Switching Sides? Or Joining Forces

Lens adapting has always been an excellent way to try vintage glass on more modern cameras. With decades worth of beloved lens designs and timeless renderings, life is too short to not experiment with them and try for yourself. Creativity thrives with lens adapting.

But lens adapting is not only experimental by nature. It also has utility for the working professional. In the DSLR era, two mounts held the large majority of the marketing: Canon EF and Nikon F. Both have been key players, even predating the digital era of cameras. The Canon EF mount was introduced in 1987, while the Nikon F system goes as far back as 1959.

While being key competitors in the market, who's to say they can't work together in tandem? Both have similar flange focal distances, but they're not so similar that gear is completely incompatible. The Nikon F's 46.5mm flange focal distance is just a bit longer than the Canon EF's 44mm, but that's plenty of space for an adapter (with a bonus of not requiring internal glass).

Because the Nikon F system has a longer flange focal distance, we can comfortable use its lenses on a Canon EF body (though the opposite is not possible, unfortunately). If you wanted to make the switch from Nikon to Canon, you could, and most of your Nikon F lenses would still be usable, as long as they were fully manual.

Right away, any lens with its own aperture ring would work fine. Non-AI lenses are an exception, as the ring around the rear of mount make them physically incompatible with our adapters. But if we remove those as possibilities, there's decades worth of lenses that can now be used on a Canon EF camera.

As technology advanced, Nikon would released their G-type lenses, which share the same F mount they'd used for decades, but without the aperture rings. Aperture control was now fully-dictated by the camera, pushing the lens' spring-loaded aperture arm out to the right aperture value.

The G-type lenses are not compatible with the standard Nikon F to Canon EF adapter, so you'd instead need an adapter that has a means to control the aperture physically:

The Pro Nikon F to Canon EF is usually my go-to adapter to suggest. The blue tabs allow you adjust the aperture to your desired value. Another solid option is the CinePro version, since the blue aperture control is all around the adapter, not just the two tabs at the bottom. A handle is included if you find it'd be helpful. In the case you feel that the handle is too long, it's threaded with an M3 screw, so you can find a shorter screw, or knob that works better for your setup.

Lens adapting is great for increasing the longevity of your older gear. This bridges the gap, and while you slowly save up for native gear, your old gear will be every bit as reliable as they were, providing the same performance you're used to. Additionally, from a gear-sharing standpoint, lens adapting allows access to lenses your colleagues have, if it's a compatible mount. It can save the hassle of a rental for a lens you only need once or it can let you try a focal length out to see if it fits your work flow.