Posts for: Peterff
Feb 12, 2014 23:52:49 #
Hi,
This really depends on what you are trying to achieve and I would proceed with caution and do a lot of research.
You will mostly hear that reflex lenses are not a good idea. I don't subscribe to that concept personally, but there are very good reasons why many people express that viewpoint and the reasons cited are usually valid. With lenses you don't always get what you pay for, but you hardly ever get what you don't pay for. If you are on a limited budget I would suggest that there are many more useful things to spend your money on that will serve you better and more usefully for many years. Like a used wide angle lens for example.
I have a Canon T3i as the basis for my system, but the camera itself is less than 10% of my investment in the rest of my gear, and the camera will be upgraded way before the rest.
Back to your original question, and my personal experiences. I once had a bunch of Canon manual focus gear that got stolen (T90 etc. lenses), including a Canon FD 500 mm Reflex lens. I really liked that reflex lens, although it didn't get used much, but when it did, it was great.
The first thing to be aware of is that with an APS-C 1.6 crop form factor camera, a 500mm lens behaves like an 800mm lens on a full frame 35mm / digital SLR. That means really shallow depth of field, and with a fixed aperture of f/8, it is a bitch to focus, the contrast is low, and the 'bokeh' (see donut highlights) is just plain weird.
Then you want to look at what quality of glass you are going to get for $100. So a problematic lens design, and cheap glass.
Now, I liked my old Canon reflex, so I bought a good used Canon one on ebay (just over $300), got a lens mount adapter from Ed Mika ($150), and have some great canon glass and an effective 800mm lens equivalent for $450.
A tripod is absolutely best for this type of lens, but it will actually give good hand held shots under some circumstances and good light.
However, that said I would recommend rethinking, and spending your hard earned cash on something that is a lot more versatile in your journey.
Best wishes
This really depends on what you are trying to achieve and I would proceed with caution and do a lot of research.
You will mostly hear that reflex lenses are not a good idea. I don't subscribe to that concept personally, but there are very good reasons why many people express that viewpoint and the reasons cited are usually valid. With lenses you don't always get what you pay for, but you hardly ever get what you don't pay for. If you are on a limited budget I would suggest that there are many more useful things to spend your money on that will serve you better and more usefully for many years. Like a used wide angle lens for example.
I have a Canon T3i as the basis for my system, but the camera itself is less than 10% of my investment in the rest of my gear, and the camera will be upgraded way before the rest.
Back to your original question, and my personal experiences. I once had a bunch of Canon manual focus gear that got stolen (T90 etc. lenses), including a Canon FD 500 mm Reflex lens. I really liked that reflex lens, although it didn't get used much, but when it did, it was great.
The first thing to be aware of is that with an APS-C 1.6 crop form factor camera, a 500mm lens behaves like an 800mm lens on a full frame 35mm / digital SLR. That means really shallow depth of field, and with a fixed aperture of f/8, it is a bitch to focus, the contrast is low, and the 'bokeh' (see donut highlights) is just plain weird.
Then you want to look at what quality of glass you are going to get for $100. So a problematic lens design, and cheap glass.
Now, I liked my old Canon reflex, so I bought a good used Canon one on ebay (just over $300), got a lens mount adapter from Ed Mika ($150), and have some great canon glass and an effective 800mm lens equivalent for $450.
A tripod is absolutely best for this type of lens, but it will actually give good hand held shots under some circumstances and good light.
However, that said I would recommend rethinking, and spending your hard earned cash on something that is a lot more versatile in your journey.
Best wishes
Feb 12, 2014 12:30:26 #
In general it isn't worth considering unless you have some of the very good FD lenses. The issue is that when Canon moved from the old FL/FD/FDn mounts to the EF mounts they changed the focusing distance to the film/sensor for a number of valid reasons.
Thus to get focusing to infinity with an adapter the adapters typically have a corrective lens, which is in most cases nowhere near the quality of Canon glass. So essentially you are using a cheap and inferior quality teleconverter / extender that also effectively reduces the transmitted light / aperture values.
If you have access to 'good' FDn lenses it is possible to replace the mount with a glassless modification that retains the IQ of the original lens. This is only worth doing on the better quality Canon lenses. Ed Mika in Canada makes replacement mounts for several old Canon lenses which he sells on ebay for around $150 US each.
This article gives you a good start: http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/fd-fl-lenses-on-your-ef-body/
You have to like manual focus lenses and be comfortable using them. I have modified a Canon FL 55mm F1.2, FDn 135mm f2.0, FDn 35 -105 f3.5 zoom and FDn 500mm f8 reflex lens. You have to follow his excellent video instructions and be happy with your willingness to partially take a lens apart. In most cases it is pretty straight forwards, although some can be a little tricky. The really tricky one is the FDn 85mm f1.2 so proceed carefully if you have one of those.
These modifications are not cheap, and thus not so much to save money as to recycle good quality glass. However, you can definitely get good glass substantially less expensively than buying new Canon EF lenses. See: http://www.edmika.com/
I had my old 35mm T90 and AE1 and lenses stolen, and after discovering Ed Mika's products bought lenses on e-bay and did the upgrades. I'm very happy with the results, but these are not so much a replacement for autofocus lenses as an ability to add the benefits of creative effects that certain lenses can deliver.
Good luck
Thus to get focusing to infinity with an adapter the adapters typically have a corrective lens, which is in most cases nowhere near the quality of Canon glass. So essentially you are using a cheap and inferior quality teleconverter / extender that also effectively reduces the transmitted light / aperture values.
If you have access to 'good' FDn lenses it is possible to replace the mount with a glassless modification that retains the IQ of the original lens. This is only worth doing on the better quality Canon lenses. Ed Mika in Canada makes replacement mounts for several old Canon lenses which he sells on ebay for around $150 US each.
This article gives you a good start: http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/fd-fl-lenses-on-your-ef-body/
You have to like manual focus lenses and be comfortable using them. I have modified a Canon FL 55mm F1.2, FDn 135mm f2.0, FDn 35 -105 f3.5 zoom and FDn 500mm f8 reflex lens. You have to follow his excellent video instructions and be happy with your willingness to partially take a lens apart. In most cases it is pretty straight forwards, although some can be a little tricky. The really tricky one is the FDn 85mm f1.2 so proceed carefully if you have one of those.
These modifications are not cheap, and thus not so much to save money as to recycle good quality glass. However, you can definitely get good glass substantially less expensively than buying new Canon EF lenses. See: http://www.edmika.com/
I had my old 35mm T90 and AE1 and lenses stolen, and after discovering Ed Mika's products bought lenses on e-bay and did the upgrades. I'm very happy with the results, but these are not so much a replacement for autofocus lenses as an ability to add the benefits of creative effects that certain lenses can deliver.
Good luck
Feb 12, 2014 11:30:21 #
Hi,
Not sure what brand / model of camera you have, but if it is Canon then you can increase the bracketing functionality of many Canon models with Magic Lantern. I have a Canon T3i and have recently taken the plunge into extending my camera's standard functionality by adding the Magic Lantern capabilities to my SD cards: http://www.magiclantern.fm/
Version 2.3 is the stable 'production' release that can be used with confidence, although it should be understood that this is not a Canon supported or endorsed capability. After doing a bunch of research I decided to take the plunge. Just follow the instructions and it works very easily. This is an addition to the Canon firmware that loads from the SD card when you power the camera on. It does not modify the Canon firmware, but adds additional capabilities. There are just a couple of things to pay attention to when removing an SD card from your camera since the software needs a little extra time to shutdown before removing a card.
Check out the video http://www.magiclantern.fm/downloads.html
You might also find it useful to read this article: http://www.hdrone.com/2013/01/magic-lantern-for-hdr-extending-your-cameras-bracketing-capabilities/
Good luck and enjoy.
Not sure what brand / model of camera you have, but if it is Canon then you can increase the bracketing functionality of many Canon models with Magic Lantern. I have a Canon T3i and have recently taken the plunge into extending my camera's standard functionality by adding the Magic Lantern capabilities to my SD cards: http://www.magiclantern.fm/
Version 2.3 is the stable 'production' release that can be used with confidence, although it should be understood that this is not a Canon supported or endorsed capability. After doing a bunch of research I decided to take the plunge. Just follow the instructions and it works very easily. This is an addition to the Canon firmware that loads from the SD card when you power the camera on. It does not modify the Canon firmware, but adds additional capabilities. There are just a couple of things to pay attention to when removing an SD card from your camera since the software needs a little extra time to shutdown before removing a card.
Check out the video http://www.magiclantern.fm/downloads.html
You might also find it useful to read this article: http://www.hdrone.com/2013/01/magic-lantern-for-hdr-extending-your-cameras-bracketing-capabilities/
Good luck and enjoy.