Could not find a dedicated thread on this..so starting a new one :)
I have seldom used a FD lens before but I have two lenses on order in FD mount (One Vivitar 55mm 2.8 macro and a Tokina 28-80 A27). I was wondering what will be the best FD lens adapter for m4/3. I hear a lot of good things about this Poland made one..
http://myworld.ebay.com/ciecio7/
His expedited shipping charges are a bit steep and there is no information on tracking facility or delivery times. I am hesitating because of that. Any other good ones which guarantees infinity focus?
Thanks
Hey @ppcroft I posted a thread the other day about having problems with my adapter (jinfinance) now I'm using a follow focus. The connection is just too sloppy and introduces lots of torque.
Thanks for the link to the one above. I've just bought the adapter with the tripod collar on it, as that is perfect for being rock stead. What I'm going to do, is see if both camera 'and' tripod mount will screw into my base plate, which would give a super steady fixing.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Thanks for the comments on jinfinance one.. I was eying that one too..so now that is on hold till I read more..
I have that one from ciecio7, became it without problems after 10 days, (I live in Italy). It´s better that one from jinfinance because it´s made from only one piece, a castin. That one from jinfinance (have one for my m42 mount) have screws to put together the pieces and can become loose. To return to ciecio7 FD adaptor, with thys the lens focus to infinity and you can also regulate the f stop on the lens.
+1 ciecio7
+1 for ciecio7. I've had mine for some time and it is incredibly solid.
+1 ciecio7
This is one I use, no problems at all: http://www.ebay.com/itm/250958409396
So what would be a decent alternative for the ciecio7 one? His shipping rate seem to be expensive and delayed.. More importantly there is no tracking option and a approximate date and my need is rather immediate..
How about the jinfinance one? Or Fotodiox one from Amazon? Any other one?
@ppcroft , there is no better alternative at good price/ quality except novoflex ...
+1 ciecio 7
they are well made and solid - after dropping a lens when a cheaper adapter came loose I don't use anything else
May be I need take a risk and order and see how long it takes. I can wait 10-12 days. Not sure what difference the expedited the shipping will make....
I have the fotodiox. It's... ok. Not overwhelmed by it. There's a little bit of play in it, which is a drag when you're pulling focus. I'm a little disappointed in all of my lens adapters, the fotodiox for FD, the Kipon iris-adjustable one for EOS/EF, and the PAnasonic official one for 4/3. The followfocus always wiggles the lens a little bit! The fotodiox one sure is cheap though and doesn't have any adverse effect on the image or focusing as far as I can tell.
Hi, I have 5 of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160673159997?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 as I like to keep it on the lens and none of them have any play with the follow focus. I see this adapter a lot on ebay, and it is one of the cheapest, but they have been perfect for me, or maybe I just got lucky 5 times...
Fotodiox is perfect...I can't believe you guys payed 50 bucks or more for an ADAPTER! Fotodiox is cheap, very well built, and works great.
I have a fotodiox EF to m4/3 and it is as tight and sturdy as a native m4/3 mount.
With all cheap adapters (and I mean anything below Novoflex or MTF!) the problem is huge variation in product samples. You may just be lucky or catch a lemon!
That's the reason opinions differ that much…
just to ask, i have one ciecio7-made and one anonymous-made FD adapters, but with both i get a little bit over infinity focus. I mean infinity it's not at the end of the run of the focus but a little before. It's normal with FD lens? It's the same for you?
Have the one from ciecio7, same issue, don´t now if it is normal with FD lens, someone from Novoflex users have the same with FD lenses?
Just to allow for tolerances and heat expansion, I think most manufacturers go a little bit beyond infinity. I've even seen this in original mounts with MF lenses. Better than not getting to infinity at all, I suppose…
ciecio7 makes the best FD-m43 adapters but if you're looking for something cheaper, fotodiox is fine too. If you find that your cheap FD adapters are getting loose in the mounts, look at the metal mounts on the adapter. There should be a small slit sandwiched by metal. Use a small screwdriver to slightly pry the slit bigger. This will make your adapter fit much better and eliminate movement in the mount. Careful though, use trial and error and don't pry open the slits too much. All my adapters now fit really well with no play and I just buy a few and leave them on my lenses.
Also there's a technique to reduce internal reflections in the adapter which some people say create ghosting in the image. They take a black marker and colour the internal metal parts of the adapter. I've not done this because I haven't had a problem with ghosts in my image.
It's normal if the adapters focus past infinity, just make sure to keep that in mind when you're shooting landscapes at infinity focus, I've made this mistake once before and it's frustrating.
If you want to paint interiors of your adapter or lens mount pitch black, don't use markers, they leave a speckled and shiny black on metal and might even come off in small chips. There is a deep black paint from a Japanese company called "Tamiya", normally used for model airplanes and such, which is perfect for this. It helped my Nikkor 50mm 1.4 quite a bit, which was getting very 'dreamy' wide open. Not cheap, but you won't need more than one small pot ever…
I have a Fotasy FD adapter from Rainbowimaging on ebay..$20.99 delivered and very happy with it.
@nomad ahh, Tamiya model car shops. I have one in my neighbourhood, will drop by and get a small pot. Thanks for the advice. You said it made your Nikkor less dreamy wide open, is this a very observable effect?
@xntrggr Medium effective only. My Minolta PG Rokkor 50mm 1.4 was less 'dreamy' than the Nikkor from the start. I think the problem is not only vagabonding light inside the adapter, but the fact that a sensor (or it's OLPF) is much more reflective than the emulsion of analog film. BTW, this can be quite nice for portrait. 50mm seems to be more prone to this than other lengths.
@airboxlights (and the rest) One alternative are adapters with their own little tripod plate. They exist for FD too, I found mine for MC/MD here: http://stores.ebay.de/jiakgong-DIGITAL?_trksid=p4340.l2563
Once you make the connection tight enough with the method described by xntrggr it won't wiggle any more. IMHO you can hang you GH2 to the adapter, it's light enough. Otherwise it might be difficult to adjust the height.
Anyone speak polish? The reason I ask is I have been trying to contact Cieco7 for some time about ordering a lens. Although the order system is simple enough, my problem is that I am in Japan and doing the IBAN transfer (paypal is not an option for me) will cost me about $30 extra thanks to Japans banking policy's. I simply want to send the man cash in the mail, but he never responds to emails... I assume because he doesn't read english.. though I suppose it could be his way of saying no... but that's hard to imagine. Anyhow if anyone could help it would be appreciated.
Re: ciecio 7 - I also can vouch for a) build quality is tank-like and precise and b) he's a top chap - when a Lomo of mine snagged and sheared a part on his £180 adapter - he didn't just send me a new part he immediately sent me a new adapter, which arrived in days - top service.
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