Posted by buddy beyer on February 17, 2007 at 9:22 PM
I need help. Has anyone used a fd to eos converter for digital? Will it affect the quality of my 500mm L? Thanks Buddy
Posted by Tom Webster on February 17, 2007 at 11:45 PM
Question #1: Yes
Question #2: Yes
The converter contains a mild power teleconverter to allow the FD lenses to focus on the film plane of the newer EOS bodies. The converter works very poorly and affects image quality very badly. That is why Canon no longer makes them and you can only get them from 3rd party manufacturers. Keep in mind, too, you will not have autofocus and metering will always be in stopped down, manual mode. If you canno afford to replace the FD 500mm lens with an EOS 500mm lens, then keep your film bodies to use with the FD 500mm lens rather than trying to use it on an EOS body with the crappy FD/EOS adapter.
I'm with Tom on this one. If you do not currently have a Canon body with the FD mount, there are three nice cameras that will do the job (listed in order of increasing price and capability):
Canon AE-1program
Canon A-1
Canon F-1n
I have seen good prices on these cameras from KEH.com. I have bought several items from them, and also had repairs done: highly recommended.
-PB
Edit-ps: Tom, I believe that all of the Canon FD lenses are manual focus, but do have connections that support auto-aperture when any of the cameras above are used in shutter-priority mode.
-p
Posted by Will Webster on February 20, 2007 at 2:15 PM
The exception, of course, is working close up. If you're going after little birds you'll probably be using an extension tube anyway; the optical element of the converter comes out easily and you're left with a short tube. No glass = no degradation.
Discussion
3 repliesQuestion #2: Yes
The converter contains a mild power teleconverter to allow the FD lenses to focus on the film plane of the newer EOS bodies. The converter works very poorly and affects image quality very badly. That is why Canon no longer makes them and you can only get them from 3rd party manufacturers. Keep in mind, too, you will not have autofocus and metering will always be in stopped down, manual mode. If you canno afford to replace the FD 500mm lens with an EOS 500mm lens, then keep your film bodies to use with the FD 500mm lens rather than trying to use it on an EOS body with the crappy FD/EOS adapter.
I'm with Tom on this one. If you do not currently have a Canon body with the FD mount, there are three nice cameras that will do the job (listed in order of increasing price and capability):
Canon AE-1program
Canon A-1
Canon F-1n
I have seen good prices on these cameras from KEH.com. I have bought several items from them, and also had repairs done: highly recommended.
-PB
Edit-ps: Tom, I believe that all of the Canon FD lenses are manual focus, but do have connections that support auto-aperture when any of the cameras above are used in shutter-priority mode.
-p