The 99 special will hold the 1.4x-a loosely but it wont fall off. My biggest concern would be the slop may prevent perfect perpendicularity of focal plane, you'd have a bit of an inadvertent tilt shift lens going. I have corrected universal parts in now and I am about to relist them at the original 165 dollar mark and may take the remaining 99s off the market because I want the EdMika brand I plan on growing to be tied to best possible performance and craftsmanship, because hey, it is my name on it.
kavawavaphoto wrote:
Hey everyone,
I'm normally a Nikon shooter, but I thought I'd pop on over here to ask you knowledgeable Canon guys a quick question since I'm clueless about Canon gear. This weekend while rummaging through a local garage sale in my neighborhood I spotted a Canon FD 800mm 5.6L with a Canon F-1 attached on sale for $5. I almost fell over when I saw it and couldn't believe it. Both the lens and camera were covered in what looked to be years of dust. I took it home and after an hour and half of cleaning them I realized that both were in great working condition. Suffice it to say that I was jumping off the walls in joy. Looks like I just might need to pick up a used Canon dSLR to play around with my new find!
My question now is from what I read so far I would need an adapter of some sort to convert the FD mount to an EOS one if I wanted to use a dSLR, correct? However to maintain the infinity focus I would need an adapter with a glass insert as well? Anyone use any FD adapters that have a quality insert that plays well with FD lenses?
I have a few breechmount lenses, some third party like 90-180 Vivitar Series 1 flat field macro.
I like the $99 deal, but having snug fit via all my remaining longer focal length FD lenses would be better, I suppose I should wait for the newest version.
Am I able to change the focal length you program into the chip ?
Oh & any idea how far the focus is on a nFD 300mm f4L ?
Loose fit, reminds me of the India made FD Eos adapter I got a couple years back.
All my FD glass mounted on it are crazy loose.
The only FD item I own that fits it snug is FL Bellows.
Ed Mika wrote:
The 99 special will hold the 1.4x-a loosely but it wont fall off. My biggest concern would be the slop may prevent perfect perpendicularity of focal plane, you'd have a bit of an inadvertent tilt shift lens going. I have corrected universal parts in now and I am about to relist them at the original 165 dollar mark and may take the remaining 99s off the market because I want the EdMika brand I plan on growing to be tied to best possible performance and craftsmanship, because hey, it is my name on it.
The chip is fully programmable by you through your camera. Not sure on the nFD 300mm f4L yet, my main target market is the 600 and 800 because of infinity focus. in the shorter FD focal lengths an EVIL body is the best bet. Even my incorrectly made adapter is less sloppy than that India version. Buying that version was the thing that started me thinking about making my own adapter.
Mr.Lindy wrote:
I have a few breechmount lenses, some third party like 90-180 Vivitar Series 1 flat field macro.
I like the $99 deal, but having snug fit via all my remaining longer focal length FD lenses would be better, I suppose I should wait for the newest version.
Am I able to change the focal length you program into the chip ?
Oh & any idea how far the focus is on a nFD 300mm f4L ?
Loose fit, reminds me of the India made FD Eos adapter I got a couple years back.
All my FD glass mounted on it are crazy loose.
The only FD item I own that fits it snug is FL Bellows.
My. Lindy, did you ever find that 1991 buyer of the first 1600 FD-EF genuine 1.26x Canon adapters? Hope they weren't holding out for the market value to increase beyond the extreme that it did because the EdMika EF-FD 0.75mm adapter outperforms the Canon one on the 500 mirror, 600 4.5 and 800 5.6 since it also gives infinity focus but without the light loss or distortion of the additional optics.
Mr.Lindy wrote:
I have a few breechmount lenses, some third party like 90-180 Vivitar Series 1 flat field macro.
I like the $99 deal, but having snug fit via all my remaining longer focal length FD lenses would be better, I suppose I should wait for the newest version.
Am I able to change the focal length you program into the chip ?
Oh & any idea how far the focus is on a nFD 300mm f4L ?
Loose fit, reminds me of the India made FD Eos adapter I got a couple years back.
All my FD glass mounted on it are crazy loose.
The only FD item I own that fits it snug is FL Bellows.
The Dandelion v4
1. has all the same features of the optix v5 plus the ability to emulate the autofocus/manual focus selection switch on an EF lens
2. is a more elegant looking opaque black solution with a slightly smaller footprint.
3. I can get it a bit cheaper
Danielkl wrote:
Ed - What advantages do you think the Dandelion V4 has over the Optix V5+?
I've owned three genuine 1.26x FD Eos adapters. The 1,979th made, the 2,525th made and last was the 212th made. As the price increased I sold mine, bought another when luck happened, then sold it, and then sold off my last one about a year ago. Its rare when they trade hands for less than $1,000 thesedays. At $1,000 I am hard pressed to keep any of them. 1.26x sold new for $250 to CPS members. I got my last one for free, as it was attached to the 300mm f4L lens' images I bought off e-bay for $350 Buy It Now.
Now that 3rd 1.26x is gone too.
I buy & keep mint condition geniune FD Eos Macro adapters when price luck happens, I still own two now, & sold old off 5 used ones. New they sold for $69 and were available thru regular Canon dealers, not a CPS only item. Thesedays they can bring up to $350 though one has sat on E-bay for a couple months at $350 so maybe $350 is too much ?
The hoard of 1.26x that US Gov't bought some 20 years ago has not hit the market, at least not that I've noticed as I still track 1.26x serial numbers & build date codes when possible.
I agree, your solution is better than genuine 1.26x for the supertelephoto glass that you can achieve infinity focus with. The other solution is adapting FD glass to m4/3 cameras. I've not done this, though I tried a GH-1 and due to loose lugs I returned it, Loose GH-1 strap lugs are a well known supposedly fixed problem that I found still existed late in GH-1 production run. If lugs detach, it totals the camera due to ridiculous cost to repair, so I've read. GH-2 is on my short list, but so are other things including non existent items like 5D Mark III & whatever the new D700 will be called. D700x, D800... I'd like to get back to one brand of dslr camera.
Ed Mika wrote:
My. Lindy, did you ever find that 1991 buyer of the first 1600 FD-EF genuine 1.26x Canon adapters? Hope they weren't holding out for the market value to increase beyond the extreme that it did because the EdMika EF-FD 0.75mm adapter outperforms the Canon one on the 500 mirror, 600 4.5 and 800 5.6 since it also gives infinity focus but without the light loss or distortion of the additional optics.
Nice, figures the US government would be behind the shortage. I guess they still need them, along with their 12,000 dollar hammers all properly accounted for in the name of national security. I honestly think the prices will keep rising for all the FD stuff, even the plasticiest zooms because of the EVIL camera shooters. Like you, I'd find it hard to justify holding on to some of the stuff with the price one can now get for it.
At the right price my FD gear must find new homes, then I can buy more Eos Digital or Nikon or whatever.
Speedy AF is a joy even with 5D Classic.
Adapting great old glass is fun and that is driving values higher.
That all said, getting a D700 put a stop to my Eos System buying.
D700 AF is crazy fast compared to Canon 5D.
Nikon D700 is the best built camera I've ever owned, & it reminds me of the build quality of my Eos-3 film camera. Eos-3 is very cool film camera that will autofocus & image stabilize my 300mm f4L IS when its paired w/ EF 2x II Canon TC eventhough its a f8 combo. Canon 5D AF is limited to f5.6 max.
Canon charges thousands of dollars more for crazy fast autofocus found in their full frame sensor platform & weathersealing that 1Ds Mark III offers.
Canon's is more than double the cost that D700 gives buyers with their budget minded full frame platform.
Also, Nikon D700 plays well with the classic manual focus Nikkors, no chips to add, no adapters to use or fiddle with, I just enter the old Nikon lens' data into the D700 camera and all the metadata is captured.
I find the D700 idiot focus light very accurate, which is handy as my eyes age.
And the light up grid lines are quite handy. I leave mine switched on most of the time.
I bought D700 instead of buying a Nikon G to Eos mount adapter, the Novoflex/Hubsand model to properly, in native mount, drive my 14-24mm 2.8 FX lens.
D700 is my first Nikon camera, now some 16 years after I bought my first Nikon lens to adapt to my 1970's era F-1 Canon film camera, using a genuine late 1960's era Canon made Nikon glass to Canon FD adapter.
I wonder why Canon got out of the lensmount adapter making business ?
I still think of D700 as a Nikon lens mount adapter.
I agree in most cases autofocus is the desirable way to go but I love the value option long FD glass gives where one (now with the EdMika EF-FD 0.75mm adapter, forgive the plug) can get equally amazing images at 1/10th the cost of the modern equivalent lens. Also on the low light shooting front, try buying anything autofocus f/1.2 for under a grand and when using it in real low light having to manual focus it anyway. The FL55 1.2 with the newly available EdMika reversible conversion kit is a value dream on that front. I hope the price increases stay under control because there are a lot of great shooters out there without the means to gain access to the latest best stuff, myself included (apart from the being a great shooter part).
Mr.Lindy wrote:
Exactly.
At the right price my FD gear must find new homes, then I can buy more Eos or Nikon or whatever. Speedy AF is a joy. Adapting is fun and that is driving values higher.
Ed - Do you know of lenses that have been used with your adapter on a fullframe Canon DSLR? The aperture levers may get in the way of the mirror and/or baffles. My Eos 500 film camera I use for testing lenses/adapters has a lot of scratches from when I tried to make a zero thickness FD-Eos adapter and I wouldn't like my 5D mkII to suffer the same fate. The 3mm version I made is free of these problems, but the 0.75mm version may get into the dangerzone:
I do all my testing on a 1.3 crop 1D4 which has the same size mirror and same electrical contact layout as a 5d2 but a different mirror movement path ( the 5D needs more clearance to the rear lens element). My camera has a pretty heavy score mark on it from all kinds of extender and off brand lens testing as well as zero thickness adapter testing. So basically I am quite aware of aperture lever interferences. The 0.75 current adapter version when used with any EOS camera or any FD lens that I have tried (17 4, 20 2.8, 24 2, 28 2.8, 35 TS, 50 1.2, 50 1.4, 50 1.8, 85 1.2, 85 1.8, 135 2, 200 2.8, 400 4.5, 500 8, 600 4.5, 800 5.6, 85-300 4.5, 28-55) will not mark up your camera. However extenders both FD and EF may be lightly marked or leave a mark but do no functional damage. Also the soon to be released FL55mm 1.2 conversion kit will play nice with everything EF including the 5D line.
dickb wrote:
Ed - Do you know of lenses that have been used with your adapter on a fullframe Canon DSLR? The aperture levers may get in the way of the mirror and/or baffles. My Eos 500 film camera I use for testing lenses/adapters has a lot of scratches from when I tried to make a zero thickness FD-Eos adapter and I wouldn't like my 5D mkII to suffer the same fate. The 3mm version I made is free of these problems, but the 0.75mm version may get into the dangerzone:
OK, I just ordered one - I'll let you know what it does on my range of lenses. (20/2.8, 24/1.4, 35 TS, 50/1.2L, 55/1.2 asph, 85/1.2 asph, 200/2.8, 200/4 macro, 300/2.8, 400/2.8)
Those are some pretty sweet lenses. From my experience the adapter you bought will really only be useful on the 200s, 300 and 400 Though the 85 1.2 becomes a distance limited though amazing close portrait lens, my flickr avatar was taken using it ( I am user Ontarian ). The 35 TS will be a bit loose because of the listing described design flaw but the limited sub meter range makes that lens pretty useless with it anyways. I am at this exact moment gluing and programming chips on the Gen6 universal adapter that will perfectly fit all nFD/FD/FL lenses and will be listing them on eBay tonight for the original 165 USD. If you want to upgrade just PM me and I can arrange it.
Given that the lenses the adapter is going to be useful for are all FDn, the upgrade makes limited sense. Perhaps for the 85 asph, but with a 0.75mm adapter I may get into trouble with the mirror hitting the rear element housing. It is a great lens though and even with my 3mm adapter I've used it for quite a number of ultra thin DoF close ups.
