AF-100 using Canon FD lenses?

A

asingfield

Active member
Just wondering if there is any footage out there using these wonderful lenses. Using them on my gh-13 is awesome, can't wait to see FD lenses used on the AF-100!
 
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Haven't seen any yet. Which FD lenses do you have? Have any Vimeo clips of your FD glass on the GH13?

I have 50mm f1.2, 50mm micro f3.5, 28mm f2.8, 135mm f3.5. Looking forward to trying them out on the AF100!
 
I don't think anybody brought FD lenses to the Japanese trip, but it's possible... I even have an FD adapter here, but no FD lenses... maybe Stephen or Luis has some FDs I could borrow, and then we could give 'em a try.
 
Sure. But I'm not giving you any of the passwords for how to avoid the traps. I figure if you make it, great... if you don't, I'll just go out and pry the lenses from your cold dead fingers. :evil:
 
Well, if you won't tell me how to beat the Rancor, then I guess I'll just leave my 50mm Canon FD in the closet.
 
yeah, there definitely isn't any footage from the af100 with fd's out yet, but i'm 100% certain it'll be a screamin' combo - actually i'm counting on it for most of my lower budget shoots after the AF ships. I've got a full battery of old canon fd lenses that i've been using on my gh13, and the look is pretty tough to beat, IMO. Here's what i've been using to great effect:

24 f2
28 f2 (kiron)
35 f2
50 f1.8
85 f1.8

I find across the board they look best when stopped down to between 2.8 & 5.6. But they all give a very buttery, filmic look that I don't get from my native m4/3 lenses.

As a side note, I highly recommend the novoflex fd adapter over any of the ebay ones, if precision is important to you. The novoflex is expensive ($212), but it nails infinity focus and the build quality is far and away the best out of all the adapters
 
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I have the Canon FD 50mm 1.4 (best lens for the gh13), 55mm 1.2 and 135mm 2.5 (awesome). Got all of them really cheap on ebay.

Here's a vid i shot couple of months ago with the 50mm 1.4



EDIT: I used the Kit lens at the end for the runway stuff, WB is out due to lights being changed last minute....
 
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There are tons of great manual lenses and many that are sharper than the FD's. I personally stay away from them so that I can have lenses that will work with Canon DSLR's and panasonic cameras.

FD's are cheap of course. You can find some other manual glass for just as cheap though.
 
Jackson Miller said:
There are tons of great manual lenses and many that are sharper than the FD's. I personally stay away from them so that I can have lenses that will work with Canon DSLR's and panasonic cameras.

FD's are cheap of course. You can find some other manual glass for just as cheap though.
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this seems like an unnecessarily negative post - do you have some grudge against people using fd lenses on the af100? I think we're all pretty aware of the variety of legacy glass available, and many fd's stand up to them all in terms of sharpness, availability, speed, contrast, affordability, mechanics & build quality. They're an excellent choice for shooting cinematic footage on a budget.
 
Jackson Miller said:
There are tons of great manual lenses and many that are sharper than the FD's. I personally stay away from them so that I can have lenses that will work with Canon DSLR's and panasonic cameras.

FD's are cheap of course. You can find some other manual glass for just as cheap though.
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I think the reason people want to see the FD's, is specifically because they're not as sharp. There is a perception out there that the FD's create a certain filmy, smooth aesthetic, that you don't get with sharper modern glass. So they want to see what it looks like. Which is a reasonable request, I guess.
 
I have a full set of Canon FD's and also a complete set of fast Nikons.
They both have strengths and weaknesses at certain focal lengths, but overall they are both excellent sets of lenses with excellent build quality if they have not been abused.

I haven't worked with a DP here in LA who didn't want video (electronic) images to be softer. Everyone has their favorite softening filter in the matt box.

I plan to do a test with the AF-100 with my Canons / Nikons / Classic Softs filters, when I purchase the camera in April, to see which is not the sharpest, but what is most aesthetically pleasing. That is unless a better camera for the same price point comes along, which is very possible by then.
 
cowpunk52 said:
this seems like an unnecessarily negative post - do you have some grudge against people using fd lenses on the af100? I think we're all pretty aware of the variety of legacy glass available, and many fd's stand up to them all in terms of sharpness, availability, speed, contrast, affordability, mechanics & build quality. They're an excellent choice for shooting cinematic footage on a budget.
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Well then I apologize, it was not meant to be negative and I have no grudge against them, in fact I have never tried them because of the compatibility issues. My only point was that there are many other affordable lenses that will be more "future proof" since it is likely their camera body will change faster than their lenses and if they change to another brand they may have some issues. I think that some newer people in fact do NOT know about all of the options out there since people are so quick to recommend the FD's. Yes they are nice though for the GH1.
 
Barry_Green said:
I think the reason people want to see the FD's, is specifically because they're not as sharp. There is a perception out there that the FD's create a certain filmy, smooth aesthetic, that you don't get with sharper modern glass. So they want to see what it looks like. Which is a reasonable request, I guess.
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Well yes I think that is true to some extent but it is not just the sharpness of the m4/3 lenses it is the quality overall though it is difficult to pinpoint. I just bought a contax zeiss 50mm 1.4 and a 35 2.8 and they are razor sharp but still filmic, some would say more than the FD's. It's all subjective of course. I am preparing for a feature which I need stark, contrasty lenses for.
 
Another advantage to the FDs, and this is also true of Nikon manual lenses, is that their focus rings and aperture rings are friendly to filmmakers. They work well with follow-focus, etc. They are made of metal, rugged and very well-built. And, yes, the lack of anti-flare coatings on the glass can give the image a vintage softer, more filmic look.
I have a GH1 with the kit lens, and an assortment of Canon, Nikon and Olympus glass I use via adapters. The kit lens is great, but is almost too sharp and looks very video-ish. This is partly due to the fact that it is only f4 at it's widest, so the DOF is deeper. However, my Canon and Nikon lenses at f4 look much more cinematic. I'm learning that the lens is perhaps more important than the imaging sensor when it comes to what looks filmic.
 
Jackson Miller said:
My only point was that there are many other affordable lenses that will be more "future proof" since it is likely their camera body will change faster than their lenses and if they change to another brand they may have some issues.
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This is a good and valid point. FD lenses can be adapted to some cameras (like the GH1/GH2/AF100) but they will not work on modern Canon or Nikon bodies, so ... yeah, if you're looking to buy a flexible lens set that can be adapted to new bodies, the FD's aren't it. Good point.
 
Jackson Miller said:
Well yes I think that is true to some extent but it is not just the sharpness of the m4/3 lenses it is the quality overall though it is difficult to pinpoint. I just bought a contax zeiss 50mm 1.4 and a 35 2.8 and they are razor sharp but still filmic, some would say more than the FD's. It's all subjective of course. I am preparing for a feature which I need stark, contrasty lenses for.
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I happen to totally agree; I went with the ZFs and the CP's because I love the sharp, contrasty, and still filmic look. But some people prefer Leica, some prefer the Cooke over the Master Prime, etc. So hey, if someone prefers the look of the FD's, I say go with what you like.
 
I'm interested in seeing the results from these lenses too, I've got a full set of them from the 35mm adapter days. I've also got a full set of EF glass for my 7D so I could use either on an af100 but the aperture control of my FDs would be nice.
 
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