do new AF lenses work with older AF film camera

[scottatl]

My daughter is in high school photography and they needed a film slr camera.  I picked up an elan 7e body for 35 bucks.  I put on my lens from my newish digital rebel and it fit okay but does not seem to auto focus.  do I need to purchase an older af lens or should this work and either i am doing something wrong or the body is not working right.

I have seen many posts about older lenses on newer cameras but not the opposite.  

[kvbarkley]

What lens?

It is an EOS EF-mount camera so it should work, but it won't work as well as anything made today.

You might to try cleaning the lens contacts with a non-abrasive eraser.

[wq9nsc]

Any of the EF lens will work but NOT the EF-S lens designed for APS-C sensors.   So if you have an EF-S lens, it won't be compatible with the Elan 7.

Otherwise the new EF lens work fine with the older EOS film cameras and can produce beautiful results.  I shot some film last year using my old EOS 650 with my new EF-200 F2 and EF-300 F2.8 lens and not surprisingly good glass on an older film camera produces really nice results.

Rodger

[scottatl]

looks like I have one EF and one EF-S.   The EF-S does not fit but the EF does fit.  The EF does not autofocus on the Elan.  I put the EF back on my rebel and it did autofocus so the lens seems fine.    I will look for an elan manual, maybe I am doing something wrong but I think I have all the setting right. 

this is the lens i have.

Does film need to be in to make it autofocus??

BTW, i really appreciate the help, as you can tell i have no idea what I am doing.  I also have no idea why they are teaching film in high school, but that is another subject. 

[RobertTheFat]

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@scottatl wrote:

My daughter is in high school photography and they needed a film slr camera.  I picked up an elan 7e body for 35 bucks.  I put on my lens from my newish digital rebel and it fit okay but does not seem to auto focus.  do I need to purchase an older af lens or should this work and either i am doing something wrong or the body is not working right.

I have seen many posts about older lenses on newer cameras but not the opposite.  

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Please forgive this off-topic question, but why on earth would anyone bring film technology into a high school photography class? To me that's like teaching math students to use a slide rule. It may be interesting from a historical perspective, but it introduces no skills that are even remotely useful in today's world. What's next? A view camera with glass plates?

And before someone tries to argue that if, say, Ansel Adams were alive today, he'd still be using a view camera, I don't buy it for a millisecond. Indeed, I'm convinced that Adams, who spent countless hours perfecting his prints, would be as much a Photoshop enthusiast as Ernie Biggs.

[scottatl]

I so agree!!!  They have a dark room and everything.   I loved that class when I was in high school but for goodness sakes.   And the kicker is they just built the fancy new darkroom.

The class could learn a really useful skill using computer editing, but instead, they are pushing light onto a piece of paper....

I wanted to pull her out but she is in all AP and honor class so she wanted one blow off.

[wq9nsc]

I could see a "field trip" to a dark room just for the students to gain perspective on what was involved in producing some of the classic older photos they might be "exposed to" as part of a class like this one but not an entire semester in analog/chemical photography. 

I taught my daughter the basics of photography and had her shoot a few rolls through my old EOS 650 film camera before turning her loose with a 1D Mark II so that she would develop an early appreciation for composition and timing rather than relying upon taking unlimited digital images in hopes of getting a good one, a habit too many people who started in digital developed.  Maybe seeing what was involved in developing film and producing prints would add to the understanding of what can be accomplished with current technology but having the students spend weeks doing this instead of learning digital editing isn't a good use of their time.  I am surprised that the school superintendent and board approved the building of a new darkroom facility, both from a use of resources standpoint and also a risk management standpoint given the chemicals involved and the protectiveness of so many parents.

I loved doing darkroom work when I took a journalism class as one of my electives in high school and I really liked the Kodak dye sub printer I bought in 2005 because watching it lay down the three colors to create the image in separate passes was much like the fun of watching a print develop in a darkroom. But I am very happy to be in the digital photography world with all of the advantages it provides.

My daughter is also in the all AP track but her blow off class is a strength and conditioning class which will prep her for soccer season.  She likes photography but given the choice of learning darkroom techniques versus strength and conditioning with a very knowledgeable football coach I know what her choice would be 🙂

Rodger

[ebiggs1]

"You might to try cleaning the lens contacts with a non-abrasive eraser."

I urge you to not do this. It rarely to never works or helps.  It is very easy to do more damage than good.  If you must, use a qtip and very little alcohol.

[ebiggs1]

"I could see a "field trip" to a dark room just for the students to gain perspective on what was involved in producing some of the classic older photos ... "

It belongs in the History class, not the photography class. The kids would be far better served with an introduction to Photoshop.  For pete's sake are we preparing the kids for success in a career or not?  I guess we are if they want to teach history!

[ebiggs1]

"Does film need to be in to make it autofocus??"

No.

That lens would not be the best choice to use on the Elan unless you have good light. Like outdoors on a sunny day.  If you try it in those conditions I bet it will AF just fine. I will guess the Elan's battery is good and up to the task?  If the battery is weak or not fully charged it might cause the lens not to AF. Check out the battery first.