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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Canon FD Lenses

So far as I recall there was a concern at the time that a short in the i-cable would or could cause issues with untested third party mounts or that was our impression. Seemed far enough as it was a Red Warranty. I think Allstar and others ensured the i-link Cable could be suitably housed securly so as not to cause an issue. One of the best atributes of Epic is you an use all manner of glass on the camera due to the various mounts available for the camera. R1 works well with A mount for the lenses it supports and Id persist in finding a non optical FD mount if you want to use FD lenses.
 
I do have a Nikon mount...In reality which is better? Nikon or Canon FD?
 
I wouldn't say one is better than the other as far as mounting is concerned. If I had a choice for camera mount, I would choose EF so then I can use both Nikon & Canon. More lens mounts are adaptable to Canon so you could use more variety of lenses.

(Sorry just realized you said Canon FD)
 
Michael Male said:
Remounting FD lenses to Nikon is expensive.
Click to expand...

It is, but might be worth doing; I have a nice collection of the best Canon FD long tele lens - 400/2.8 etc. The 300/2.8 is my favorite, and very well-regarded as being the best.

One of them (a 600) was bought already remounted to Nikon. No idea who did the conversion, but according to the case the lens was previously owned by UPI...

Any suggestions who would be a good choice to convert some of my other lenses to Nikon mount? Or PL mount come to that! Optex used to, but they're out of business...

Oh, and I'm looking for one lens to complete my collection; the 200mm f/1.8 - anyone got one for sale, FD or converted (Optex did them in PL too), get in touch!

Thanks

Mike
 
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Mike 'Fireman' Ross said:
It is, but might be worth doing; I have a nice collection of the best Canon FD long tele lens - 400/2.8 etc. The 300/2.8 is my favorite, and very well-regarded as being the best.

One of them (a 600) was bought already remounted to Nikon. No idea who did the conversion, but according to the case the lens was previously owned by UPI...

Any suggestions who would be a good choice to convert some of my other lenses to Nikon mount? Or PL mount come to that! Optex used to, but they're out of business...

Oh, and I'm looking for one lens to complete my collection; the 200mm f/1.8 - anyone got one for sale, FD or converted (Optex did them in PL too), get in touch!

Thanks

Mike
Click to expand...

I would not mind converting a bunch!!! I love the look!
 
Steve Gal said:
I wouldn't say one is better than the other as far as mounting is concerned. If I had a choice for camera mount, I would choose EF so then I can use both Nikon & Canon. More lens mounts are adaptable to Canon so you could use more variety of lenses.

(Sorry just realized you said Canon FD)
Click to expand...

EF on the camera and you can pretty well make that work with a good pro grade adaptor if you have say a Nikon lens. Also you can get the FD lenses converted to Canon EF its a permenent replacment mount for most FD lenses. ED Mika and others make a good conversion kit. The 20mm has issues converting I think but there are workshops such as lens doctor who may be able to do this for you. The longer telephoto lenses are often converted to universal so you could ahve EF and PL universal adaptors for them.
 
Mike 'Fireman' Ross said:
Any suggestions who would be a good choice to convert some of my other lenses to Nikon mount? Or PL mount come to that! Optex used to, but they're out of business...

/QUOTE]

Hi Mike,

I had a Canon 150-600 converted to universal mount by Century Optics in the 80's (lost it in a boat capsizing.) Bought another from Optex in the early 90's. That one is still my work horse. Optex is gone. Century seems to be owned by Schneider now, and from what I see on their website they don't appear to do the conversions anymore.

You might try Les Bosher in the U.K. http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/ His website says he is still doing conversions on the long FL Canon FDs and Tamrons. He did a great job remounting a Canon FD 50-300L to Aaton for me in the 90's. I've recently had the Aaton mount on that lens changed to a Nikon mount by RP Lens http://www.rplens.com/products.htm, you might try there too. On EBay every now and then I've noticed what seem to be newly converted (PL Mount) Canon FD lenses coming from a company in South Korea. I don't have a link or name though.
Click to expand...
 
Björn Benckert said:
I collected a good set of all the fast onces for our epic. Think if you can find a FD mount for RED ONE then it's a very nice thing to have. To me these lenses in many ways outperform the newer EF lenses and most other still glass, as the build is usually superb and they also cover vista vision/epic dragon and such sensors I'm pretty sure they will go up in demand as they have longer focus swings than most other still glass. I find them to resolve better sharpness than most cine lenses and they have such good coverage that they almost gets boring no dark/soft corners or such. Perfect picture all the way to the edge. Here is a link to our set and some tests:

http://wordpress.syndicate.se/syndicate-epic-fd-mount-and-lens-set/
Click to expand...

The FDs have a nice look to them which I really like. But in terms of bang for the buck I think nothing beats the Lomos. The problem is that all the good stuff is gone and it's hard to find good lenses anymore. But they are real cine lenses so no need to cinevise them, even the standard speeds at T2 are quite fast comparing to still glass, the optical quality of the good lenses (late 80's early 90's models) is great, and looking at those FD tests definitely as sharp if not sharper. But if I didn't have my Lomos already FD would definitely be where I would look at for affordable but great glass. Although they look a lot more retro than the Lomos and retro not always fit every project. Reason I like the Lomos. Not as sharp as the new Zeiss stuff but not as soft as the old Speed Panchros. Fits most projects. Easy enough to make it contrasty and contemporary or softer and retro. After Lomo and FD, Nikon would be the next option after FD, but I like the FD look somewhat more. Nikons produce a much more "still lens" look than the FDs which look more "cinematic" if you know what I mean.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack.
 
Mike 'Fireman' Ross said:
It is, but might be worth doing; I have a nice collection of the best Canon FD long tele lens - 400/2.8 etc. The 300/2.8 is my favorite, and very well-regarded as being the best.

One of them (a 600) was bought already remounted to Nikon. No idea who did the conversion, but according to the case the lens was previously owned by UPI...

Any suggestions who would be a good choice to convert some of my other lenses to Nikon mount? Or PL mount come to that! Optex used to, but they're out of business...

Oh, and I'm looking for one lens to complete my collection; the 200mm f/1.8 - anyone got one for sale, FD or converted (Optex did them in PL too), get in touch!

Thanks

Mike
Click to expand...

Les Bosher does lots of FD conversions. Usually to Universal then universal to PL. He's in the UK but sure there will be US guys doing this too.
 
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