# Just bought a 50mm f/1.4 Ai-s Nikkor for my Canon 7D



## Kuscali (Apr 13, 2011)

I have not yet received it, but this is going to be interesting, about 40% of the price of a Canon 50mm f/1.4, but with sharp optics and great build quality. Plus if I ever get a Nikon camera in the future, it will work on that as well. I might also get the Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s from what I have heard is a very very good lens.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 13, 2011)

Kuscali said:


> I have not yet received it, but this is going to be interesting, about 40% of the price of a Canon 50mm f/1.4, but with sharp optics and great build quality. Plus if I ever get a Nikon camera in the future, it will work on that as well. I might also get the Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s from what I have heard is a very very good lens.



What's your mount adaptor setup?


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## Kuscali (Apr 13, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> Kuscali said:
> 
> 
> > I have not yet received it, but this is going to be interesting, about 40% of the price of a Canon 50mm f/1.4, but with sharp optics and great build quality. Plus if I ever get a Nikon camera in the future, it will work on that as well. I might also get the Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s from what I have heard is a very very good lens.
> ...



I ordered a Canon EF to Nikon F adapter with Focus confirm chip off of ebay. After the summer when I plan on buying Nikon G lenses, I will buy the Novoflex adapter that has a aperture ring. 

I should clarify, the flange distance of the Canon Ef is 44mm, the flange distance of Nikon Cameras are 46.5mm. So an adapter that is 2.5mm thick will properly convert an EF mount to Nikon mount without needing glass to make infinity focus. However autofocus operation does not work. Canon FD mount is shorter than the Canon EF, good if you are a FD shooter, not if you once were a FD shooter who wants to go digital.


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## IWLP (Apr 13, 2011)

Please report on your experience! I have five AI and AI-S Nikkors with my FM2n that I've thought about using on my Canons. However, it's hard to find useful, personal experience of people who have, IME.


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## foobar (Apr 13, 2011)

Nice!
Do you have a 3rd-party focusing screen on the 7D or are you going to rely solely on the AF confirm?


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## Kuscali (Apr 14, 2011)

I was thinking about a focus scree, can someone tell me more about them, and advise me on a good one?


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## Macadameane (Apr 14, 2011)

Kuscali said:


> I was thinking about a focus scree, can someone tell me more about them, and advise me on a good one?


I would like to know this too, especially since the 7D's focus screen isn't meant to be easily removed and canon does make them for the 7D (to my knowledge).


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## branden (Apr 14, 2011)

Macadameane said:


> I would like to know this too, especially since the 7D's focus screen isn't meant to be easily removed and canon does make them for the 7D (to my knowledge).


I've changed out my 5D MkII's focus screen to the Eg-D to help compose landscape and architecture shots. The procedure for changing out the screen out is a little bit delicate, but keep an air rocket handy and you'll be fine. Any dust on the focus screen will mess up the camera's metering. You also need to tell the camera once the new focus screen is installed, so that it can adjust the metering appropriately.

I have a couple manual focus lenses (and tend to keep my AF lenses in MF mode), but between learning to judge distance in my head and the focus confirm lights, I haven't felt a strong need to switch to the Eg-S. The Eg-S supposedly doesn't work well with lenses slower than f/2.8, which is flexibility I don't want to lose, seeing as I'm an amateur with just one 5D camera body. 

I know this won't help much with your 7D, but if the focus screen's not meant to be replaced, it probably is best to leave it alone. If you like tinkering with mechanical things, that's a different story, but the focus screen is essentially a precision lens element, and the camera's firmware needs to know the design specifics in order to work correctly.


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## gmrza (Apr 15, 2011)

Macadameane said:


> Kuscali said:
> 
> 
> > I was thinking about a focus scree, can someone tell me more about them, and advise me on a good one?
> ...



This is also my understanding, however it appears that there are third party focusing screens available for the 7D. For example, take a look at:
http://www.focusingscreen.com/index.php?cPath=21_104

They also provide instructions for replacing the focusing screen on a 7D:
http://www.focusingscreen.com/work/7den.htm

(Disclaimer: until this morning I was not aware that third party focusing screens are available. I have not tried replacing a focusing screen on a 7D. I don't know if any of the products I've referred to above are any good. - Use at your own peril.)


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## prestonpalmer (Apr 15, 2011)

That lens wasn't built for your 7D. Careful.....


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## Admin US West (Apr 15, 2011)

prestonpalmer said:


> That lens wasn't built for your 7D. Careful.....



I have tried a whole slew of Nikkor lenses on my Canon DSLR's over the years. Some older Nikkor lens models just do not fit due to proturbances, while others like the "D" lenses worked pretty well.

Just do not force it, and make sure that there is nothing that the mirror might strike.

Here is my Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 on my Canon 40D.

I bought it because it was too cheap, it had autofocus and manual aperture, no VR. Trying to hold it and manual focus at the same time, then close down the aperture was beyond me, it had to be used on a tripod.


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