Canon FD lenses on an M Body?

[foto_fool]

I just picked up a Canon 55mm/f1.2 FD converted to M-mount, with RF coupling, from a guy who sells on eBay. He only does the conversion on the older breech-lock FD lenses. I don't know if he has or will convert lenses other than the 55mm. Might be interesting.

- John

 

[raid]

John,
Could you give me the ebay seller's name? Thanks.

 

[Krosya]

here ya go:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170183691747&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=007

I wondered how well this works. John, could you let us know what you think of this lens/conversion? Maybe even post some pics? Does it focus correctly at all distances? Thanks.

 

[venchka]

Very interesting. I saw a Canon BL chrome nose 55/1.2 in a shop last Saturday. I didn't ask the price. I may have to go back.

Even more interesting, the lens is shown on the seller's M5. I could get into serious trouble.

 

[spyder2000]

Why would a seller keep all bidders private?

 

[johnastovall]

I suspect this conversion is done the same way the 50/0.95 is converted. The bayonet lugs are machined of and a m-mount is attached.

If one is interested in such a conversion, you might contact the following as they do the 0.95 conversion.

EastCamTec

PHOTOGRAPHY ON BALD MOUNTAIN

And you might try DAG.

 

[raid]

I wonder whether someone can modify my 50/1.2L and 85mm/1.2L into M or LTM. If it is possible to modify the 55/1.2 lens, then maybe it is also possible to modify my two lenses.

 

[rxmd]

I wonder whether someone can modify my 50/1.2L and 85mm/1.2L into M or LTM. If it is possible to modify the 55/1.2 lens, then maybe it is also possible to modify my two lenses.

Difficult. The 50/1.2 has more or less the right focal length, so all that needs to be done in the modification is to put on a new mount and to add a RF cam follower that follows the outward movement of the lens in focusing. The 55/1.2 and 85/1.2 have different focal lengths, so either the cam follower needs to be sloped (difficult to machine precisely) or you need to add a second helical, which starts to get complicated mechanically.

In addition, you wouldn't want to focus a 85/1.2 with any rangefinder camera.

Philipp

 

[foto_fool]

Sorry I have been away from this thread. Raid - thanks for the PM. The guy who does the mod on the 55/1.2 FD does top-notch work.
I also bought a Canon 50/0.95 TV converted to M-mount from him - ErikFive is making great use of this lens now.

The mod on the 55/1.2 is intrinsically different from the mod on the 0.95 TV. There is an extension of nearly 1cm between the back
of the breech lock and the new M-mount flange. There is a non-rotating tab attached to the back element of the lens that engages
the RF cam. The min focus on the 55/1.2 is 0.6m but the particular lens I have uncouples at about 0.72m or 2.5 ft. It focuses and
meters properly on the R-D1 and the Zeiss Ikon - the only two bodies I have tried it on so far.
Here's a close-up pic of the mount end of the lens:

Here is a shot of my daughter at 1.2 and ISO800 on the R-D1; shutter speed was 1/416 sec.

I like this lens a lot. The gentleman who made the conversion tells me that he cannot do this conversion on the FL lenses,
or any of the Canons with floating elements. I did ask him about the 58/1.2 FD, which is lighter and more compact than the 55/1.2 -
he would prefer not to, because the 55/1.2 is a better lens.

 

[raid]

Difficult. The 50/1.2 has more or less the right focal length, so all that needs to be done in the modification is to put on a new mount and to add a RF cam follower that follows the outward movement of the lens in focusing. The 55/1.2 and 85/1.2 have different focal lengths, so either the cam follower needs to be sloped (difficult to machine precisely) or you need to add a second helical, which starts to get complicated mechanically.

In addition, you wouldn't want to focus a 85/1.2 with any rangefinder camera.

Philipp

Philipp,

If the 50mm has the right focal length, then why not modify my 50/1.2L?
Unless, this lens has floating lens elements!

 

[nikola]

What's the price of conversion? Thanks

 

[bmattock]

I like this lens a lot. The gentleman who made the conversion tells me that he cannot do this conversion on the FL lenses,
or any of the Canons with floating elements. I did ask him about the 58/1.2 FD, which is lighter and more compact than the 55/1.2 -
he would prefer not to, because the 55/1.2 is a better lens.

I don't understand, because the link to the ebay auction you showed is a 55mm f/1.2 FL lens - not an FD. Canon made the f/1.2 in both 58mm and 55mm for FL mount. I have both. They're quite similar, but I do think I prefer my 55mm. I simply cannot afford a 55mm f/1.2 in FD - but the FL mounts are the cheapest way to get a f/1.2 lens, period. Lately prices are up - glad I got mine some time ago.

 

[foto_fool]

I don't understand, because the link to the ebay auction you showed is a 55mm f/1.2 FL lens - not an FD. Canon made the f/1.2 in both 58mm and 55mm for FL mount. I have both. They're quite similar, but I do think I prefer my 55mm. I simply cannot afford a 55mm f/1.2 in FD - but the FL mounts are the cheapest way to get a f/1.2 lens, period. Lately prices are up - glad I got mine some time ago.

Looking over the emails I have from the guy doing the mods, I misunderstood him. His phrasing was confusing - what he said was he does not convert the L lenses. The FL lenses use the same breech lock as the early FD lenses, so the conversion should be identical.

His latest auction is for a 50/1.4 Rokkor-X, so clearly he can convert other brands. I have never owned a Minolta SLR so I don't know how the mount compares to the Canon breech lock.

 

[xayraa33]

a lens that would be nice to convert to M mount would be the Zuiko 50/ f1.2 or even the 55/ f1.2

 

[bmattock]

Looking over the emails I have from the guy doing the mods, I misunderstood him. His phrasing was confusing - what he said was he does not convert the L lenses. The FL lenses use the same breech lock as the early FD lenses, so the conversion should be identical.

His latest auction is for a 50/1.4 Rokkor-X, so clearly he can convert other brands. I have never owned a Minolta SLR so I don't know how the mount compares to the Canon breech lock.

Well, that makes sense. And he's choosing the right victims, er, I mean donors. Both Canon FL/FD and Minolta MD are orphans - no way forward into the digital domain (without weird, funny, and generally obnoxious adapters, that is) so the prices tend to be lower. I would guess same for Olympus OM, but they still tend to hold their value - Oly guys are kinda weird, ya know.

 

[xayraa33]

yes you are right about the oly gear holding its value.
Matsuiyastore has a beauty Zuiko 55/1.2 lens for 450 dollars right now.

 

[Xax]

did anyone successfully use a leica m-bayonet mount lens on a fd body?

 

[johannielscom]

Impossible, the film-to-lens flange is way too short for an M-lens to be attached to an FD-body, you would have to stick the whole lens into the FD-body.

The oterh way round does work, because the Canon lens is designed for a longer flange, there is room to fit an adapter between the lens and the M-body.

And, why would you want to hook a well designed rangefinder lens up with a bulky SLR with mirror slap and all? Better get a Bessa or Leica body to attach to it!

 

[Xax]

thanks for the quick response!

i am awaiting a bessa r2a for my photography work, but would need the adapter for my motion picture work

since i am using a now-popular "35mm-adapter", which projects the picture of a 35mm still lens on a matte screen which is then recorded by a HD-camera to create a distinct shallow DOF look and thus "non-video", and that adapter has a FD or EOS mount only, so i wanted to use my newly aquired nokton 1.4 40mm with my hd-camera, looks like it won't be possible 🙂

thanks anyways

btw, how's the hexanon 90mm? especially compared to the CV and summicron?