Old Lenses are Now Officially New Again! Canon FD to Fuji X-Mount

[@sundarAKintelart]

And the beauty of these lenses are that they were designed not to depend on some software profiles built in to the cameras to correct or mask their flaws.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Yes exactly Sundar!

[@sandbilly100]

This video is so spot on. I have an X-T5 with 2 Canon FDs the 50 1.4 and the 135 2.5 with the Urth adapter and really enjoy the experience using them. I like the 50 1.4 for color and use a Fuji 50 2.0 for B&W. Kinda counter intuitive but so far so good. Great video and great page.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Chris - it’s always great fun to go out and use the older FD lenses.

[@TheRealJimmyLundy]

Totally right, shooting with vintage lens is alot of fun. I still have the first camera my Father bought me when I was 15, a Pentax K 1000 with 50mm 1.8. I love putting on my XT4 so much I ended up buying a full set 24mm, 35mm, 85mm and am currently looking for a 105 in great shape.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

It’s more fun with a full frame camera instead of a crop sensor. But I still enjoy it

[@1cookgs]

I bought a Voitlander 40 mm f1.2 lens and adapted it to my Fujifilm X-Pro 2. I can't say enough about the image quality of this lens, it is truly outstanding and I can see like a cat in low light. I enjoy watching your videos and appreciate all your hard work in making these videos.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Many thanks! These new mirrorless cameras give so many options.

[@tomislavmiletic_]

🤯🤯🤯 FINALLY someone did those damn adapters right! At least in regards to the aperture. Gotta get that! Should be good enough for portraits. Thank you for making me aware of those adapters.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Thanks!

[@charliejg]

I have several "vintage" lenses I use on my XT-3. A Canon FD 50mm f1.8, Canon FD 135mm f3.5(beauty!) a Pentax 50mm f1.7(beauty!) a Rikenon 35-70 and a Promaster 70-200. The last two were from my Ricoh XR-P back in the 80s. I don't use them much. But, the other three I use fairly often. They are really a lot of fun to shoot. Because of the popularity of old lenses these days, some of the wide angle lenses have gotten expensive because videographers want them. I'd love to get a 24mm or 28mm Canon FD lens. Just not willing to pay the prices I've seen.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

HI Charlie - I would really love to get an FD 24 f2 but you are right pretty pricey. Sounds like you have quite a few vintage lenses. These FD lenses are mint so I'm pretty happy.

[@charliejg]

@@KirkWilliamsonphotography That 200 sounds nice!

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

The push button for mounting the lens is a little stiff but other than that mint.

[@markschneider1396]

If you get toward golden hour or after I find grabbing focus with the lens wide open before stopping down helps, especially when adapting to DSLRs that don't have focus assistance. I also turn down peaking to the lowest setting, as it can show to wide an area for finding the peak focus point. I've never seen Urth adaptors before, glad to see another option.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Mark I find the aperture ring on these adapters useful. It’s great to be able to turn the ring and go right to wide open then turn it back for the aperture u have selected helps so much with focus using peaking.

[@parmanduke]

I used an urth Sony A to FX adapter for a G 70-300 lens. I love these modern cameras with focus assist. Its amazing how well they work with previous Gen lenses.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Pretty cool stuff this new tech!

[@QeZobaBazZz]

Is very worth it to me, i use a lot the 70-300mm the 20mm f2.8 and the 50mm f1.2 and i have other 4 FD lenses of my f-1N and honestly for me the 16-80mm that came with my X-T5 is all i need if i want to shot wide, i was hesitate if i should buy the adapter but thanks to you i will give it an opportunity.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

It's a lot of fun using older gear again on mirrorless cameras.

[@QeZobaBazZz]

@@KirkWilliamsonphotography yes! Rehuse all day

[@SteveMcClanahan]

Ahhh he Canon A-1. Top notch camera of its time. Thanks for a review on how to re-apprecite these classic Canon lenses.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Thanks Steve I had a blast using lenses I used to own!

[@nevillewatkins4997]

The A1 is a great camera Kirk. Hold on to it. Funnily enough I did much the same recently and bought an adapter to use FD lenses on my XT3, and I'm glad you explained what the ring was for. That baffled me until you explained it. 😄

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Hi Neville, With my Novoflex adapters I used to do that manually with the aperture ring. So it kind of made sense.

[@parranoic]

Hi Kirk, you might want to try out the Zhongy Lens turbo 2, it gives you an additional stop of light and it reduces the crop factor by 0.7. Great video

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Thanks I’ll think about it!

[@jordanjoestar8839]

Running my Fuji XT3 with my laser sharp Zuiko Olympus Glass. The 50 1.4 wide open is still sharp at 400% zoom. Zuiko makes surgical equipment glass so its to be expected! MASSIVE range of glass too!

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Oh ya that lens is legendary!

[@XavierMinguellaPhotography]

I use the FD 70-210mm f:4 with a cheap Chinese adapter and it focus to infinity because there is no crystal element and it is a great and cheap lens. With my X-H1 it works great, you must put 70mm and 210mm in the camera to get Ibis, at 70mm position you get Ibis from 70 to 100 aprox (maybe 120mm) and the same at 210mm so 210 to 120 and wow, amazing lens, I was thinking about to get for the third time of my life the excellent 80-200mm f:4L but even if is a sharper lens, vignette and distort a lot so the 70-210 it is perfect, same size, same weight but a macro position at 70mm really useful. Highly recommended!!!

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I loved that lens back in the day. I loved my Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f3.5 but when Canon came out with that 70-210 f4 I ordered it immediately and sold the Vivitar.

[@rafael_daguerre]

which adapter do you use?

[@XavierMinguellaPhotography]

@@rafael_daguerre if the question it is to me, the cheapest in the market, white brand. 10-15$

[@alexanderaleksander4272]

Thanks for the review! I've been looking for a bias information, and i've got it!🙏

[@jamescraig3345]

I've been using x-t3 bodies for a good while. Just got the X-t5 with IBIS - and pulled an old Canon FD 500mm mirror lens out of a drawer - glass looks mint so I can't wait to give it a try. First thing I need to check is for limiting focus to infinity with my Vello adaptor.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Should be pretty cool

[@lanceevans1689]

This video popped up and I thought, " What, the 5,000th photog talking about old lenses?" But, you kept it interesting! BTW, that 50/1.4 FD is one of my most favorite lenses in the world . Not due to its focal length, but the character of the images it creates. Unfortunately most of the other FD lenses don't hold a candle to it. The 28 and 24 are average at best. I'd love to find a 17mm in good condition.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Thanks Lance! Yes the 50 1.4 is and always will be a great lens.

[@jonlenzmeier5332]

I’ve recently considered switching to a Fuji body since my Sony alpha is starting to stop functioning properly. I’ve got some good Alpha/Minolta glass I’m not willing to part with yet so this Urth adapter could be a good solution to make the move. Plus, I can sure save a lot of money that way. Your explanation on how the adapter works was very clear and the shots were nice! Looks like the film simulation you were using was classic negative, if I’m not mistaken

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I’m glad it helped. Usually I shoot raw and convert to Astia in LR.

[@IgnacioenRaw]

Analog optics are precious at least on fujifilm cameras I've been using an M42 to Fx mount adapter and the results are beautiful despite the chromatic aberrations.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I like the look just wish the adapters were better

[@Tbonyandsteak]

Got the Pentax 200 f 2.5, huge 77 mm front lens, heavy, solid, fringe alot on highlights, but got lots of character. At 2.5 you really have to take to your time to nail the focus.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I can imagine what focusing that’s like. The Canon 200 is a beauty as well.

[@Tbonyandsteak]

@@KirkWilliamsonphotography Yeah looks alot like it too, with that larger front. The downside with the Pentax, is it is heavy, it really needs a foot on its own.

[@marcswanson7066]

I still own a number of beautiful FD lenses. The Urth adapter doesn't appear to introduce additional glass which is a real plus. The inability to focus to infinity, however, is problematic for me since I shoot a lot of landscapes. Please keep us abreast of any new discoveries

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I actually liked what I got with the adapter but the fact that when I put the lens on infinity it was out of focus really bothered me.

[@jossbesnier4409]

Hi K. R., i tried K&F adapter on my Fuji X-T5 and results are not really goods with FD 50mm f.18 and 100mm f2.8, with f8 or f11 i have problem of sharpness around focus like a bokeh not normal, it is because of 40m pixels maybe, for you ? an idea ?

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Umm not sure about that. I have not tried the Urth adapter I have with the XT5

[@shaheertarek4585]

I have a question, how does putting it on this camera make the 28mm a 40mm or the 200 to become a 300?

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

1.5 crop factor on the Fuji

[@shaheertarek4585]

@@KirkWilliamsonphotography is there any way to not have a crop factor? I use 50mm and I love it because its so similar to what I see in real life. My only problem is I already feel its too zoomed, but then with a 1.5 crop factor thats gonna be too much. Is there a way to counter that while sticking to a 50mm focal length?

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Not that I know besides using a full frame camera

[@jamesr.9239]

I have had similar issues with far focus using old Nikon manual focus lenses adapted to Fuji -X. The auto focus Nikon lenses almost always perform well and I am beginning to suspect that the distance from film plane to lens mount may have been different in older cameras and a symptom of this is very narrow range of focus using the focus ring . It's either in or out of focus with a tiny turn of the ring.

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Hi James, Yes it was a bummer when I found that the lens did not focus to infinity even though they said it would.

[@ea4bl]

@@KirkWilliamsonphotography Hi Kirk. I use a chinese K&F adapter with my Canon FD 50mm 1.4 on my X-T2 and the thing is it just reaches focus just at 1 or 2 milimeters from the infinte mark, so it focuses past infinity. Congrats for your chanel.

[@andrewdennes1608]

Those were some sharp shots of the ropes in the blue drums, shame about not being able to focus to infinity withe the rth adaptor. P.S. a bit off-topic, that's a great soundtrack, sounded like Oscar Peterson on piano with Ray Brown on bass ?

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

Thanks Andrew - The music is from Epidemic Sound which has Royalty Free music. So it’s not from those jazz greats but some pretty good musicians.

[@mariodzimbeg1033]

I've used an fd 50 1.4 (new) on XT2 and XH1. Excellent portrait focal length with a vintage vibe. I bought an A1 with the lens for $100, later sold the lens only for $120. Still regret it, cannot find another affordable copy in excellent condition like the one I had. I still have the A1 though, so I'm willing to trade it for a lens, if that makes any sense

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

So far the 50 1.4 is awesome. I'm going to try out the A1 at some point with some film.

[@Icelandscapes]

The 200 f:2,8 used to be a beuty on a F1 body, but I sold it for less than 200 bucks when Fuji arrived 😢 Now I am scanning my friends list and my family tree to see if anyone happens to have a mint copy of it just lying around 😅

[@KirkWilliamsonphotography]

I got that lens as soon as it came out. I absolutely love that lens. So glad someone gifted it to me because on my X-T5 it’s a 300 f 2.8.