Old lenses, new tricks!

Dan Mold gets hold of four of Canon's EF-EOS R adapters and shows you how you can use them to give your EF lenses a new lease of life

- Dan Mold

THE MISSION

To use a Canon EF-EOS R mount adapter to give old lenses a new lease of life

Time needed 30 minutes

Skill level Basic

Kit needed

• Canon EF or EF-S lens

• Canon full-frame mirrorless EOS R series body

• Canon EF-EOS R mount adapter

With Canon's EOS 850D being the last Canon DSLR to be released, all the way back in February 2020, we Canon users have been given little option other than to switch to mirrorless when looking to upgrade if we want the latest and greatest camera innovations and new technology.

We're sure that, like us, you have also had to face the tricky dilemma of what to do with your collection of old Canon EF and EF-S lenses for your DSLR. Do you keep them with your old camera as a backup or trade them in to get some cash towards your mirrorless purchase? In this project, we look at a third option: using one of Canon's EF-EOS R adapters (of which there are several iterations) that enables you to continue using your old lenses with the new EOS R series of mirrorless cameras.

The four adapters we're looking at here are: the standard EF-EOS R, which enables you to use your EF lenses on a full-frame mirrorless EOS R with auto function and lens communication; another adapter with a control ring, which has become commonplace in the latest RF lenses; and two drop-in filter variants that enable you to use a drop-in polarizer or variable neutral density filter behind the rear element of the lens, so can work with any EF lens, even if it has a bulbous front element and no front filter thread. In this project, we examine each one closely to find out which is the best option.