Using FD mount lenses with EOS 20D

kpsmithuk · May 15, 2013

Recently acquired an eos 20d body but no lenses

I have a few fd lenses i use with my 35mm av-1

Cannon 50mm f1.4 scc
Cannon 50mm f1.8
Cannon 35mm f2.8
Soligor 70mm-150mm f3.5
Sirius 28-200mm f4-5.6 Macro Wide Angle Zoom Lens

I have an adapter to use them on the 20d obviously from what ive read I'm going to lose a little depth of field (narrower i think)
My question is will i still be able to get decent pictures with this set up, over time i would like to get the proper lenses but for now budget won't allow it.

Also im a little lost with what the sensor sizes are all about full vs aps-c and what that means lens wise

Also got 2 minolta lenses (unknown mount) like reverse fd.

35-70mm AF macro
75-300mm AF

PixelRabbit · May 15, 2013

Yes they will be usable with a loss if quality and no AF. Does your adapter have a glass element in it? If not you will also lose the ability to focus to infinity. I have an old 50mm that I mount on my 60D for macro, my adapter has the glass but its removable, I took it out since my intention for the lens is macro/artistic uses and I prefer to eliminate the extra glass.

I'm on my iPod so can't post examples but if you would like some I can post in a bit.

TCampbell · May 15, 2013

kpsmithuk said:
Also im a little lost with what the sensor sizes are all about full vs aps-c and what that means lens wise

"Full frame" is used to refer to a camera where the sensor size is physically the same size as a frame of 35mm film negative (roughly 36mm x 24mm).

APS-C means the sensor is the same size as "Advanced Photo System" Classic size frame. (those were the film cameras with the drop-in cartridge that let you have the photo printed lots of different aspect ratios.) The frame size is roughly 2/3rds of the area of a full-frame sensor. Imagine taking a 35mm image, and then keeping the center 2/3rds of that image but cropping away the edges. The "crop factor" for a Canon is about 1.6 (full frame is 60% larger than Canon APS-C).

The effect this has on your lenses is that it reduces the angle of view. Technically the lens is the same. The image it project into the camera body is the same. But since the sensor only captures the central area of that image and the rest of it spills off the sides of the sensor, you see a narrower angle of view in the resulting image.

Whereas a 50mm lens is considered a "normal" angle of view on a 35mm film camera (an image that has roughly the same angle of view as the human eye when you only consider the main area of what your eye sees (ignore peripheral vision) and keep the eye pointed forward and do not look around.) It will appear to be neither wide angle nor telephoto.

On an camera with an APS-C size sensor, you have to use a lens in the 30-35mm focal length range to approximate the same angle of view. A photo taken with the 20D using the 35mm lens will appear to have approximately the same angle of view as a photo taken with the AV-1 using a 50mm lens (they wont be identical... just very close.)

PixelRabbit · May 15, 2013

Here is a link to a thread I just made of a new shot taken with my 50mm FD mounted with Fotodiox FD to EOS adapter on Canon 60D.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/macro-photography/327643-jumping-spider.html

kpsmithuk · May 15, 2013

Hi

That's brilliant thanks guys.

Nice picture as well.

Starting to get a bit more understanding, i guess the best way will be to use it. Losing the AF doesn't bother me i like manual anyway

The adapter does have glass, what is this focus to infinity and why do i lose AF, also the lenses have an a setting on the apature ring i guess this is the setting i will need to use for auto apature.

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Big Mike · May 16, 2013

Normally, when a lens is attached to a camera, it is a specific distance away from the film/sensor. From the back of the lens to the film is (I think) called the flange distance.
If you put an adapter in between the camera and the lens, this moves the lens further away...and the lens isn't designed to work in that position (it will work, but won't be able to focus to infinity...which is essentially going to be anything 'far away').

The adapter uses a lens to correct for that, so that the lens should focus as usual...but your photos will then be subject to the quality of the lens in the adapter. So you will loose some image quality, compared to using the lens alone...but since there is no other option here...you'll have to live with that.

You loose AF because those old lenses aren't AF lenses. They don't have a motor/mechanism that will adjust the focus.

Also, the camera body is designed to attach to lenses that control the aperture electronically. The only communication from camera to lens, is via a series of electrical contacts. These old lenses are not designed for that, so you can't use this modern camera to adjust the aperture of the lens...and that is why you must set the aperture on the lens, via the dial on the lens itself. In other words, no AF and no auto aperture.

You may also need to use a process called 'stop down metering'.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/beyond-basics/148213-stop-down-metering.html
Stop down - Camerapedia

Buckster · May 16, 2013

Most of the FD to EF adapters that have a lens in them to achieve infinity are made so that the lens is removable. It just unscrews out. You can leave it out until such times as you need to focus on something very far away; ie - infinity - then you'll need to screw it in. Depending on what you tend to shoot, you may rarely need it, or you may need it a lot, but that might be helpful to you, one way or other.

I have one with the removable glass and one without that has a tighter flange distance from a guy named Ed Mika who makes each one by hand. They're more expensive, but it was worth it to me. Besides the tighter flange distance, they feature a chip that allows the camera to see when the subject is in focus (which you still have to do manually on the lens) and light up the associated AF dot in the viewfinder and beep (unless you've turned off the beep in the menu). Without a nice ground glass/prism viewfinder like we had on our old film cameras, I find that to be a big help. The Ed Mika version, even with the tighter flange distance, still doesn't quite achieve infinity focus, but it gets closer, and there's a hack I can make to the lens itself to make that happen, and I'll probably try that sometime soon.

Anyway, back to the less expensive ones with the glass element. What I found is that the one I got with the glass in it was not too bad for shooting through, and I wasn't bothered by the results. I didn't find the additional glass element, inexpensive as it was (I think I paid about $30 for it) to be detrimental enough to image quality for me to even have a problem with it. Some photos I shot through it with the infinity lens in place are here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/nature-wildlife/294261-critter-shot-500mm-f-4-5-l-fd-mount.html

kpsmithuk · May 16, 2013

Hmm so essentially I'll be shooting in fully manual mode bar the iso side and any white balancing etc the camera has.

I can live with that. To see those example pics shot with the fd lens on an eos body gives me some hope - they are seriously good compared to my comparatively poultry effort with the av-1.......there is hope yet

As i am able to replace my aging fd lenses with the ef-s equivalents i probably will but until then I'll be learning a lot about aparture settings and proper manual focusing!

At least with the digital i can delete the bad photos and try again at no cost.

Thanks for all the help and advice i expected people to say i was mad and to run like hell. I'm really encouraged and looking forward to playing with my new toy on Saturday.

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kpsmithuk · May 17, 2013

I also just found out I've been using infinity focus without realising it on the av-1 for longer distance stuff, never really spotted the symbol im normally checking what the light meter says in the viewfinder and tweaking the fstop then focus up and click! Don't spend much time looking at what the lens is set to most of the time.

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