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FD lens on an EOS

JAO
Apprentice

I have a Canon AE-1 with three lenses (28mm, 50mm, & 85mm-205mm tele zoom). I recently bought a Canon 450D with the understanding that my FD lenses would fit on the EOS with an adapter, which i did purchase and received. However, I seem to be hving difficulty focusing with these lenses, which is probrably nothing new. With the 50mm lens I have to get within about 6" of the subject to focus. And with the zoom lens I have to be within a couple of feet of the subject. What gives? Is there an ajustment on the camera that I need to make or did I not get the appropriate adapter?

9 REPLIES 9

cicopo
Elite

It sounds like you bought a cheap / poor adapter & no there isn't anything you can adjust in camera to correct this. It's time to abandon those lenses & modernize. You'll get much better performance & better images.

"A skill is developed through constant practice with a passion to improve, not bought."

I want to get a more modern lens; but until then I wanted to make use of these. Do you have any recommendations of an adapter that will work? I got this one from Newegg.com (Item#: 9SIA2C00U57563).

If you read the product description, it says:

 

Mount Adapter For Canon FD Lens to EOS

 

 "Not Focus to Infinity, for Macro shooting only".

 

"Package Included:

1 x Canon FD/FL Lens to Canon EOS EF Mount Adapter Ring (Without Glass)"

 

 

 

 

You need to buy an adapter that has an additional glass optic to correct the focus distance. Here is one that Newegg sells:   Canon FD Lens to EOS EF Body Mount Adapter with Glass & Cap  

 

Because it uses extra glass optics, this type of adapter will degrade the image quality. For best results you should stop the lens down to about f/8 to improve image quality.

 

"It can Focus to Infinity"

 

 

_newegg2.jpg

 

Mike Sowsun

I am not impressed with the answer to just buy new lenses. I have half a dozen FD lenses and I would like to use them as much as I can while I save up for $1000 plus lenses. Is there an adaptor that would help? Is Canon develioping an adaptor?

Thanks

Ken Weekley


@KenWeekley wrote:

I am not impressed with the answer to just buy new lenses. I have half a dozen FD lenses and I would like to use them as much as I can while I save up for $1000 plus lenses. Is there an adaptor that would help? Is Canon develioping an adaptor?

Thanks

Ken Weekley


There are adapters that are available.  They are not too expensive, so try one.  On most EOS bodies, you will discover that you cannot focus the FD lenses very well through the viewfinder.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Developing an adapter?

 

The EF mount came out in 1987. If they were going to come out with an adapter, I think they would have done it by now. 8^)

Actually, back in the late 1980s, early 1990s Canon briefly offered a very good adapter that allowed use of FD/FL mount lenses on EOS cameras. Those adapters used used high quality optics to correct for infinity focus, although that caused them to act as a 1.26X teleconverter and made them pretty expensive at the time. They didn't sell a lot of them, so those original adapters are now extremely rare and highly collectible. If you can find one, they typically sell for around $1200.

 

Since they haven't made FD/FL mount lenses for 30+ years now, I rather doubt Canon has any plans to make a new adapter.

 

Affordable and available third party FD to EF adapters are either the glassless type (with which lens can no longer focus to infinity, may only be usable for macro) OR use cheap optics to correct for infinity focus (which tend to ruin the image quality of the lens in the process).

 

Another possibility, Google for a guy named Ed Mika who makes replacement bayonet mounts for SOME FD/FL lenses that allows them to be fully used on EF-mount EOS cameras. In most cases this requires a reversible modification of the lens... removing the old mount, installing the new one. This is not possible or practical with ALL FD/FL lenses.  His website lists those that are possible and the cost is about $100 per lens, if I recall correctly.

 

The problem is that the Canon FD/FL lens mount uses a 42mm "lens register". This is the distance from the flange of the bayonet mount to the film plane of the camera. It's the distance at which the lenses are designed to back focus the image. The EOS/EF mount uses 44mm register... which means there is no room for a simple, glassless adapter.

 

An alternative is to use a mirrorless camera such as Canon's M-series. Those  have a very short lens register (about 18mm, if memory serves). Compared to the register of FD/FL (42mm - 18mm), this allows around 24mm (a little under 1")...PLENTY of room for adapters without need for optics.

 

In addition, the M-series camera electronic viewfinders have a feature called "focus peaking" which is very helpful with manual focus. The optical viewfinders of the DSLRs do not have that and are designed with auto focus in mind, don't have any of the manual focus assist features that your old AE-1 had. (It is possible to use DSLR's Focus Confirmation with MF lenses, though.)

 

I'm sorry Ken, but if you'd asked before buying, you would have had choice to....

 

1. Buy a different camera that CAN handle adapted vintage lenses.

2. Bought a camera in kit with modern lenses that will work on it.

3. Decide if one or the other of the existing types of adapters might be adequate, with their various limitations.

 

***********


Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO 

 

 

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

This is very good advice:

 

" It's time to abandon those lenses & modernize. You'll get much better performance & better images."

 

I am a guy that has tried every means possible to resurrect a large collection of FD lenses. It is an exercise in futility. Don't waste any more money and save it for some EF lenses.

 

The one exception is the large white lenses of the FD era. And the only adapter to use is the one from Ed Mika. The old "great white" FD lenses are worth the effort. Mainly because of their replacement cost.

 

A Rebel XSi is a pretty nice camera, give it the lens it deserves even if you have to save up for it.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

amfoto1
Authority

For additional information about adapting vintage lenses for use on modern Canon EOS cameras, including Canon FD lenses, see Bob Atkins' website

.

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

 





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