Canon 50mm f1.4 lens

gsgary

I have been given a canon 50mm f1.4 lens the only trouble is it is fd mount and the camera i am getting is ef mount is it possible to get an adapter to make it fit
Regards
Gary

David_S85

The 50 f/1.4 FD is (was) a nice lens.

FD mount is quite old. I know, 'cause I still have a bunch of those. If it was possible to mount it to a newer EF camera with an adaptor, you would be in a total manual exposure setup. Since there are no electrical contacts with the FD's, aperture and focus would be all trial and error. DOF preview would also not function. An adaptor would also move the lens farther from the focal plane, meaning the range would be affected. You might not (guessing) be able to focus to infinity. Something to research more, probably.

What *would* be possible, is reverse-mounting the FD 50 1.4 lens to another normal to slightly tele focal length EF lens for a cool macro setup. The wide aperture of the 1.4 makes it more appealing for this application. I've been meaning to do this myself for a while.

gsgary wrote:

I have been given a canon 50mm f1.4 lens the only trouble is it is fd mount and the camera i am getting is ef mount is it possible to get an adapter to make it fit
Regards
Gary

gsgary

Thanks David i'm new to dslr's

David_S85 wrote:

The 50 f/1.4 FD is (was) a nice lens.

FD mount is quite old. I know, 'cause I still have a bunch of those. If it was possible to mount it to a newer EF camera with an adaptor, you would be in a total manual exposure setup. Since there are no electrical contacts with the FD's, aperture and focus would be all trial and error. DOF preview would also not function. An adaptor would also move the lens farther from the focal plane, meaning the range would be affected. You might not (guessing) be able to focus to infinity. Something to research more, probably.

What *would* be possible, is reverse-mounting the FD 50 1.4 lens to another normal to slightly tele focal length EF lens for a cool macro setup. The wide aperture of the 1.4 makes it more appealing for this application. I've been meaning to do this myself for a while.

ziggy53

Gary,


Adorama has an adapter for FD lense to EF mount and yes, it has optics so it's a 1.3x multiplier. You also lose 1 stop. At around $40 US it's not too expensive, but it's not very high quality either.

I have one because I also have several old FD lenses for a Canon AE1 Program that I have and love.

I tried a few tests and it's not horrible, but not good either. Contrast drops dramatically and sharpness also drops, but to a lesser degree. Both focus and aperture are manual, like the old preset lenses. I will probably not use the adapter in a serious shoot.

Here's the link:

http://www.adorama.com/CZFDEOSA.html?searchinfo=adapter%20lens&item_no=47

ziggy53

gsgary

Hi Ziggy

I'm thinking of getting Canon's 50mm f1.4 i go to watch a lot local band and the light is very low would this be a good buy
Gary

ziggy53 wrote:

Gary,


Adorama has an adapter for FD lense to EF mount and yes, it has optics so it's a 1.3x multiplier. You also lose 1 stop. At around $40 US it's not too expensive, but it's not very high quality either.

I have one because I also have several old FD lenses for a Canon AE1 Program that I have and love.

I tried a few tests and it's not horrible, but not good either. Contrast drops dramatically and sharpness also drops, but to a lesser degree. Both focus and aperture are manual, like the old preset lenses. I will probably not use the adapter in a serious shoot.

Here's the link:

http://www.adorama.com/CZFDEOSA.html?searchinfo=adapter%20lens&item_no=47

ziggy53

ziggy53

gsgary wrote:

Hi Ziggy

I'm thinking of getting Canon's 50mm f1.4 i go to watch a lot local band and the light is very low would this be a good buy
Gary

Gary,

I don't have that lens, but it has a reputation as being very good even wide open. The only problem is that the 50mm is not too long, even considering the 1.6X factor of the 300/350XT/10D/20D. You will have to be seated fairly close to fill the frame with an individual.

Even if it wasn't perfect for the application, I'm sure you would find good use for that good lens.

I believe that any lens with a short DOF takes some getting used to because focus is so critical. Give yourself that extra time to become used to its properties and peculiarities.

ziggy53