Canon Lens question

[StreetShark]

Will a 50mm f/1.8 FD mount style lens fit a Canon 350D (XT) or any other digital camera? I have a feeling it won't but it would be great if it did.

 

[Orgnoi1]

your answer is yes.. and no...

It will mount using a specified adaptor... from FD to EF.... but quite honestly for the price of the lens and adaptor you are better off spending the $75 or so to get the EF mounted 50/1.8 and retaining AF...

Hope that helps!

 

[StreetShark]

Ok well I have the FD mount lens and I was just wondering because I plan on buying a DSLR soon and the 350D would have been the choice to get if the FD lens fit it.

 

[Don Simon]

Just to complicate matters... you can buy cheap metal FD-to-EF adapters but because of the lens spacing you will not have infinity focus. To retain infinity focus you need an adapter with optical elements. Again you can buy cheap ones but the optical quality will be very poor and will degrade images to the extent that it defeats the point of using the FD lens - it will also make the lens slower and effectively increase the focal length. I expect the only optical FD-EF adapter that would be any good is the official Canon one, which is hugely expensive and apparently also very rare. So unfortunately I don't think it's an option. This is a shame as oddly enough you could mount a Nikon lens on an EOS with a more widely available and affordable adapter. But Canon's 50mm f/1.8 AF is very cheap anyway, and you can still use the FD lens on old manual film bodies. In other words I don't think compatibility with a single standard lens is the best way to decide on a camera system.

 

[Big Mike]

Tell me about it :roll:

It would be great if new Canon cameras were more compatible with older FD lenses. FD lenses are cheap and plentiful...although, I guess they wouldn't be so cheap if the fit EOS cameras.

In 1988, Canon came out with their EOS line of autofocus SLR cameras and switched from manual focus FD lenses...to autofocus EF lenses.

As mentioned, there are adaptors avaliable...but for the most part, they are not great quality and wouldn't be worth the hassle unless you have a really spectacular FD lens. Seeing as the EF 50mm F1.8, is the least expensive EF lens...just go buy one.

 

[StreetShark]

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Ok thanks! Also what is better, the stock lens that the XT kit comes with or the 50mm f1.8 lens? Also even though this lens has no zoom is it still good for landscapes and cityscape's? I'm going to B.C this summer and I want a lens that is suitable for that kind of stuff

 

[Digital Matt]

A Rebel XT has a sensor that is smaller than a 35mm negative. Therefore, a 50mm lens will not give the same field of view as it would on your 35mm. A 50mm on the XT has an equivalent field of view to an 80mm. (1.6x) I would still recommend that you buy the 50mm f/1.8 EF mount lens for your XT, but if you are looking for an equivalent field of view, you'll need to look at a 35mm. For landscapes and cityscapes you might want wider. Since the kit lens is only $100 when purchased with the camera, you should get it, and also get the 50mm f/1.8, which is $75 roughly.

 

[Orgnoi1]

Really while the 18-55 Kit lens and the 50/1.8 share focal lengths they are really (in my opinion) distant cousins....

The 18-55 lens is a great first option and when you stop it down a little you will get very decent images... but unfortunately it isnt a "fast" lens meaning it doesnt do well in lower lighting..

The Canon 50/1.8 is very inexpensive and does GREAT in low lighting due to its fast aperture... but isnt the most versatile lens on the block. Of course every camera bag should have one in it...

There are people that scream prime lenses... and those that scream zooms... really its a personal preference... and if you are going to be wanting to take a variety of images... and they are mostly in the daytime... I would go with the kit lens... and then later on down the road get the 50mm...

 

[Big Mike]

Here's the deal with those lenses...they are the cheapest lenses that Canon makes....they are made mostly of plastic and feel kind of like toys. The 18-55 kit lens is OK optically, especially when the light is good...but the maximum aperture is not very big, so it suffers in lower light. The 50mm F1.8 is plasticy as well but 50mm is a very simple focal length to make, so optically it's a fantastic lens.

Will the 50mm be good lens for landscape types shots? Well, that's up to you...for me, it would be much too long, especially on the XT camera.

Do you know about the 'crop factor'? Most digital SLR cameras have sensors (digital film) that is slightly smaller than a frame of 35mm film. So when you use a lens system that was originally designed for 35mm film...the sensor only captures the centre portion of the image...essentially 'cropping' off the edges. The result is that lenses 'feel' longer when used on the digital bodies. The Factor for that camera is 1.6. So when you put a 50mm lens onto the XT body...it will have the same field of view, as an 80mm lens would have on a 35mm film SLR.

This is why the camera comes with such a short/wide lens. 18-55mm would be ultra wide on a film camera...but it's only a normal view on the digital body.

For that reason, I suggest the kit lens as a better landscape lens for you.

 

[StreetShark]

Ok thanks. Ill remember that and ill pick up a 50mm when I get my job this summer.