Can Minolta A/Maxxum AF lenses be adapted to a Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D?

Asked 4/26/2012

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I have a Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D and found several older Minolta A/Maxxum AF lenses: Sigma UC 28-105mm f/4-5.6, Minolta Maxxum 70-210mm, Minolta Maxxum 28-85mm, and a Kalimar 500mm. Can these Minolta AF/Sony A-mount lenses be used on Canon EF/EF-S with an adapter? I don’t mind manual focus, but I’d like to know whether infinity focus is possible and what limitations to expect.

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

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No. The six SLR mounts that you can easily adapt to Canon EOS with simple ring adapters are Leica-R, Nikon F, Contax/Yashica, Pentax K, M42, and Olympus OM.

But Minolta AF lenses work just fine on Sony Alpha (A-mount) dSLRs and dSLTs without any adapters. And you can, of course, adapt these to mount on the Sony E-mount (NEX). But not for Canon EOS.

When adapting between mount systems, the registration distance is key. This is the distance at which the lens is held from the image plane, and it has to be maintained to focus as designed through the full distance range to infinity. So you typically can only adapt from a system with a larger registration distance to a system with a smaller one; because shoving a lens farther back into the body usually isn't possible without physically modifying the mount itself, and adapter rings always add to the distance.

With Minolta AF (44.5mm registration) to Canon EOS (44mm registration) adapting it's not that Minolta AF's registration distance is smaller, it's that it isn't large enough to practically machine an adapter ring to overcome the differences in the bayonet flanges. 0.5mm it too thin for a metal ring to hold up reliably (same problem with Leica R->Nikon F, btw.)

You can adapt from a smaller registration distance to a larger one without replacing camera or lens mounts if the adapter includes a glass element to act as a short teleconverter so the lens can still focus to infinity. But that teleconverter will affect the image quality--especially if it's low-cost--and this won't be ideal. It will also decrease the max. aperture, and increase the focal length of the adapted lens.

And there's one other problem. You need an aperture ring on the adapted lens, because while you can physically adapt the mounts to fit, there isn't going to be any electronic communication between the lens and the body. If you're adapting a lens without an aperture ring (and Minolta AF lenses are like Canon EOS: no aperture rings), then you'll be stuck shooting wide open all the time.

And without electronic communication you have no autofocus, no aperture control from the camera, and no EXIF information from the lens (e.g., focal length, lens name, max. aperture, etc.) Canon bodies, however, can perform stop-down metering if they sense there's no electronic communication from the lens, so you will at least have accurate metering if the lens actually stops down with the aperture setting. You just have to get used to a dimmer viewfinder. But you will be limited to shooting in M or Av, since the camera won't be able to adjust aperture.

Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user27440

12y ago

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Generally, no—not with a simple adapter that preserves normal focusing. Minolta AF/Maxxum (Sony A-mount) lenses have a shorter flange distance than Canon EF, so a plain mechanical adapter won’t let them focus to infinity on your T2i/550D.

Your options are limited:

  • Optical adapter: adds a corrective lens so infinity focus may be possible, but image quality is usually reduced.
  • Mount conversion/replacement: possible for some lenses, but more involved and not practical for most users.
  • Use them on a compatible Sony A-mount body instead.

If you do adapt via an optical solution or conversion, expect manual focus and stop-down metering; autofocus and normal electronic coupling generally won’t work.

So for Canon EF, Minolta AF lenses are usually not a good adaptation choice. Older manual-focus lenses from mounts with longer flange distances adapt much more easily to Canon EOS.

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14y ago

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