Canon FD - X Mount Adapters

[Aswald]

Any ideas which adapter is "better"?

 

Fotodiox, Fotasy, Metabones, Novoflex? The last 2 selling for $99 and a whopping $169!

 

Any feedback is appreciated.

[KwyjiboVanDeKamp]

This might help: http://www.fuji-x-forum.com/topic/325-old-lenses-for-dummies/?p=5238

 

Just ordered this adapter too after reading this post and after watching the video.

[f/otographer]

VanDeKamp, thank you for taking the time to link my misplaced post.

[heliosfan]

All adapters I have bought from eBay sellers (there are many) that are branded "K&F Concept", including their FD adapter have all been cheap, of good build and generally a very good deal. Highly recommended!

[Aswald]

Thanks for all your feedbacks.

 

The ciecio7 adapters look very solidly built indeed and no moving parts!

 

K&F Concept has been shortlisted.

 

I was thinking of a speedbooster too. The extra light and correct focal length may be good?

[f/otographer]

Speedboosters are amazing and I highly recommend them. At least the ones from Metabones who developed them with Brian Caldwell, a notable lens designer. The others seem to have some type of issue or another and were generally just cobbled together concepts based off the Metabones unit without all the benefits the original one had from Mr. Caldwell and his research. Here are some examples from my C/Y Speedbooster on my NEX 7. Not a Fuji X camera I know, but the results should be similar. You may view more of my Speedbooster photos here if you like with all of the relevant lens info. https://www.flickr.com/photos/8539414@N07/sets/72157633126249795

 

 

 

 

[KwyjiboVanDeKamp]

 

Extraordinary great!!!!! I really love this soooo much!

[f/otographer]

Thanks VanDeKamp. My little girl was throwing Ritz crackers down on the ground to feed the birds right in front of the camera. She had a ton of fun watching them all scramble in and I got some good shots with her help.

 

Here is another from the same session. (NEX 7, Speedbooster, Yashica ML 28/2.8). I didn't nail critical focus on this one and I wasn't able to even out the horizon without loosing part of the birds wing from the photo, but I still rather like it.

 

[azmmount]

I like your style of shooting and processing quite a bit Mr. f/otographer. Thank you for sharing.

 

Mike

[f/otographer]

I like your style of shooting and processing quite a bit Mr. f/otographer. Thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you Mike, those are very kind words. I have absolutely no talent in any of the painting or drawing arts so I use photography to create works that I would paint had I the skill. My work is heavily influenced by photographers like Ho Fan, Masahisa Fukase, Meatyard, and Diane Arbus. As to the processing...well, I cheat quite a bit on that and really need to learn photoshop. I also tend to shoot fast lenses wide open most of the time which can limit my portfolio but does tend to lend it a certain look. Do I overuse selective focus? Most definitely.

 

I also shoot quite a bit of no focus photography. As I said in another post, it is similar to work don't by Meatyard but to be honest really nothing like his at all. I was shooting this style before I ever saw his work and it was nice to see I was following in the footsteps of greatness, if not really pioneering anything new on my own. A couple of examples, both straight out of the camera. Two of my favorites entitled The Bicyclist and The Black Church. Hope you enjoy.

 

 

[azmmount]

...Do I overuse selective focus? Most definitely.

 

I also shoot quite a bit of no focus photography. ...

 

 

From looking at your Flickr page I do not think you overuse selective focus. In fact, I'm not even sure there is such a thing as long your photograph successfully communicates - and most of yours that I looked at do.

 

I really like the no focus bee shots and some of the no focus flowers/weeds on the Flickr. The two above aren't my thing though I'm not sure what the difference is other than the "more pleasing to me" bokeh look of the others.

 

Anyway, you make me want to go buy some of these old odd bokeh manual lenses to try this myself - of course, I might be able to buy the glass but I'm not sure I can find the vision

 

Mike

[f/otographer]

Again Mike, I appreciate the comments. If you haven't already tried old glass on your camera then I really recommend it. Get a lens and shoot with it for a couple of weeks so you can get to know it. As for the getting the vision, well that is something everyone develops on their own. But I can say the more you shoot the closer you get to finding it. Photography is like anything else and requires practice, practice, practice.

[azmmount]

...If you haven't already tried old glass on your camera then I really recommend it...

 

I had been eyeballing the helios but don't really want another 50-something pre-crop millimeter lens, so would want to get one of those focal length reducers and that takes it into the multi-hundred $ territory. Someday

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[abjurina]

Any recommendations for a manual-focus wide-angle prime? Or even a Macro? I have an old Sears Pentax 50mm 1.7 with decent quality. Wasn't sure if there are any other focal lengths out there of reasonable cost.

[abjurina]

Decent sharpness is considered. I also have another 135 f2 Pentax but the image quality is useless at anything but like f8.

[f/otographer]

abjurina, if you stick with any of the bigger lens/camera makers from the 60's and 70's it is hard to go wrong. Minolta, Canon, Contax/Yashica, Olympus, Nikon, Pentax, etc. Once you get into the third party makers things get a little hazy. There are some definite gems out there from Tokina, Tamron, Vivitar and such but they are hidden in a LOT of so-so and meh lenses.

 

Just off the bat I can recommend a Minolta MD 35/2.8. My copy is outstanding. My Yashica ML 28/2.8 (series II) is another good one. Any of the Zeiss lenses in CY mount I can heavily recommend. The Canon FD 35/2 in both concave and regular versions is supposed to be a stellar lens, though I have never shot with one. Konica made a special Hexanon 35/2 that is also high regarded and is on my personal list of lenses to acquire. Konica is somewhat unique in the adapted lenses world since the mount has the shortest flange to focal distance of any of the old Japanese SLR's. This means the adapter needed will be the shortest.

 

I don't really shoot much with lenses under 28mm so I don't have a lot of direct recommendations. I do have an old RMC Tokina 17mm that I use when I really need to go wide. It is a nice lens but can exhibit some sharpness loss in the corners. But come on, its an old third party ultra wide. We cant expect miracles.

 

For macro I have personally used a Canon FD Macro 50/3.5, Minolta MD Macro-X 50/3.5 and Yashica ML Macro 55/4. These have all been very nice lenses that do just fine. I keep the Yashica in my bag mainly because of my love for Tomioka lenses even though it only has a 5 bladed aperture. The lens is a nice little Tessar design which makes it a little different from some other macros.

 

What I usually use for getting up close is a couple of old Minolta Close Up lenses. They usually come in a set of three or four screw on lenses, like filters. They are small, highly portable and I can easily adapt them to whatever lens I have mounted with a step up or step down filter ring. I often use them on my Yashica ML 50/1.7 to very nice effect.

 

Anyway, hope this helps.

[Maurice]

Any recommendations for a manual-focus wide-angle prime? Or even a Macro? I have an old Sears Pentax 50mm 1.7 with decent quality. Wasn't sure if there are any other focal lengths out there of reasonable cost.

 

Problem with wides is that they are not wide anymore on apsc, so you basically need what was considered super-wide and those don't fall under 'reasonable cost' very often and/or have a slow aperture.

 

There are some 24mm lenses that are F2.8 or even F2 if you're lucky that can be pretty good like Olympus OM, but of course that is still only 35mm equiv on apsc. Costs skyrocket for anything beyond 24mm.

 

If you're looking for manual focus wide i'd want one made for apsc specifically like the Samyang 12mm F2. At that price with great performance it is a no brainer really, and don't even need an adapter!

[abjurina]

Thanks, everyone! That's a wealth of very great information!

[Maisy]

Well I found the old saying is true " You Get What You Pay For". I first got one of the cheep adapters off E-Bay. It broke with in a week and

I have to force it of my Nikkor Micro lens. So I got a Novoflex ( most expensive ) I have had no problems with it.

[AlanXpro]

I have a few Minolta lenses I use on my Xpro1 including a new 45mm f2 MD Rokkor-X which is my very favorite. I also love the MD Rokkor-X 28mm f2.8 and the MD Rokkor-X 50mm f1.4 (both in mint condition) I obtained all three lenses for less the $50.00 total. As far as adaptors go the Kipon is expensive however the quality is excellent. 

Be very careful with old Canon lenses, either make sure they have an Aperture ring, or if not purchase a lens adaptor with an aperture ring. For instance the 50mm f1.4 Canon EF lens has no Aperture ring therefore will only work wide open on the Xpro1 with a basic adaptor.