digital bodies used with fd lenses?

LauraJ23

LauraJ23

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So having a collection of these, I wonder what body would be a good one to use them on?

I would like to here your thoughts on the combinations you use, and any pics from them would be great to see. I will not be doing anything like buying a body straight away, but I want to consider my options.
 
M4:3 format are ideal for using these old lens, lots of bodies to choose from starting at just over £100 for a Panasonic G1. I use FD lens on my GF1 when im in the mood but i have no pics to hand sorry.
 
I am having a whale of a time using my FD lens collection on a recently acquired Panasonic G2.

I bought a very nice adapter from ceico7 in Poland on eBay.

I think the kit Panasonic 14-42 lens has been on the camera about twice since an FD adapter arrived in the post. I'm enjoying it as much as using my A-1.

Pop the G2 into Aperture priority mode and it handles the exposure stopped down with stopped down metering, but the EVF compensates well for the reduced brightness all the way up to f/11. Beyond that it gets a little dicey, but diffraction is really visible anyhow. I reckon I nail the focus about 95% of the time without needing to check with magnified view. If you do, you can be sure it's spot on. Probably as good as my hit rate with a split image screen on one of my film bodies.

Some examples:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=74891768@N00&q=panasonic g2 fd

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=77731997&postcount=10537

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=3662527&postcount=6


Pretty much everything here since 4th May

http://www.cybertects.co.uk/gallery2/v/architecture/london/shard


The results mostly bear out my experience with them on film with odd exceptions.

Primes: The FDn 50mm f/1.4 is wonderful, I'm very pleased with the FDn 135mm f/2.8. Plenty of blur available even with a crop.

28mm f/2.8 and 35mm f/2.8 aren't quite in the same league but perform well enough stopped down a bit.

The FDn 17mm f/4 has been a bit of a disappointment at the edges, but it's a useful focal length on a 2x crop.

Zooms: FDn 35-70mm f/3.5-5.6 is OK but not great. The 70-210mm f/4 has proven surprisingly good (with occasional unaccountable moments of softness).

I've yet to try out a my breechlock FD and FDn 50mm f/1.8s and an FL 50mm f/1.8 on the G2, but that's mostly because the f/1.4 has proven so good.

Currently investigating the purchase of a FD 24mm f/2.0 as that would give me a good approximation of a standard 50mm on full frame. I'd be tempted by a 20mm f/2.8, but I think I'll save my pennies for the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 pancake for street photography and maximum compactness, especially at the prices the Canon 20mm is going for these days.
 
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Oh, if you're into using longer lenses, image stabilisation on the Olympus m4/3 bodies would be a definite asset.

I wanted a decent viewfinder more and my budget didn't stretch to an E-P2 or E-PL2 with an accessory EVF, so I got a G2. The same reason ruled out Sony NEX for me (along with the lack of decent manual controls).
 
I can echo the favourable comments about the adaptors from ceico7. Very well engineered. Some of the best pics taken with my G2 have been with a Canon 50mm FD lens.
 
Micro 4/3rds and Sony NEX only because of the short register distance. You CAN use them on a Canon EOS with a glass adapter (for infinity focusing) but the glass will degrade the image quality and act as a mild teleconverter, slowing the lens.

I use the 35/2 SSC FD on my Nex-5 (with 1.5x crop factor, as opposed to the 2x crop factor of the Panasonic and Olympus models). I've also go the 20/2.8 which is great, and the 100/2.8 and 70-210/4, but I haven't used those yet.
 
Musicman said:
Is that the f/16 concave front element one or the later f/22? How does it work for you?

I have my eye on one at the moment.
Click to expand...

Mine's the f16 version, and it seems useful for street stuff, although it's quite large:


Southampton street party (1) by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr


Southampton street party (2) by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr


Southampton street party (5) by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr


Southampton street party (7) by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr


Southampton street party (9) by ManualFocus-G, on Flickr
 
Hi everyone, thanks so much for the replies, all very useful indeed. Thanks Rob for your links, the skyscraper ones are excellent. I had thought of using an adapter with my 30d, but I think I would prefer it on a micro 4/3 body, I like the nex 5 but thats to much. Considering I need to try and save money for a flash, might have to see if I can save towards a g1, I have always liked the g series and always wanted 1. One lens I am looking forward to trying is my Kiron 105mm f2.8 macro. Also I think the 35-105 f3.5 would give some good results. It's about time they got an airing.
 
I have an OM Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 and a Konica 40mm f/1.8 lens for my E-P1. If I'm being perfectly honest, I wouldn't say it's ideal. Getting sharp focus on moving objects requires a lot of practice. On my E-P1, using the manual focus assist is a bit annoying, as the little green box to indicate where you want to zoom in moves really slowly, so you have to press loads of times to move to the area you want.

But it's fun in its own right, and definitely worth it if you're into portraits or product shots.
 
The short answer is no. You may find some adapters produced with poor tolerances that won't allow you to focus to infinity.

this is the one I bought from ciecio7

and here's a couple of reviews that helped make up my mind

http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-fd-lens-adapter-for-g1.html

http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2010/07/ciecio7-fd-g1-adaptor.html



edit: Specifically, with FD, because ciecio7's adapter engages the aperture lever on the lens with a plate inside, rather than a pin, it's impossible to mount incorrectly and unable to change the aperture on the lens while it's on. Mis-mounting is a frequent source of questions about the Fotodiox and other similar FD adapters that use a pin.

I believe with some of the pin designs, though, you can flip a lever on the adapter to switch between stopped down and full aperture on FD, to allow you a 'brighter' viewfinder (though the EVF takes up the slack with amplification) and perhaps to focus more accurately. It's a nice idea, but IME I'm not sure it's really necessary.
 
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Musicman said:
Thanks for that. Just the ticket.

Well, I am now £130 poorer than I was :)
Click to expand...

Well, it arrived today and I am very happy after an hour playing with it at lunch time.

Thanks for providing the nudge I needed manualfocus-g. :thumbs:
 
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