Canon SLR lens on Canon DSLR?

[dddave]

I'm considering getting back into photography after a long hiatus and am looking at some bare bones entry level DSLRs just to try it out and see if it still appeals.

I have 2 Canon EF lenses off 2 old film SLRs, a 28-90 and a 28-105.  

Can these be used with the APS-C camera models?  If indeed they can be used with no problem, that opens the possibility for me to get perhaps a better camera, body only than buying a kit though the Canon 4000D at B8000 is going to be hard to beat.

Comments appreciated.

[Farangwithaplan]

All EF lenses work on APS-C Canon bodies. Although neither of those lenses are particularly sharp. I would palm them off and buy a more modern lens. Actually the new 18-55 and 70-250 STM kit lenses are actually pretty good. They aren't ring ring glass but they work well.

 

Another cheap lens is the Tamron 17-50 non VC model (important to get the non VC model. The VC model is far inferior). It isn't the most well built of lenses but it is a constant f2.8 and is one of the sharpest lenses you will find for the price. It is an EF-s lens which is designed for crop bodies.

 

Also the 40mm 2.8 pancake is a good cheap option if you like primes, as is the nifty 50mm 1.8. The 15-85 would be a nice choice is you can get one second hand and if you don't need fast glass.

 

[dddave]

Thanks for the information and suggestions.  If I can find a decent used body for a reasonable price, I'll probably use my old EFs just to get started as I will be paying attention more to if I am enjoying the whole process of carrying a large, conspicuous camera while prowling the hot streets of Bangkok.  I used to enjoy urban photography in my film days when I had my own darkroom and printed my own images.  I also had far sturdier legs then.  My plan is to keep initial investment as low as possible until I am sure it is something I want to do again on a serious basis. If indeed I do, then I will lay out the money for a quality kit.

[Farangwithaplan]

Aim for a 70d, 77d, 760d, 800d, or if the budget allows (i know you said you want on the cheap) an 80d.

 

All of those model have far superior auto focus to their predecessors and to some extent a better sensor. Expose to the right (expose for highlights) on Canon bodies if you are shooting RAW format because you will get noise if you choose to raise the black shadow levels more than about a stop on most of these sensors. You may or may not notice this.

 

Earlier models are still like the 550d or the 600d or 60d will still offer you a lot for the chap price they will go for these days, but they only have a 9 point auto focus which can be a bit limiting. the 550d doesn't have the vari-angle screen which all the others I mentioned do.

 

Also, I personally can't tolerate more than about 1600 ISO on Canon crop bodies personally in all but very brightest scenes. Again, you may not worry, so try it out.

 

Very capable cameras even if the sensors are about 1 stop short of the dynamic range of some of their competitors.

 

[dddave]

Again, thanks for all the suggestions.  I figured a follow-up was in order.

 

I live in Bangkok and was surprised at the plethora of cameras being sold on Facebook marketplace for quite reasonable prices.  I was about to buy a Canon 800D body when I noticed several Sony A6000 cameras in my price range. I realized I knew nothing about mirror less cameras but the size appealed to me so I started doing some research.  The thing that drove me away from DSLRs 10 years ago was the bulk and conspicuousness  of the cameras and lenses and was my major reservation in  getting into photography again, though size and weight of DSLRs has diminished noticeably in ten years.

 

The more I read on the internet and watched on YouTube, the more it became clear that the A6000 was a serious camera that answered my needs. 24 mg pixel with some amazing features like eye-lock tracking and focusing and 11fps burst mode. Video at 1080P/60fps but no 4K which I don't care about anyway.  I found one on Marketplace, only 2 years old and in pristine condition with the 16-50 kit lens for less than half the price new.  The 3" LCD display can be moved but not fully around like the more expensive DSLRs.  It will be a steep learning curve, the menu alone has over 250 options, many of which have me scratching my head.  Fortunately, there are a lot of YT tutorials and a active Reddit sub. dedicated to the camera.

 

Again, I appreciate the help I received in narrowing down what to buy and once I learn to fly this thing, look forward to participating in this forum.

[Greenside]

Canon is in a bad place at the moment.  For street photography I'd suggest the new Sony A6400 or one of the earlier models if the budget is tight and the Fuji XT-30 which is a great performer, small and inconspicuous with some brilliant lenses (in fact even the kit lens is excellent).  Eye focus is the best thing since sliced bread.  DPreview is the Holy Grail in terms of making sense of the camera market and Thomas Heaton has a great channel to keep an eye on for inspiring videos.

[dddave]

21 hours ago, Greenside said:

Canon is in a bad place at the moment.  For street photography I'd suggest the new Sony A6400 or one of the earlier models if the budget is tight and the Fuji XT-30 which is a great performer, small and inconspicuous with some brilliant lenses (in fact even the kit lens is excellent).  Eye focus is the best thing since sliced bread.  DPreview is the Holy Grail in terms of making sense of the camera market and Thomas Heaton has a great channel to keep an eye on for inspiring videos.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I did in fact buy a 2nd hand Sony a6000 with the kit lens and am enjoying getting to know it.  Great camera with a huge menu of options.  Like learning to fly an airplane.

I will check out Digital Preview and Thomas Heaton.  I have found there are many A6000 series videos on YT some of which have helped me understand the menu system.

[Greenside]

You'll probably find that someone has produced a "menu assistant" on a spreadsheet which, if the one I have for my Sony is anything to go by, will be a big help.  Sony has had a lot of flack for complicated menu systems but I think much of it is undeserved.  Coming from a (digital) lifetime of Canon usage I rate the menus on the A7III as a breath of fresh air and once you've set up the options you want to use most frequently there are very few times when you miss something because of hunting for a feature.

[dddave]

I'll search for a spreadsheet list...that would be nice to have. Thanks for the suggestion  I did find an hour long YT video which went through the entire menu with pretty good explanation of what the individual options did.  Too much to take in in one viewing but I'll revisit it.   I can really understand the usefulness of having several pre-set options. It will probably take a bit of trial and error before I discover which options best fit my shooting style.

I'm really happy I discovered the A6000 before I saddled myself with a cumbersome DSLR.  It really does seem to have everything I could possibly need in a camera.

Thanks for following up. 

[Farangwithaplan]

On 7/14/2019 at 2:34 PM, dddave said:

Again, thanks for all the suggestions.  I figured a follow-up was in order.

 

I live in Bangkok and was surprised at the plethora of cameras being sold on Facebook marketplace for quite reasonable prices.  I was about to buy a Canon 800D body when I noticed several Sony A6000 cameras in my price range. I realized I knew nothing about mirror less cameras but the size appealed to me so I started doing some research.  The thing that drove me away from DSLRs 10 years ago was the bulk and conspicuousness  of the cameras and lenses and was my major reservation in  getting into photography again, though size and weight of DSLRs has diminished noticeably in ten years.

 

The more I read on the internet and watched on YouTube, the more it became clear that the A6000 was a serious camera that answered my needs. 24 mg pixel with some amazing features like eye-lock tracking and focusing and 11fps burst mode. Video at 1080P/60fps but no 4K which I don't care about anyway.  I found one on Marketplace, only 2 years old and in pristine condition with the 16-50 kit lens for less than half the price new.  The 3" LCD display can be moved but not fully around like the more expensive DSLRs.  It will be a steep learning curve, the menu alone has over 250 options, many of which have me scratching my head.  Fortunately, there are a lot of YT tutorials and a active Reddit sub. dedicated to the camera.

 

Again, I appreciate the help I received in narrowing down what to buy and once I learn to fly this thing, look forward to participating in this forum.

Great you found a camera to suit your needs. The A series are great. You will enjoy it. The SOny menus are quite messy but you get the hang of them.

 

Enjoy your shooting!

 

[kinyara]

If you're okay with manual focus for non fast capture subject matter the beauty of a mirrorless like Sony is the ability to buy quality cheap old glass and use it with an adapter. I'm not saying it's an either or but can be a fun and cheap accompaniement to modern autofocus lenses. I use Fuji and besides their own lenses I use 1980's Nikon Ais lenses and some well regarded M42 mount lenses as well. It's become a nice little side interest researching and hunting out old bargains that don't break the bank but do hold their own image wise.

 

Enjoy your new camera, the weight factor in this hot and humid climate of my Nikon DSLR is one of the main reasons I switched to mirrorless and I'm enjoying my photography much more.

[Assurancetourix]

On 7/8/2019 at 4:04 PM, Farangwithaplan said:

Aim for a 70d, 77d, 760d, 800d, or if the budget allows (i know you said you want on the cheap) an 80d.

 

I'm in a sitution quite a little bit different .

I own a Canon 70D which have some problems  and only zooms ;

a 10-22 EF-S , a 18-200 EF-S which has a big problem , all my photos are blurred with it  ,

I have also a 70 - 300 EF and the first model of 100-400 EF; the white model which is heavy ! A foot is necessary with it .

I want to buy a recent camera to replace this old 70D ;

Looking on internet , tests about some recent cameras , 

I found that I can buy a 77D or a 760D or a 200D and why not a 90D but this last camera is expensive for me ;

I need a camera which can support EF and EF-S lenses ;

so the red and  the white mark .

I would like to know if there are great difference between the three first I wrote about : 77D , 760D and 200D ;

I know the 90D is the best but its price is also the most expensive; nearly twice the price of the 77D .

 

Thanks a lot for your answer .

[Momofarang]

https://www.bigcamera.co.th/digital-cameras/fujifilm-x-t1-kit-18-135-grip.html

 

Best deal in Thailand right now. Been using it for the last 5 years, might even upgrade to X-T3 when the X-T4 comes out.

[dddave]

20 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

I would like to know if there are great difference between the three first I wrote about : 77D , 760D and 200D

https://cameradecision.com/compare/Canon EOS-77D vs. Canon-EOS-760D

 

According to this comparison, the less expensive 77D edges out the 760D on most levels though they are actually quite similar.

The only obvious differences between the 77D & 200D seem to be that the 77D can shoot bursts at 6 FPS to the 200D's 5 FPS, weighs 90 grams more and gets 50 shots less per battery charge, 600 for the 77D, 650 for the 200D.

 

https://www.apotelyt.com/compare-camera/canon-200d-vs-canon-77d

[Assurancetourix]

Thank you very much for this link about camera comparisons .

 

I keep thinking about my next purchase;
for the moment, with my 70D which presents some problems, the wheel on the left side does not work correctly, I cannot go on "scenes", for ex.;
in fact, I can, but it doesn't open at all.
and some other problems ...
It's an old device, already over 6 years old ..
At the time of film photography, our cameras lasted much longer without any breakdown or fatigue.

 

Even if this device is much more expensive, I think to move towards the 90D which was released recently;
more I can add the grip I have on my 70D.

In any case thank you very much for your answer.