Adapting Lenses for Fun and Profit

It seems that once you’ve bought into a camera mount, you’re stuck there unless you switch systems. But, in the dark realm of photography, there’s a way to cross the mysterious border between lens mounts. That’s adapting lenses – in other words, taking a lens from one system and mounting it to another.

Adapting Lenses: What Is It?

Normally, you can’t simply slap the same lens onto different systems. Even if the lens physically mounts onto the other system (which is rare – as in the case of a Nikon F lens on a Pentax K camera), it will be about as functional as a rock. Each mount has its own physical specifications and electronic communications protocols that can be as different as English and Hindi.

But, like language translation, it’s sometimes possible to bridge these barriers. Physical adapters can allow the lens of one system to be mounted on the camera of another – not always (or even usually) with full features, but possible nonetheless.

Namely, there is a possibility of adapting a lens as long as the flange distance is short enough on the receiving camera (shorter than on the lens’s original system). This is why you can adapt most DSLR lenses to most mirrorless systems, but generally not the other way around.

Historically, many adapters have been created. There are Canon EF to Nikon Z adapters, Pentax K to Micro Four Thirds adapters, and others. DSLR shooters sometimes use Nikon glass on Canon cameras (though not the other way around), while mirrorless shooters sometimes use Sony E glass on Nikon Z cameras (though again, the other way around is impossible).

Many adapters are purely mechanical. They allow the lens to physically attach to the new system, but that’s where the relationship ends. They don’t transfer any electronic signals to and from the lens. On the other side of the spectrum, some adapters allow full communication. With those, features including autofocus, automatic aperture, EXIF data, and lens vibration reduction can be used. Using these adapters feels a lot like using a native lens.

Why Would You Adapt?

The best reason to adapt lenses is for fun. It allows you to try far more lenses than would normally be possible on your camera system, including classic lenses from older times for a different look. And adapting lenses slightly goes against the intended use of the product, so it has the feeling of rebellion! Getting a good photo with an adapted lens – especially a lens that doesn’t have any native alternatives – makes you feel a real sense of accomplishment.

One lens I’ve had fun adapting is the Tamron 500mm f/8 55BB lens. It’s a mirror lens introduced in the 1980s, and it’s incredibly small for a 500mm lens. It has a unique character and can produce imagery that is markedly different than a modern lens – not to mention that it’s as small as some modern 50mm lenses and costs only $200! Although it’s manual focus only, I enjoy using it for these unique qualities that don’t exist in any of Panasonic’s native lenses.

If you shoot with a mirrorless system, you can give new life to older, manual-focus lenses originally made for SLRs and DSLRs. Manual focusing is very easy on mirrorless cameras, even handheld, thanks to features like focus peaking and magnification directly in the viewfinder. Many mirrorless cameras also have in-body image stabilization, allowing you to shoot in low light conditions with these lenses more easily. Frankly, old lenses with an adapter can be even more practical today than when they were first made!

Adapting also makes trying new types of photography a little cheaper. Older lenses may not be as fancy as the newer, computer-designed lenses, but they cost much less than the modern stuff. So if you want to try a new focal length but you’re not sure you’ll like it, you might like to pick up a cheap manual-focus lens in that focal length without first committing to a modern lens.

There are other reasons to adapt, too. Both Nikon and Canon have created official adapters for adapting their DSLR lenses to their mirrorless systems that work with many (though not all) of their DSLR lenses. Thus, if you’re switching to mirrorless, you don’t have to get rid of your DSLR lenses if you like them. This can also lead to some great values if you’re on a budget, like what Libor described in his article on buying used Nikon DSLR lenses, especially supertelephotos.

Finally, some camera systems may not have exactly the lenses you need, so adapting may be the only way to get the features you need on your current system. For example, I used to use a Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens on my Micro Four Thirds Panasonic G9 camera. At the time, no other lens had a 600mm native focal length for Micro Four Thirds, and I found this combination great for video.

Why Should You NOT Adapt?

Sadly, adapting lenses can also be a disappointment. For one thing, adapting does not always work as well as using a native lens. Autofocus in particular is often buggy with adapted lenses, even with the more expensive and advanced autofocus adapters. Other features like in-body image stabilization tend to work better with native lenses (you might get 5 stops of stabilization rather than 3 or 4, for example). And there is more room for odd errors like the aperture not stopping down properly, or EXIF data being recorded incorrectly.

For example, I once tried adapting the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G to my Panasonic G9 using the Viltrox adapter for Micro Four Thirds. It does work decently, but not nearly as well as it works on the Nikon Z6 or Nikon D500. Namely, the focusing was a lot more finicky, not always locking exactly onto my subject even though the camera said it was in focus.

You have to remember that adapters are kludges designed by third parties. They can open up a lot of opportunities for lenses that you never would have used otherwise. But they don’t promise perfect functionality even in the best case.

One exception to this rule is the first-party adapters that Canon and Nikon developed, allowing you to use their DSLR lenses on their mirrorless systems. With these adapters, autofocus and most other functions work exactly as intended. But they’re the exception to the rule. In general, I find that adapting lenses gives you the best value when the lens in question is already manual focus only.

What about image quality? This is a common question that people have when adapting lenses. The fact is, lenses are designed for specific sensors these days. Particularly with wide-angle lenses, there can be issues with sharpness and color shifts in the far corners of the image.

Spencer found this when testing the Sony FE 14mm f/1.8 GM on the Nikon Z8, which revealed that the corners of this Sony lens are just not as sharp when shot on Nikon cameras (though the center was equally sharp). You can see that in the following crops from the same portion of the frame:

Finally, another reason to avoid adapting is that you have to deal with adapters themselves. It’s another thing to worry about, both in terms of mechanical failures and issues like weatherproofing. For example, once an adapter got stuck on my camera and I had to dismantle it to take it off!

So, adapting is not all roses. I tend to look at adapting this way: It’s worth it if there’s a specific look you want, or if you want to experiment with a cheap, older manual-focus classic. It’s also worth it if you’re trying to use Canon or Nikon DSLR lenses on their own mirrorless cameras, using the official adapter. But it’s not worth it if you want to use the latest and greatest lenses from one system on another – generally, what you gain is not worth what you lose.

Does the Adapter You Want Exist?

The remaining question is, does an adapter exist for your system? As there are hundreds, I can’t list them all, but here are some popular ones to get you started:

Conclusion

For most of my photography, I just use lenses made for the camera I’m using. And yet, adapting lenses is fun and sometimes can give great results. It’s not for everyone and can sometimes have problems, but when you get it to work, you can experiment with even more lenses and potentially add something new to your photography repertoire.

Adapting works especially well for older lenses onto mirrorless cameras. They often gain a new life with features like manual-focus aids in the viewfinder and in-body image stabilization. Since manual-only adapters usually are not that expensive, it might be worth a try if you have some lenses from another system lying around.

Do you adapt lenses or want to try? Any favorites? If so, let me know in the comments!