Can You Use a Super Canonflex R lens on a FD body?

[gone]

I'm thinking of buying a Super Canonflex R 100 2.0 lens, and will need a body to shoot it with. I'm pretty sure I can use it on a FL body like a FTb, but what about on something like an AE1? I don't mind if it only works in stop down mode. Anyone have any experience w/ the Canonflex R lenses? I've never even seen one, but I understand the 100 2.0 is a heck of a good lens. Thanks.

 

[blockend]

FL lenses can be used on FD bodies, including the AE1. I'm not sure whether the diaphragm becomes auto or manual.

 

[benjiboy]

The FTb is an FD body not an FL one, it has an auto diaphragm control, and an instant return mirror.

 

[ath]

Look up the manuals of the cameras you are interested in.

edit:

All Canon FL and R Lenses can be used with the FTb, except the FLP 38mm F2.8.

 

[Yeeski]

The Super Canomatic R 100mm f/2 lens should work on any Canon FL or FD mount body, with the exception of the T50 on which the use of a non-FD mount lens is severely limitated. As you noted, the aperture will need to be stopped down manually. There are a couple of Canomatic R lenses that might have clearance problems with the mirror, metering pins and aperture levers on the later FD bodies (A and T series). Check the instruction manual for the specific camera as this varies slightly from body to body.

 

[AgX]

What is different with the T50??
It has got the same coupling as the T70.

 

[gone]

The main thing different about the T-50 is it's a piece of junk . No offense if someone has one of these clunkers, but wow, is that a bad camera. Ugly AND noisy. At least it's cheap. I suspect that you would not have full aperture selection on them w/ non FD lenses.

Thanks Yeeski, that's the sort of knowledge I was looking for. I understand the pins on the back of the R lenses can sometimes foul the mirror box area, but I was hoping that wouldn't be an issue. I'll probably buy a cheap AE-1. The last FTb I owned was a super camera w/ a very high build quality (no plastic in those babies, it's all solid metal), but the low magnification viewfinder was not suited to eyeglass wearers.

 

[Mackinaw]

I have the Canonflex 100mm F2.0 R lens, as well as an AE-1. The lens will fit, and operate, on the camera with no problems. As mentioned by others, you will have to operate the lens in full manual mode, which you do by using the secondary depth-of-field aperture ring located directly behind the main aperture ring. The lens is a quite good, especially wide-open. I hear it uses the same optics as the highly-regarded Canon 100/2.0 rangefinder lens. For what it's worth, I use the 100/2.0 R on my old F-1 a lot and rarely on the AE-1. The AE-1 just isn't my cup of tea (got it free from a friend).

Jim B.

 

[Yeeski]

For its price bracket and target audience, the T50 was a very popular and successful model. It was an entry level, automatic exposure only camera for casual photographers buying their first and, perhaps, only SLR. It has all of the levers and pins needed to couple with any FD lens, but was designed to only work with FD lenses. The full range of shutter speeds is only available on the T50 if you mount an FD lens and set the aperture to the green "A." If you take an FD lens off the green "A" setting or mount a non-FD lens, the shutter defaults to a speed of 1/60 and you lose the camera's metering capability. You will only get proper exposure with a non-FD lens (e.g., FL mount, Canomatic R, or a manual aperture/pre-set lens) if the lens is set to the correct, manually determined f/stop for a 1/60 shutter speed for (a) the existing lighting conditions, or (b) for the specific flash unit attached.


With respect to the viewfinder magnification, the FTb and AE-1 are nearly identical (85x vs 86x, respectively). However, the AE-1's viewfinder should be slightly brighter due to its laser matte focusing screen.

 

[AgX]

Thank you. I only thought about the coupling, but did not consider the rest resp. the lack of the rest with the T-50

 

[gone]

Ah, I should have researched the FTb a little better. I assumed it had the same viewfinder magnification as the FT QL I once owned. That one was .9 and I found it impossible to see the whole frame w/ glasses, and darn near couldn't see it even w/o them.

I ended up getting an AE1 and the camera worked fine w/ the R 100 2 lens, which turned out to be really sharp, as Mackinaw stated. In fact, using it close up for some flower shots, it's better than the Leica R 90 2 Summicron I used to own, which is amazing. However, it's not as good for portraits as the Summicron, but then what is? One thing I found out on the AE1 is that if you use f2 as your bench mark in the viewfinder on the meter scale, all you need to do is set your aperture and spin the shutter speed knob w/ your finger until it points at f2 and you get correct exposure. This is good, as otherwise you get no idea of aperture or shutter speeds in the AE1 viewfinder. You can go the other way around too. Just set your shutter speed to the desired speed, and turn the aperture until the needle points to f2. I wonder if this is because it has an f2 max aperture lens? The camera has no linkages at all to the R lens for metering, it's just metering the light as you stop the lens down manually.

I sold the AE1 because it was only getting up to 1/200 on even the highest shutter speeds and bought an F-1. W/ the standard prism it cannot meter accurately w/ the R lens. I have to use a hand held meter. The R 100 lens looks beautiful on the camera though.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Those close up shots look great!

Jeff