worth keeping and if
they could be put on one of todays Digital SLR's.

I don't know much about the lenses, the two I have read this

Lens 1:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO ZOOM No. K8606826 1:3.5-4.8 35-75mm 550
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 2:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO MACRO ZOOM No. K8645967 1:4.5 75-200mm 520
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 3... it's about a foot long super telescope of some kind. I don't
plan on using it.

If these lenses will work on a new Digital SLR, it may play on my
purchasing decision. I imagine this is a long shot, lens tech btw old
35mm and a new SLR is probably drastically different.

Thoughts.. opinions?

pb
  #2  
Old November 14th 04, 05:32 PM
Michael A. Covington
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The camera is well worth keeping. With this set of lenses, though, the
owner probably never knew what a good camera it really is. A 50-mm f/1.8
Minolta Rokkor lens -- probably under $25 used -- will give great pictures
with it.

The lenses are "Minolta MD mount" will not be fully functional on anything
other than a Minolta manual-focus film SLR; that is, they will not autofocus
or autoexpose on any other kind of camera. Some adapters do exist to put
these lenses on other cameras, but they become completely manual (you even
have to close down the F-stop manually before taking each picture).

"Five Star" is not a major brand of lens. These sound like cheap imports.
An O with a slash through it is the symbol for diameter, so what they're
telling you is that these lenses take 55mm- or 52mm-diameter filters.

The long telephoto lens may be a "T-mount" lens with an adapter to fit it to
Minolta MD. In that case you simply unscrew that adapter and put on one for
your new camera.

But the long and short of it is, even if you can mount these lenses on a
digital SLR, you will have a difficult and slow time taking pictures with
them.

Getting back to lens mount adapters: Some adapters include a glass element
that slightly changes the focal length so there will be room for the lens to
form an image. This piece of glass degrades the image quality slightly. I
like to avoid these altogether. Some other adapters work without an
additional piece of glass, so you are actually getting the image formed by
the lens. This is worth doing if you have special lenses and don't mind the
loss of autofocus and auto exposure. For example, in this manner I am going
to use my Olympus slide duplicator and my Nikon telephoto lenses with my
Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

Here's an adapter to put Minolta MD lenses on a Minolta Maxxum autofocus
SLR:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...1906 906&rd=1
The maker, Kalt, is reputable, but of course this is not a fancy high-tech
gadget. It is the kind with a glass element.

Several other kinds of lenses can fit on Canon EOS bodies but I have not
found a Minolta MD lens to Canon adapter.

In your situation, none of the lenses seems to be valuable enough to justify
investing in adapters and tolerating the inconvenience of using them.


--
Clear skies,

Michael A. Covington
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
www.covingtoninnovations.com/astromenu.html



"Paul B" wrote in message
news
I want to make the move into a Digital SLR.

I've inherited a 35mm Minolta X-370 SLR camera body and two lenses from a
relative. I was wondering if the two lenses were worth keeping and if
they could be put on one of todays Digital SLR's.

I don't know much about the lenses, the two I have read this

Lens 1:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO ZOOM No. K8606826 1:3.5-4.8 35-75mm 550
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 2:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO MACRO ZOOM No. K8645967 1:4.5 75-200mm 520
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 3... it's about a foot long super telescope of some kind. I don't
plan on using it.

If these lenses will work on a new Digital SLR, it may play on my
purchasing decision. I imagine this is a long shot, lens tech btw old
35mm and a new SLR is probably drastically different.

Thoughts.. opinions?

pb



  #3  
Old November 14th 04, 05:32 PM
Michael A. Covington
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The camera is well worth keeping. With this set of lenses, though, the
owner probably never knew what a good camera it really is. A 50-mm f/1.8
Minolta Rokkor lens -- probably under $25 used -- will give great pictures
with it.

The lenses are "Minolta MD mount" will not be fully functional on anything
other than a Minolta manual-focus film SLR; that is, they will not autofocus
or autoexpose on any other kind of camera. Some adapters do exist to put
these lenses on other cameras, but they become completely manual (you even
have to close down the F-stop manually before taking each picture).

"Five Star" is not a major brand of lens. These sound like cheap imports.
An O with a slash through it is the symbol for diameter, so what they're
telling you is that these lenses take 55mm- or 52mm-diameter filters.

The long telephoto lens may be a "T-mount" lens with an adapter to fit it to
Minolta MD. In that case you simply unscrew that adapter and put on one for
your new camera.

But the long and short of it is, even if you can mount these lenses on a
digital SLR, you will have a difficult and slow time taking pictures with
them.

Getting back to lens mount adapters: Some adapters include a glass element
that slightly changes the focal length so there will be room for the lens to
form an image. This piece of glass degrades the image quality slightly. I
like to avoid these altogether. Some other adapters work without an
additional piece of glass, so you are actually getting the image formed by
the lens. This is worth doing if you have special lenses and don't mind the
loss of autofocus and auto exposure. For example, in this manner I am going
to use my Olympus slide duplicator and my Nikon telephoto lenses with my
Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

Here's an adapter to put Minolta MD lenses on a Minolta Maxxum autofocus
SLR:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...1906 906&rd=1
The maker, Kalt, is reputable, but of course this is not a fancy high-tech
gadget. It is the kind with a glass element.

Several other kinds of lenses can fit on Canon EOS bodies but I have not
found a Minolta MD lens to Canon adapter.

In your situation, none of the lenses seems to be valuable enough to justify
investing in adapters and tolerating the inconvenience of using them.


--
Clear skies,

Michael A. Covington
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
www.covingtoninnovations.com/astromenu.html



"Paul B" wrote in message
news
I want to make the move into a Digital SLR.

I've inherited a 35mm Minolta X-370 SLR camera body and two lenses from a
relative. I was wondering if the two lenses were worth keeping and if
they could be put on one of todays Digital SLR's.

I don't know much about the lenses, the two I have read this

Lens 1:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO ZOOM No. K8606826 1:3.5-4.8 35-75mm 550
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 2:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO MACRO ZOOM No. K8645967 1:4.5 75-200mm 520
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 3... it's about a foot long super telescope of some kind. I don't
plan on using it.

If these lenses will work on a new Digital SLR, it may play on my
purchasing decision. I imagine this is a long shot, lens tech btw old
35mm and a new SLR is probably drastically different.

Thoughts.. opinions?

pb



  #4  
Old November 14th 04, 05:48 PM
dylan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Searching the web shows the lens appears to be worth about $40 to $50 !!.
http://www.ritzcam.com/catalog/frame...ategory_id=680

Not really worth considering a digital SLR with them as a criteria !. You
can start with a clean sheet.

The 550 and 520 are simply the filter thread diameter in mm's. The zero
withqa kine signifies diameter.

"Paul B" wrote in message
news
I want to make the move into a Digital SLR.

I've inherited a 35mm Minolta X-370 SLR camera body and two lenses from a
relative. I was wondering if the two lenses were worth keeping and if
they could be put on one of todays Digital SLR's.

I don't know much about the lenses, the two I have read this

Lens 1:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO ZOOM No. K8606826 1:3.5-4.8 35-75mm 550
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 2:
FIVE STAR MC AUTO MACRO ZOOM No. K8645967 1:4.5 75-200mm 520
(the last zero has a kine through it)

Lens 3... it's about a foot long super telescope of some kind. I don't
plan on using it.

If these lenses will work on a new Digital SLR, it may play on my
purchasing decision. I imagine this is a long shot, lens tech btw old
35mm and a new SLR is probably drastically different.

Thoughts.. opinions?

pb



 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Question about Nikon-to-EOS lens adapters Michael A. Covington Digital Photography 2 October 25th 04 02:37 AM
Nikon D70 Standard Lens Versus 35-70 f2.8 Also wide angle question Randall Smith Digital Photography 6 July 5th 04 09:54 AM
Stopping Down Enlarger Lens Focus Question Newbie SofaKing In The Darkroom 18 April 19th 04 12:03 AM
Has anybody heard of a "Rival" LF lens? Also Wollensak Series IIIa question DuganFoto Large Format Photography Equipment 4 February 15th 04 08:52 PM
Question on lens mounting methods James Dunn Large Format Photography Equipment 4 January 25th 04 03:01 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 12:05 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 PhotoBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.