For this week’s Tahoe Production House video production blog, we decided to re-post a nice blog by our partner John Chevalier of JT Media titled: “FD to EF Conversion Motion Test.
Yesterday I picked up my mail and luckily my Fotodiox FD to EF conversion lens had come in. It was perfect timing because the boys from PLUS Skateboards and I decided to go for a quick sunset skate session at our local secret in South Lake Tahoe. I decided that this session would be the perfect opportunity to utilize my vintage lenses for the first time on my Canon EOS 60D.
I must say that there are some positives and negatives with this conversion kit. Like previously stated, when utilizing the new conversion, immediately the camera loses one stop of light because of the additional glass fixture. This can be easily corrected with by modifying the ISO or shutter on the camera. Unfortunaetly, due to the excess light getting into the sensor, the image has a slight hue. This effect can create a really cool film look and lens flares are incredible, but if you are looking for a hard, crisp image, the FD lenses will challenge your skills.
Attached below is a link of some of the footage that I shot. Keep in mind that all footage was shot with the FD to EOS conversion lens on vintage FD lenses that are 25+ years old. I tried to shoot all types of motion movements, so you can see what these lenses are capable of in the action sports environment.
All in all I am extremely impressed with the results of this first test and I am excited to see whats possible. If anyone has any misgivings or questions please feel free to email me and I can answer to the best of my ability.
Finally, I wanted to include a great review and suggestion from Jason Hogan, producer/cinematographer for Rose Street Studios regarding the FD conversion, “There’s other inexpensive lens adapter solutions out there. The eBay seller Jinfinance has adapters that fit Nikor, Pentax, etc to EOS. Just be careful with the flange distance, some lenses can impede the mirror like the Pentax to 5D. The Fotodiox FD to EOS uses a glass element to compensate for the sensor distance so you lose a stop or two of light, I’d pay good money to make sure that glass is quality. You can also get a FD to EOS without the glass and it makes the FD lens a macro but you can’t focus to infinity. There’s an FD to EF conversion kit that let you use the full focal range of the glass without the glass element but you have to take apart your lens. Old Nikor glass is the best and you can get adapters for around $10 that do the same thing as the expensive ones. Samyang/Rokinon/Bower (all the same company) have been making inexpensive fast manual primes for a while, they’re pretty good except the focus rings spin opposite of Canon, kinda confusing sometimes. They recently have been making cinema primes with FF gears and clickless T-stops.”
With that said. Enjoy this little FD edit. http://youtu.be/P9axnfAQjdk
To learn more about Jon and JT Media visihis website at: www.jtmediatahoe.com
