pengland wrote:
Do you have infinity focus with the 135mm Alex? Direct mount following removal of the old mount and intermediate ring usually results in focusing way beyond infinity on nFD lenses unless a custom spacer is used under the EOS mount.

Yes, I do have infinity focus. There is no need to use a spacer. I just thinned the EOS mount (M42->EOS) down to 1mm, and kept the original nFD base mount (deepest ring, where the 4 flat screws are). Removing the 2 groves of that base mount allows to use the 4 original flat screws. To reach proper EOS register distance, I just screwed the thinned EOS mount on top of it. If I find my measurement drawing I will post it later.

Now working on converting a 500/8 nFD to EOS. Even easier (no aperture)

Thanks for the info Alex. I am just finishing conversion of my own nFD 135mm F2.0. I elected to remove the lowest base you referred to and install a custom spacer in order to avoid thinning the adapter plate. The spacer was approx 1.4 mm thick and put me just at infinity..well just a hair over because I prefer it that way. I replaced the original screws with 2mm countersunk slotted screws. Now I have to design and fabricate a new aperture linkage.

Found Alex's Flickr page when I was searching for FD 135mm f/2 conversion.
Came here and registered so that I could get more info about the conversion.

I don't even know how to dismantle the lens back-end, I only see 3 tiny screws on the outside of the lens and not the small screws on the butt of the lens. Are they covered by the metal ring?

I really want to re-use my FD 135/2, I even bought an ebay FD to EOS adapter (Bower).
If I'm not satisfied with the adapter, I really want to do the conversion myself or find a local service.

I've asked 2 sources that supposed to do the conversion of lenses to EOS, but one wasn't available and the other was too pricey (US$ is really weak against EU, at the moment)

Thanks

If I had FD lenses I wouldn't bother converting them. I'd buy a FD-MFT adapter and use then on E-P1. Small, light, stabilized body and no conversion fuss. What's not to like?

Just a thought.

Happy shooting,
Yakim.

Okay, so I got my FD to EOS adapter.
It's the newer version with removable element/optic.

Good news is, I can now use this ancient FD 135/2 lens with my 50D.
The adapter, with the element, allows proper focusing up to infinity - but with a multiplier factor and reduced clarity - the element doesn't seem to affect f-stops that much
The adapter, with the element removed, won't allow infinity focus - but the images are really sharp - so sharp, that I was able to see the surface texture of the test object.

Bad news is, with or without the element, it's impossible to take any hand-held shots.
I went all the way to ISO 3200, just trying to get a steady hand-held shot.
Even if I paid to get it converted to EOS rear-end, I just couldn't see how I could use it to take any portrait shots.

I think I'm going to sell this fantastic lens to Micro four third owners :_(

bigpow wrote:
Okay, so I got my FD to EOS adapter.
It's the newer version with removable element/optic.

Good news is, I can now use this ancient FD 135/2 lens with my 50D.
The adapter, with the element, allows proper focusing up to infinity - but with a multiplier factor and reduced clarity - the element doesn't seem to affect f-stops that much
The adapter, with the element removed, won't allow infinity focus - but the images are really sharp - so sharp, that I was able to see the surface texture of the test object.

Bad news is, with or without the element, it's impossible to take any hand-held shots.
I went all the way to ISO 3200, just trying to get a steady hand-held shot.
Even if I paid to get it converted to EOS rear-end, I just couldn't see how I could use it to take any portrait shots.

I think I'm going to sell this fantastic lens to Micro four third owners :_(


I can't understand how you can't get a sharp photo unless you are photographing moving subjects. I have one that I converted myself and although it can be difficult to focus under certain conditions it can also produce some beautiful sharp images even hand-held. Do you have much experience with manual focus lenses?

Just curious: is the FD 135mm 1:2.0 lens available only in nFD mount or also with the old silver breechlock mount?
Could not find any information on the old one, therefore probably not existent...

Dear m-a-x,

FYI, the FD135/2 only exists in nFD mount (according to Canon museum and MIR, and web infos).

Thank you!
It's a pity, I like the built of the old ones more...

Is that a built in hood on the end of that bad boy?

Yes, but it is too shallow (18mm deep) to be effective for a 135mm lens, just better than none.

Just won myself one of these for peanuts

Alex or Pengland, would either of you happen to have any pictures of the converted mount or the conversion process you used?

I would like to get into this conversion as quick as I can

Cheers!

You just won that slightly banged up one on ebay? damn you, i had a snipe on that

haha yep that one. it appears my snipe skills are better than yours! and I have a credit card
curse you for jacking my price up


Hell I also had a snipe on his EF 400/2.8, it went for 2150 !

Sorry no write-up to share (yet). FD conversion's trick (for simple lenses) relates to linking the aperture mechanism. Here is how I do it, with small aluminum plate & 1 screw:

I think this was the f/4, but frankly it's not too important. The trick is to connect the aperture mechanism by 1) locking the inner silver ring w/ a small screw and 2) connect the lever mechanism w/ an aluminum plate (the L shape plate that goes into the fork, fixed with 2 screws on the right side). There are several DIY pages that might bring additional help.

Worst case your lense stay open at f/2, which isn't a bad proposition