Lens Compatibility

Letter to editor: I am considering purchasing a DSLR camera, and want to check how compatible are camera bodies to non-brand lenses?

For example, if I was to purchase a Canon EOS 500D body camera only and pair it with a Tamron AF 18-200mm lens. While this may be physically possible, would there be features of the Canon that may be compromised by using a non-Canon lens? I have read on your site about some of the compromises and conveniences between a prime lens to having a ‘kit’ of lenses that are interchanged.

Reply: Reputable third-party lens manufacturers like Tamron, Sigma and Tokina offer all of their lenses with mounts to suit all the popular DSLR brands. Lenses for Canon and Nikon are sometimes released slightly ahead of lenses with Pentax and Sony mounts but these are always available eventually.

If you buy a new lens from any of these brands it should be compatible with your EOS 500D body. However, do check when you are making the purchase as some brands offer two or more versions of a particular lens at different price points. The cheapest may not be fully compatible (in other words, some aspects of the camera’s AF system may not operate) and it probably won’t be as fast or as well-built as the most expensive.

Buying secondhand lenses is more risky as some camera manufacturers have introduced new contacts that will probably be missing in older lenses. This could mean that you can only operate the lens with manual focus and/or exposure controls. Many older lenses also lack stabilisation, which I consider a must for all lenses longer than about 70mm focal length.

Incidentally, you can also purchase adapters for fitting lenses from a different brand onto your camera body. You can find an article on this at http://bit.ly/using-lens-adapters. This also involves compromises (mainly shooting manually) but it can allow you to use some high-quality lenses from manufacturers like Leica and Carl Zeiss on a modern DSLR body.

You can also find additional information on lens adaptors here: http://bit.ly/more-on-lens-adaptors.