Brand-new lenses can be exciting, but everyone has their own old-school favourites, and it's easier now than ever to use your classic camera lenses on modern digital bodies.

If you have a stash of garage-sale lenses you never thought you could use, or a high-end collection of lenses from your old Leica, don't despair: there are adapters available to use nearly any old lens on several of the most modern camera bodies available today. Canon's EOS system and the new Micro Four Thirds systems are the most adaptable, but there are also adapters available for Nikon and Pentax bodies.

Why bother? Because classic lenses may be sharper and more compact that modern autofocus zoom optics, they may have a wider aperture for low-light photography, or they may give you a low-cost pass to true macro or telephotography.

And there's a good chance you'll like using those old lenses more than today's clinically ultra-corrected glass. Discover the character of hand-designed classic lenses, and you may not want to go back to your sparkling new glass again.

If you have a camera capable of using classic-lens adapters, you owe it to yourself to give it a try at least once.