EF or FD mount

V

Vampiresoup

Well-known member
I am making an adapter and was wondering if I could get peoples opinions on FD vs EF mounts? Should I go for the Cheaper, heavier FD lens at 1.4 or the 100 dollar (can) EF mounted lens at 1.8.

I have access to a lot of EF lenses and if I want to rent really expensive ones I have to go EF. But Im just wondering if down the road I'd want to have an FD so I could buy cheaper lenses.

Someone told me FDs have a slight lens distortion around the edges compared to the EFs

Also how difficult is it to switch mounts if the EF just isn't workin for me?
 
Canon EF lenses have electronic aperture control, so you cannot change the aperture unless it is hooked up to an EF camera. You need to employ a little trick to get the aperture to stay at a given position when you remove it from the camera.

If you use an EF to FD converter you will lose infinity focus with most of the FD lenses.
 
Put the lens on your Canon body.
Select the desired aperture.
Hit the DOF preview button.
While holding in the DOF preview. push the mount release button and remove the lens.

I can't guarantee that this wont screw up your lens, but I tried it with my 24-70 f/2.8 and 300 f/4 and it seemed ok.
 
I used FD for my adapter. You will want 1.4 if your GG is static. If you are building it yourself from Edwierdo's design, just buy 2 pvc caps and both the FD and EF mounts. Then you have the option and can test both types. I know the FD mounts can be found pretty cheap, but I'm not sure about the EF.
 
Should I go for the Cheaper, heavier FD lens at 1.4 or the 100 dollar (can) EF mounted lens at 1.8.
Click to expand...

If your getting an FD for under $100 its not high quality.
 
EF mount to FD lens adapters with infinity focus are quite common on ebay for ca $50. Not sure about quality as it might introduce some chromatic abberration.

Metal EF mount can be found on EF macro/extension tubes also on ebay for about $10.

EF mount can take Nikon, Olympus OM, Contax/Yashica, Leica R, Pentax K and M42 lenses with cheap lens adapters also. Actually Pentax K lens to EOS adapter is a bit pricey though something like $50 sold by Mr. Rolfo on German ebay (www.ebay.de).
He also sells EF mount compatible 55mm f1.2 full manual lenses equipped with Pentax K adapter already. I got mine for about $150 total.

Canon EF mount is the most versatile mount out there as it has the shortest flange distance* that makes it possible to use with all those various lens adapters.
*FD has the shortest but it is no longer in production and almost no lens adapters are avialable for it.

Regs,
T.
 
Thanks for all the info guys. I really think I'm gonna go with EF. I know you cant stop up on them (I dont have an ef camera) but with the adapter Im getting, it wont work anyhow. I don't have the money for an expesnive lens. Will a 100 dollar EF 1.8 work on a static GG?
 
Used FD primes are easily obtainable for < $100. (50mm, 35mm, 24mm etc). I'm not sure you totally understand the problem with being stuck at F1.8. Just getting some ND filters does not address the issue of having a 2 inch DOF all the time. If you don't have a Canon camera or any EF lenses already, why not just get some Nikon primes and sidestep the whole issue. Getting the cheapo EF lens is a real mistake IMHO. The manual focus on the low end AF lenses is really sucky.
 
ncje said:
If your getting an FD for under $100 its not high quality.
Click to expand...

I'm not up to par on lenses. I have just started learning the details since building my adapter. Are you saying that... for example... a used canon 1.4 for under $100 with FD is low quality? Just curious.

Vampiresoup said:
Thanks for all the info guys. I really think I'm gonna go with EF. I know you cant stop up on them (I dont have an ef camera) but with the adapter Im getting, it wont work anyhow. I don't have the money for an expesnive lens. Will a 100 dollar EF 1.8 work on a static GG?
Click to expand...

Are you buying an adapter that has a static GG? I would build my own vs buying one with a static GG. With a static GG you will wish you had 1.4 or even 1.2. Even with a Nikon "D" screen or nicely ground glass, grain shows up more and more as you close the apeture and less light gets in. With my adapter (and other static GG adapters) anything above f/4 is pretty grainy. You will want the 1.4 for sure. The DOF might be too narrow at f/1.2, but I have a 1.4 lens so I don't know. I mostly have my canon lens between f/1.4 and f/2.8. Not having the 1.4 would be rough.
 
Yeah thats the issue with this one. I cant go above f4. I'm not lookin for anything amazing really. But it cost me 200 bucks so that's not that bad and I'm a tard when it comes to building things. So you're saying, just to clarify, that I cannot change the DOF with a static GG since I will see grain as I close down the apeture.

UGH I still don't know if I should get an EF or an FD mount. :( Thanks for the help guys
 
Vampiresoup said:
So you're saying, just to clarify, that I cannot change the DOF with a static GG since I will see grain as I close down the apeture.
Click to expand...
No, you can still obtain different DOF's with the static GG, but it is slightly more limited in comparison to a moving GG in that the moving GG hides the grain better as the apeture closes. So with my canon 1.4 FD lens and my static GG, my range in DOF is determined by and limited by f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, and f/4. So I guess you could say that I have four options when it come to achieving different amounts of DOF. So far, this has been great. The DOF that can be achieved with these four f-stop settings most closely represent how the human eyes sees, and for me, that is my goal in most cases.
 
Sorry didnt notice the extra question here, you can get higher fstop fd lenses much cheaper than lower, however this is a big minus with a 35mm adapter. TO get a good quality 50mm at f1.4 you need to pay $.
 
Well I just bought a Nikon 1.4 50mm LENS. It's quite a famous lens and I have heard many good things about it. I'm looking forward to trying it out. I have a bead on a 105 mm Nikon. I hear that's great too. Any thoughts?

Andrew
 
Mount EF lens on FD mount?

Mount EF lens on FD mount?

Toenis said:
EF mount to FD lens adapters with infinity focus are quite common on ebay for ca $50. Not sure about quality as it might introduce some chromatic abberration.

Metal EF mount can be found on EF macro/extension tubes also on ebay for about $10.

EF mount can take Nikon, Olympus OM, Contax/Yashica, Leica R, Pentax K and M42 lenses with cheap lens adapters also. Actually Pentax K lens to EOS adapter is a bit pricey though something like $50 sold by Mr. Rolfo on German ebay (www.ebay.de).
He also sells EF mount compatible 55mm f1.2 full manual lenses equipped with Pentax K adapter already. I got mine for about $150 total.

Canon EF mount is the most versatile mount out there as it has the shortest flange distance* that makes it possible to use with all those various lens adapters.
*FD has the shortest but it is no longer in production and almost no lens adapters are avialable for it.
Click to expand...


What about mounting an EF lens on an FD mount? I've got a Letus 35 Flip coming to me and I'd love to mount my EF lenses on it. The only thing I can find are FD lens to EF mounts though. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Mounting FD lenses on an EF is a suckfest. If you use an optical adapter it screws up the field of view. It is basically a really weak tele extender. Additionally it is virtually impossible to obtain a high quality FD to EF adapter (the Canon one). I think this is a bad way to go.

Also 50mm 1.4 FD vs 50mm 1.8 EF. No contest if you want to use this on an adapter. One lens was (is) a high quality fully manual lens that suits the need perfectly. The other one is a kinda cheapo plastic lens with poor manual focus and no usable aperture control.


Honestly if the ability to use EF lenses is really that important, go ahead and get an EF mount, but buy Nikon manual lenses. They work great on EOS mount, where FD does not.
 
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