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Lens adapter

MGH
Apprentice

I have an old Tamron Aspherical lens for a Canon AE1, what adapter do I need to mount to SL1?

6 REPLIES 6

amfoto1
Authority

If it is a Tamron "Adaptall" lens it is very easily adapted. You can find EOS mounts for those online. Adaptall system lenses were specifically designed to allow interchangeble mounts, making them usable with most SLR camera systems, simply by changing the bayonet mount.

 

The mounts are still being produced, though not by Tamron. I bought one from China via eBay for $40 including shipping, to allow me to use a good old manual focus Tamron SP 90mm macro lens. (The one I got is "chipped" so that Focus Confirmation still works... there are cheaper "un-chipped" versions, too... But Focus Confirmation can be very helpful... today's cameras aren't designed to be very manual focus friendly!)

 

Here's photo of the 90mm macro lens with the EF/EOS mount installed and a Nikon mount alongside. I also have Adaptall mounts for vintage Canon FD, Olympus and Konica camera systems, so can use this lens on any of those. 

 

Tamron SP 90mm mount

 

To help you figure out if yours is also one of the Adaptall lenses... Notice the little turqoise dot on the lens, near the base? That's a registration mark for the mount itself, which bayonets onto the rear of the lens and is something you might look for to determine if yours is an Adaptall lens too. Another identifier for an Adaptall lens is a little chromed button on the side, that's a release for the mount bayonet. Pressing it and twisting the mount, it should come off the rear of the lens.

 

Here's the 90mm lens and mount on one of my Canon DSLRs...

 

Tamron 90mm on 7D

 

And here are a couple shots taken with that lens on one of my Canons...

 

Bee on orange poppy 

 

Poppy buds

 

Not bad for a $20 second-hand lens with a $40 Chinese adapter! It's a bit slow to work with, since it's both manual focus and manual aperture control. But that's going to be true with all adapted vintage lenses.

 

Tamron made a number of excellent, premium quality, SP lenses that used the Adaptall mount system, including: 17mm, 24mm, the 90mm macro shown above,  80-200mm, 180/2.5, 300/2.8, 400/4, 1.4X and 2X teleconverters, plus 350/5.6 and 500/8 "mirror" lenses.  I'm probably forgetting a few others.

 

If, on the other hand, yours is a fixed mount (non-interchangeable) Tamron lens, unfortunately it might not be worthwhile to adapt. There are FD to EF/EOS adapters available. But they are often not worth using because many FD lenses do not adapt well for use on the modern Canon cameras. When Canon went from the FD mount to the modern EF/EOS mount, the lens register or distance from the bayonet flange to the film/sensor plane was changed, so in many cases an adapted FD mount lens will not be able to focus to infinity (how far away it will be able to focus depends upon focal length and other factors)... Unless the FD to EF/EOS adapter has optical elements... which tend to be low quality in the more affordable adapters, often making for pretty lousy image quality.

 

A lot more info about adapting vintage manual focus lenses can be found here at Bob Atkins' website.  There's a separate page there, specifically about the problems and practicality or impracticality of adapting FD mount lenses (whether made by Canon or anyone else) to EF/EOS.

 

You also might Google for more info about Tamron lenses in general and your lens specifically. I know there is quite a bit of info online about Tamron SP and Adaptall lenses.

 

Hope this helps!

 

***********
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 

 





 

 

 

 

 

This post has stirred up my interest re Tamron lenses.  I hope my adding a question or two here regarding this subject will be tolerated.

 

I have a Tamron 80-210 adaptall lens (circa 1982) with the adapter for my first SLR, a Konica T-1.  It's been stashed away in my first quality camera bag, a Domke, for years.  Reading the comments above makes me wonder if it would be worthwhile to find an adapter for my Canon DSLRs: 20D & 6D.  The lens is in perfect condition.

 

I searched on B&H and Adorama websites but no adapters for Canon EOS were available.  A search on Ebay brought up a few hits, but I'm uneasy about compatibility.  The ones for "Canon EOS" quoted quite a few models, including my 20D, but no 6D.  The 7D is listed in some descriptions.

 

Bottom line:  Would it be worthwhile to get an adapter for these cameras, given that I have a Canon EF 70-200 L series lens that will work on both cameras.  If so, please tell me if any Adaptall adapter listed for Canon EOS cameras will be compatible with my two, if any.  I did note that one listing indicated the adapter included "Auto Confirm".

 

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

 

Bill

 

 

Since you have an EF 70-200L, I wouldn't bother.

 

But, yes, that old Tamron could be adapted with those mounts and would work fine (manual focus and manual aperture only) on any EOS camera.

 

***********
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 

 





 

"Bottom line:  Would it be worthwhile to get an adapter for these cameras ..."

 

IMHO, no! Save your time and money.  Smiley Sad

 

 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

I was hoping to find a use for that dated but like new Tamron 80-210 lens.  What I was thinking about was Alan Meyer's comment above - "today's cameras aren't designed to be very manual focus friendly!"  That made me think the lens had some life left in manual focus/aperture mode.

 

Maybe the lens (and my Konicas) will make a good row boat anchorSmiley Happy

 

Bill

"Maybe the lens (and my Konicas) will make a good row boat anchor"

 

Nah, keep them and go shoot a roll of film occasionally. It's good practice... makes you pay closer attention to your settings and exposure than we tend to do with our DSLRs. 

 

I have vintage Konica, Canon FD, Nikon, Olympus, Minolta and Pentax kits that I take out and shoot with occasionally. I still enjoy using a nice black and white film, processing and printing it myself (although right at the moment all my darkroom gear is in storage). I get lazy shooting mostly with DSLRs.... it's great to use one of the vintage kits occasionally. And fun.  

 

Plus, I'm a collector.... primarily Konica gear and have most cameras and lenses they made during the 20th century. Just recently picked up a Koni-Omegaflex and am looking forward to shooting some medium fromat film with it in the future.

 

And some old lenses are worth adapting... if you don't have the particular focal length already covered with a modern lens or the vintage item offers something else you need...

 

For example, the  Tamron SP 90/2.5 Macro I picked up at my local secondhand store for all of $20, shown in my post above. It's a very compact macro lens and I shoot most macro manual focus anyway, so made sense to get an EOS/EF Adaptall, too. $40 from China (via eBay), and I've got a **bleep** fine little macro lens that tucks into the corner of my camera bag better than most modern macro lenses. 

  

I've had several of the Tamron SP Adaptall macro lenses over the years and always found them good. It's nice, too, that I can simply swap the mount and use this lens on some of my vintage SLRs. It's currently got the Nikon F mount back on and is on an FG that I picked up recently and am running a test roll through.

 

But I wouldn't go out of my way for most Tamron zooms (well, maybe the SP 80-200/2.8), especially not for use on my modern Canons since I have a couple EF 70-200s.  

 

***********
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 

 





 

 

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