canon digital thats works with fd lenses???

[michael_bizon]

My last post got stricken?? so maybe this will pass muster, I'm looking into buying a Canon digital body

that can work well with my FD lenses, I haven't worked with the digital eos to FD adapter either, any

help would be appreciated. (I prefer to ask the FD lens crowd and not the EOS digital crowd)..

[awahlster]

This is a Film camera forum and digital questions would best be asked where people are discussing digital cameras. THE EOS FORUM.

 

Since many fewer FD camera users have experience with EF mount bodies I suggest you ask these types of questions in the EOS forum.

 

I will allow this to remain for a couple days to see if you get anything of value but this will be a very short lived subject.

[dangoldman]

there are only lens mount converters. Canon will never make an FD mount digital.

[richard_oleson]

Not only will there never be an FD digital, but the adapters to put FD lenses onto canon DSLRs are not a good solution.... you just can't get there from here. What you need to do is either keep your FD gear for film and invest in whatever DSLR system suits you, or sell the film gear and apply the proceeds toward the digital system. It's unfortunate, but that's just the way it comes out.....

[phule]

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

[John Crowe]

Actually the post makes more sense here since EOS users are more concerned about IS and the other latest gimmicks rather than approaching digital from an economic/practical standpoint.

 

 

The various FD to EOS adapters, even those made by Canon, are not a practical alternative. I've used the best and the worst.

 

 

The most practical solution for someone who is used to using manual focus, and who has at least some experience with stopped-down metering is to purchase a Canon EOS DSLR. Canon, in all their wisdom, has made it possible to mount just about every lens available, other than Canon FD lenses onto the EF mount. So you can purchase affordable manual focus lenses, primarily used, from Nikon, Pentax, and Olympus and not so affordable lenses from Zeiss(Contax) and Leica plus probably a bunch more I don't know about, and use them on a Canon DSLR via inexpensive, mechanical only, adapters.

 

 

If you also like film then buy yourself a used Canon EOS film body to go with your digital.

 

 

Another option is to go with a Nikon DSLR and use inexpensive used Nikon manual lenses, but the problem here is that all the affordable Nikon DSLRs do not meter with these lenses, only the expensive ones do. A Nikon film body works with them no problem, of course.

[michael_bizon]

thanks John, I'm glad someone can see the point here, I enjoy my FD lenses and trully like

the manual focus lenses, lighter, stronger etc.etc. and with the amount of money I have in

the system, I couldn't afford to replace all my primes, if I could I'd buy the EF stuff and you

wouldn't here from me here! I've heard that it wasn't easy to attach a Canon DSLR with the

adapter to FD lenses, and I'm asking someone (in the FD crowd) if they have done it, and

how they liked it, maybe the EOS crowd would know more about attaching DSLr's to

ancient FD lenses, it's worth a try as you have pointed out Mark..

[michael_bizon]

thanks Rob for that link, I just had some time to look at it, some options out there but not

a lot, the future is dark for digital in my life right now. (go ahead Mark free up some disk

space)

[robert meier]

Michael, the FD lenses are neither lighter nor ancient.

[14mm 2.8l]

I've used my 400mm 4.5 on my Pentax K Mount Digital with great sucess on subjects closer than 50 feet. But I also own a 400mm 5.6 Pentax lens so I experiment with FD telephoto for the fun of it.

 

At some point Pro FD lenses will get bought by people to destroy the FD mount and reinstall the mount of their choice. I've seen 3 links describing this happening. One was a 50 1.2L FD that got cannibalized.

 

Its sad but unless someone like Sony or Samsung buys the rights to make inexpensive dslr for FD mounts you'll need to demo the FD lenses to get the most from their optical formulas. Once demo'd the lense is no longer usable on FD cameras.

 

In the past couple years I branched out from being a dedicated FD owner to Eos and Pentax and Nikon and Olympus systems. As always the disadvantage on cobbling one lens to another is no autofocus, which is a pretty sweet feature to have on certain glass.

 

Lindy

[kelly_flanigan1]

Camera makers make money selling lenses. A Canon digital body for the FD lens line is like a maker in 2007 creating a new 8-track tape player; a new betamax unit; or Ford era "wip inflation now buttons"; or space food sticks. Canon will make a new digital body for the FD lens line when Ford creates a new station wagon; when 828/Bantum comes back; when the Polaroid i-zone gets a digital back. Canon <b>purposely</b> created the EOS mount as a fresh start; with no baggage compatability issues with the older FD, FL, R canon slr lens lines. One must not confuse wishing with the reality of creating a camera body that would be a flop; a massive loss in the market. Maybe one could throw say 10 to 100 million to Canon have them foot a new camera for the FD lens line. As a practical matter nmany of us own ancient lens lines. I sold off most all of my Exakta 35mm slr stuff in the 1970's; that was used from the 1950's on. My D-mount 8mm cine stuff has dropped to zilch in value. I wish a maker would make a cell cam with a D-mount; but thats like wishing for a digital FD body; not going to happen. The funny thing is that one an use a 1950's Canon 50mm F1.2 LTM on my Epson RD-1s and it works well. Camera makers PURPOSELY create bastard lens mounts on 35mm slr's to lock in the sweet profits of selling lenses. Razor blade makers, ink jet printers do the same thing.

[michael_bizon]

Kelly, your right however I'm not asking this question about a FD mount digital body.. I

guess I'm asking about the adapters ( which Rob's link is useful), and which DSLR Canon

made is better set-up for using with manual focus FD lenses. As far as weight I believe

the FD's are lignter than the EF's, and more rugged. Thanks for all the response on this

subject..

[14mm 2.8l]

Michael, instead of figuring out which Eos digital works best for FD glass (My~Pick~Eos5D) you should buy into the best feature rich dslr that fits your needs and wallet best. Personally I like K Mount but their used glass has doubled & tripled in value since they found a credible digital solution for all their glass made from the 1960's foward. Two years ago it was a much better time to jump into K Mount System. Now their used glass sells for more than Eos glass brand new for similar focal lengths. A simple 85mm f1.8 or f2 auctions up $600 to $700 each time offered versus under $400 for brand new eos version.

 

That all said I really dig my pair of K Mount dslrs and glass I was LUCKY to buy right. We just did 10 days in yellowstone and grand tetons and we've got 5,200 raw images: 50GBs. Just 8 rolls of film got burnt out of 63rolls I took with me. Being able to immediately see our pixs on our 17" laptop in the Parks is always a blast.

 

Lindy

[michael_bizon]

Thanks for the info Lindy, I'll look into it, it's becoming plain that as far as moving my FD

lenses into the future, the future has left them behind. Bummer!

[danielmrussell]

I have an extensive FD collection so have been down this road. An adaptor without glass turns any prime into a decent macro lens ( I use a FD auto bellows with the adaptor on the body end and a remote cable to stop down) works fine but you got to fiddle with exposure as metering is not the best, click preview and adjust. Works real good.

 

For infinity I use the ELEFOTO adaptor. Im told it?s the next best to the canon one that is a rare find. Forget about fast glass with this adaptor anything wider than 5.6 is horrid and the best shot with it was only OK so far. If you do macro the adaptor is great WITHOUT glass as it is now an extension tube.

[michael_bizon]

thanks Dan, I've decided to hold off for awhile on getting the FD's to work with a

D#$&^%!!! (can't say the "D" word here) camera body. I'm afraid even using my 14mm or

17mm lenses at f16-f22, will still hurt image quality even with the Elefoto adapter, and I

don't have anything past 200mm so the Canon adapter is pointless for me. But as always

thanks for the info, especially about using the bellows with the set-up, didn't even occur

to me

[danielmrussell]

I did a bit more work with the combo today Elefoto adaptor and Vivatar 400mm Fd lens (non smc el cheepo) and was very pleased. Turns out there was a 77mm el cheepo sky filter on the Vivatar that KILLED the image quality. I can post them if any want to see. They are not tack but not bad. You can read the sign Home of Philapelphia Eagles on the stadium from about 2 miles (It can not be seen naked eye at all).

[richard_wong13]

The difference of flange distance between EOS and FD is 2mm. I believe that one can get an EOS DSLR, remove the EOS mount, and modify it to take a FD body mount, shaving off the couple of mm in the process. The result would be a permanently modified DSLR with FD lens mount. The FD lenses on mounted such a camera will have to be stopped down, though, but you should be able to use all your FD lenses (given the limitation of reflection from rear element, IR ghosting, etc).

 

I can start on such a project the next few weeks, and post results, if there is sufficient interest.

[jb17kx]

You'd seriously cut up an EOS body to prove that you could use an FD lens on it? I would be very interested to know if it was possible - let alone practical, but it seems to be a very expensive undertaking.