Canon FD lens on EF mount?

[Chaotic Beds]

Anyone have experience using an adapter?

I'm thinking about implementing one on my T1i.

I have a Vivitar 75-205mm FD mount lens that was donated to me along with a non-working AV-1... Seems the word is, it's not that great of a lens... But if an adapter works, it'll give me access to a range I otherwise wouldn't have... I can't afford a new lens (already got an ultra-wide on the way), but <$50 for an adapter I can handle.

But anyways, I'm getting mixed signals on how well they perform. The ratings and comments are all over the board for the same products.

Any input?

[WVCoalMiner]

Manual lenses with EOS cameras

[Chaotic Beds]

Thank you.

[inkista]

The photonotes article makes it sound like there's no point in even trying to adapt FD lenses for EOS.

The main technical issue here is that the FD mount had a smaller mount-flange to sensor/film distance than EOS has. While you can use an adapter ring to increase the "registration" distance, decreasing it isn't physically possible without replacing the either the lens or the camera body's mount. And holding that lens at a specific distance from the image plane is necessary to achieve focus to infinity. If you only want to use a lens for macro of portrait work, you may not need this, and can use a simple ring adapter, but it's going to limit the focus range of the lens.

So, assuming you wan the full focus distance range, the adapter you use cannot be a simple metal ring. It has to have an optical element in it, and it will act like a teleconverter: increasing the focal length of the lens, reducing the max. aperture, and probably (particularly if it's <$50) compromising optical quality a little. For some folks, this is unacceptable at any level. For others it's not so bad and usable. For the ultrapicky with their own machine shops, it's usually better to simply replace the mount on the lens.

The place I would go to to see samples of someone using an FD->EOS adapter would be the mflenses.com forum. Those guys are mostly about shoestring budget lenses and adapting, vs. the fredmiranda guys who tend to be cost-no-object adapters and mad mechnical geniuses who convert mounts.

Personally, I'm with the fredmiranda guys. I avoid FD lenses, and go for Olympus OM, Contax/Yashica Zeiss, and Leica-R for adapting onto my 50D, but I also have spare cash to burn on these endeavors.

[Chaotic Beds]

And thank you

Now I understand why I was getting mixed reviews on adapters... Some had glass elements and some didn't.

I don't really fit into either of those categories, but closer to the mflenses forum folks.... I'm tight on cash, and just happen to have an FD lens sitting around.