Sigma for Nikon 400mm f/5.6. Can I convert to Canon?

I have a photography buddy who owns this lens. He is a Nikon shooter from way back, and this is the first telephoto he ever bought. It is almost unused, and appears to be in pristine condition. He bought a Nikon 80-400 zoom shortly thereafter and just didn't pick up the Sigma any more. He knows I am just getting into photography, and wasn't sure if it was possible to convert, but said if I could do it, he would sell me the lens for $200-300. He still has the receipts, and it cost him $850 when he bought it.


Is there such a thing as a Nikon to Canon lens mount converter?

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Originally Posted by HiFiGuy1

Is there such a thing as a Nikon to Canon lens mount converter?

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Possibly, but you have to be aware that the resulting lens may not focus at infinity (not nice for a super telephoto) and will not autofocus.

Why would it not focus at infinity? What does that mean for me practically? I suspected it might not AF. My friend and I talked about that. I think that is a limitation I could live with.

Check out this thread on photo.net.

Looks like Fotodiox at least has one that guarantees focus to infinity, and converts Nikon F to Canon EOS. No autofocus, which I guess isn't a deal-breaker, but how would one adjust the aperture if the camera can't do it? What is "stop-down mode"?


Also, for an extra $60, you can get "focus confirmation". It doesn't sound like AF compatibility, but what is it exactly?

You can only adjust the aperture if the lens has a manual aperture selector. Otherwise, you shoot the lens wide open. The focus confirmation adapters have a chip that tells your EOS camera that it's some lens, like a 50mm f2. The AF in the camera will then give you a green light in the VF when your Nikon lens is manually focused correctly on the center point if that is the focus point you have selected. Otherwise, you will need to disable the shoot on AF confirm in your cameras menu to shoot when manually focused.


I have a rugift.com M42 adapter that is chipped. I use old Takumars and Soligors and it works quite well. Of course all the old lenses I have havea manual aperture ring.

Okay, thenI need to ask my friend if his example has manual aperture or not. If it doesn't, then maybe it isn't worth pursuing. I don't want to really have a lens that has to be focused manually and can only be shot wide open. Then I wouldn't have any control over DoF.


I am really kind of having second thoughts on the focus thing anyway. I really admire the work that I've seen on the wildlife thread using a Canon400mm f/5.6, but there is no way most of those shots was done with manual focus, so even if it is bought cheaply, it may still be a poor investment.

UPDATE:


My photography friend has been unbelievably generous by giving me the lens for free. Therefore I am going to buy a lens adapter for it. I mentioned the Fotodiox unit, but does anyone know others which may perform better, or be more compatible? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Wow! Now you can get some shots as good as Nate....[:D]

here is a question related to this whole converting thing.. I saw an ad in a shutter bug magazing of canon lenses. It has the "white sea" of lenses on the sideline of the football field with photogs. Now in the picture it shows all those sports photographers lined up with big L glass. Some are 300s, 400s, 500,s even some 800s. Now some are non is and some are is by looking closely. But besides those two there are a few FD mounts converted to EOS mounts. This would be manual focus of course but i have heard that it is common to do this. THoughts. I perticularly saw the 800 5.6 FD with a 1D on the back. ALso some 500 FDs. They were all on monopods as well so i pictured not having to zoom to just one hand on the focus ring would be easy to manual focus on a monopod. SHould i buy a 300 2.8 FD and convert it? thoughts appreciated