Does an FD Pancake Lens Exist?

[ethan_labowitz]

I'm looking at getting an A-1 and I'd really love to have the convenience of a pancake. Any

suggestions for alternatives if an FD pancake doesn't exist?

 

Thanks

 

Ethan

[awahlster]

NO

[awahlster]

The shortest FD mount lens made is the 50mm f1.8 nFD at 35mm lenght.

 

The Only pancake lens Canon made for an SLR was the super rare 38mm f2.8 which is in FL mount at 21mm lenght. But that lens will ONLY work on the Canon Pellix which has a pellicle mirror that does not move. It will not work on any Fd mount body.

[dave_s]

The 35/2.8 FDn is another small lens, the same size as the 50/1.8. An A series body with the 35/2.8 is a nice travel camera when you want to go light.

[User_502260]

If you are content to use stop down metering and to set your aperture manualy you could look for a small lens in M42 mount or in Leica screw mount. There are many M42 to FD adapters floating around and I have had fun using some of my many M42 lenses on a Canon F-1 that way. I have an original Leica 39mm to FD adapter but I am not sure whether you can get correct infinity focus out of this arrangement because all of my Leica 39mm lenses are enlarging lenses. Perhaps Mark knows the answer to this question. There are certainly many nice and small Leica screw mount lenses including some of the recent Voigtlander models.

 

I have two interesting M42 lenses which are small and can be used with an M42 to FD adapter. The first is the 35mm f/3.5 Noflexar. This is a pre-set lens with an interesting feature. In addition to the regular helical focusing, the front part of the lens pulls out in two distinct click stops for even closer focusing. I have found this lens to be sharp at every distance and some time ago I wrote a piece on it in CameraShopper magazine. The second is a 50mm f/2.8 Auto Rikenon. It must have been sold years ago with some inexpensive Ricoh camera. It has a length of 31mm, when set to infinity, from the front of the lens barrel to the back of the rear flange which sits against the adapter. This is a bit of an odd duck. It has front element focusing and goes only to 2.5 feet. It also lacks an Auto/Manual switch so it will work as a fully manual lens when it is not attached to an M42 mount camera. I haven't tested this lens very carefully so I would advise closing it down a little to improve performance. If you get one of these you aren't likely to see to many other photographers with the same lens.

[awahlster]

The 35mm f2.8 is 40mm long approx. 5mm longer then the 50mm f1.8 which is the shortest lens in the FD line up.

 

As to using a LTM lens on an FD body the only one that even comes close to focusing properly are the Braun Paxette lenses witha 44.5mm registration a 135mm lens will focus to around prtrait distance. The Leica and Canon RF lenses with their 28.8mm registration distance will be nearly touching a subject before focaus can be obtained. An enlarging lens has no focusing helix so that option is not worth trying.

 

The most compact you can have your FD body is with a 50mm f1.8 nFD lens attached.

 

if you want more compact by a Canonet G-III QL-17 40mm f1.7 and virtually the same image quality as a Fd lens.

[lance_dennis]

Ethan,

 

Of course there is a pancake lens for the FD series. However it is not made by Canon. It is the 40/2 Ultron Aspherical (still in production for the FD mount. At only $285, its a bargin ;)

 

http://tinyurl.com/cmbgl

 

scroll down a bit. It's less than 30mm long!

[dave_s]

OK, the 35 is a quarter inch longer and five grams lighter than the 50. I stand corrected on this important point.

[jtk]

Mark W's right. And the rangefinder he's suggesting is built better than any of Canon's plastic SLRs.

[awahlster]

Lance, I completely forgot about the VC lenses and the funnt thing is the 75mm f2.5 Color Heliar in LTM is on my wish list I have looked at these VC lenses many times I should have remembered it.

[doug_nelson1]

I wonder if an FD to Leica thread adapter might be used to fit the plentiful and inexpensive Cosina-Voigtlander 25mm to an FD. The deep depth-of-field might override any slop factor in the registration distance. I do know that the AV-1 can deal in the stop-down mode with the light coming through the aperture to work in aperture-priority AE. The cheapest solution, however, remains the 35 f2.8 and 50 f1.8, each available at $25-40.

[awahlster]

Doug the Adapter A is about a 4mm extension if I remeber correctly the LTM mount lens has a 28.8mm registration distance and the body has a 42mm registration distance so no it wouldn't work you would have close to a 100mm extension on a 50mm lens focusing range.

[awahlster]

Doug the Adapter A is about a 4mm extension if I remeber correctly the LTM mount lens has a 28.8mm registration distance and the body has a 42mm registration distance so no it wouldn't work you would have close to a 100mm extension on a 50mm lens focusing range.

[peter_evans4]

<p><em>I wonder if an FD to Leica thread adapter might be used to fit the plentiful and inexpensive Cosina-Voigtlander 25mm to an FD. The deep depth-of-field might override any slop factor in the registration distance.</em></p><p>What Mark said. Further, considerable depth of field doesn't result in considerable depth of focus.</p><p>If you want a small, light, cheap 25mm lens, shave off one millimetre and look for the Cosina (and I don't mean "Voigtländer") 24/2.8: here in Japan at least, heavily discounted <em>new</em> examples are still available. I haven't tried it but I've read that performance is adequate for most real-world purposes (though not adequate for measurbators).</p>

[gan1]

I have the FD version of the VC 40/2 (as well as the 75/2.5), and it is 37mm long, 45mm including the dome-shaped hood. The 30mm length mentioned in Lance's linked site must be referring to the Nikon version.

 

The VC lenses are very well built, their metal barrels giving them a nice solid feel.

[User_502260]

I forgot about another possibility. If you can find the rare Canon N adapter you could mount one of the 45mm f/2.8 Nikkor lenses. Aperture control would be manual but you would get proper infinity focus.

[w_t1]

what Mark said about the G-III, i have two and they are great, keep loaded with b&w

 

if you really got a jones for a pancake, you could buy the nikon fm3a with the pancake lens, assuming you're not into automation

[ari_kermaier]

What about the Olympus Zuiko 40mm f/2 pancake lens?