Hard to find lens for Canon FD... anybody?? Voigtlander SL in FD Mount

[holmburgers]

Buy up the cheap FD lens while you can. There are now DSLRS that can use them (Panasonic Gx series).

Very true

[Darkroom317]

There are adapters already for FD-EF. I've got they can be found on Ebay, though I would not say it's the best quality item. For some reason it works on all of my DSLRs but not my Elan 7e.

[benjiboy]

Pancake lenses I have always found difficult to operate because they have such a low profile the focus and aperture rings are so narrow, and the Canon FD 50mm 1.8 lens Isn't "an utter piece of crap" I've used one for more than twenty years, it's a six element Sonnar type lens, and I've found It's capable of excellent results.

[Jeff Kubach]

I must admit the Canon FD 50mm is not 'an utter piece of crap'. I always thought that it was a good basic lens. Why people say this is beyound me!!

Jeff

[holmburgers]

Yeah, it's a great lens. For years I never knew enough to even know there were "faster" lenses with "multi-coatings", I just loved the pictures I took with it. Ignorance is bliss I guess!

[domaz]

There are adapters already for FD-EF. I've got they can be found on Ebay, though I would not say it's the best quality item. For some reason it works on all of my DSLRs but not my Elan 7e.

Those are optical adapters or non-infinity focus adapters. Much different than a non-optical adapter that retains infinity focus.

[benjiboy]

Yeah, it's a great lens. For years I never knew enough to even know there were "faster" lenses with "multi-coatings", I just loved the pictures I took with it. Ignorance is bliss I guess!

That's right the FD 50mm f1.4 is overall a " better lens" and is multi-coated, I now have both the 1.8 and 1.4 versions, but for fifteen years only had the 1.8 one and was very happy with the results, the question I ask myself is, how many people are good enough photographers to tell the difference ?

[dynachrome]

The 50/1.8 New FD must be my least favorite of all the FDs. In the right situation it is a capable performer. The five blade diaphragm does not give it very good bokeh and the overall build quality is not impressive. My favorite of the 50/1.8 FD lenses is the black front FD SC with the aperture lock switch on the back. I also like the chrome front version. It must be the sturdiest of all. The 40/1.8 Konica Hexanon is really an excellent lens optically. Mechanically it's less well made than the 50/1.8 New FD. I also don't see the fascination with "pancake" lenses. I have a 45/2.8 GN C Nikkor which is very nice and which I have used on a F-1 with an adapter. If you don't need to shoot very quickly a GN Nikkor and an adapter might be good for you. If you really want to spend more money you can look for the more recent 45/2.8 Nikkor P lens. Will a 40mm f/2 "pancake" lens be sharper than a 50/1.8 FD SC with the aperture lock switch on the back? I would have to see the results for myself. You could get this Canon lens and also get a 35/2 New FD or 35/2 FD SSC (1st version) and have money left over. Either 35/2 Canon lens will give you someting wider than the 40 and very sharp. If size is an issue the 35/2 New FD is more compact and light than the 35/2 FD SSC and also does not have the color cast issue.

I spent some time at the Botanical Gardens Of NJ in Ringwood today. My camera was an F-1N and lenses were: 24/2.8 chrome front FD SSC, 35/2 FD SSC, 50/2.8 Sigma macro, 100/2.8 Vivitar macro (22XXX...) and 200/4 FD SSC. I wound up not using the 35 or the 200. How heavy was the bag? Don't ask! Switching the 35 or the 50 for a 40 would not have made the bag very much lighter.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Posted wirelessly..

I think I once determined that the most compact FD lens is the FDn 35/2.8.

Another interesting thing is that the 50/1.8 is better than the 1.4 or the 1.2L reversed for macro use.

[benjiboy]

I agree with David, the FDn 35mm f2.8 lens is the smallest and lightest of the FD lenses,and is 80g lighter than the f2 version and is a a good performer.