rgodfrey

Kat,If you're still looking for a tripod, I am highly recommending the Manfrotto 055MF3. It's a great lightweight MagFiber tripod with many great features. I can actually stand looking directly into the viewfinder of my camera without using the center column and only have to drop my head about an inch and I'm 6'-2" tall. It has sturdy, legs and only weighs about 4.5 lbs, I think. Anyway, look it up to get the specs. I did a lot of research on light tripods for backpacking before I bought this one. I bought the 055MF3 on Amazon for a little over $300 last year.

 

I also wanted to put in my two cents worth on a head selection. I really like the 3-D pan-tilt heads over the ball heads. Many would disagree, but I like to adjust the angles individually. Then, again I'm a landscape photographer. I would think that for architectural photography, it would be a real plus. I forget the model number of my Bogen head now but it has a nice solid base mount that would be fine for the 40D. The lever handles for pan and tilt ratchet out of the way when you're done adjusting. It's a nice touch. This head has been around for decades.

Hello All, I just wanted to say that you were right about this lens being of high quality. After using it for a week on a Utah canyon backpack trip I've discovered its amazing performance. Photos are very sharp and color is fantastic! And the f2.5 aperture! What a luxury to have a fast lens at this focal length. This is kind of sick, but I've been watching them on eBay recently an have purchased another one. Why? I don't know.... Just in case?? Anyway I was able to get the second one in flawless condition for just $39, and saw another one sell for $41!

Just wanted to add a follow-up on this. I used this lens in the Utah desert recently and got some great sharp exposures with it, but also some very underexposed shots. An evaluation at the shop uncovered the cause of the exposure an the jamming problems. It was only that the aperture blades needed to be cleaned and lubricated. Now it tests out fine with the extension tube. It's funny that the blades looked very clean through the outer elements.

OK, now this is making sense. This IS the lens with the largest aperture that I have. I should have mentioned that on my other FD lenses, there is a little rivet like bump on my other 2.8 lenses but nothing like the "mound" on this f1.4 lens. I'm feeling embarrassed. 20+ years of using FD lenses and I had no idea about this. You're right, this must be a lens issue (I do have a new battery and the test beeps are OK) although my test roll of film came out beautifully and the aperture ring opens and closes the blades just fine. Thank you for sharing your expertise with me. These forums are great for learning. I'll send this lens into the shop to have it inspected.

Michael Brand, Thanks for your ideas on this. I will check to see if the combination will stop down manually.

 

Mike Santos, I just returned from the photo lab this evening where the tech did just what you suggested, making the lens think that it was mounted. It checked out OK. The lens still jambed up on his ext tubes like they did on mine. What we noticed is that on my 50mm FD lens there is a raised, cone shape bump that appears to press the little silver pin in the camera body. This extra bump doesn't exist on my other FD lenses. The tech was speculating that the tube linkages may be hanging up on this bump. I that a stretch? Looking through my Canon book I can see that some of the new FD lenses have this bump and some don't. Am I just off on a wild goose chase now? Anyway, I'm avoiding that lens/tube combination for now and will check out my test roll of film when it's ready tomorrow.

Thank you Mark, I'll give that a try.

Thanks Alan. I was making sure that the DOF lever wasn't engaged. This is very frustrating. I'm not doing anything differently than I've ever done with the tubes and lenses. Because this is a new lens to me, I've kind come to the conclusion that there is either something wrong with the lens or it's not a compatible combination. I'd find the second choice difficult to believe or understand. If I'm unable to figure it out, I think I'll shoot a test roll without the tube and just avoid that combination if the lens checks out. Thank you all for listening to my desperate whining (I'm leaving this Friday for a Utah photo trip and was really hoping to use the 50mm 1.4).

Thanks,

This is a Canon tube.

It's a New FD with the lock button.

I've been mounting the tube to the body first.

I think that I've been mounting it with the lens set on A.

 

I appreciate your help with this.

 

Randy

I recently purchased a 50mm 1.4 FD lens for my Canon AE-1P. When I use the 25mm

extension tube on it the aperture mechanism jams just as the shutter begins to

release. The mirror swings up and stops. The shutter doesn't continue to release

until I remove the lens. This doesn't happen with any of my other lenses. The

other tubes jam the same way. The stop-down finger on the lens seems to move

freely. The lens seems to work fine when it is connected directly to the camera,

although I haven't run any film through it yet. Can anyone think of what is

going on here?

Thanks Alan. What a great shot. I think that I'm going to enjoy this lens. I don't own a bellows but I'll try out my extension tubes on it.

 

Randy

I had the same problem with my AE-1P a couple of years ago. It turned out to be the shutter curtain as folks were saying above. It ended up costing around $100 in repair charges including a bearing replacement. Not to bad if you're planning to keep the camera.

Thank you all! I've just returned home from an evening out after work to find all of this great information. I have yet to use this lens, but my first impression is that it is very solid (and heavy,which I'm not sure is good or bad). I feel that I was maybe sold a bill of goods when I bid on this on eBay. The seller reported it to be the next best thing to a Canon L series lens. I should have done my homework. The lens is in excellent condition and looks as though it was used very little. I will try it out on a photo-backpacking trip in Utah, a couple of weeks from now. Alan, the bellows link you sent didn't work. I'll try it again later. Thanks again. I'll add all of this to my files. Oh, I'm planning to buy a Hoya HMC 58mm circular polarizer for this lens. Does that sound like a good combination? I've been happy with my Tiffen filters but have read some of the forum info and it sounds like Hoya HMC is maybe the way to go.

 

Randy

Thanks Peter! I actually just now found some on-line info about this lens. I don't know why it didn't surface in a search before. If you happen to know anything else about the performance of this lens I'd really appreciate it. Here's a link to that page.

 

http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/canon/fdresources/fdlenses/earlyfdlenses/100mmfd.htm#135mmf2.5

 

Randy

I recently purchased a 135mm f2.5 (not a 2.8) FD lens. This lens is not in my

canon FD lens book of specifications. Why is that? Anyway, I don't seem to have

a mm scale handy and was wondering if anyone out there happed to know what the

filter size is. Definitely larger than my 52mm filters. Looks like it may be

around 58mm? Thanks in advance for your help on this.