Which adapter do I buy to put FD canon lens on my t3i?

corycross

Well-known member
Hey, I see many adapters out there online that allows me to add a fd lens to my t3i ef mount camera... Some have a glass piece in it, which after reading some reviews, magnifies by 1.3X... and I also see the one without the lens piece in it which I imagine keeps the lens the same..

Seeing that I already have a camera that crops 1.6X, Id rather not crop anymore..


Which adapter is recommended? I see on ebay some for $30 and I would like to stay under $60. If anyone has experience with these things, the help would be greatfully appreciated!


Thanks

-Cory
 
search the threads. I remember reading the FD mounts won't work with an adapter because they can't focus at infinity with the adapter on. Could be wrong.
 
Well adapting FD is hard on an EOS camera. In short most people say don't for a reason. FD lenses have a completely different flange depth and don't fit an EOS body completely. This gives you two options.

The first is an adapter without a glass piece. But by doing this you loose inifinity focus.
This means the lens won't work correctly and you can't focus for a full range.
Then the solution is to get an adapter with a glass piece. This has the problem of magnifying the lens as said, but also loosing picture quality.

So whatever you do, it's a compromise that's pretty bad. I'm going to say what most people will and this is to not do it.
There are plenty great old manual lenses out there that work great. For little money you can get M42 lenses, like Takumars or russian ones like Jupiter or Helios.
Or if you spend a bit more money you could pick up some vintage Nikon AI glass or Zeiss Contax for around $200-300.
 
hmm..already bought the lens off ebay haha... So I would be using this lens mostly up close so I dont need to focus to infinite... hmm. Is there any other opinions and thoughts on this subject?
 
aha oh hellllll no. but thank you anyways Mrchirster.

Yes, generally FD lenses are considered a no-no if using EOS.

I know they are tempting, being so much cheaper than Nikon and others, but my theory is that the price is lower for good reason!
While Nikon F-mount lenses are compatible with a vast majority of modern mounts, FD class is only compatible with a very limited few (our modern Canon EOS not being one of them).

Yes, you COULD make it work, but you either have to mess with optics, limited focus, or added glass which will affect your aperture. Either way, that's why there aren't many adapters available- its a very specialized solution that isn't very popular to begin with.

I know it doesn't sound ideal, but perhaps it would be less hassle to put the lens back up on ebay? There are other cameras that could use it with less trouble. Go read up in the lens section here and get yourself a Nikon or Pentax lens.
 
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I have a couple of FD to EOS adapters I am not using anymore and that are currently up for sale.
One is with focus confirmation (35 Eur shipped), the other is without chip and is made in Japan by Zykkor (30 Eur shipped).
Both have an optical element to preserve infinity focus, so there is a slight additional crop factor.
All in all, if you know what to expect from FD lenses on an EOS body, these are nice adapters.
Pm me if you are interested.
 
There are several videos on vimeo of people using Fd lenses on these Canon Eos bodies with much success and amazing quality, so do some more research as this world is bigger than you think with many people using tools we thought were not possible.

 
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