Using OM and FD lenses on a Canon 5D

Gid

Gid

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I'm interested in user experience of using olympus manual focus or Canon FD lenses on a Canon digital - I have a 5D Mk1. What adapters do you recommend, do they have focus confimation or do i need the Ees screen? I'm assuming stop down metering, so how far can you stop down before the screen brightness becomes unusable? All comments welcome (I think).

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Gid,

FD lenses do have too short a flange to sensor distance to focus to infinity; OM lenses do allow infinity focus.

There seem to be some exposure issues also, which people deal with by exposure compensation and taking the camera off matrix metering.

I'll leave the issue of the focus effectiveness and adapter choice to members who have a broader experience on this.

You will also find some detailed info on the topic by googling "OM lenses on EOS bodies" or similar.

Good luck.
 
There are adapters that have focus confirmation chips for both mounts, and even adapters for FD with an optical element that allows infinity focus, but these increase focal length and can adversely impact image quality. Canon made such an adapter but not many of those around.

Having used a number of manual-focus lenses and adapters with ef eos cameras, I would generally say that there is always a full-auto ef lens that will perform better and be easier to manage than a legacy manual-focus lens, no matter how nostalgic one might be. If you go the nostalgia route, a microprism or split-prism focusing screen can help a lot. The lack of auto-aperture control is a real pain, so these lenses are best utilized in studio and tripod situations, in my opinion.

Really want to take advantage of those FD or OM lenses? Mount 'em on your AE-1 or OM-1 and enjoy that big beautiful viewfinder and smoothly damped focus ring. Looking through a modern finder optimized for auto-focus and slower zooms, it just ain't the same!
 
It comes down to rendering, there are many lenses that modern canon lenses cannot replicate. I do agree that modern cameras are pretty useless for using MF lenses. It's like a kit that comes in pieces, with glue and clamps.
 
I use OM lenses on a Canon T3 and Canon 10d. I have two adapters. One from a seller who went by Big_IS on ebay and the other I got through Amazon. Both came from Hong Kong and have focus confirmation. The first has micro focus adjustment and the other does not.

Except for razor thin depth of field shots, I'm happy with how often I get the focus right even at wide apertures.

With that first adapter on the 10d, I did have exposure problems. Exposures were inconsistent and I had a hard time compensating. With the other adapter and on the T3, the exposures are fairly consistent and little or no compensation is needed other than situations where you'd use EC regardless what lens you use (like backlit portraits).

I can't afford fast auto focus lenses now, so the OM lenses are a cheap alternative. Even my old Vivitar Series 1, 70-210 works great on the EOS bodies.
 
For a short time, I used a Canon 5DMkII with OM lenses and a Fotodiox adapter. The adapter was too tight but usable. I would say that it is better to buy an adapter from a photo store, where you can try it. I bought mine by mail and it was too much of a hassle to return it. I also had to buy a Canon split-image screen to help with focusing, but even so I had to focus with the lens wide open or almost wide open. As mentioned, some people do good work with the Canon-OM combination, but for me it was too awkward so I finally sold the Canon and got a Sony A7 which works fine with the OM lenses and other lenses.
 
I use mostly Pentax and Nikon fit primes on my Canon DSLR. In the studio, I can do f/8 but it's really dim and most people likely wouldn't put up with such a dim view with manual focus.

Out in daylight, f/16 is dim but usable, but I rarely go beyond f/8 due to my style. Practicing with a certain lens/camera will allow you to learn where the DOF actually is: the stock screen will only show you f/2.8 or thereabouts (try it: with a fast 50, you can stop down from f/1.4 all the way to 2.8 and won't see any change in DOF or screen brightness!).
 
Thanks for the responses. Sounds like it might be too much trouble though. I'll just continue to use the lenses as they were intended on my F1n, A1, OM1 (x2) and OM4 - not such a hardship;)
 
Luis said:
For a short time, I used a Canon 5DMkII with OM lenses and a Fotodiox adapter. The adapter was too tight but usable. I would say that it is better to buy an adapter from a photo store, where you can try it. I bought mine by mail and it was too much of a hassle to return it. I also had to buy a Canon split-image screen to help with focusing, but even so I had to focus with the lens wide open or almost wide open. As mentioned, some people do good work with the Canon-OM combination, but for me it was too awkward so I finally sold the Canon and got a Sony A7 which works fine with the OM lenses and other lenses.
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Sorry for stealing the thread but where did you get a split-image screen for the 5DmkII?
I have used a few OM-lenses on mine and bought the EG-s (?) screen which works ok but a split-image would be useful. The canon precision matte screen is better than the original screen but it´s difficult when using lenses wide open..
The Zuiko 50/3,5 macro is a great lens which I often use for reproduction work or in the studio with a tripod, so mostly I can use live view for focus. Good results with 28/2 as well.
The adapter I use is a cheap ebay buy. Works for me.
 
mao, sorry for the delay, I just saw your post. I got the split-image screen from focusingscreen.com. It's an adapted Canon Ec screen and it originally cost some US$100. I still have it, practically unused, as well as the Fotodiox adapter. If you are interested in either or both, send me an e-mail.
 
I have 5ea. Canon FD SSC lenses. Use them on my Olympus E-M5. Outstanding Results.
So Good that I Don't have a single M4/3 Lens at this point in time. May step up to a nice M4/3 Zoom at some point, but not yet. Still getting a thrill with MF Lenses on Digital.
PS: The FD SSC Lenses are quite good for use on Canon Film Cameras.
I do a little of that as well.
 
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