GH2 Canon FDn 15f2.8, 20f2.8, and 24f2.8 on a GH camera?

G

Greg_E

Veteran
Before I drop a bunch of money on wider lenses, thought I better ask if anyone has used these, or if I would be better off with something newer.

Canon FDn 15mm f2.8
Canon FDn 20mm f2.8
Canon FDn 24mm f2.8

Looking at about $750usd for all three in good shape. Can't afford Veydra and there is a lack of user information on SLR Magic Hyperprimes which generally tells me to stay clear.

I also have a Mitakon Lens Turbo on the way for Canon EF, might want to either adapt the above or just buy another booster in FD mount. 35mm and up is covered in glass I can adapt to EF. And I also have an FDn 50mm f1.8 cheapy and older FD 100mm f2.8 so somewhat rounded out on FD already.
 
Annoyingly, I don't think they make the Speed boosters of FD lenses.

I think that for $750 that is a great set of lenses that will surely give you great looks.
i have an FD 50mm and 85mm and I love them. They add a little magic that my more clinical lenses don't.
 
RJ photo makes one, not sure if it is worth the money though. http://www.amazon.com/RJ-Speed-Boos...pebp=1435434690308&perid=0Y0Q39D2WRKVZQKYGMEE

Should I try to buy all three of these, or maybe skip the 20mm? The 20 seems harder to find in good shape and im trying to figure out which lengths are going to be most used. The 24 and 20 should both give me a sort of normal, with the 15 giving a slight wide. Tele is certainly covered by my other lenses, not that I really want to mix characteristics of two different manufacturers.

Wish the edmika conversions worked with the older FD mount, there is a better selection of each length.
 
DPStewart said:
Annoyingly, I don't think they make the Speed boosters of FD lenses.

I think that for $750 that is a great set of lenses that will surely give you great looks.
i have an FD 50mm and 85mm and I love them. They add a little magic that my more clinical lenses don't.
Click to expand...

they used to and b&h still has stock
 
Any lens that has lasted 20years wil last another - rokinoms are rubbish build in comparison Fd are full metal propr lenses
 
Greg_E said:
Before I drop a bunch of money on wider lenses, thought I better ask if anyone has used these, or if I would be better off with something newer.

Canon FDn 15mm f2.8
Canon FDn 20mm f2.8
Canon FDn 24mm f2.8

Looking at about $750usd for all three in good shape. Can't afford Veydra and there is a lack of user information on SLR Magic Hyperprimes which generally tells me to stay clear.
Click to expand...

I had a 20mm Canon and sold it. Perhaps it was the copy I had but it wasn't consistent across the entire image. So a little word of warning to check that out if you find one. As to the SLR Hyperprimes, the 10 and 25mm are stellar and superior to the FDs but out of your price range. Haven't tried the 17mm but if it's like the 35mm, although still very good, I'd say it's not up to these other two.
 
Harry, that's pretty much what I decided is to skip the 20 for now.

Do the speed booster work well with these wide lenses? I would hope that's what they are designed for since you really don't need the extra angle of view with the longer lenses, you can just go a lens wider without adapter to get similar angles.
 
Greg_E said:
RJ photo makes one, not sure if it is worth the money though. http://www.amazon.com/RJ-Speed-Boos...pebp=1435434690308&perid=0Y0Q39D2WRKVZQKYGMEE
Click to expand...

I picked up the Nikon to m4/3 version used to try out the concept without plunking down $429 for the Metabones one right away. I must have got a fairly good one or my expectations were realistic but I'm pleased with what I'm getting.

If you have FD lenses (or will be buying them) they are not easily adaptable to EOS EF mount. For infinity focus they have to put a glass element in there and I've seen a bunch of complaints about image degradation. You will need to go with an FD version of whatever speed booster you get.

Greg_E said:
Should I try to buy all three of these, or maybe skip the 20mm? The 20 seems harder to find in good shape and im trying to figure out which lengths are going to be most used. The 24 and 20 should both give me a sort of normal, with the 15 giving a slight wide. Tele is certainly covered by my other lenses, not that I really want to mix characteristics of two different manufacturers.
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If they're really in good shape, I'd go for all 3. Here's what you'd wind up with looking at each:

15mm - with plain adapter - 30mm equivalent (close to 28mm which would give you usable wide perspective)
15mm - with Mitakon - 21-22mm equiv (15x0.71x2) (might skip the 20mm as this is close to the same)

20mm - with plain adapter - 40mm equiv (kind of wide "normal")
20mm - with Mitakon - 28.4mm (20x0.71x2) Getting some more duplication here

24mm - with plain adapter - 48mm equiv (close to "normal" 50mm)
24mm - with Mitakon - 34mm (24x0.71x2) 1mm off the photo journalists' liked 35mm in film days.

I'd probably go with the 15mm and 24mm if budget was a consideration. The FD lenses do have a good rep.


You do get some "widening" of the FOV with a speed booster but as you can see from above calculations, it's nothing really drastic. I like what I'm getting with the 24mm and 50mm Nikkors but for really wide you are going to have to go with some "native" m4/3 choices. Inexpensive will be the Lumix 14mm f2.5, pricey something like the Olympus m.zuiko 12mm f2.0, kind of inbetween might be the Rokinon 12mm f2.0.

My choice was the Lumix 14mm, and the Olympus 9-18mm f4 to f5.6. Often when you need wide you need WIDE!
 
Found a second place making mount conversions http://fdtoef.com/wp/ these are aluminum which might be better. Not sure why the edmika plates are machined from plastic, the stuff he is using is about triple the cost of aluminum. Only reason that makes sense to me is the machine speed, you can cut the plastic about 4 times more quickly and it doesn't need coolant/lube sprayed on the piece while you cut.

And one in the UK, but they do the work http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/page5.html
 
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Greg_E said:
Harry, that's pretty much what I decided is to skip the 20 for now.

Do the speed booster work well with these wide lenses? I would hope that's what they are designed for since you really don't need the extra angle of view with the longer lenses, you can just go a lens wider without adapter to get similar angles.
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Yes they work great. Obviously when WIDE open things might be a bit soft - but that can be the case with our without a booster. When I got mine I felt like I had a whole new set lenses but that these were wider and faster... The novelty wore off as it seems like I just always use the booster (even if outside - then I use more ND).

Yes. skip the 20 and you should be fine.
 
I just ordered the 15 and 24 from Keh.com, should be here pretty soon. Also had a reply from Marty who makes the aluminum mounts, probably going to convert these lenses after I make sure they work correctly, I have an EF lens Turbo coming sometime soon. Also need some printed focus gears somewhere down the road and some step up rings too.

I'm thinking that maybe the 15 should have the color filters removed and have some nd filters put in place, might make a neat modification if I can find filters small enough to fit the turret.
 
Greg_E, isn't that 15 2.8 a fisheye? I know the GH4 will use more of the center portion of the lens due to it's crop, but wouldn't there still be some curvature effect happening?


Greg_E said:
I just ordered the 15 and 24 from Keh.com, should be here pretty soon. Also had a reply from Marty who makes the aluminum mounts, probably going to convert these lenses after I make sure they work correctly, I have an EF lens Turbo coming sometime soon. Also need some printed focus gears somewhere down the road and some step up rings too.

I'm thinking that maybe the 15 should have the color filters removed and have some nd filters put in place, might make a neat modification if I can find filters small enough to fit the turret.
Click to expand...
 
Not really. I have a Zeiss Touit 12mm for my Fuji camera (1.5x crop), it also should be a fisheye, but it is simply an extreme wide on that camera. Since they sample only the central portion, you only get the light rays that follow that central portion, you could tape off a big hunk of the front lens and never know the difference on a crop sensor (and it might not be a bad idea to tape it off to prevent flair). This is overly simplified, but gives the proper idea.

That said there may still be some curvature, but I don't expect it to be worse than an old style 30mm on a 135 film camera, or worse than a 20mm on the same film camera when I have it mounted to the speed booster (if said speed booster ever ships) and the GH2. Video mode on the GH2 is said to be around a 1.86 crop so 15mm*1.86*.72=20mm equivalent to 135 film, not sure what the real viewing angle will be but you can look it up if interested. I'll almost certainly cut a plastic plug to attach to the front with a cutout large enough to clear with the speed booster to help prevent flair, once I figure out the opening size needed.
 
sk810 said:
I bought one of these, but through ebay. I had the same issue as one of the reviewers on Amazon did, The m43 side of the mount to the camera was sloppy. fine for pics, but not for video. It seemed to work fine once i had a follow focus pressure on it. I'll have to test it some more.
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I've had relatively few junk adapters, but have had a couple now. Length is always an issue with most being between 0.01 and 0.02 inches too short, this makes certain you can hit infinity distance, even if it doesn't hit the stop. I did have an EF to Fuji X that was too long, this was easily fixed on my milling machine and now I have an EF to X that is "perfect" that I can use as a reference. Still have a bunch of other adapters that need to be shimmed to be correct.

In talking to Marty (at FDtoEF.com), he said he shorts the mounting plates ever so slightly to make certain that each lens can hit infinity, I'm hoping that distance is like 0.001 or 0.002 inches so I can easily cut some shims and get the spot to work and number to mostly line up. I may see if I can adjust the stop and then just put numbers on the sides of the lenses for easier use. The guy that prints the gears said he can leave a smooth surface to put new markings so I'll probably have him do that (again once the lenses are known working).
 
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