NEX chapter on the NEX

Don't forget that you can use almost every old 35mm lens with an adapter. ; Manual focus only obviously BUT there is a cool feature called focus peaking that will highlight items in certain colors (I think the default is red, I'm using yellow) when the sensor detects contrast in focus. ; If you shoot in P or A mode the camera will automatically handle the exposure for you (since the camera won't know what aperture you are using since you will have to set it on the lens).

The adapters can be found on ebay for 10-15 shipped each.

 

Just about.

Nikon hasn't changed their mount so it's the same.

I have a Canon FD adapter (aka Canon Manual Focus) and a Contax/Yashica adapter.

There are old Olympus, Pentax, Konica mounts too. ; I haven't tried to figure out how many have been made.

 

Yep - pretty much ANY lens from ANY mount, ever. ; I haven't heard of any but maybe a rare company from the 1950s that made its own mount for a year or two then went out of business - some ridiculously rare and strange mounts are available with NEX adapters.


Personally, I'm using Pentax, Konica, and Leica M mount adapter for different lenses on mine. ; You can go beyond Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, Olympus...look at Konica, Cosina, old Rangefinder mounts, Leica...Adaptall, M39, old screwmounts, cinema lenses, and more. ; The best part is when you can score some cheap - I picked up almost all of my 25-30 manual lenses for under $15 each!

 

Yes, you can get adapters for around $10-15 each on ebay. ; There is one brand that sells more expensive adapters (50+) that some people prefer due to quality. ; But if you're not shooting Leica glass there is no point.

 

Exactly - they're pretty commonly available - cheap versions and very expensive versions. ; You may occasionally run into a cheap one that ; doesn't work right - too loose, or not the right distance from sensor for infinity focus - but I've been buying the cheap Chinese versions so far, and they've been fine. ; There's not much 'technology' involved - they have no electronics, no glass - they're essentially just spacer rings.


If you're not an EBay fan, you can find them just as easily on Amazon...that's where I get mine. ; Just search for whatever the mount's name is plus NEX - like this: ; Konica K/AR to NEX, Pentax K to NEX, and so on.

 

Yeah I got a loose one of the Contax...bought a new one. ; Right before the new one arrived a screw fell out of the first one. ; When I put that back in and tightened it completely it wasn't loose anymore.

 

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

Any of the Canon FD adapters will be fine...no reason to spend $$$ when $/$$ will do. ; It's a manual focus lens anyway.

 

Just one quick note on the Canon - if your brother's 'old' film camera is from 1989 or newer, and called 'EOS', then you need a different mount adapter...if it's a manual focus film camera from before 1989, then it's going to be the FD mount Roger showed you...and I agree with him: no real need to spend big money for a fancy adapter for FD mount...the cheap ones are fine too.


BTW - if you're not big on ordering from eBay (some people are a little bit allergic to eBay - me included!), you can just as easily find the FD mount adapters on Amazon, B&H, and other providers. ; Just use Tim's link below for Amazon, and search for 'Canon FD to NEX' - you'll get 4 or 5 different ones from around $14 to 28 or so. ; Most of these are manufactured in China, by the way...but are usually shipped from the US.

 

It's probably shipped from China.

 

Other thing: you will need to turn on Shutter Release without lens. ; It is a safety feature so you don't take the lens off to clean the sensor, have your finger there and accidentally take a picture causing the fragile shutter to sweep across your finger.

It will also prevent you from taking a picture with an autofocus lens if the lens is having problems. ; You won't be able to use old lenses without this being turned on. I would worry about the safety issue, it's more for preventing damage to the shutter. Just keep a lens on the camera ; all the time (except when changing them!) and you will be fine.