topic Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR? in EF & RF Lenses

Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

jdtuck — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 15:09:39 GMT

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

cicopo — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:41:33 GMT

If it doesn't have Auto Focus the answer is yes but generally speaking it's not worth the cost because you have to do everything manually WITHOUT a focusing aid such as a split screen prism etc.

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

jdtuck — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:50:35 GMT

so the mounting flanges has to be replaced on the leans or do the make adapter kit?

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

amfoto1 — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:09:04 GMT

"so the mounting flanges has to be replaced on the leans or do the make adapter kit?"

In most cases, no, the bayonet mount on Tokina lenses would not be "replaced". Some Tokina lenses were made with interchangeable mounts. But a great deal of them were not.

Instead an adapter would be used, in between the lens and Canon camera. If the mount is adaptable.

However whether or not that's possible completely depends upon what mount the Tokina lens has on it. Tokina is a third party lens manufacturer and has made lenses to fit many different camera systems. Some vintage mounting systems can be adapted for use on Canon, others cannot. First thing you need to know is what mount is on the lens. You can't proceed any farther until that's determined.

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

jdtuck — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 18:23:20 GMT

Not sure how to determine what mount style I have, but I can tell you it fits a Minolta SLR

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

amfoto1 — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:20:58 GMT

"Not sure how to determine what mount style I have, but I can tell you it fits a Minolta SLR"

That's your answer... It's a Minolta mount. Assuming the lens is manual focus it's technically called "Minolta SR" bayonet mount, which is also often called "Minolta MD" although that actually just refers to one of the later lens series that was made using that bayonet mount.

Unfortunately, the Minolta mount is one of the few that's not easily adapted for use on Canon DSLRs. You actually might find some adapters for Minolta MD (or SR) to EOS/EF... but the image quality is likely not going to be good enough to be worth adapting the lens (unless it's a specialty lens such as a macro, that doesn't need to focus to infinity).

However, if your lens happens to be one of the Tokina made within one of the interchangeable mounting systems. First let's make the distinction between a lens with a non-interchangeable mount that's used on modern Canon with an adapter, versus one that is designed to allow the bayonet mount to be changed so the same lens can be used on many different camera mounting systems. There have been a number of different interchangeable mounting systems made in years past.

Tokina made some lenses in T4 and TX interchangeable mounts. More information on these can be found here. If yours happens to be one of these lenses, you would need to completely remove the Minolta bayonet mount from the lens and replace it with one that is EOS/EF compatible. You might find a T4 to EOS or TX to EOS mount on eBay or elsewhere. I looked and couldn't find either. These are both later variations on one of the first interchangeable systems, called "T-mount". I did find the earlier versions called simply "T-mount" and "T2 mount". I suspect one of these earlier versions of T-mount also might work on a Tokina T4 or TX mount lens, for purposes of adapting the lens to use it on a modern Canon DSLR, but I can't be entirely sure of this.

If that Tokina is not an interchangeable mount lens, your best bet would probably be to just sell it and buy another that's made for Canon EOS/EF or a lens with a different mount that's more easily adapted.

More info on adapting vintage, manual focus lenses can be found here at Bob Atkin's website.

It can be fun... and economical... to use these old manual focus lenses. In fact, the modern Canon EOS/EF mount is designed in part to make this possible with an amazingly wide variety of old mounts (Minolta SR/MD just happens to be one of the few that's not).

However you need to be aware that those vintage lenses will not only be manual focus, they also will be fully manual aperture control. This makes them slower to work with, it will be harder to get things in focus and to make correctly exposed shots. Modern cameras just do not have manual focus assists that were common on vintage cameras designed to be used with manual focus lenses. And modern camera viewfinders are smaller and dimmer. Plus when you stop the lens down for correct exposure, your viewfinder will also grow dimmer, making manual foucs even harder.

There are workarounds for these problems. For example, it's possible to use Live View with Exposure Simulation to aid manual focusing. Live View allows you to zoom in, too, to more closely inspect focus accuracy. This is generally a rather slow process, but that might not matter depending upon what you are shooting. Also, mounts and adapters are available that have "chips" to allow the camera's Focus Confirmation to work to some degree (stopped down a lot or in low light, FC will stop working). "Chipped" adapters cost a little more, but can be worth it. It also might help to shoot with the camera tethered to a computer. There are also viewfinder magnifiers that can be used to help with manual focus.

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM

Re: Can an older Tokina lens from an SLR be adapted to fit a Rebel T3I DSLR?

ebiggs1 — Sat, 28 Dec 2013 16:38:45 GMT

Re-read this.

"... generally speaking it's not worth the cost because you have to do everything manually WITHOUT a focusing aid such as a split screen prism etc."

And the results are not going to be spectacular if you do. Save you time, effort and money.