Alternative Lenses
" Using those remarkable manual focus lenses of yesterday!"

	Canon 1Ds III camera body and a small assortment of high quality manual focus camera lenses adapted for Canon camera use.

Those of us, who have had a passion for photography for years and grew up shooting film, can certainly remember with fondness some of the wonderful lenses from the past. With the advent of auto-focus and then the digital revolution, much of that remarkable glass has been ignored over the years.

Now the good news! ..... Many high quality manual focus lenses of the past are finding new life on today's modern autofocus digital cameras with the use of an inexpensive lens to camera adapter! The use of a lens to camera adapter also offers new versatility for some of today’s currently manufactured quality lenses. It may now be possible to use lenses by today's leading glass producers such as Leica, Zeiss, Nikon, Olympus, etc. on your Canon digital camera bodies (adapters may be available other camera brands as well). Not only do these adapters allow using alternative lenses (lenses designed for use on a different camera mount), but recently some of these adapters have become quite sophisticated, offering AF electronic confirm contacts. Using this type of an adapter (with the AF confirm chip) on a manual focus lens the camera's auto-focus confirmation will work, alerting the photographer when the lens has achieved proper focus.

Even More good news! .... The popularity of using alternative lenses is exploding, as more and more photographers look to take advantage of these wonderful tools, more and more talented people are getting involved. I have been fortunate to work with Mr. Jim Buchanan. Jim is an expert craftsman and artist in adapting alternative classic lenses for modern usage. There are times when attaching a simple adapter to the lens may not offer the best solution, or in certain cases may not even be an option. I had read some good reviews and seen some wonderful images taken with the manual focus Pentax 15mm f3.5 lens, so when I found one for sale recently I purchased the lens with hopes of using it on my new Canon digital body. I originally thought I could just purchase an adapter to allow me to do so but this was not the case, fortunately for me Jim masterfully adapted the Pentax 15mm lens so that it can function on my Canon 1Ds III, providing me with a wonderful extreme wide angle lens. Jim has also converted a number of other lenses for me that I now use regularly on my Canon digital camera bodies.

Should you decide to use an alternative lens you probably will be giving up the convenience of auto-focus* (click to see an exception below) and may need to use stop down metering; however these can be considered minor concessions when shooting landscapes or doing critical macro work. Slowing down the process by using a manual focus lens may allow one to better experience and interpret the photographic moment! Many times when doing landscapes, macro work, or studio work, manual focusing the lens is the preferred method to achieving critical focus and the appropriate depth of field.

For me when shooting wildlife subjects or action photography there is no substitute for high quality autofocus lenses, however for static subjects, manual focus lenses can bring a whole new level of excitement back into photography!

	Canon 1Ds mounted on a Leica R Bellows and a Leica 100mm f4 bellows lens

For the new comers to photography the question may be; why bother adapting a manual focus lenses or using an alternative manufacturer's lens? For some the answer would be as simple as just because we can. However there are some real tangible benefits to be gained by resurrecting some of yesteryears high quality manual focus lenses.

Contax Zeiss 21mm Lens / Canon 1D III S		The build quality of some of these manual focus quality lenses is absolutely superb, especially when compared to some of today’s mass produced lenses. Lenses offering Incredible resolving power by Zeiss, Leica, Olympus, and Nikon can now be easily adapted for use on a Canon digital body (by the use of a simple len to camera adapter). Affordability, many high quality manual focus lenses can be purchased quite inexpensively as compared to today’s auto-focus models. Manual focus lenses sporting ultra wide apertures can now be purchased at much more affordable prices. Auto focus lenses have a tendency to be bulky, heavy, and many have a plastic like feel when compared to their manual focus counterparts, mounting and using a manual focus lens my provide the photographer with a more sleek and compact camera outfit.

Many of the yesterday's manual focus lenses were built to very high quality standards, featuring silky smooth focusing, and the wonderful ability to set the lens for maximum depth of field quickly for any given aperture using the inscribed hyper focal distance scale.

(Click to learn more about Hyper focal Distance Focusing)

Each lens has its own particular characteristics in how it resolves contrast,
interprets color and renders image details.

Lenses are tools used by photographers!
T ools that we as photographers use to help us capture,
create and share our vision with others.

	Contax 21mm f2.8 / Canon 1Ds III
There are many superb lenses manufactured today, but it can be quite an advantage to the creative photographer to have the ability to mount and use alternative lenses!
	Leica 28mm f2.8 / Canon 1Ds III
The ability to use a wide variety of quality lenses on today’s digital camera bodies offers the discriminating photographer a very wide tool palette to help satisfy the photographer’s vision!
	Contax Zeiss 21mm / Canon 1Ds III

Not all manual focus lenses can be easily adapted to work on a particular camera body! Some lenses may not work or may require drastic alteration to work on a particular camera. Before purchasing any alternative lens, I highly recommend that some research be done to determine if your intended lens will work or not on your particular camera.

	Canon 1D III and a Leica 100mm Macro Lens

There are some wonderful web sites that may offer assistance in determining if your intended lens will work and what may be involved in getting it to work on you camera.

I have found these sites to be quite valuable in guidance!

Mr. Jim Buchanan

JimBuchananSpace

Pebble Place

http://www.pebbleplace.com/

16-9

http://www.16-9.net/

and

Fred Miranda’s Alternative Gear and Lenses Forum

http://fredmiranda.com/forum/board/55

Lenses that I have found to work beautifully on my Canon camera bodies.

	Using the Hyperfocal Distance Scale, the photographer can quickly and accurately set focus.

The image above illustrates using the Hyperfocal Distance Scale to set the lens for the maximum depth of field, using an an aperture setting of f 11.

T he procedure is simple:

Set the lens aperture to an f 11 Aperture Setting (notice the center blue arrow).
Then move the focusing ring to bring the Infinity Mark (the sideways 8 symbol on the lens' focusing scale - notice the tan arrow on the right) into alignment with the f 11 Depth of Field indicator markings on the lens. (see the red arrows). That's it, Simple and Quick!

By using the distance scale on the lens one can now determine that the lens is set for a depth of field that extends from infinity all the way down to a near point of approximately 28" inches!

Wishing you great health, warm light, and wonderful picture making opportunities :)

Looking for Photographic Equipment, We Recommend

Lens / Camera Adapters

	Lens / Camera Adapters can be purchased conveniently from the internet. I have purchased from several on line sources and have been very satisfied with my purchases; in particular I been very happy with adapters purchased from an eBay seller known as happypagehk (an eBay search can be done to locate this seller and any adapters he may have listed eBay). He tends to specialize in adapters that feature the AF Confirm chip. Adapters purchased from happypagehk feature having the AF confirm chip EXIF custom coded for your lens! He may be contacted by email at ebayhappypagehk@gmail.com
			Olympus to EOS adapter
	Link - recommended adapter article
	Link - adapter compatibility article