Canon EOS 350D - can I use lenses from the A1?

[Paul Adams]

I have a trusty old Canon A1 with a few decent FD lenses and I've not used my camera in ages due to the hassle of films (usually getting them developed or finishing an entire roll rather than the cost).

I've been looking at the possibility of getting a digital SLR, in particular the Canon EOS 350D which seems like an entertaining beasty, but I can't seem to find concrete info on whether the lenses I have will fit it.
Anyone know for sure?

I'm looking at getting a set with the base, a 18-55 EF-S lens, 1Gb CF and NB2LH battery, but the addition of my 70-200 telefoto and wide-angle FD lenses would be a nice bonus

[Rave]

Nope. Canon went with an entirely new lens design for their autofocus cameras; the old lenses are completely incompatible, which sucks if you've a big collection of FD lenses.....sorry. However, IMO their total dominance of the autofocus market was largely due to the fact that their lens design was completely unencumbered with having to be backwards compatible with old manual focus gear, and hence worked exceptionally well. As the owner of a lot of EOS gear, I'm glad they took the decision they did....and FWIW I also have a T90 and my dad owns an A1.

[rajagra]

It is possible with an adapter, but it isn't a good idea. You would even have to stop down the lens manually for every shot. Best to forget about the option, tbh.

I think this covers it well.
And this.

Here's Canon's own converter:

[Rave]

Oh...forgot about the adaptors Pretty poor since I used to sell them. As rajagra says they are a serious PITA to use, since you can't use any sensible metering mode. You just have to stop the lenses down manually and either set your shutter speed manually or use aperture priority. It would really take away from the ease (and hence pleasure) of using a digital SLR IMO.

Edit: my brain is fuddled. According to this:

http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/text-eos-to-fd-adapter.html

the capability to infinity focus is lost, so that kind of makes me right. Sort of

[Paul Adams]

Aw nuts, ah well thanks for the quick replies guys

Guess I'll try to shift my kit on eBay, I inherited it from my dad 9 years ago and it's been sitting around for over a year doing nothing.

What about the flash, I assume that's still a standard foot-adapter?
Can I use my cable trigger and regular tripod mount as well, with the new digital SLRs?

[Paul Adams]

Well it was meant to be a cheap upgrade, but it looks like I'll have to go the whole hog

Canon EOS350D + 1Gb Ultra II CF (inc. battery + charger)
Sigma AF 18-50 & 55-200 lens kit
Extra Li-Ion Battery
AC adapter
Carrying case

Thing appears to have a built-in flash, which will be a novelty as I've been used to a hefty clip-on one that eats AA's like there is no tomorrow!
Total comes to just shy of 950 notes.

[Rave]

Sod it, I typed up a reply to your previous post the other day- must have forgotten to hit submit, what a spoon

Anyway- Tripod will fit fine. Cable release will not as standard- you can get a Heath-Robinson-esque device that uses a series of arms to poition the cable right over the shutter button, but if the 350D uses the same electric remote cable as the low-end film EOSes it costs less than £20 so you might as well get that.

As for the flash- yes there's a built in one. However, it's weedy, and a bit rubbish, as it's too close to the lens to give decent modelling. With some lenses you get an obvious lens shadow in the bottom of the picture! It's usually fine for fill-in flash though. The old flash will fit on and fire but it won't use any of the camera's clever flash metering modes....and they are pretty smart if my experience with film EOSes is anything to go by, I've had some great exposures just from basically pointing and shooting. Something like a 380EX shouldn't be too expensive and would work well. Just as with lenses, you can get compatible flashes from manufacturers like Sigma which are designed to work with the camera's electronics. The sigma 430EF (? I forget the exact model) is a nice flash for example.

If your flash eats AAs like no tomorrow it may have leaky caps- especially if it's an old Canon, they were reknowned for it. By far the best option is NiMH rechargeables- you get similar if not better life, it's cheaper, and you get quicker recycling because NiMHs have much lower internal resistance. The difference in charging time is really noticeable.