Vivitar Series 1

Nice grab! Yes you will need a FD to EF adapter. This adapter will have some glass in it to correct your focus to infinity as the spacing is different on the FD than the EF.

I've heard you can still focus without the glass element, but not to infinity. Not sure the limitations when using the lens with an adapter without a glass element.

Anyone have any examples posted or experienced?
 
afcurry said:
Okay I just snagged this from ebay last night...it's a canon mount so I figured it would fit right on my T2i but after reading this thread apparently not. So I'll need an FD-EOS mount now correct?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150483970716&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:CA:1123
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I have that lens and love it. Beautiful bokeh and crystal clear picture.

Yes, you will need an FD-EOS adapter. I have only ever used one for my FD lenses (I have 3, some more on the way) for shooting with my 7D, and it is this one:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/522370-REG/Bower_ABEOS_Lens_Adapter_FD.html

It has some drawbacks, as you may have read, like some hazing at wide apertures. BUT, I have noticed on my Vivitar 28-90 and my Canon FD 50mm 1.8 that opening up the aperture widest does not cause hazing or halos, so it's possible it's a case-by-case scenario or it only happens at extremely wide apertures.

That aside, I think the Bower adapter is great. It works really well with the FD lenses I've used, it has a sturdy build, and it can be quickly mounted on other lenses or left on the camera body when changing FD lenses. I know some others have had success with adapters from Fotodiox, but I cannot speak for that.

afcurry said:
Would i be better off with a nikon mount?
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Nikon-EOS adapters cost less than a third of the FD-EOS Bower.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIKON-NIKKOR-AF...04805?pt=Lens_Accessories&hash=item518cb7c545

So buying vintage Nikon lenses is typically the recommendation, especially since they are so cheap that you can buy one adapter for each Nikon mount lens.

However...Nikon mount lenses tend to run a little pricier on eBay and similar sites because the sellers are typically aware of the value of such a lens.
 
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Thanks for the info! I'm still slightly confused though...greeches says the glass enables the lens to focus to infinity, but jscott says that it cannot even with the glass...can I get some clarification here please?

This one looks like its in absolute pristine condition so I had to buy it! Especially for only 56 including shipping
 
Alright, sorry, I misspoke earlier.

The FD-EOS adapters contain a glass element to correct for the build of FD lenses. These adapters allow you to focus to infinity.

Greeches postulated that by removing the glass element, you will still be able to focus, just not to infinity, which seems to be backed up by a lot of articles I've read, though YMMV.

I got my information backwards because, when I was playing with adapted FD lenses earlier, I hadn't properly secured everything to the camera yet, so I was having a lot of issues getting things focused. Then I realized the adapter wasn't actually "on" the lens yet. When I fixed that, I was able to focus to infinity.

The argument for removing the glass element is usually centered around the quality of the element to begin with. If you buy a $10 FD-EOS adapter, expect $10 quality. Canon, I believe, makes some very expensive FD-EOS adapters with a glass element (over $150, IIRC). Essentially, the metal housing costs the same for each manufacturer, but the dramatic price differences in these adapters has mostly to do with the element.

And cheaper glass means a cheaper image, prone to color loss, loss of sharpness, blur, and a whole slew of problems. So, removing the element could mean image quality gain for infinity focus loss.

In all honesty, I have no reason to attempt to remove the glass element from the adapter yet. It is too valuable in its current form and too expensive and time-consuming to replace it were I to make an irreversible mistake.


I hope that makes a lot more sense now. I apologize for the misinformation earlier.
 
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Thanks for explaining that more clearly man, so you would recommend the FD-EOS adapter you linked me to?
 
afcurry said:
Thanks for explaining that more clearly man, so you would recommend the FD-EOS adapter you linked me to?
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I would. I would not be surprised if others work, too, or work better, but this one has worked on 5 lenses now.

I got 2 in the mail yesterday: Canon 28mm FD 1:2.8 and a Vivitar 70-210mm 1:2.8-4 Macro. The adapter worked great on these lenses, too.

I'll reflect what a lot of people have said, though, when adapting FD lenses: The glass element exposes you to a myriad of new problems. Because there are so, so many lens-makers, including some that aren't around anymore, what worked for one lens might not for the next, or it might just create a picture you weren't expecting. Just allow yourself to be surprised and always try to test the lenses before you buy, unless they cost an absolute pittance (like all my lenses so far except one).

Happy lens hunting!
 
OK, slight problem I've having with the Bower adapter on some of these FD lenses. I have a lot of them...they're so damn cheap from eBay, to Cragislist, to garage sales, to people just giving them to me...

But on some of the lenses, I cannot get the adapter to fit and turn onto the lens, thus tightening it. I've tested these lenses on a Canon T50; i.e. I made sure they mounted and then played with focus, iris, and zoom, but took no pictures. To mount these lenses on FD-mount bodies, it takes about a quarter-turn from contact to complete lock. EF(-S) lenses on EOS bodies take roughly 1/6 a turn, just for comparisons.

Whenever I try to mount the adapter on some of the lenses, it goes maybe 1/10 of the turn. That's it. It's tight as hell, but the reason this is a huge problem is because one of the functions of the adapter is to engage the breech lock in the back and completely engage the iris control piece on the back of the lens (which is closer to the camera body than the aperture ring). If it doesn't turn all the way, say only half of the distance it needs to, I only get about half the stops.

On the Canon FD 50mm 1.8, I can get it to turn-tighten almost the entire way, but I lose a few stops (1.8 through 2.8) because it is not engaging the iris control metal thing completely.

To be clear, I'm not talking about the breech lock piece of metal in the back that was used for stop-down metering on old cameras. I'm talking about the small piece of metal on these lenses that is directly connected to the ring on the end of the lens that would normally screw into the FD body (about a quarter turn) and would allow control over the iris.

I'm ripping my hair out trying to get this adapter to slide onto these lenses. I'm wondering if I'm missing something...because it works great on some FD zooms I have, but then just fails to turn-and-tighten properly on others.


:(
 
Got a nice Kiron made Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f=3.5 in FD mount. But I am thinking of selling it because on the 550d with the glass adapter (I have two of them) you loose some of the lens sharpness and you have additional crop of the field of view. Much better on a GH1 I think.
 
kostas said:
Got a nice Kiron made Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f=3.5 in FD mount. But I am thinking of selling it because on the 550d with the glass adapter (I have two of them) you loose some of the lens sharpness and you have additional crop of the field of view. Much better on a GH1 I think.
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Which adapter brands do you have? Did you have any problems mounting the adapters on the lenses?

I think the problem I see on this Bower adapter is there is just isn't enough clearance in the threading on most of these lenses to accommodate the adapter's interlocking thread's thickness.
 
I have a Zykkor one (supposed to be good) and a Pixlamb (?) one with a focus confirmation chip. These are useable, give ok results for video with some of my FD lenses, but there are some inevitable artifacts (halos) with other lenses and softening. So overall I tend to use M42 lenses both for video and stills and lately I have started selling some of my FD lenses.
 
kostas said:
I have a Zykkor one (supposed to be good) and a Pixlamb (?) one with a focus confirmation chip. These are useable, give ok results for video with some of my FD lenses, but there are some inevitable artifacts (halos) with other lenses and softening. So overall I tend to use M42 lenses both for video and stills and lately I have started selling some of my FD lenses.
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And you never had issues with the adapter not engaging the aperture all the way or not twisting onto the lens completely?

It's possible I just have a faulty adapter, but that would just seem surprising given it's from B&H, it's not uber-cheap, and it received good reviews.

This Bower adapter literally only goes about 1/10 of a full circle turn before it's incredibly tight, and it won't completely engage the iris lever.
 
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No. Never had issues with the aperture lock lever. Both adapters have an open-lock position (turn the external ring) for the aperture pin. Open while putting the lens, lock immediately after.
 
Weird. Just got the Bower adapter to work on an FD 200mm 2.8 I got today. It slid on - after some brute force - and fully engaged the aperture levers.

The picture is wonderful, too. Just needs to cleaning on the front element :)
 
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I AGREE


A quick test shoot w/ 28-90 in the backyard...
 
lol epic music....nice stuff there.

STILL waitin on my vivitar 70-210 ...it went back to the seller cuz he made a mistake on the address. He did refund me $15 for the inconvenience...i didnt even ask him. So...when i get it i will still post some stuff.
 
All my Vivitar Series 1 lenses never give me any moire or aliasing problems... because they're so soft :cheesy:

They also have lower contrast, a yellower tinge, and blue purple uneven flares. Pretty good in an ugly way I like.
 
OK.

I have to rescind my recommendation for the Bower FD-EOS adapter. I bought the Zykkor FD-EOS adapter from GoShotCamera, and it is much better:


  • The Bower adapter only slid on 2 of my 7 FD lenses completely. Most of the time it would only slide on 1/3-1/5 of the way, thereby not engaging the breechlock aperture mechanisms on the back fully, costing me half the stops, usually from f1.8 to mids, before I even turned on the camera.
  • The Zykkor adapter slid on perfectly, snapped into place, fully engaged the breech-lock, and offered just the right amount of resistance to stay on while handling the camera and disengage when I was ready to take it off.

  • The Bower adapter's Lock-Open ring that engages the breechlock mechanism on the lens (for stop-down metering back in the day) was sloppy and loose.
  • The Zykkor adapter's Lock-Open ring takes the right amount of force and snaps into place.

  • The Bower adapter's glass element introduced some very, very slight hazing on 2 lenses at max aperture.
  • The Zykkor adapter's glass element is much better. I have yet to see hazing on any of my 7 lenses. The glass also appears to be coated.

  • The Bower adapter costs $50 from B&H before shipping.
  • The Zykkor adapter cost $35 from GoShotCamera; shipping was free.
There you have it, those of you who have some FD lenses or are looking at picking up one for dirt. (I have spent an absolute pittance on my FD lenses and have an excellent range of FD primes and zooms to shoot with while I save up to finish my vintage Nikon set.)
 
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