Zeiss/Yashica "manual" lenses on Canon EOS?

[Paja]

Does any PFM member have experience using Zeiss/Yashica "manual focus" lenses on Canon EOS DSLRs?

(Left from my "analog times") I have choice of lenses: Zeiss T 1.7/50, Yashica ML 1.4/50, Yashica ML 35-70, Yashica ML 2.8/135, Yashica DSB 2.8/25...
Is there any sence to purchase (some cheaper) EOS body and C/Y-EOS adapters to use it with these lenses?
(I currently use digital Panasonic Lumix FZ-50).

I would be gratefull for some guidelines/suggestions.

 

[ItemAudio]

There are some gems in that range: I've used quite a few with adaptors. The CZ50/1.7 is razor sharp but has slightly harsh bokeh. The 135mm is also good, though with fairly pronounced spherical aberration at max aperture. The Zeiss lenses in Yashica mounts look like bargains right now - you'll find the CZZ 35-70 is a big step up from the Yashica version.

But adaptors are cheap - in fact I have a few spare if you want a bargain.

 

[JemHayward]

Does any PFM member have experience using Zeiss/Yashica "manual focus" lenses on Canon EOS DSLRs?

(Left from my "analog times") I have choice of lenses: Zeiss T 1.7/50, Yashica ML 1.4/50, Yashica ML 35-70, Yashica ML 2.8/135, Yashica DSB 2.8/25...
Is there any sence to purchase (some cheaper) EOS body and C/Y-EOS adapters to use it with these lenses?
(I currently use digital Panasonic Lumix FZ-50).

I would be gratefull for some guidelines/suggestions.

Yes, me... this was my system until quite recently. I used the 18mm f4 Zeiss on a 300D, along with the 50mm f1.4 and the 135mm f2.8. The 18mm didn't work on the 5D without a mod to the mirror that I didn't want to make.
The Zeiss lenses are superb, the 50mm 1.4 is notably better than the 1.7 version (though I have that as well, and it lives permanently on my Infra Red 300D). I got rid of my Yashica lenses before I went digital, and although they were quite good, they were not as good as the Zeiss ones, and a bit variable in quality. They were all made in the same factory as the Japan Zeiss lenses, but the glass wasn't from Germany, and the designs were similar, not identical.

As the lenses won't fetch much money (at the moment) I'd get a Canon body, and put them to use.

My current system is Fuji X-E1 with adapters for the Zeiss 50 and 135.

 

[Paja]

...
My current system is Fuji X-E1 with adapters for the Zeiss 50 and 135.

I didn't know there are adapters for brands other than Canon?

I am aware that CZ lenses are much better than Yashica's, but I am not prepared to invest in manual focus lenses, regardless of really decent prices these days.

Some friends said to me that using manual focus lenses is pain in the a.. and that it is not practical solution?

I have bought this adapter:
http://www.xcsource.com/p_detail.php?id=1104
Now I only have to borrow some EOS to try it with my lenses

 

[JemHayward]

I didn't know there are adapters for brands other than Canon?

I am aware that CZ lenses are much better than Yashica's, but I am not prepared to invest in manual focus lenses, regardless of really decent prices these days.

Some friends said to me that using manual focus lenses is pain in the a.. and that it is not practical solution?

I have bought this adapter:
http://www.xcsource.com/p_detail.php?id=1104
Now I only have to borrow some EOS to try it with my lenses

I've taken more out of focus pictures with autofocus cameras than I ever did with manual focus systems!

 

[Stunsworth]

I used Leica R lenses on various digital EOS cameras for a few years.

The main drawback is that there's no automatic aperture - typically I would focus wide open, then stop down the lens before firing the shutter. It soon becomes second nature to know how far to turn the lens to get a particular aperture.

The loss of autofocus didn't bother me as that's what I'd done when I was using R film cameras. Adaptors were available with a chip that meant to enable focus confirmation, I never bothered using one of those - I did have one briefy and the chip, which was glued on, fell off.

All this ended when I bought a Leica M8 and returned to rangefinder photography.