Best Wide (14mm ish) to Match Canon FD Set

Lucas Adamson

Lucas Adamson

Well-known member
My current set of lenses are a Lumix 14-45mm zoom, and

Canon nFD 24mm f2
Canon nFD 35mm f2
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4
Canon nFD 85mm f1.8

Canon nFD 50mm macro f3.5

It's a nice FD collection, except that I often need a 14mm wide, and use the Lumix, which has a completely different aesthetic.

Does anybody have any suggestions of a good option for me, around the 14-17mm mark, preferably f2.8. I need it for steadicam use and establishing shots mostly.

I have considered the 14mm & 17mm FDs, which are both really slow and crazy expensive!
I have considered the Lumix 20mm f1.7 which I want for other reasons, but a) it's not wide enough and b) it won't match any better than the 14-45mm. Likewise the Lumix 14mm f2.5.
I have considered the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, which is excellent and has a great range and aperture, but I believe also not a great match for the FDs.
I have considered non-Canon ultra-wides from the 35mm SLR era, but don't know of a shoe-in lens for my needs.

Any ideas?
 
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Well, im am in a similar situation...

Im thinking in a 20mm f/2.8 + Wide Angle Converter 0.8x or similar, maybe do the trick... anyway, i have a Vivitar/Tokina FD 17mm f/3.5 that is cheap and very good stopped 1 f-stop (f/5.6)
 
I hadn't considered a wide-angle adapter on a 20mm - hmmm.

I guess at 2K resolution, if the adapter glass was very good, then I guess it wouldn't create too many problems, or would it?
 
Lucas Adamson said:
I hadn't considered a wide-angle adapter on a 20mm - hmmm.

I guess at 2K resolution, if the adapter glass was very good, then I guess it wouldn't create too many problems, or would it?
Click to expand...

Before getting a new lens try a wide angle adapter on that 24mm. A 0.66 would give you close to 15mm. At 1080p a good adapter will not induce much loss in image quality.
 
Martti Ekstrand said:
Before getting a new lens try a wide angle adapter on that 24mm. A 0.66 would give you close to 15mm. At 1080p a good adapter will not induce much loss in image quality.
Click to expand...

In terms of resolution, it's unlikely to cause any issues for 1080p, that's true, but Chromatic Aberration, Pin-cushion, soft corners, flare etc. are all very real possibilities. I've just looked on eBay - the Raynox is £100, but it seems a lot to pay for an experiment that may be no good - I want something really sweet - I'll be using it a lot! I'm leaning towards stumping up £500 for the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8, like half of the pro world, it seems. I don't know if it will cut with FD any better than the Lumix, but I can always sell if it's no good for me, unlike the wide-angle adapter.
 
maybe shoot with a newer lens and reduce the contrast in post for that shot

in most applications there will be little to no bokeh at 14mm, so colour would be your main concern
 
The Olympus 17mm f/2.8 would get my vote, wide angle adapters introduce a lot of problems aside from resolution, and the Olympus 17mm f/2.8 pancake doesn't have the hyper modern look that other m4/3 lenses have, it is a bit more contrasty than FD glass, but it's not hard to get it to match, a very good lens that is often overlooked.
 
I picked up a 19mm vivitar fd mount that is a really nice lens, granted it's rather slow, but in daylight it's fine. Not to mention, when I stop it down it gets crisp as can be. I paid around two hundred, worth every penny.
 
I just spent £166 on a Canon FD 20mm f2.8 in pristine condition.

I hope it's as good as they say. It's sure to be a good match, and should hold its value. It's not as wide as I'd have liked, but this is for motion, so perhaps I don't need 14mm...
 
Well, in conclusion to this thread, after spending a lot of money, I now have my solution: a full Cine-converted set of nFD primes:

Canon nFD 17mm f4
Canon nFD 20mm f2.8
Canon nFD 24mm f2
Canon nFD 35mm f2
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4
Canon nFD 85mm f1.8

Canon nFD 50mm macro f3.5

and a Lumix 14-45mm zoom for the family.

Now to make a film...
 
Just came across this Lucas as I am in much the same situation and hoping to build a matching set of FD lenses.

Can I ask where you got them modded? Was it in the UK or US? Expensive?

I currently only have;

Canon nFD 20mm f2.8
Canon nFD 35mm f2
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4

I also wondered if you were happy with your choice of the 17mm at the rather slow f4? or whether in retrospect you would stump up the extra cash for the 14mm at f2.8?

Decisions, decisions...



Lucas Adamson said:
Well, in conclusion to this thread, after spending a lot of money, I now have my solution: a full Cine-converted set of nFD primes:

Canon nFD 17mm f4
Canon nFD 20mm f2.8
Canon nFD 24mm f2
Canon nFD 35mm f2
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4
Canon nFD 85mm f1.8

Canon nFD 50mm macro f3.5

and a Lumix 14-45mm zoom for the family.

Now to make a film...
Click to expand...
 
For what it's worth, I'm getting great results using a Canon WD-58 (H?) wide angle converter. Absolute minimal IQ degredation. I've been using it with the Leica DG 25/1.4 and previously used it with the 20/1.7 and other wide-ish lenses.
 
CraftyClown said:
Just came across this Lucas as I am in much the same situation and hoping to build a matching set of FD lenses.

Can I ask where you got them modded? Was it in the UK or US? Expensive?

I currently only have;

Canon nFD 20mm f2.8
Canon nFD 35mm f2
Canon nFD 50mm f1.4

I also wondered if you were happy with your choice of the 17mm at the rather slow f4? or whether in retrospect you would stump up the extra cash for the 14mm at f2.8?

Decisions, decisions...
Click to expand...

You have two of the three lenses I use the most from my set - the 35/2 and the 50/1.4. My other faves are the 24/2 and the 85/1.8. I recommend them both heartily. The 24mm is always my starting point. The 20/2.8 is fine too, and yes, I use it more than the 17/4. Actually all of these lenses are very nice, but the 17mm is not only slower, but a touch softer too. The macro is really cheap and well worth having.

I cine converted them myself. It's easy. Get a tube of Nyo-gel damping fluid and do it yourself. It's £30 for a tube, and you simply remove the ball and gel up the aperture. It's an easy and satisfying job, and the lens is so lovely for video afterwards. After that you fit gears for follow focus, but I am moving away from follow focusses these days so hardly ever have my gears fitted - I prefer to hand focus directly! I have converted all of my lenses to 77mm front rings, so that I can ND them all with the same glass.

Forget the 14mm and the 17mm I say - get the 85, the 24 and the 50 Macro. Much more useful and will get you nicer images. 20/2.8 is as wide as you need... Wides are rarely used as much as you expect!
 
Lucas Adamson said:
Forget the 14mm and the 17mm I say - get the 85, the 24 and the 50 Macro. Much more useful and will get you nicer images. 20/2.8 is as wide as you need... Wides are rarely used as much as you expect!
Click to expand...

i'm not so sure about this.
i can mostly use the 20mm FD,
BUT after seeing the new magic 12mm lens,
i could really use those angles for many occasions.
it can give a great 70's atmosphere to every scene.
well, 14mm is enough, really.
so?
there's no budget 14mm option to match the FD look?
 
wide angle lenses for micro four thirds are a challenge.
there are few options and they are expensive.

instead of buy a 14mm lens you could buy a wider lens like a 10-20mm zoom so you will have a great wide angle zoom lens to do what your FD kit does not do. I would go for the sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6 because it is very wide and less expensive option and it can be used in the canon cameras also if you buy it in nikon mount (the canon cameras can use nikon mount lenses with an adapter in similar way GH2 do), and the nikon version allows to adjust the diafragm in the rear pin of the lens..

instead of worry about to find a 14mm lens to match the canon fd look you could use the 14-42mm panasonic lens and try to match the FD look in computer doing a color correction and apply some blur to it. with the color correction filter you can adjust the R G B sliders until you find the color are similar and applying a small amount of blur could match the resolution. Also you can adjust the Gamma Correction filter to match the midtones and adjust the Brightness and Contrast filtar to match it. The computer can do this for you.

About lenses i will list what I remember so you can search in ebay

the only real option to match what you want would be the expensive canon fd 14mm 2.8 (rare)

other options:

sigma 14mm 3.5
sigma 14mm 2.8
tamron 14mm 2.8
samyang 14mm 2.8

panasonic 7-14mm 4
olympus 9-18mm 4-5.6
olympus 12-60mm 2.8-4

tokina 11-16mm 2.8
tamron 11-18mm 4.5-5.6
sigma 10-20mm 3.5
sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6
sigma 8-16mm 4.5-5.6
sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6
tokina 12-24mm 4
 
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