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Old Canon FD lenses - what body to get?


Orangenz
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So if one had a lot of old Canon FD lenses, so no benefit from AF, what camera body would be good if running a metabones speedbooster? Would a Sony APS-c body be the only one to use the whole lens but also have ibis? Or would an Olympus or G85 be an idea to match lens and body size? Probably only for photos.

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1 hour ago, jcs said:

Photos only? How about an FD to EOS adapter and a 5D3? (then you can have fun with ML too :)

You can't adapt FD mount to EOS without adding glass in between, or getting the mounts converted.

Honestly, I recommend a used A6000 with Lens Turbo (Cheap alternative to Speedbooster) Especially if your going photo only.

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37 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

You can't adapt FD mount to EOS without adding glass in between, or getting the mounts converted.

Honestly, I recommend a used A6000 with Lens Turbo (Cheap alternative to Speedbooster) Especially if your going photo only.

No ibis? I think photos only for a grandpa.

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3 hours ago, jcs said:

Photos only? How about an FD to EOS adapter and a 5D3? (then you can have fun with ML too :)

Good suggestion, but you need Edmika mount conversion, as adapters don't exist. This is still a very cost effective solution imo, especially if you take into consideration the great price of FD glass.

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11 minutes ago, Kubrickian said:

I've been toying around with the idea of using an FD speedbooster on the GH5 for more organic looking video, and then for my stills camera using a Canon AE-1 film camera. Best of both worlds for stills and video? 

I was doing a similar thing but then converted my best FD's to EOS. I use an Elan 7e most the time now and an OM10 if I'm shooting film and want to keep it small.

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2 hours ago, tweak said:

I was doing a similar thing but then converted my best FD's to EOS. I use an Elan 7e most the time now and an OM10 if I'm shooting film and want to keep it small.

How did you go about getting them converted? Do you like the result?

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5 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

How did you go about getting them converted? Do you like the result?

I emailed Edmika and got his conversion mounts for them. I really like them, the lenses end up a bit smaller and lighter than they once were and the material he uses is super nice, they mount perfectly with no play or stiffness. Highly recommended. 

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17 minutes ago, tweak said:

I emailed Edmika and got his conversion mounts for them. I really like them, the lenses end up a bit smaller and lighter than they once were and the material he uses is super nice, they mount perfectly with no play or stiffness. Highly recommended. 

Link to his site?

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Fd lenses are ideal for the Sony A7 series although you have to choose your glass carefully as some are better than others. All of the fixed lenses are good whenstopped well down and have very good frame evenness I.e sharp right out to the frame corners unlike a lot of similar vintage and even contemporary lenses. Wide open they are mostly low contrast and ' dreamy' but this can be attractive but Bokeh can be harsh and so they make good ' landscape lenses' Outright resolution is not exceptional so I would caution their use on high density aps-c and M43 sensors? Most of the zooms are mediocre by modern standards ( as are any of that era) Any L glass is good but they are command high prices and are not such bargains. They are plentiful and cheap on the used market due to their non compatibility with the EOS mount. 

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I love FD lenses and they adapt well to both E mount and M4/3.

I do prefer them on my A7s (which is not stabilized but doesn't need it for stills) to my GX7 (which is stabilized for stills though not the greatest version) but they work on both.

The L lenses are mostly very nice and while they can be expensive, some of the more common ones have come down a fair bit sometimes due to a few similar new manual focus third party lenses being released in the last few years (plus more and more really good lenses for systems that can adapt FD's).

Lenses I have been happy with include FD 24 1.4 L  for in close wide angle shots (FF) wide open  and is ok for landscapes stopped down, the FD 85 1.2 L, the FD 50 1.2L (all of those can still be expensive but have come down a lot lately if you look).     The FD 80-200 f4 L this can be found for a couple of hundred dollars and is quite good and better than the non L.

The 24 f2 and 24 2.8 lenses have quite a following too (I have not tried those).

Be careful with them though, the mount can be a pain sometimes (I keep an adapter on each lens usually) and especially, some FD's can have issues with dissolving bearings.     My 85 1.2 L has this problem and the focus ring is now very loose (still works and I still intend getting it fixed as I love the lens).

Pretty sure this was with the 24 1.4 L (probably now my favourite FD along with the 85) on the A7s.

DSC06674.jpg

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