hey guys.. I've got some questions for you... I'm interested in picking up some L lenses to use on a Canon a-1 I just got. I'm trying to find a complete list of which lenses had the L designation for the FD mount and I can't seem to find anything conclusive... besides the 85... I'm certain of that one. Some people have mentioned a 24, a 50, also a 55 and then some telephoto models.
Richard.
I believe John has the right idea. I know for a fact, the long whites were Ls, except the FD 600 F4.5 lens. I recently owned one in the new FD mount, and it was not a designated L lens. I currently own a FNn 400 F4.5 lens and its black and not an L. Not all L lenses were/are white however. Ask the question on the Alternative form and you will get an answer to your post.
Harry Palmer
I use the FD lenses on DSLR cameras:
Even some or most of the standard FD lenses are quite good. Some prefer the older brech-lock SSC lenses, because they are a bit more sturdy - less plastic, for example the aperture ring.
I have converted some of the newFD lenses: 24/1.4L, 85/1.2L, 100/4 macro, 300/2.8L, 400/2.8L and 500/4.5L. Especially the tele lenses are great, the 400/2.8 I had for conversion and test was a bit behind the thinner 300 and 500mm lenses. But I would love to have all of them :-)
Furthermore even the cheap 28/2.8 and 50/1.8 give a very good image quality - I use them as tilt lenses on crop DSLR. The performance and feeling of even the cheap FD 50mm/1.8 is great, I would say much better than EF counterparts 50/1.8 I and II - and probably f/1.4 version.
Build quality / feeling of an old Canon FL 50/1.8 is even better - but up to now I have not used that lens, not converted yet.
ZoneV wrote:
I use the FD lenses on DSLR cameras:
Even some or most of the standard FD lenses are quite good. Some prefer the older brech-lock SSC lenses, because they are a bit more sturdy - less plastic, for example the aperture ring.
I have converted some of the newFD lenses: 24/1.4L, 85/1.2L, 100/4 macro, 300/2.8L, 400/2.8L and 500/4.5L. Especially the tele lenses are great, the 400/2.8 I had for conversion and test was a bit behind the thinner 300 and 500mm lenses. But I would love to have all of them :-)
Furthermore even the cheap 28/2.8 and 50/1.8 give a very good image quality - I use them as tilt lenses on crop DSLR. The performance and feeling of even the cheap FD 50mm/1.8 is great, I would say much better than EF counterparts 50/1.8 I and II - and probably f/1.4 version.
Build quality / feeling of an old Canon FL 50/1.8 is even better - but up to now I have not used that lens, not converted yet.
I understand why you've converted them... but to be honest, it pisses me off to see these great old lenses wrecked. Especially the L versions that are extremely hard to find.
It's like hacking up an old original corvette... and putting a new motor in it.
Well, I have most of the FD L lenses sitting on my office floor. Didn't know anyone wanted them any longer? The 500 f4.5 and the 300 f2.8 were top lenses in their day!
ZoneV wrote:
I use the FD lenses on DSLR cameras:
Even some or most of the standard FD lenses are quite good. Some prefer the older brech-lock SSC lenses, because they are a bit more sturdy - less plastic, for example the aperture ring.
I have converted some of the newFD lenses: 24/1.4L, 85/1.2L, 100/4 macro, 300/2.8L, 400/2.8L and 500/4.5L. Especially the tele lenses are great, the 400/2.8 I had for conversion and test was a bit behind the thinner 300 and 500mm lenses. But I would love to have all of them :-)
Furthermore even the cheap 28/2.8 and 50/1.8 give a very good image quality - I use them as tilt lenses on crop DSLR. The performance and feeling of even the cheap FD 50mm/1.8 is great, I would say much better than EF counterparts 50/1.8 I and II - and probably f/1.4 version.
Build quality / feeling of an old Canon FL 50/1.8 is even better - but up to now I have not used that lens, not converted yet.
...Show more →
How do you convert the FD-lenses? Will they work with infinite focus?
Regards, Mikkelsen
Jim McCann wrote:
Well, I have most of the FD L lenses sitting on my office floor. Didn't know anyone wanted them any longer? The 500 f4.5 and the 300 f2.8 were top lenses in their day!
Jim
Well since the increase in mirrorless type cameras the old FD lenses are in pretty high demand. Prices of once near worthless (ok great lenses are never worthless) are pretty high again.
RichardLavigne wrote:
I understand why you've converted them... but to be honest, it pisses me off to see these great old lenses wrecked. Especially the L versions that are extremely hard to find.
...
Canon L lenses are easy to find with a little time. But the prices are still high.
I understand that old rare lenses should get into a museum. I think it is not good to have them at some collectors shelfes for the collector only. If a collector have such, I think he should show them for example on the internet.
But what is rare? And what is collectible?
I think there are thousands of FD 300/2.8 made. Mine had fungus, probably because the pre-owner didnŽt use it.
I read that the FD 800/5.6L is made only ~ 178 times. At the moment I wait for its predecessor.
Furthermore why should lenses not been "wrecked", but houses, cranes, ships, kitchen machines, turning lathes 99% of cars.
But for the collectors shake I have made and published reversible ways to convert the lenses to EF mount. It is more work to do, but it could be done.
My definition of reversible is no holes in original FD parts - some people make holes or make changes to the optical setup and call it "reversible".
Jim McCann wrote:
Well, I have most of the FD L lenses sitting on my office floor. Didn't know anyone wanted them any longer? The 500 f4.5 and the 300 f2.8 were top lenses in their day!
....
Whow! A dream :-)
Annapurna wrote:
..
How do you convert the FD-lenses? Will they work with infinite focus?
...
I found a .pdf with Canon's equipment and 1986 prices. Have you looked at KEH.com? They have a lot of FD lenses, both L and Non-L. Google 'Canon 1986 pricelist' and you'll find the .pdf, the first item in the search
Annapurna wrote:
Thank you very much. IŽll stick to my macroadapter or the one with glas.
Regards, Mikkelsen
I hate to see these older lenses modified so that you can't go back. Now we have options!
Ed Mika has some nice FL 55m, Telephoto and TS reversible conversion kits.
I just sent my reversible FDn 50mm f/1.2 non-L prototype design to the machine shop.
I read on one of the other forums here (buy&Sell I think) that Ed Mika was working on a reversible FD 50L & 85L 1.2 Aspherical kit. I'm looking forward to buying one of these for my FD50 L that is sitting on the shelf.
MartyCastilla wrote:
I just sent my reversible FDn 50mm f/1.2 non-L prototype design to the machine shop.
What is this reversible adapter idea? Is it a user-removable adapter to change the lens between FD and EF mounts? If so, do you think you will market it one day?
Below is a link to a great site for old FD mount lenses n film cameras. I have no L glass, but have about 30 or so non-L lenses, a few A-1s and T-90s...if anyone's interested just PM me, all are for sale cheap.
ZoneV_Nikon wrote:
What is this reversible adapter idea? Is it a user-removable adapter to change the lens between FD and EF mounts? If so, do you think you will market it one day?
Yes it is an FD to EF mount adapter with infinity focus without any optics. It is user installable and reversible. I do plan to sell them if the prototypes workout. I want to make sure it works as advertised before selling them. The FDn mounts are a little tricky to convert, but I am finding that I should be able to use the same design for the whole FDn 50mm non-L series (f/1.8, f/1.4 & f/1.2).I've been ticketing with the design for over a year now and I'm not satisfied with it. I'm just not sure how many people would want something like this.
StillFingerz wrote:
I'm testing an FD to EF adapter that is from the UK, with optics and with optics removed.
Results are okay (you judge) with optics, better without optics as it's just like using an extension tube (infinity focus is lost) but results are good so far; the optics are not to hard to remove. So far it's worked on FL, FD and FDn mounts without issue; all non-L glass.
I'd be interested in your adapter, not having to fiddle with optics while preserving infinity focus would be fantastic; preferred as I have a bit of old FD gear!
This shot is handheld, 40D with FDn 50mm f3.5 Macro; adapter with optics in place...RAW image file, converted with Lightroom v3.6, no adjustment, exported to 500k jpeg....Show more →
I have an FD-EF adapter from The Lens Doctor, great guy. The adapter is nice but changing the optic in and out can be a pain.
@StillFingerz (or anybody else) PM me your contact info and when I'm ready to sell my adapter I'll let you know. If all goes well they should be available before summer.
MartyCastilla wrote:
I hate to see these older lenses modified so that you can't go back. Now we have options!
Ed Mika has some nice FL 55m, Telephoto and TS reversible conversion kits.
I just sent my reversible FDn 50mm f/1.2 non-L prototype design to the machine shop.
I read on one of the other forums here (buy&Sell I think) that Ed Mika was working on a reversible FD 50L & 85L 1.2 Aspherical kit. I'm looking forward to buying one of these for my FD50 L that is sitting on the shelf.
Reversible DIY lens mount conversions could be performed, I did that as mentioned on several lenses.
I thought about CAD designing a customizable conversion kit for my own FD-EF lens conversions (for all nFD lenses). So that I could make the mount conversions much faster, only a bit work customize the iris crank connection. But I found no time to learn the CAD software.
I have some thought about selling such conversions, but warranty and all those selling issues stopped these thoughts.
