Canon FD 17mm 4.0SSC on Leica M8

[raid]

I tried out this combo, and it worked well. It is roughly a 22mm perspective, and there is no color shift that I can detect.

This was a close-up at 30cm or so:

This was taken at the harbor in Pensacola:

Danaa nd Lina:

The 17mm FD lens is known to have hardly any distortion at all. It is extremely well built.
Come to think of it, I may use this lens in our next trip to Italy.

 

[JRminox]

Nice photos even at close proximity.
The lack of color shift makes sense because it is due to too close proximity of the lens from the sensor. Lenses designed for short register behave poorly although the color shift can be corrected but remains a pain. Canon lenses will always be better in that respect than Voigtlander with Leica mounts.

 

[raid]

I have plenty of Canon FD lenses. The SSC version that I have lets me easily change the aperture setting when used with Adapter B. The later model lens needs a pin that is inserted at the apertue ring to allow the setting of the aperture on Adapter B.

 

[raid]

 

[raid]

The SSC version does not accept a lens hood or filters. I used to use this lens with the M6.

 

[JRminox]

Nice. Florida?
I have a 200 mm FD. It was nice until I decided to clean it, I took the mount apart and now I am unable to put it back together and cannot find info on how this the diaphragm control is put together. Duh! Got myself a nice shelf ornament.

 

[raid]

This is is Pensacola, Florida.
The 200mm 2.8 is a great lens. I use it on micro 4/3 cameras as a tele for sport events.
It is interesting that the modern RF wide angle lenses have some problems with the M8 and M9 due to closeness of the rear glass to the sensor, while old SLR lenses work better with these digital cameras.

I also sometimes use my Pentax Takumar (or SMC) lenses on my Leica cameras by using the Pentax to Canon FD adapter, plus adapter B for Canon FD to LTM (and then use LTM-M). The SMC 35/2 is a wonderful lens. I lose RF focusing this way, but it is not a problem to focus well with a wide angle lens.


Canon FD 17mm 4.0 SSC :

 

[raid]

I will soon try out this lens on the M9 for a wider view. I wonder whether the M9 sensor will also do well like the M8 did.

For comparison, here are two old photos of my daughters that I took with the M6 and this lens:

I love the images that I can take with the lens. The main disadvantages are : (1) size/weight (2) no RF focus.
The advantages: endless! 🙂 cost=$0 (to me) sharp no distortion well built beautiful lens ...

 

[Nokton48]

I used to own the Canon 17mm F4 FD back in the early eighties.
I loved this lens on my two Canon F-1's (they were Olympic models).

Great lens. No need to focus on a Rangefinder, or an SLR, for that matter.

I also had the 200mm F2.8 and that was great for photojournalism and sports.
Both my bodies had the MF Motor Drives.

 

[raid]

Since I remembered that I have this lens, I gave up on buying a (very) wide angle RF lens. I have the CV 25/4 and the Rokkor 28/2.8 too. This is enough for me for wide angle lenses.

 

[raid]

I used this lens today at the beach, just before sunset. I also used this lens inside our home. I love what this lens can deliver. I will post some images tomorrow morning.

 

[rfaspen]

raid. can you post a shot of the lens mounted on your M? Gives us an idea of how ergonomic the lens is on an rf body.
I have the adapter B, but haven't really used it. mostly because my old Canon lenses are all Tele or zoom. 🙁

 

[Lss]

There is quite noticeable loss of contrast in the center of the images. Is it typical for the lens?

 

[raid]

raid. can you post a shot of the lens mounted on your M? Gives us an idea of how ergonomic the lens is on an rf body.
I have the adapter B, but haven't really used it. mostly because my old Canon lenses are all Tele or zoom. 🙁

I will do this today. The FD lenses are great lenses. I would get a wide angle FD lens to try out. The SSC lenses allow full aperture control with Adapter B. The "newer" bayonet FD lenses need a pin to allow aperture control.

 

[raid]

There is quite noticeable loss of contrast in the center of the images. Is it typical for the lens?

Is this in all posted images or only the close-ups? I may have been off in estimating the distances.
In Post # 8, the second image has a sharp center (on the M6). The contrast is not high with this lens, and it can be increased in post-processing.

Large sized image: http://raid.smugmug.com/Other/Canon-FD-17mm-on-M8/i-n5cCLTn/0/O/Canon FD 17mm Set_-15.jpg

 

[raid]

 

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Contrast is not high, which is useful for B&W and for pastel colored images.

 

[raid]

I took these photos yesterday at Pensacola Beach.

 

[raid]

 

[raid]

With a max aperture of 4.0, this is not a fast lens, but modern digital cameras allow us to take photos indoors at slow speeds and with good results. I estimate the distances when focusing, and I could be sometimes off.