FD Lenses On An EOS?

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Hi there,

So I have seen loads of FD lenses for sale on ebay recently, and was wondering if there is a way to get these lenses onto an EOS (Canon 40D)?

also heard people talking about M42's adapters etc? confusing as hell to me lol

(I wish I could use the search function, but you have to have 100 posts/30 days)

Thanks in advance

Suraj
 
Also should of added, was thinking of lower aperture lenses, will this cause any problems?
thanks
 
Look on ebay for adapters. Lots with widely varying prices. And the search works on ebay.
 
I think he meant the search on here
 
I've got an FD to EOS adapter and it works ok... ideally you want one with an af confirm chip and avoid the really cheap ones, as they do funny things with the optics I've found.
 
VirtualAdept said:
I've got an FD to EOS adapter and it works ok... ideally you want one with an af confirm chip and avoid the really cheap ones, as they do funny things with the optics I've found.
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I have also a FD to Eos converter and it works a real treat. I have the af confirm chip, and its definitly worth spending the few extra quid to get it! I bought mine off fleabay for 25 quid. Alot cheaper than buying a whole new set of Eos lenses ;)

Plus you get to learn how to manual focus quickly and accurately, so when you move on to -for example- an non Af confirming camera, like a film slr, it gives you a much higher hit rate of keepers! :D
 
To be honest you would be better looking at manual lenses that DON'T require optics in the adapter to work. M42 is one fairly cheap and prolific mount - and I believe Nikon manual lenses will work fine too along with many others.

IMO only worth going FD if you already have a collection of FD lenses you want to use

joescrivens said:
:shrug:
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My thoughts exactly. :shrug:
 
RichardtheSane said:
To be honest you would be better looking at manual lenses that DON'T require optics in the adapter to work. M42 is one fairly cheap and prolific mount - and I believe Nikon manual lenses will work fine too along with many others.

IMO only worth going FD if you already have a collection of FD lenses you want to use
Click to expand...

Yes, there are plenty of other mounts which don't need an adapter with corrective optic to achieve infinity focus when fitted to an EF body.

Try Olympus OM, Nikon F, M42, Contax/Yashica; most everything else than Canon FD.

I would not buy FD glass to use on an EOS camera. There are too many other, better options.
 
AdamPearcey said:
Oh dear lol

;)
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???

MisterE said:
Look on ebay for adapters. Lots with widely varying prices. And the search works on ebay.
Click to expand...

I already have done a search, I know prices they go for etc, I was asking more for opinions if it is worth it etc, or better off forgetting about it

Skips said:
I think he meant the search on here
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yep meant more about the search on here, should be switched to maybe 30-50 posts (for searching, not selling)

VirtualAdept said:
I've got an FD to EOS adapter and it works ok... ideally you want one with an af confirm chip and avoid the really cheap ones, as they do funny things with the optics I've found.
Click to expand...

thanks mate, I was looking at the 2, thats helpful :)

norvic-boy said:
I have also a FD to Eos converter and it works a real treat. I have the af confirm chip, and its definitly worth spending the few extra quid to get it! I bought mine off fleabay for 25 quid. Alot cheaper than buying a whole new set of Eos lenses ;)

Plus you get to learn how to manual focus quickly and accurately, so when you move on to -for example- an non Af confirming camera, like a film slr, it gives you a much higher hit rate of keepers! :D
Click to expand...

thanks mate, again like above that is very helpful

I mainly use manual focussing on my lenses mate, as I always end up with alot less keepers when doing AF, mainly use AF when doing loads of portraits etc

RichardtheSane said:
To be honest you would be better looking at manual lenses that DON'T require optics in the adapter to work. M42 is one fairly cheap and prolific mount - and I believe Nikon manual lenses will work fine too along with many others.

IMO only worth going FD if you already have a collection of FD lenses you want to use


My thoughts exactly. :shrug:
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thanks mate, is there a guide on what lenses fit the M42 adapters (as I seen them too, and was confused)

Thanks again
(i dunno what the point of the first reply meant neither :S)

Musicman said:
Yes, there are plenty of other mounts which don't need an adapter with corrective optic to achieve infinity focus when fitted to an EF body.

Try Olympus OM, Nikon F, M42, Contax/Yashica; most everything else than Canon FD.

I would not buy FD glass to use on an EOS camera. There are too many other, better options.
Click to expand...

thanks mate, thats great, so these lenses fit on with adapters too? (so 1 adapter will let them all fit, or need different ones for each make?)

sorry new to all these other lenses, only had my DSLR for like 2months, but I love it, take it everywhere with me :)

thanks to everyones replies again
 
suj said:
whats the deal with this guy? I read the other thread that got locked? :shrug:
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first impressions is that he's very opinionated and has a distinct lack of knowledge but like to pretend he has a great deal of knowledge.

Unlike myself who is opinionated but knows I have very little knowledge! :lol:
 
I would guess the 'oh dear' was because this question gets asked over and over !

I asked myself about a year ago, and it made me chuckle when I just came back to this forum, to see it still being asked :-)

Yes, you can get adapters to use FD on EOS.

the thing is though, they need a lens in the adapter, to achieve infinity focus.

So ... now you have a cheap adapter with a CHEAP LENS, that you nice sharp FD lens has to go through. ! many would say that defeats the object of having the nice FD glass ....

so, other adapters , as mentioned, dont need the cheap bit of glass in the adapter, so nothing interferes with the nice optics you are wanting to use.

its all to do with the focal distance from the lens to the sensor. FD and EOS just cant do it without the extra lens in the adapter, the FD lens mount is too far away from the sensor. Others, such as M42 and Nikon etc etc can have the focal distance corrected in the adapter without glass, as the lens mounts are closer to the sensor, and just need 'spacing' out to get the correct distance.

Hope this makes sense

Rich
 
Tricky69 said:
I would guess the 'oh dear' was because this question gets asked over and over !

I asked myself about a year ago, and it made me chuckle when I just came back to this forum, to see it still being asked :-)
Click to expand...


I'd like to hope so but something tells me you haven't been privy to the rest of adams posts, plus he's only been here 5 mins so i doubt he i aware this gets asked a lot
 
Here's a page to do with fitting FD lenses to an EOS body:

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/canon_fd_eos_adapters.html

These adaptors seem to fall into one of 3 categories, either cheap with glass, cheap with no glass, or expensive ones with glass.

The cheap ones with a lens in it means infinity focus is possible, but the final image quality is dependant on the quality of the glass in the adaptor, and could be highly variable. I've seen a few examples where the quality is shocking, then someone posted some they'd taken which were really rather good.

The ones with no glass in mean that quality can't be degraded, but infinity focus won't be possible.

The third option, finding one of canon's ones that are rarer than gold dust and a fair bit pricier too is pretty unlikely!

I think M42 would be a better bet if you want to expand your lens collection for relatively little cost, no glass is needed in the adaptor, and they seem very common. There's not a list as such, but if you go onto ebay type in say "135mm M42" and they'll say what fitting they are in the title. (like how you'd get 'canon fit', 'nikon fit' etc).
 
Here's a simple (hopefully!) explanation as to why FD-to-EOS is not an especially good idea.

Any given type of lens mount (Canon FD, Nikon F, Olympus OM, etc etc) has a design characteristic called the registration distance or the flange distance. This is the distance between the plane of the sensor (or film) and the flange on the lens mount - the back of the lens, in other words.

The FD mount has a flange diatance of 42mm, which means that the lens needs to be mounted 42mm away from the sensor to work properly. But the EOS mount has a flange distance of 44mm, which means EOS cameras hold the lens 44mm away from the sensor. If you stick an adapter in there, you can only increase the distance between the lens and the sensor, so you simply can't achieve the 42mm you need for FD lenses. The result is that the FD lens doesn't work 'properly' - in particular, you can't achieve infinity focus. You need extra bits of glass in the adapter to achieve that.

Most mounts have flange distances greater than 44mm. For example the Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. So you can fit a Nikon lens to an EOS camera with a 2.5mm thick adapter, and it will be able to focus to infinity.

There are lots of web sites with tables of flange distances for different mounts. Here is one on Wikipedia. Here is another.
 
If you get an adapter remember to get one with a lens in it otherwise you will not be able to focus to infinity. Some of the cheaper ones do not have lens.

Paul
 
chris321 said:
Here's a page to do with fitting FD lenses to an EOS body:

http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/canon_fd_eos_adapters.html

These adaptors seem to fall into one of 3 categories, either cheap with glass, cheap with no glass, or expensive ones with glass.

The cheap ones with a lens in it means infinity focus is possible, but the final image quality is dependant on the quality of the glass in the adaptor, and could be highly variable. I've seen a few examples where the quality is shocking, then someone posted some they'd taken which were really rather good.

The ones with no glass in mean that quality can't be degraded, but infinity focus won't be possible.

The third option, finding one of canon's ones that are rarer than gold dust and a fair bit pricier too is pretty unlikely!

I think M42 would be a better bet if you want to expand your lens collection for relatively little cost, no glass is needed in the adaptor, and they seem very common. There's not a list as such, but if you go onto ebay type in say "135mm M42" and they'll say what fitting they are in the title. (like how you'd get 'canon fit', 'nikon fit' etc).
Click to expand...

thanks mate, great advice, thanks again :D

StewartR said:
Here's a simple (hopefully!) explanation as to why FD-to-EOS is not an especially good idea.

Any given type of lens mount (Canon FD, Nikon F, Olympus OM, etc etc) has a design characteristic called the registration distance or the flange distance. This is the distance between the plane of the sensor (or film) and the flange on the lens mount - the back of the lens, in other words.

The FD mount has a flange diatance of 42mm, which means that the lens needs to be mounted 42mm away from the sensor to work properly. But the EOS mount has a flange distance of 44mm, which means EOS cameras hold the lens 44mm away from the sensor. If you stick an adapter in there, you can only increase the distance between the lens and the sensor, so you simply can't achieve the 42mm you need for FD lenses. The result is that the FD lens doesn't work 'properly' - in particular, you can't achieve infinity focus. You need extra bits of glass in the adapter to achieve that.

Most mounts have flange distances greater than 44mm. For example the Nikon F mount has a flange distance of 46.5mm. So you can fit a Nikon lens to an EOS camera with a 2.5mm thick adapter, and it will be able to focus to infinity.

There are lots of web sites with tables of flange distances for different mounts. Here is one on Wikipedia. Here is another.
Click to expand...

Hobbytog said:
If you get an adapter remember to get one with a lens in it otherwise you will not be able to focus to infinity. Some of the cheaper ones do not have lens.

Paul
Click to expand...

thanks mate, I understand that perfectly, makes complete sense (I am engineering minded, so love when you throw in numbers)

thanks to everyone, I will be hopefully looking for a M42 Adapter :)


AF version is better right :)

thanks again
 
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