Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

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Joseph Trum

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Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostTue Sep 12, 2017 7:13 am

I am thinking of getting a couple old FD lenses for my BMPCC, and was wondering if I need to get a Metabones FD speed booster, or just a cheap FD-MFT adapter. I know the Metabones makes a big difference with EF lenses on the pocket, but is it the same impact for FD lenses? Also, will the FD lens fit on my EF-mount BMCC as is, or do I need an adapter as well, and if so does it matter which type I use? Thanks!
Last edited by Joseph Trum on Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Denny Smith

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostTue Sep 12, 2017 4:57 pm

FD lenses will not fit the Canon EF mount. The Speed Booster will give you the angle of ciewnexpansion, where as a straight adapter will not.
DS
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Joseph Trum

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostTue Sep 12, 2017 6:25 pm

Denny Smith wrote:FD lenses will not fit the Canon EF mount. The Speed Booster will give you the angle of ciewnexpansion, where as a straight adapter will not.
DS


Do you think it would work to have a cheap FD to EF adapter then plug the adapter into the Metabones EF to MFT speed booster I already have (I.e. FD lens---> EF adapter ----> EF Speedbooster ---> MFT mount)?
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Denny Smith

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostTue Sep 12, 2017 8:31 pm

You could always give it a go and see. But, you might not be able to get inf. focus?
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Last edited by Denny Smith on Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Uli Plank

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostWed Sep 13, 2017 4:39 am

FD to EF adapters can only work with optical elements due to flange distance and anything cheap will ruin the IQ.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

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Tristan Pemberton

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostWed Sep 13, 2017 5:24 am

Joseph Trum wrote:
Denny Smith wrote:FD lenses will not fit the Canon EF mount. The Speed Booster will give you the angle of ciewnexpansion, where as a straight adapter will not.
DS


Do you think it would work to have a cheap FD to EF adapter then plug the adapter into the Metabones EF to MFT speed booster I already have (I.e. FD lens---> EF adapter ----> EF Speedbooster ---> MFT mount)?

You can, but you won't be able to focus to infinity. However, it may be a cracking macro lens combination.
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Joseph Trum

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostWed Sep 13, 2017 5:13 pm

Uli Plank wrote:FD to EF adapters can only work with optical elements due to flange distance and anything cheap will ruin the IQ.


Can you give an example of an adapter that would work for this purpose? All the FD to EF/EOS adapters I see are $30 and under. The FD to micro 4/3 adapters I see are all super cheap, except for the Metabones adapter for $100 and the Metabones FD to 4/3 speedbooster in the $400 range. I'm a bit reluctant to pay so much on a speedbooster for a "B" lens for a "B" camera, especially if it's not that necessary for an old lens.
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Uli Plank

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostThu Sep 14, 2017 2:34 am

All adapters from FD to EF are crap, not focusing to infinity or ruining optical quality.

MFT is a very different subject, since the flange distance makes it easy. You can have very cheap mechanical ones, then those with a better precision from Metabones and finally the most expensive ones, which are Speedboosters. If you own a few good FD lenses (there are some really fine ones), the latter may be wort it.
Otherwise your lenses will all seem more tele.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

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robert Hart

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSat Sep 16, 2017 11:29 am

Depending on what camera you want to bung the lens on, there is an optically correct Canon FD Speedbooster which would fit BM cams with M4/3 mount. It is not the same degree of reduction as the purposed BMPCC Speedboosters if that is what you are using.

http://www.metabones.com/products/detai ... FD-m43-BM3

For the BMPCC Speedbooster, a custom mount ring to replace the EF Mount ring would be easily doable for a competent machinist. I am surprised an alternative FD-Mount ring has not been made and marketed for EF-Mount cameras of all types.

The mounts would have to be dumb because the feed-through pins for the lenses may be different. The flange face is the same for EF-Mount and FD mount however the attachment method is different.
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Uli Plank

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSat Sep 16, 2017 1:50 pm

AFAIK there are no FD lenses with any electronic contacts.

The flange distance of FD is 42mm vs 44mm for EF. You can't adapt a shorter one to a longer without loosing infinity focus. You can only adapt longer ones like Leica-R (47mm) or PL (52mm).

When I checked I found you are right, there no optical adapters from FD to EF (any more?). Probably too bad to sell.
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

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Denny Smith

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSat Sep 16, 2017 5:10 pm

Yes, the FFD for the Canin FD lenses is shorter. Canon made some very nice FD lenses also, but basically screwed all their FD camera customers when they came out with the EF mount, (they could have kept the FFD the same) so they could re-sell those lenses in the new EF mount. I sold all my Canon cameras/lenses when this happened, haven't touched a Canon SLR/DSLR ever since. Nor will I buy any camera or lens with an EF mount (unless it can be changed as in the Mini Pro). :roll:
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Joseph Trum

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSat Sep 16, 2017 9:13 pm

robert Hart wrote:Depending on what camera you want to bung the lens on, there is an optically correct Canon FD Speedbooster which would fit BM cams with M4/3 mount. It is not the same degree of reduction as the purposed BMPCC Speedboosters if that is what you are using.

http://www.metabones.com/products/detai ... FD-m43-BM3

For the BMPCC Speedbooster, a custom mount ring to replace the EF Mount ring would be easily doable for a competent machinist. I am surprised an alternative FD-Mount ring has not been made and marketed for EF-Mount cameras of all types.

The mounts would have to be dumb because the feed-through pins for the lenses may be different. The flange face is the same for EF-Mount and FD mount however the attachment method is different.


There's a couple decent quality/price FD lenses I found at a local antique store, and so I was interested in getting one just to have as an option for my pocket (one is very wide and the other long so thats another bonus as a niche lens). However, buying a $400+ speedbooster just to make it functional seems to defeat the purpose. But I'd definitely consider getting this $99 adapter if I knew it would actually work well on the Pocket: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... micro.html

I also wonder if this FD to EOS adapter would work on my EF mount cinema cam, or what restrictions I'd be dealing with once I used it: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/ ... Canon.html
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Uli Plank

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSun Sep 17, 2017 4:20 am

You don't need a Speedbooster to try those FD lenses. But their viewing angle will get three times narrower on the BMPCC. For example: a 17mm, which is already super wide on photographic full format will behave on the BMPCC like a normal lens would on FF. IOW, it'll look like a 50mm.

The adapter you linked for 99$ will work for sure and have the precision we came to expect from Metabones. But if you just want to try out if you like those lenses on your BMPCC, you can find adapters that work for less than a third. Such adapters will not change the image quality at all, only the viewing angle.

That Vello Lens Mount Adapter is exactly what I was writing about, it contains an optical element. So, they are still around. I don't think you'll like the image quality, but it's cheap enough to throw it in the bin if you want to find out for yourself. But scroll down all the way to read the fine print…
No, an iGPU is not enough, and you can't use HEVC 10 bit 4:2:2 in the free version.

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Joseph Trum

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostSun Sep 17, 2017 5:08 am

Uli Plank wrote:You don't need a Speedbooster to try those FD lenses. But their viewing angle will get three times narrower on the BMPCC. For example: a 17mm, which is already super wide on photographic full format will behave on the BMPCC like a normal lens would on FF. IOW, it'll look like a 50mm.

The adapter you linked for 99$ will work for sure and have the precision we came to expect from Metabones. But if you just want to try out if you like those lenses on your BMPCC, you can find adapters that work for less than a third. Such adapters will not change the image quality at all, only the viewing angle.

That Vello Lens Mount Adapter is exactly what I was writing about, it contains an optical element. So, they are still around. I don't think you'll like the image quality, but it's cheap enough to throw it in the bin if you want to find out for yourself. But scroll down all the way to read the fine print…


I don't mind controlling the focus or exposure manually, and actually prefer it in some ways from my experience shooting on old super 16mm film cameras. I've seen some videos like this (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vlVoxAnvpSQ) that instruct on how to set the lens to manual aperture, so seems like it'll work. I already have an EF speedbooster on my pocket and it works great, but like I said I really want to be sure that the FD lens is worth it quality-wise before investing in another. I really appreciate all the good advice on this thread, and I think I understand enough to try it out and see if it delivers a good image. Thanks!
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Tristan Pemberton

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostMon Sep 18, 2017 2:42 am

You also have the option of replacing the mounts with an EF, much in the same way you would using a Leitax mounts for Nikon, Contax, etc. So it's not an adaptor, and you'll be able to use the lenses on native EF mount without any issues (focus to infinity etc).

There are a few options - all differing in price and build materials/quality:
http://fdtoef.com/wp/
http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/index.html
http://edmika.com/

The most affordable is the last, EDMIKA, a couple of guys based in Canada. They moved away from brass mounts and now use a polymer which they say is more durable that brass. They even offer a lifetime warranty so if the mount develops any "play" they'll replace it free of charge.
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Joseph Trum

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Re: Speedbooster necessary for Canon FD lens?

PostTue Sep 19, 2017 1:01 am

Tristan Pemberton wrote:You also have the option of replacing the mounts with an EF, much in the same way you would using a Leitax mounts for Nikon, Contax, etc. So it's not an adaptor, and you'll be able to use the lenses on native EF mount without any issues (focus to infinity etc).

There are a few options - all differing in price and build materials/quality:
http://fdtoef.com/wp/
http://www.thelensdoctor.co.uk/index.html
http://edmika.com/

The most affordable is the last, EDMIKA, a couple of guys based in Canada. They moved away from brass mounts and now use a polymer which they say is more durable that brass. They even offer a lifetime warranty so if the mount develops any "play" they'll replace it free of charge.


Wow, that's really cool. You just tell them what model lens and they send you their handmade kit for modifying it? Great stuff and I will try it thanks

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