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Old 14-03-2017, 10:39 PM
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traveller (Bo)
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Canon FL/FD lens adapters

Just wondering if people can share their experiences in using older canon FL and FD lenses for widefield work.
I know you can get adopters so they can work on EOS bodies (in manual focus obviously) but I also read some adapters won't allow the camera to focus to infinity as they have a focus distance of 42mm and EF and EFS lenses have a focal distance of 44mm.
Which adapters have you tried and worked?
Thanks
Bo
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Old 14-03-2017, 11:30 PM
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A few years ago I looked into this and decided to avoid FD lenses and bought several other brands to mess around with on my 30D. Of course if you already have a collection of FD lenses this won't help much!
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Old 15-03-2017, 12:04 AM
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LaughingBeagles (Peter)
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I inherited my late Dad's FD lenses from the 1970's and just love them. There are plenty of infinity focus adapters on eBay and the like so you should have no issue.

My own experience is that the f stops can be a little out. The best bet is to open your lens wide and adjust the ISO (if DOF is not an issue).

I will see if I can dig up the brand of the one I use. Works fine for me.
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Old 15-03-2017, 07:23 AM
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only used them with mirrorless, n problem with adapters then as there is plenty of room for infinity focus, youre right though that modern d-slr's often have trouble with inifinity focus
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Old 15-03-2017, 07:55 AM
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If modifying witjhout additional glass (expensive and not so good in terms of optical results), you need to recover 2mm somehow to reach infinity focus, and that could be done by removing FD mechanic...
See what I did:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...anon+50mm+lens

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...s+modification

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...s+modification

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ht=Canon+100mm

Also, older manual m42 lenses (Zenith, Pentax etc) are the easiest - you just need $5 adapter from ebay and you are done.
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Old 15-03-2017, 02:11 PM
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traveller (Bo)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MortonH View Post
A few years ago I looked into this and decided to avoid FD lenses and bought several other brands to mess around with on my 30D. Of course if you already have a collection of FD lenses this won't help much!
I was looking at getting an old manual focus lens for widefield work, as they are going cheap. Maybe I can look at other third party lenses too, maybe those with M42 thread...

Quote:
Originally Posted by LaughingBeagles View Post
I inherited my late Dad's FD lenses from the 1970's and just love them. There are plenty of infinity focus adapters on eBay and the like so you should have no issue.

My own experience is that the f stops can be a little out. The best bet is to open your lens wide and adjust the ISO (if DOF is not an issue).

I will see if I can dig up the brand of the one I use. Works fine for me.
That will be great. I just want an adapter that can work out of the box with an FL lens (and the same mounting as for FD lens).

Quote:
Originally Posted by dannat View Post
only used them with mirrorless, n problem with adapters then as there is plenty of room for infinity focus, youre right though that modern d-slr's often have trouble with inifinity focus
Yes, I have an EOS to Fuji adapter for my XE-1, but looks like I need a FL/FD to Fuji adapter too...

Quote:
Originally Posted by bojan View Post
If modifying witjhout additional glass (expensive and not so good in terms of optical results), you need to recover 2mm somehow to reach infinity focus, and that could be done by removing FD mechanic...
See what I did:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...anon+50mm+lens

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...s+modification

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...s+modification

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ht=Canon+100mm

Also, older manual m42 lenses (Zenith, Pentax etc) are the easiest - you just need $5 adapter from ebay and you are done.
I am not that good at optic surgery, so might leave that alone Bojan. I already have a EOS to M42 adapter, so maybe M42 lenses might do the trick, but which ones will have the same focal distance at EOS bodies?

Bo
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Old 15-03-2017, 02:33 PM
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All Zenit and Pentax lenses will be OK.
Some of them are getting quite expensive these days... re-discovered to be useful again.
For example, I found Zenit Tair-11A (135mm F2.8, stepped down to f3.5 - f4) to be excellent for AP - VERY sharp in the centre (with a bit of coma at corners and no AC whatsoever).

You can find a lot of info on compatibility here:
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography...focus_EOS.html
http://lewiscollard.com/lenses/m42-dslr-compatibility/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance

Last edited by bojan; 16-03-2017 at 02:05 PM.
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Old 16-03-2017, 02:03 PM
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LaughingBeagles (Peter)
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Hey Bo,

Here's a shot of the one I use (I have a few without infinity focus / glass and they're a pain). No issues with this what so ever.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...b/IMG_1211.jpg

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w...b/IMG_1212.jpg

Here's a link to one on eBay without a chip.

Here's one with a chip included to assist with signalling when focus is achieved (I went for this style and it works well).

Hope that helps.

Pete

Last edited by LaughingBeagles; 16-03-2017 at 02:10 PM. Reason: Fixing image showing issues
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Old 16-03-2017, 02:59 PM
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Thanks Peter
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