Fd lenses...

baby and crumble

Hey guys,

Ok, I know that the Canon DSLR's use EF mount lenses, but I was just wondering if anyone has any experience using one of the convertors you canget to use the FD mount lenses on the newer cameras? Is it worth the hassle? I have just seen some great lenses that might be worth getting since they're really quite cheap, but obviously only if they're not going to be a nightmare to use.

Thanks!

Zo

PabD

Thinking of getting one myself, as i found some FD lenses in the attic a while ago.

Not sure if it is worth getting the mount with the Auto Focus confirmation due to the magnification on the live mode.

This i think is worth a read http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-manual-lenses/
:rolleyes:

gman2k

I've had a Centon 500mm mirror lens for years (with T2 ? adaptor ring)
I tried it before with the 7d (using a 2x Kenko teleplus convertor) and it never worked.:mad:
Just tried it again without the teleconvertor and it works fine! (Silly me)

Woohoo - 'New' lens to play with!

BTW the teleconvertor works fine with my EF & EFS lenses (except you have to go manual focusing)

Heebie

I've got an absolutely amazing Canon 50mm f1.4 lens that I wish I could get snapped onto my Pentax digital kit.
I don't shoot film very often anymore.. so my poor Pellix QL and it's lenses just gather dust. Sad sad sad!

PabD

FD to EF mount arrived yesterday from eBay.

I have a Canon 50mm f1.8 FD lens attached to it and it does the job quite well.
Some things to note however, firstly the lens will not reach the narrowest aperture when using the mount. It should go from f1.8 to f16 but seems to be half a stop shy and sometimes even a full stop at f11. I don’t want to tighten the lens any more onto the mount for fear of damaging something. I know there is no problem with the lens as it functions correctly on an old 35mm body.

I went for the most basic converter (with focus to infinity) which does not have the electrical contacts in it so I don’t get any red lights in the viewfinder when the shot is in focus, it takes a bit of practice at first to get the focus perfect and the DOF doesn’t help at all when at f1.8 but when at f2.8 it is so much easier to use however bought it in order to get the shallow DOF so I will have to persevere with the difficult focusing.

Perhaps I should have opted for the more expensive mount in order to get the AF confirmation in the VF which would speed up things.

It is a great little piece to have in your kit for €20 if you have any old lenses lying around gathering dust.

Diabhal_Glas

Image quality wise, how would an old Canon FD prime with one of these converters fare on one of todays Canon Dslr's?
I dont suppose anyone has some examples..

Heebie

I would imagine, since it's a seriously awesome lens, that it would be at least as good as anything you could buy new today.

It probably has more glass elements and fewer (if any) plastic elements.

It might have slightly more things like chromatic aberration around the edges, but the sharpness of an old Canon f1.4 50mm lens is just astounding.

Here are two examples of things I've shot with that lens on different 35mm films. Details of film type are with the photos. They're not super hi-res versions of the photos, so it's not really a fair representation of the lens.. but it might give you some idea.

http://www.heebie.com/A557CF/HeebieWEB.nsf/848ac792fca2d25985256cfc001dbaab/366341588178a7ce8525700a000d77d9?OpenDocument

http://www.heebie.com/A557CF/HeebieWEB.nsf/848ac792fca2d25985256cfc001dbaab/8ff570d844673c088525700a000bea20?OpenDocument

Diabhal_Glas wrote: »

Image quality wise, how would an old Canon FD prime with one of these converters fare on one of todays Canon Dslr's?
I dont suppose anyone has some examples..

PabD

Heebie wrote: »

I've got an absolutely amazing Canon 50mm f1.4 lens that I wish I could get snapped onto my Pentax digital kit.
I don't shoot film very often anymore.. so my poor Pellix QL and it's lenses just gather dust. Sad sad sad!

Just had a quick look and i found some Canon to Pentax mounts on eBay, might be worth a go if you have the f1.4.

Heebie

I've bought one now.. so I'll have to check it out & see. Thanks for the heads-up on that. I've looked for such adapters before and never found them.. until now! =D I have a 135mm "Sears" brand lens for the Canon that is suprisingly nice for macro work. (It's a dedicatd 135mm macro lens from the 1960's or early 1970's.. 2.8 so not nearly as sharp as the 50mm.. but still pretty good.)

PabD wrote: »

Just had a quick look and i found some Canon to Pentax mounts on eBay, might be worth a go if you have the f1.4.