I'm finally able to use my FD collection on 5DMK2.

After a lot of frustration with the aftermarket adapters and the limitations that come with them, I set out to fix this. The work started a few years ago in my spare time and with very limited funds, but I've finally finished my conversion kits. My favorite FDn lens are no longer collecting dust, especially the few FDn L series I have.

I'm finding that I'm using the my FDn 50mm 1.2 and 24mm 1.4 L more frequently then I would have thought. Call me old fashion buy I love using my MF lens over the my AF.

Several people have expressed interest in my work once I've finished. So I'm posting this to share. To help make these conversion kits available to more people I've started a project on Kickstarter.com.

FD to EF Conversion Kits

Every little helps !

Good luck, though I think it might be a hard ask to get $6000. I'll send the link to a few friends who might be interested.

Would gladly buy one off you separately though if this falls through .

Are you aware of Ed Mika's FDn to EF conversion kit? It seems like he's done what you're trying to do: EdMika

I certainly wish the OP all the luck in making this a successful venture.

It was suggested to me to use Kickstarter on one of my own projects, but I just could not see the value or reason to use it.

I guess I wonder why use Kickstarter and what purpose does it serve? On one level, Kickstarter is a form of pre-selling a product, so I guess that's one purpose.

When I was doing my own production project, I saw the Kickstarter idea as an additional layer of activities that took time and effort away from actually producing the product. Sorry, for being slightly off topic.

By the way, if you ask Ed, he will tell you he did tons of design revs on his adapters.

dickb wrote:
Are you aware of Ed Mika's FDn to EF conversion kit? It seems like he's done what you're trying to do: EdMika



Yes this was recently brought to my attention. I respect the work that he's done with the Tilt & Shift and Telephoto adapters. All I'll say is it is interesting that he stopped his work on the asymmetrical 50mm & 85mm L series in favor of FDn designs.

MartyCastilla wrote:
...All I'll say is it is interesting that he stopped his work on the asymmetrical 50mm & 85mm L series in favor of FDn designs.

Aspherical I suppose?
I reversible converted the Canon Fd 85mm f/1.2L to Canon EF mount ~ two years ago, and Ed Mika asked me some details about this lens. As far as I know he has some good ideas for these lenses.

These lenses with the fixed backlens in the mount are hard to convert. Many people asked me to convert their 85/1.2L but I do not want to spend my rare free time for such work on my mini lathe and mini mill.
I thought about a newFD conversion set for my own use, which would have made conversions much easier, but without CAD knowledge I didnīt wanted to start this.

Some of these FD lenses have some others problems too. So not all conversions are easy. Sometimes screws are a very hard to open. On one of the super tele lenses I converted I had real problems, the screwdrivers flexed too much - I am used to open screws on tractors and such :-)
On my FD 100/4 macro the inner bearings are defective, and needed replacement.
On the Fd 500/4.5L the mount was broken - the owner didnīt told me this :-/

MartyCastilla wrote:
dickb wrote:
Are you aware of Ed Mika's FDn to EF conversion kit? It seems like he's done what you're trying to do: EdMika



Yes this was recently brought to my attention. I respect the work that he's done with the Tilt & Shift and Telephoto adapters. All I'll say is it is interesting that he stopped his work on the asymmetrical 50mm & 85mm L series in favor of FDn designs.

You mean aspherical I presume? I'm not aware he stopped any work with regards to 50L/85L conversion kits. How do you know he has? I'm eagerly awaiting an 85asph conversion kit like his 55asph kit.

I'm not saying you shouldn't develop your conversion kits, the more options there are the better. I was just wondering whether asking people to pledge money for you to develop something that already exists is the best strategy both for you and and the people putting up the money. As I read your description of the conversion kit it doesn't do anything Ed's doesn't. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

MartyCastilla wrote:
All I'll say is it is interesting that he stopped his work on the asymmetrical 50mm & 85mm L series in favor of FDn designs.

Ed did not stop working on the FD50L and FD85L.

As you know, it's the stationary rear element that is the challenge. I, myself, also stopped working on them due to that and the fact they require a shortened 5D mirror. The breakage liability is too high, on lens and camera.

My only point is that there will be many design iterations toward a "final" production run. In the first post, it sounded like the prototyping was done and the Kickstarter money was for material and machining, which I don't understand the need for, if the project is that far along.

Will your adapter fit the 135mm f2?

I have not stopped developing anything. I've got over 25 different FDn/FD/FL lenses working on EOS http://www.ebay.ca/sch/ed_mika/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3692 and counting with the 85mm 1.2L launching next week and the 50L and 85 Aspherical coming soon after http://www.flickr.com/photos/ontarian/8056589339/in/photostream

Also 6 grand is not going to get very far in equipment and tooling, I'm at well over 35 grand invested and counting for equipment and tooling and 40 grand and counting in lenses. Your prototype looks like a very early version of my FL 55mm 1.2 EOS kit I launched in early 2010 with the same mistakes for engagement fingers that don't quite trigger the manual lens detection switch in 1D Mark2 and earlier EOS bodies which eliminates the usefulness of the dandelion chip since the camera won't bother looking for a signal without the hardware trigger active.

Your Aperture arms are what I have been calling EdLinks for a very long time to. I hope the patent pending notice is just for show because I have been open source publishing my development work since day 1 and I can handily show that this is all pre-existing tech. The Lens Doctor has some very professional similar designs as well that would be hard to get a new patent filing around.

Its a long steep road of development, Canon certainly didn't make it easy with so much variation lens to lens and interference conditions and separate lenses elements needing to be held. I do wish you well and feel that there is enough of a Manual Focus lens pie to go around if you work in earnest and help come up with good working solutions. -Ed Mika

Also Marty, I suppose its no surprise that your copy looks a lot like my original FL kit since its the only one of my designs you ever purchased from me back on September 14 2011.

I know your copy is not an exact match, it takes my original EOS top side machining approach and combines it with my long published FDn lens side concept http://www.flickr.com/photos/ontarian/6852589828/in/photostream that retains the function of the iron ring that allows the attachment of the EdLink / aperture connection).

Most people who have access to the gear needed to copy my designs don't. They simply better appreciate the work and time I've put into it. Take for example this comment posted on my flickr photostream just today

(5 hours ago | reply | delete)
Ed, I recently received one of your adapters for my 135 f2.0 and It's a beautiful piece of innovative engineering. Being a machinist myself and running an R&D department now days I understand more than most the kind of blood, sweat and even tears that goes into a project like this. My hat's off....you have nailed it with these, they are a quality item and easy to fit with a bit of patience and good light to see what's going on.
Just placed an order for the 50 f1.4 version...can't wait!
Sean

To be honest Marty, I'm trying pretty hard not to be bitter, but so far I'm failing. -Ed

I don't like seeing this sort of thing.

Canon Rumors wrote:
I don't like seeing this sort of thing.

+1

Canon Rumors wrote:
I don't like seeing this sort of thing.

+1 as well.

Ed Mika has worked hard for a long time to develop an exceptional line of products. I have personally purchased several of his designs. This troubles me to see someone plagiarizing the idea and trying to garner kickstarter funds with it.

My advice: if you're interested in FD to EF conversions, seek out Ed Mika on eBay or on the web. He has proven products and he stands behind his work. Believe me, I know.

Canon Rumors wrote:
I don't like seeing this sort of thing.

I think it depends how close Marty's concept is to Ed's work.

The different concepts made by Ed Mika are not very different from those other lens mount converting tinkeres used long before - for their own small scale conversion. Ed Mika's conversion kits are much better machined and better looking, and made for larger scale production.

The "Ed Link" looks like those connectors here (without in deep anaylsis):
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/775750/0&year=2009#7123703
http://picasaweb.google.com/RossBeckerNZ/FD85L?authkey=Gv1sRgCM_2jbr7tLavowE#5476068686567366290
http://www.digicamclub.de/showthread.php?t=14493&p=158408&viewfull=1#post158408
http://www.digicamclub.de/showthread.php?t=13291
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/787723/0
http://www.bigeye.url.tw/big5/d_ca85_18.htm
http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Canon-FD100-4.0-Macro-EOS-EF-Umbau.html

The "FDn lens side concept" has some similarity with my FD conversion way:
http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Canon-FD_85_1.2L-EF-Bajonett-Umbau.html

The here not puplished ideas for his FD 85 and 50mm sounds full "new" to me.

I suppose - I am not an patent expert or lawyer - that the question whether Martys concept is too close a copy or not is not simple. I do not own one of both conversion sets.
For people without lens conversion experience Ed's concept looks very unique and new, but it is only for parts depending on completly new ideas.
Donīt know wheter the whole kit has to be analysed as a set (which seems unique and new), or the single parts (which seems not all 100% new).

I admire Ed for his work and for the work to start a series production of such adapters.

Oy...a sign of the times I guess.

Oh well, if apple can patent stolen.. er, uhhh, I mean, borrowed,,, er uhh I mean copied and unoriginal ideas, as well as the concept of a rectangle, icons, double taps, and look and feel items that legally can not be patented, then i guess anyone can do what ever they please. All you need is a corrupt and stupid clerk in US patent office that takes bribes, a less than intelligent judge named Koh, and away you go. Sue for billions and win!

On a more reality-based note, no FD to EF adapter is new or original. Canon released them 20+ years ago, so in that respect all work is derivative.

Still, I'd like to use my FD lenses with as little hassle as possible, so this topic and effort is great for us all.

Just to be clear, I don't claim to have come up with anything patentable. I approach each kit development with a fresh sheet of paper but also a deep knowledge of how others have tried making things work in the past. Skilled and enthusiastic developers like Jim Buchanan, Marcus Keinaths, Eddie Houston and many, many others.

Marty's story line in his video about trying every available adapter on the market not giving him what he wanted because of the pitfalls of optical correction so he developed a glass free mount replacement approach is virtually identical to my initial development journey detailed on this articl ehttp://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/fd-fl-lenses-on-your-ef-body/ CanonRumors published over a year ago.

My main issue here is that something so similar to an adapter design of mine that Marty had purchased from me is being touted by him as something completely original for the solicitation of money and possibly worse, also being claimed as in the process of being patented. The last thing I want to find myself doing is having to defend a frivolous patent infringement claim on some concept I likely (and many others) had a major role in developing.

If its open source design, then keep it that way. No patent trolls needed in this really.. (and it wont help anyway as there are always Chinese )

Otherwise when I saw first these convertors I remembered Ed Mika too. Seemd awfully similar..

MartyCastilla wrote:
I'm finally able to use my FD collection on 5DMK2.

After a lot of frustration with the aftermarket adapters and the limitations that come with them, I set out to fix this. The work started a few years ago in my spare time and with very limited funds, but I've finally finished my conversion kits. My favorite FDn lens are no longer collecting dust, especially the few FDn L series I have.

I'm finding that I'm using the my FDn 50mm 1.2 and 24mm 1.4 L more frequently then I would have thought. Call me old fashion buy I love using my MF lens over the my AF.


Oh... you're gonna feel right at home here!


Several people have expressed interest in my work once I've finished. So I'm posting this to share. To help make these conversion kits available to more people I've started a project on Kickstarter.com.

FD to EF Conversion Kits

Awesome dude! And that brass is so beautiful too!

Are you going to do more than 6 designs tho? I mean I bet there's lots of folks pinning for easy solutions for lenses like the 300/2.8L, the 300/4L, the 135/2, the 85/1.2L and so on...

You ROCK bro! Good luck to you!

Oh, and you should probably edit your video and blurb to address these:
Ed Mika wrote:
My main issue here is that something so similar to an adapter design of mine that Marty had purchased from me is being touted by him as something completely original for the solicitation of money and possibly worse, also being claimed as in the process of being patented. The last thing I want to find myself doing is having to defend a frivolous patent infringement claim on some concept I likely (and many others) had a major role in developing.
I guess that's all that's needed.