Best Lenses For 35mm Adapter

G

Gavin Garrison

Active member
This is probably going to be a lame question, but here it goes: I've been using a friend's M2. I'm finally getting ready to purchase a LEx, and I'll be starting from scratch lens wise. I see that most often people have Nikon lenses, then maybe second Canon (FD/EF).

I saw the thread mentioning this site: http://www.rplens.com/

...But can't even come close to gathering that much money, so it will probably be lens by lens on eBay for now. Anyway, comparing prices for Canon FDs and Nikon AI, Canon seemed slightly higher in price, but not by much. My question is, why are Nikon lenses so popular? Are they the way to go? I know people hate giving definitive answers, and I should read, and compare specs, ect, but I feel like I've literally been reading forums and Googling for hours daily, for many months now, and still can't come to a conclusion on which lenses to start buying (I can barely stick with my adapter choice as it is).

If someone just said, "hey, you're getting a LEx, have an A1, are just beginning to scratch the surface of filmmaking, you should look for cheap Nikon-mounted lenses and go from there," I would really enjoy that. Seriously, my vision is going to be so bad from staring at LCDs all day it won't matter which lenses I'm using... it will all be soft!

Maybe a smarter thing to do would just be for people to post which lenses they are using with their adapters. I know a lot of people have it in their signatures, but it'd be nice to have a bit of a cohesive list. I'm sure this thread exists somewhere. I apologize in advance if it does. The search function seems to hate me.
 
FD lens are compatible with film camera only, and no new cameras uses them; that being said, their quality is great (I use FD lenses) and because they're an obsolete format you can get them for a lower price. EF lens can only change iris on a Canon DSLR body. I had an EF and FD mount but sold the EF because I couldn't deal with having to take the lens off the camera every time I need to change aperture. EF glasses are pretty awesome though.
 
I think a lot of people like nikon glass and the fact that the mount is all the same. I'm generalizing here but it seems like a lot of people that have no investement in lenses go FD because they've got nothing else to use the lenses on.

Mount aren't expensive though, why not grab both and anytime you see a good lens you can use it.

That's what I'm working on doing. I got my brevis second hand and it came with a nikon mount but I'm gonna pick the FD mount and possibly a pentax becuase I came across some pretty nice and fast pentax and FDs recently.
 
You use cinema style lens or you zoom through a still lens with the camera stock lens. Zooming with a zoom lens is a lot more complicated than you think. Changing focal length=changing DOF, so a focus puller is required at all time and the move needs to be preplanned if you don't want to end up with a blurry mess when you zoom.

That lens you link to is a bad one. At f4.5 you're not going to get the sharpest image and you lose a ton of light. Good zoom lens is very expensive, that's why it's recommended to start with prime.
 
Also, I found this page helpful, in case you didn't know the difference between AI, Non-AI, and AI-S, which I didn't five minutes ago :)
 
I went the Canon FD route because I generally found them cheaper than their Nikon couterparts.

Something to remember is that you'll want to try to buy the lowest f-stop lenses you can afford. When you have the LEX on, you'll want as much light as you can possibly get. And in general, the lower f-stop lenses are usually higher quality than higher f-stop. For example, my FD 28mm f/2.8 vignettes like crazy on my LEX where my 28mm f/2 doesn't do it at all :-/.

Using keh as a quick price guide and comparing the basic "starting" set:

FD 28mm f/2 - (ex condition) $280 (ebay ~$180)
FD 50mm f/1.4 - (ex) $100 (ebay ~$50)
FD 85mm f/1.8 - (ex) $180 (ebay ~$120)

When I look at similarly priced Nikon's, I see:

AIS 28mm f/2 - (ex condition) $350
AIS 50mm f/1.4 (ex) $235
AI 85mm f/1.8 - (ex) $360
AIS 85mm f/2 - (ex) $260 (ebay ~$160)

You could also go third party brands to save money as well (Kiron, Tamron, Sigma, etc).

Also, like others have pointed out, you cannot use FD lenses on modern day Canon's. I have a Canon DSLR and am sad I can't mount my new FD lenses on them. So if you're also into photography and have gone the Nikon route, the lenses could pull double duty for you.

Btw, if you haven't already seen this site, great resource on FD lenses.
 
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Ah thank you John, that is exactly what I needed. Before seeing your post, earlier today I ordered my Letus with a Nikon mount (it looks more attractive since they just "fixed" it). It's funny to see, however, after seeing/reading so much, that every post in this thread basically recommends FD's! I guess I'll see what eBay throws my way, and see if I can change my order based on that. I have a month to go anyway, right? Thank you all for your posts, greatly beneficial.
 
And by the way, Letus FD mount has been rock solid from day one because of the different mounting style the FD system utilizes. New FD lenses, that don`t have that chrome ring are so easily mountable with one hand, others are not.
Be sure to buy the newer FD lens that are all black with white and green markings therefore you will get constant mechanics and lens coatings throughout all your lens.
The new all black FD 50mm f1.4 is the reference lens of that series the f2 24mm is quite wide and usable and 85mm f1.8 is that bargain portrait lens when you can not afford the f1.2 one. Also that 85mm 1.8 can be used outdoors as almost 200mm lens with a converter.
One more thing to consider is that FD lens are focusing in the same direction as any motion picture lens whereas Nikons/Nikkors are reversed - no point to learn that reversed focusing if you will ever even touch a broadcast lens not to mention doing AC work on a film set.

Cheers,
T
 
Any suggestions as to where to get good deals on lenses besides eBay? After everyone's suggestions I've been sifting through auctions.. it seems like there is a greater variety of AIs available vs. FDs (can't find all FD primes).
 
Ah, thank you.

So, more or less definitive answer:

For someone with no existing lenses, and no Nikon SLR - Canon FD

Additional pluses: Mount on LEx is rock solid. They are also cheap. Additionally, their focus rings are not reversed.

These seem like good reasons to me.

My mind is boggled.
 
Garvin, be sure to get the new FD ones without chrome locking ring at the back. Those have all SSC coatings and are of constant image quality.

T
 
IMHO opinion you can't go wrong with either Canon or Nikon. They both are capable of producing great images. Currently, FD's are slightly cheaper than Nikon, but are also less available. Prices may change though if more and more people start buying FD lenses.

Ebay is a good place to look, but certain lenses (24mm f/2 and 28mm f/2 for example) don't come up very often. Keh, b&h and local camera stores and local camera swap meets are some other places you might shop. They're pricier than ebay, but you'll also have piece of mind of either testing out the lens before you buy or being able to return hassle free.

Keep in mind that not all lenses are created equal. I have a photographer friend who shops with b&h so he can try out 3-4 of the same lens before he finds the one he thinks is sharp enough.

With a lower budget in mind, a decent starting set of fast Canon FD prime lenses (28,50,85 <= f/2) will probably set you back ~$350-600 depending on what kind of deals you can get, how much patience you have with ebay, condition of your lenses, etc.

If you sacrifice speed and go all f/2.8, you can drop the price to about ~$200, but you may introduce a lot of vignetting, lack of sharpness, and loss of light. Another thing to consider is that all lenses have a sweet spot, or a certain aperture which is usually the sharpest. This sweet spot usually is a few stops up from it's lowest one. For example, the Canon 24mm f/2 will start hitting it's sweet spot at f/2.8, but the 24mm f/2.8 won't hit its sweet spot until f/5.6.

Here's a good chart comparing some common FD lenses:
http://members.aol.com/canonfdlenstests/default.htm
 
One more thing:

In the Lens sticky in this section, it says that:

"Canon or Nikon?:

Ok both lens manufacturers are AWESOME. but canons have a switch that must be activated for the iris to be adjusted, other wise they jsut sit at open. Some FD lenses have a Apeture lock setting on the lens itself so you can set it where ever you like. You have to check that.

I dont know Too much about Nikons. but i know they were the professional standard for liek 30 years... so they are probably amazing."

Is he saying that FDs don't have an iris ring like Nikons? The more I read the more I am confused. Sorry everyone. Thank you for your help though, invaluable.
 
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FD lens have an iris ring, but the aperture is jammed wide open when engaged to a mount. It's a simple modification to jam open a latch in the back of the lens with a toothpick or something like that, so that the iris can be controlled.

If you purchased the Letus Extreme, you don't have to worry about this, because the Letus FD mount has a special groove that catches the latch and hold it in place.
 
Is the chrome ring you're referring to the silver iris ring, such as in this pic?
8e9d_1.JPG
 
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