adapter for legacy lenses with auto aperture

<p>I'm considering buying a mirrorless camera, mainly for the compact size but also to use the few Canon FD lenses I still have on it. The latter of course with the proper adapter. When looking at these adapters I noticed that most of them are simple mechanical ones, without auto aperture. And then there are the Metabones adapters, complete with optical elements and a hefty price tag.<br>

My question is: do adapters exist for mounting legacy lenses on mirrorless bodies that allow for auto aperture and if not, is there a technical reason for not making these adapters? I don't mind about the cropping factor so no ooptical elements are needed<br>

I post this in the mirrorless forum because the question may be of interest for users of other legacy lenses as well.</p>

<p>Jos - I initially had the same concern re using FD lenses (or any other legacy lenses) on my micro 4/3 body until I tried it. For all practical purposes it is a non-issue 99% of the time, as the EVF adjusts light intensity to a norm for focusing. Since there is no mechanical linkage between the body & lens, there is no way for the diaphragm to operate in the normal fashion. The adapter I have for FD lenses (an inexpensive Asian model), incorporates a pin which keeps the diaphragm at the selected aperture when a lens is attached. There is, however, no auto aperture because of the lack of mechanical linkage - which means that one must shoot in either manual mode or aperture priority mode.</p>

<p>Stephen, thanks for your reply. I have seen adapters with a (mechanical) switch to open and close the aperture but I'm still curious why it's apparently impossible to include one or two electronically set levers in the adapter to set the aperture. Metabones seems to have found a way to accomplish that.<br>

Anyhow, I think Canon owes it to the FD users to make such an adapter for the EOS-M :-)</p>

<p>With my Pentax Takumar lenses there is the A/M slider so I am content with the cheaper adaptor [ M42-MFT ] and once you get the 'hang' of it, it is no great problem to do it yourself. <br>

What intrigues me still is the way the EVF quickly adjusts and the sharpness jumps from 'minimal' to 'all over' of the small aperture selected :) <br>

There maybe a small problem that some adaptors do not clear the pin and so one is locked onto the selected aperture instead of having the wide open available to help with focus. <br>

Never met an FD lens so maybe they do not have anything like an A/M slider?</p>

<p>If your Canon FD lenses are silver breech ring mount the lens can be unlocked on the back of the mount to allow you to use all the f stops, wide open for focus and manual for desired f stop. If the lens is nFD improved newer mount you must unlock the lever in back with some plastic clip. I believe Canon provided these but they are easily misplaced and a DIY solution is needed. The above methods require totally MANUAL operation of the f stop ring! These allow use of adapters that your lenses will work WITHOUT optical element on most popular MIRRORLESS cameras.</p>

<p>Seems to me the OP means "shutter priority" by "auto aperture", not auto diaphragm.</p>

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<p>to clarify this, I meant the automatic closure of the aperture/diaphragm blades. When using FD lenses on a mirrorless body you´ll have to close the diaphragm blades manually. 30 yr old bodies do this automatically, with the help of a few pins and levers. I can´t imagine that these can´t be duplicated by electromagnets (like Metabones does), for a few extra dollars.</p>

I may be wrong, but I don't think anybody makes a mirrorless adapter that can automatically activate the aperture on FD lenses. The Metabones "Smart Adapters" can maintain electronic communication between lens and body (like on a Canon EF lens) but there are no "Smart Adapters" for FD lenses.

<p>If you're looking for auto diaphragm, the first response already answered your question:</p>

 

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<p>For all practical purposes it is a non-issue 99% of the time, as the EVF adjusts light intensity to a norm for focusing. </p>

 

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<p>Thanks for your reply, I had not realised that the auto diaphragm is of less importance because the EVF afjusts its light intensity.<br>

BTW, if you look at this <a href="http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPFD-E-BM2">http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_SPFD-E-BM2</a> link, it says: <em>"True electronic integration of aperture diaphragm - let camera automatically choose aperture in P or S exposure modes, or dial in yourself on the camera body in A or M modes.", </em>and the accompanying pictures show a signalling lever in the adapter. So it seems possible to make such an adapter although it is rarely been done. </p>

<p>AFAIK the Metabones Smart Adapter^TM series is only available for Canon EOS lenses which already contain electronics for P and Tv modes http://www.metabones.com/products</p>

<p>No Metabones adapter with or<br /> without optical elements has <br />internal moving parts. Smart<br /> adapters work only on lenses<br /> that have their own internally<br /> powered moving parts and in<br /> reality thaz Canon EF and no<br /> others. <br /> <br /> Unfortunately, the focus of<br /> the statements on the pages<br /> you linked by Metabones go<br /> from specific to global and<br /> back again in a somewhat<br /> confusing manner. No fault<br /> of theirs, it's the fault of the<br /> person reading for not having<br /> enuf prior knowledge to see<br /> where that is happening ! <br /> <br /> What ! ? Did I just "Blame the<br /> Victim" ? Well sort of. Stuff as<br /> we see at the Metabones site<br /> is actually for experienced<br /> video professionals. $400 to<br /> $600 for SpeedBoosters ? To <br /> Fuji or M43 or Nex users thaz <br /> a heap of sheckels, but in the<br /> professional video world it's<br /> just pocket lint.<br /> <br /> Metabones products can be <br /> useful to amateur users of<br /> digital still cameras, and no<br /> law says you can't buy and<br /> use them. But you do wind up<br /> with visitors to Metabone's<br /> site who just might get a bit<br /> confused about the features<br /> of the various products.</p>

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