General Looking for FD Conversion Shops

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Paul Moore

New member
So, I'd typically look for Northern Virginia local services, but I'm in Southern California for a week or so, so does anyone know people in the area I could go talk to about converting a few FD lenses to EF? I found some shops online, but they don't seem to be very local, and I'd really like to meet with the person I'm entrusting my lenses to rather than just ship them over and hope for the best.
 
M. Gilden said:
I'm under the impression that these shops are extremely rare.
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Exactly and if you do find them you might as well buy the ef mount version of the lens because it's going to cost you a lot. If you want to use Canon Fd lenses your best bet is to get a Panasonic Gh2.
 
The GH2 doesn't seem like a much cheaper option than just buying the up-to-date lenses. Can you give me some specifics on the price range of a conversion, or at least some kind of estimation?
 
Paul Moore said:
The GH2 doesn't seem like a much cheaper option than just buying the up-to-date lenses.
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Depends on what kinds of FD lenses you are adapting. A good modern constant aperture L-series zoom can easily be more than the price of a GH2 body. The truth is, you can buy glass-less adapters to use FD lenses on EOS mounts, the focus range will just be off (you won't be able to reach infinity focus, but you'll probably gain some sweet macro range). I have a few FD lenses that I enjoy using with my mirrorless mounts, but I'm considering an EOS adapter as well since most of my subjects are about in the mid-focus range anyway.

I have no idea what it would cost to convert- as I understand it, this isn't really a frequently performed task. Most people who have converted lenses that I'm aware of, are lens nuts who performed the conversion themselves with intricate machine tools and a lot of sawing/sanding down. I've heard of a place in the UK that does it, but from what I've heard they can charge whatever they want. Shipping and handling alone was over $100, the actual conversion probably multiples of that. I've never come across anyone local who does it (I'm in NY), but then again I haven't really looked.
 
M. Gilden said:
Depends on what kinds of FD lenses you are adapting. A good modern constant aperture L-series zoom can easily be more than the price of a GH2 body. The truth is, you can buy glass-less adapters to use FD lenses on EOS mounts, the focus range will just be off (you won't be able to reach infinity focus, but you'll probably gain some sweet macro range). I have a few FD lenses that I enjoy using with my mirrorless mounts, but I'm considering an EOS adapter as well since most of my subjects are about in the mid-focus range anyway.

I have no idea what it would cost to convert- as I understand it, this isn't really a frequently performed task. Most people who have converted lenses that I'm aware of, are lens nuts who performed the conversion themselves with intricate machine tools and a lot of sawing/sanding down. I've heard of a place in the UK that does it, but from what I've heard they can charge whatever they want. Shipping and handling alone was over $100, the actual conversion probably multiples of that. I've never come across anyone local who does it (I'm in NY), but then again I haven't really looked.
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Exactly, I know DP's who have special lens guys that will do it for them, but you are talking about Dp's who spend thousands and thousands of dollars. So like I said unless there is something specific on why you want to use a Canon fd lens on a modern Canon camera it's going to cost you a lot of money, more than the price of a Gh2. Now you can use Canon fd lenses on a Gh2 which is why I suggested that camera and in a sense the Gh2 has a lot of advantages over canon dslr cameras as well.
 
vision_filmz said:
in a sense the Gh2 has a lot of advantages over canon dslr cameras as well.
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I'll have to look further into that. Can you tell me about some of the advantages you find it has?

sewolla said:
Try Canon in Irvine, see what they say. That's where I would go.
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Unfortunately, that's a bit too far south for me right now, though I'll keep it in mind.

All right, so from what I'm seeing right now, conversion's a pricey and rarely offered service, at least conversion shops are. Has anyone had experience in actually converting them? I've got a $40 28mm FD I want to try it on.
 
If I remember correctly aside from some of the big tele lenses which are easier to remount in PL mount, Canon FD lenses will need to be completely rehoused because of the flange focal distance in its design, which will likely cost around $5K per lens.
 
I've seen a number of video tutorials on youtube in which they explain and show the problem resolving itself during the conversion process and actually having to add a metal spacer to solve the opposite problem. Can anyone confirm or deny about that?
 
Paul Moore said:
converting a few FD lenses to EF? .
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I know FD lenses were good in their day, but with many other vintage lenses that will mount with a $20 adapter, I'm wondering why you would want to go through the trouble and expense, except for something in the price range of a Canon 300mm 2.8.
 
ROCKMORE said:
I know FD lenses were good in their day, but with many other vintage lenses that will mount with a $20 adapter, I'm wondering why you would want to go through the trouble and expense, except for something in the price range of a Canon 300mm 2.8.
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[strikethroughdoesn'twork]Using FD lenses with a $20 adapter is as useful as sticking a pinhole lens cap on your camera.
Either conversion of the mount or using a shorter mount system [Like 4\3] is required if you want anything decent out of FD lenses.[/s]

EDIT: I see you are referring to using other legacy lenses, and you're right.
 
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