metering on manual focus lens..Can/Nikon

[HBOC]

Ok, I have a sweet Tokina 17mm 3.5 RMC in Nikon mount, that I use with my Canon 1Ds (circa 2002 ). The metering is pretty spot on, although obviously I get no exif info - other than ISO and shutter speed. I am keeping this lens - and sadly a nikon mount lens cannot be mounted on a minolta or M42 mount bodies..

I am going to pick up a film body and need some advice. In my "research", I uncovered that some of the Canon EOS bodies meter up to 3 stops difference with manual focus lenses. This is obviously no good, as the last thing I want to do is guesstimate. I have heard the F4 is excellent and that the EOS-3 meters correctly with manual lenses. The Elan series and below, not so well.

Only real requirements I need are durable body (shoot a lot in wet environments for extended amounts of time), mirror lockup and good viewfinder. Obviously weight is not an issue. I have had an EOS-3, but no experience with Nikon. If I can pick up an F5 for a good price, that would be ideal.. Of course the less I spend - the better. To get an idea of what I shoot, here is my website...

 

[pstake]

You could probably save money by picking up a cheap camera body, ignoring its meter and using a handheld meter. "Guestimating" works pretty well, but it takes time to cultivate the ability with a particular lens, light conditions, filters, etcetera. Gossen meters are spot on. There are a few decent meter apps for iPhone as well.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

Where did you get that information from about certain Canon bodies metering incorrectly with manual-focus lenses?
I am scratching my head trying to think how this could be so. As a co-author of the Canon EOS system bulletin board (now chiefly concerned with the EOS 1/1N and variants), all of the EOS bodies will correctly meter manual-focus lenses, but not necessarily exchange-mount (third-party) lenses.

I have a long history of using an EOS 5 and 55/55e body with a Canon TS-E 24 and 45mm lens (both technical, manual focus lenses) and cannot validate from my experience your statement about underexposure (point to note however specific to TS-E lenses exposure must be locked-in before introducing shift and/or tilt). What lens/es are you referring to specifically that trigger an underexposure scenario of, heavens above, 2+ (3!?) stops?

Nothing wrong with the EOS 3, EOS 5 or EOS 1N/1V. One point to note though is that 17mm can be quite a troublesome focal length to use because it pushes so much detail so far back. You really need to get up close and personal to a strong foreground anchor to both accentuate perspective and keep the rest of the image contextually interesting. Horses for courses, I very rarely use the 17mm end of my 17-40mm lens.

 

[Hatchetman]

The EOS 3 works fine with manual lenses (shrug). I have a cheap no AF-confirm adapter. The camera would have no idea what the lens is.

 

[CGW]

Some of the last Nikon AF bodies work very nicely with manual glass. Several are dirt cheap now, e.g., 8008s/801s, N90s/F90x, the latter being the best for toughness and features.

 

[MattKing]

Where did you get that information from about certain Canon bodies metering incorrectly with manual-focus lenses?
I am scratching my head trying to think how this could be so. As a co-author of the Canon EOS system bulletin board (now chiefly concerned with the EOS 1/1N and variants), all of the EOS bodies will correctly meter manual-focus lenses, but not necessarily exchange-mount (third-party) lenses.

I expect the OP was referring to using non-EOS lenses with adapters.

I've experimented with using a focus confirmation adapter and my Olympus OM lenses on my Canon EOS bodies.

These meter correctly: Rebel 2000/EOS 300 and Elan IIe
This doesn't meter correctly: Elan IIe

Out of curiosity, does anyone know why?

 

[HBOC]

Thanks for the replies! To clarify, I am going to use my Tokina 17mm 3.5 RMC (nikon mount). I have a fotodiox nikon>eos adapter, and use this one my 1Ds. I read that the ELan series specifically do not meter correctly when using "alt" glass. Native mount manual focus glass I would think would be A-Ok.

 

[flatulent1]

I expect the OP was referring to using non-EOS lenses with adapters.

I've experimented with using a focus confirmation adapter and my Olympus OM lenses on my Canon EOS bodies.

These meter correctly: Rebel 2000/EOS 300 and Elan IIe
This doesn't meter correctly: Elan IIe

Out of curiosity, does anyone know why?

Yes, because it isn't an Olympus. <rimshot>

OP: The obvious answer is for you to get a Nikon body (such as an N80) for your Nikon-mount lens, or find yourself an EOS-mount 17mm lens.

 

[Poisson Du Jour]

How can it be said that the meter reads correctly when using an archaic manual OM lens on a 1990s+ generation EOS body?
The EOS bodies and lenses are all-electronic and communicate 144 streams of computated information from lens to body in order to meter, focus, trim, centre and confirm. Obviously no OM lens ever had this technology so any assumption that the meter is reading correctly must be taken as speculative. Certainly the lens mounts are worlds apart. It's not a recommended experiment unless you have a death wish for the EOS body (particularly with the EOS 5 and 55/55e bodies which have a very low tolerance to third-party lenses).

 

[MattKing]

For those EOS bodies where it does work .....

It only works on manual exposure and aperture preferred metering modes, and when you use centre weighted metering.

It also, of course, doesn't focus. The focus confirm function does work though (when the light is good).

The meter readings are, of course, performed in stop-down mode only.

But the meter does work (i.e. matches the readings obtained with Olympus OM bodies) on some EOS cameras - just not all of them.

And the OM to EOS adapters are very popular, and seem to be used successfully by lots of people.

And APUG is not the place to refer to OM lenses as archaic! :munch:

 

[HBOC]

I have used OM lenses on my 1Ds, as well as old Pentax super-takumar 50mm 1.4 on my camera, and they all worked fine. Of course it only is manual focus, but it does't bother me. I want to KEEP my lens, as it is truly stellar. I am eying an F5, but also on the list is an EOS-3 and F4. I would love a 1V (as the layout is the same as my camera now), but they are still going for $500+..