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FD Lenses and Epic

Zak Brickett

Zak Brickett

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So I hear some people are using old Canon FD lenses on their epics.

What's the deal with these lenses? I look them up and they seem to go for pretty cheap, like $100-200 range. I know you'd also need to buy an adapter or custom mount for them to work with the Epic, but besides that what are some of their pitfalls? I saw some footage shot with the SSC versions and it looked pretty good.

I guess my first question is: am I finding the right lenses when I see they sell for that cheap or am I just stumbling on the more abundant, cheaper version lenses with this mount?

Zak
 
Canon FD lenses do look good on the Epic and will cover the full Dragon sensor no problem. There is a huge variety of lens lengths and lens speeds in the FD lineup. There is also the old FD mount vs. the new FD mount. There are sometimes "aspherical" versions of the same lens that increases the cost considerably. I'd say all of the FD glass looks good on Epic, but some of them look fantastic! Those generally don't go for $100, but there are some exceptions. For example, the 14mm 2.8 is a rad lens, but it costs over $1000. So does the 24mm/1.4 and the "aspherical" 85mm/1.2. However, there is also 85mm/1.8 for around $200 that looks really good and the 35mm/2 is gem as well. I use the $100 50mm/1.4 all the time, but it does get soft wide open. Basically, you can put together a $1000 set and get nice results or a $5,000 set and get even better results. Both are still far less than anything out there... except for minolta glass maybe. I"m still shocked FD glass isn't more popular, but don't tell anyone cause I keep buying em up :)
 
Clint Lealos said:
Canon FD lenses do look good on the Epic and will cover the full Dragon sensor no problem. There is a huge variety of lens lengths and lens speeds in the FD lineup. There is also the old FD mount vs. the new FD mount. There are sometimes "aspherical" versions of the same lens that increases the cost considerably. I'd say all of the FD glass looks good on Epic, but some of them look fantastic! Those generally don't go for $100, but there are some exceptions. For example, the 14mm 2.8 is a rad lens, but it costs over $1000. So does the 24mm/1.4 and the "aspherical" 85mm/1.2. However, there is also 85mm/1.8 for around $200 that looks really good and the 35mm/2 is gem as well. I use the $100 50mm/1.4 all the time, but it does get soft wide open. Basically, you can put together a $1000 set and get nice results or a $5,000 set and get even better results. Both are still far less than anything out there... except for minolta glass maybe. I"m still shocked FD glass isn't more popular, but don't tell anyone cause I keep buying em up :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. What converter/mount do you use to get them on the Epic? I may pick up a few FDs and test them out.
 
I use Optitek's mount, but I'm not sure he is selling them. It cost $500 and works perfectly. There is another guy selling an FD mount on ebay, and I think his works well too. Its a relatively simple mount to manufacture. Good luck!
 
Very nice glass and the mechanics are great for a stills lens. Try to buy the L series or aspheric lenses which are really the same thing optically if you can. They can still be found mint and worth every penny. The Fd mount is a good deal better than an EF mount and much more solid.
 
Ken Willinger said:
I've been pretty happy with the FD mount on Epic. I use the one Jacek manufactures (Optitek). Here are some screen grabs from a short I filmed recently using FD's with the Epic...
Click to expand...

Nice. Definitely going to keep my eyes out for some of these lenses.
 
Zak Brickett said:
So I hear some people are using old Canon FD lenses on their epics.

What's the deal with these lenses? I look them up and they seem to go for pretty cheap, like $100-200 range. I know you'd also need to buy an adapter or custom mount for them to work with the Epic, but besides that what are some of their pitfalls? I saw some footage shot with the SSC versions and it looked pretty good.

I guess my first question is: am I finding the right lenses when I see they sell for that cheap or am I just stumbling on the more abundant, cheaper version lenses with this mount?

Zak
Click to expand...

I bought most of them, atelast the good once. I found a PDF on the web somewhere with all FD lenses made listed. There is quite a few... Basically I'm putting together a prestine set of fast FD's. To me they are like micro masterprimes. They are built up very nice, far better than any of the EF lenses. and as they are not electronic focus oriented they got long nice focus rings. So when not shooting with a fully rigged camera I use those. And they resolve far better than most cine lenses... even the super costly. And as stated allready, they are dragon ready. I would skip the really low cost once and focus on getting a set where you got all the f1.2, f1.4 etc. in a god range. Those lenses goes up in price quickly at the moment. I still need some quality long lenses and then the tilt shift ofcourse... but except for that I got them all and love them, trying not to use any other sphericals as they are of such high quality and so handy.

here is my list: http://wordpress.syndicate.se/syndicate-epic-fd-mount-and-lens-set/

Do not get an EF adapter, thats shit, it takes quality way down. Get a proper FD mount intstead. Got ours on ebay... it was nice built and is for sure a great alternative to the EF, nikon and PL mounts, espiecially when it comes to the money... :)
 
Clint Lealos said:
. Both are still far less than anything out there... except for minolta glass maybe. I"m still shocked FD glass isn't more popular, but don't tell anyone cause I keep buying em up :)
Click to expand...

Yeah Minolta Rokkor's and FD's are the last two great sets of lenses that can still be plundered.
 
types of FD

types of FD

Are we talking the L series FD lenses or the FD lenses with the metal ring or the all black FD lens? Ive seen some matching FD lens with matching focal length and Fstop with a silver base at the end and all black plastic whats the difference.
 
Darren Orange said:
What FD glass did you use to shoot that? Any pictures of your setup on the camera? That FD looks great. Can you label which shots where done with what glass?
Click to expand...

I am not positive about which lens was used on which scene... would have to go back to the slates to figure that out... though I do know for sure that the 4th and 5th frames are from the Canon 55mm 1.2. The 2nd frame is from a 28mm 2.0 close focus made by Vivitar. I don't remember which lenses were used for the other two frames.
Here's a picture of the four main lenses to the Canon FD set that I had cinevised... 20mm 2.8, 35mm 2.0, 55mm 1.2, 85mm 1.8. Those were the main lenses I used on the film, along with the Vivitar 28mm close focus and a Kiron 105mm 2.8 macro. A lot of glass was produced by other manufacturers for FD mount. That Kiron is a particularly nice macro and I felt I was lucky to find one. The Canon 55mm 1.2 does get soft wide open. I've found that the Contax Zeiss lenses have better contrast than the FD lenses. But bang for buck you can't go wrong (at least right now) with the FD lenses. None of the ones I own are "L" glass and as you can see, they look great. You should see them as R3D's. The stills I posted are only low res JPG.



The Canon 55mm 1.2 on camera



Camera on set using FD's

 
No L series...huh...that would save me some money. some serious money.
 
I built up a set of Nikkors (Nikon manual Ai) and I enjoy the their kind of vintage look. I am curious how they might compare to the FDs? Enough difference to justify a second set and new mount? Anybody used both and can share some thoughts? Thank you in advance.

Cheers, Ulf
 
Here are some shots with the FD 50mm f1.2 and the 35mm 2.0 Those lenses are so nice, picture is perfect super sharp and the second you get them in your hands you realize how nice they are built. Super solid and the focus ring is perfectly machined, feels like it's floating in oil when you turn it. it's just so much better made than what canon sells today, I can not understand why canon go for the plastic shit make now a days. Same with the other FD's, the 85mm with the red line for example is something really special as well. Really small and feels just like a metal jar filled with glass.

vimeo 50mm and 35mm footage: http://vimeo.com/52029840

Look in HD, and let me know if that is not sharp... :) can not wait to strap those infront of the dragon.
 
I think I'm going to look for:
20mm f2.8
35mm f2.0
55mm f1.2
85mm f1.8
-maybe- 14mm f2.4
And would obviously need to get that $500 ebay mount

(I'll keep my eye out for a good deal on the 24mm f1.4 and the the 85mm f1.2)
 
Today we shot a studio shoot, DP's by Simon Olsson. I kind of forced our set of FD's in there... People looked at me like I was I nutcase when I mentioned that I strongly think that they are actually sharper than masterprimes... We where doing some greensceen and normal 2 wall studio set and not much focus pulling and such, So i figured why not. Budget was tight and there was only tungstenlights within economical reach so we shot with a c80 filter. All I can say the image qualites from fast canon FD's are scary good. To me they are very much up there with the ultra expensive glas out there.

All these where shot on Fstop 4 or lower. I thinkl they where all 35mm and 50mm.

http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD35mm.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD50mm.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD50mm001.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FDcroma002.jpg

click on the images to see them in thier full quality of 5kFF.

Edit: the wide one, I just saw was a hint out of focus but we actually just shot it as a ref plate for the room that is going to be animated, so that's the reason the girl is soft there... but still :)
 
Björn Benckert said:
Today we shot a studio shoot, DP's by Simon Olsson. I kind of forced our set of FD's in there... People looked at me like I was I nutcase when I mentioned that I strongly think that they are actually sharper than masterprimes... We where doing some greensceen and normal 2 wall studio set and not much focus pulling and such, So i figured why not. Budget was tight and there was only tungstenlights within economical reach so we shot with a c80 filter. All I can say the image qualites from fast canon FD's are scary good. To me they are very much up there with the ultra expensive glas out there.

All these where shot on Fstop 4 or lower. I thinkl they where all 35mm and 50mm.

http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD35mm.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD50mm.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FD50mm001.jpg
http://www.syndicate.se/Files/~usr/hawk/FDcroma002.jpg

click on the images to see them in thier full quality of 5kFF.

Edit: the wide one, I just saw was a hint out of focus but we actually just shot it as a ref plate for the room that is going to be animated, so that's the reason the girl is soft there... but still :)
Click to expand...

WOW those look scary good. Love the coatings. Has some of the low-con action I love in the Contax's as well.

NICE!!!
 
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