Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus)

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I read a lot of reviews before buying and decided for the price it was worth trying. A friend gave me an old Canon T50 with a 50mm 1.8, 28mm 2.8 and a 70-150mm 4.0, all FD mount. The 28 and 50 don't work too well, but the 70-150 does. Adjusting the glass in the adaptor got it to cover a comfortable range.
I use a Canon 450/xsi and have been using manual focus more often so that is not an issue. I love being able to adjust the aperture with a twist of the wrist. But it does not show the aperture or any other settings when used. Just have to take notes.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I used the adapter to connect an old manual Canon FD lens (50mm f/1.4) to an EOS digital body (60D).
The packaging is modest, hardly any instructions attached. Though you don't really need any; the item is pretty straightforward. It does not take any special levers/tricks to remove the cap from the adapter. Once it's remove, simply attach the adapter to the FD lens and the EF mount is able to receive it perfectly.
The photos do not turn out as clear and crisp as an EF lens would and I tried many different settings. It's not good at all for low light, and it's important to increase the shutter speed when there's a lot of light--the pictures tend to become hazy and slightly out of focus. This might be a result of the glass and also focusing discrepancies between the FD and the body (to focus is manual--although it appears focused and clear in the viewfinder, the resulting photo is different).

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

The good thing is that it connected my FD lens to the EOS canon t2i. Mounting to the camera and the lens was acceptable. Don't expect to get good images with this adapter. If you have low expectations you may be quite content. Adjusting the glass lens in the adapter for fine detailed imaging reveals the poor workmanship here.
If I thought there would be any benifit, I would use the adapter without the lens, but I will leave that for another day since it is not what I bought it for.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

Works as intended
Mounts my old FD lenses to the EOS mount with great results. Would be 5 stars but the documentation is somewhat lacking. You might notice an outer ring not shown in the product image. This ring locks the aperture at full open, and is never mentioned.
Also for macro shots the inner lens needs to be removed from the adapter, and it is not marked for optimal position. It's suggested you make some sort of match mark before removing the lens. If you bear all this in mind its a great little adapter. If you have FD lenses its very handy to a couple of these on hand

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I have a Kiron 28-210 Lens I purchased in 1985 to use on my Canon AE1 and I just love the lens and the trip photos it gave me. I was told I couldn't use it on my new Canon Rebel EOS T3i DSLR camera. After searching and calling B&H to confirm, there is an adapter that makes my Kiron lens usable on my new camera and now I have it.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

The lens adapter is great. Now I can use my Canon 35mm lens on my Canon digital camera. Thanks B&H for a good buy with excellent fast shipping.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

It allows me to use my old 35 mm Canon lens on my digital Canon camera.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

Without repeating too much of what everyone else said, I'll share my experience with this item after testing and using it in the field for a few weeks.

The adapter is compatible with canon lenses (fl, fd, fdn) predating the eos lineup. As expected, the optical element reduces light to the viewfinder/sensor by about 2/3rds of a stop. Acting as an extension tube (with or without optical element), it yields roughly a 1.25x magnification.

Let's Attach This Thing:
If you're familiar with fd lenses and your eos body, someone could hand you this adapter in the dark and you could feel your way around it and assemble everything in less than 5 minutes. The piece of paper in the box was obviously a coaster for your coffee rather than an instruction manual. On a technical note, the optical element inside the adapter screws in and out easily with the tip of your finger. This is extremely helpful if you want to quickly switch from a telephoto to a 28mm (eg) because you'll be able to adjust the optics' positioning on the fly once you figure out what approximate depths work best for your lenses. I was able to get infinity focus with the adapter's optical element nearly flush with a 28mm 1.8 fdn when turned to infinity focus on the lens. Word of caution tho...the images are degraded at infinity so I wouldn't use this adapter if you're using it for the sole purpose of landscape photography.

Optical Quality:
For the $ I didn't have super high expectations. Bower seemed to manufacture this item as more of a general use adapter for the whole fl/fd lineup. Like most lenses, the more you stop down, the better the optical quality (less light refraction). In the case of this product, under strong lighting conditions, expect purple and/or cyan fringing on certain subjects at any stop. From the use of a 300mm f4 fdn, I've found that the key to reducing the nastiest of "purple fringing" is tack on focusing and making sure the adapter is in lock position. This allows you Av control. When properly dialed in, the Sharpness of your subject shouldn't be affected compared to an AF lens of equal optical quality...I've captured some finely detailed wildlife from 100+ feet and incredibly sharp captures from 50 to 10ft.

Summing Things Up:
If you have an old telephoto prime and can't afford the inflated prices of the latest and greatest EF[-s] equivalents, this product will impress you. Just make sure to practice good post production technique if you're submitting your photo for picture of the year.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

Without repeating too much of what everyone else said, I'll share my experience with this item after testing and using it in the field for a couple weeks.The adapter is compatible with canon lenses (fl, fd, fdn) predating the eos lineup. As expected, the optical element reduces light to the viewfinder/sensor by about 2/3rds of a stop. Acting as an extension tube (with or without optical element), it yields roughly a 1.25x magnification. Let's Attach This Thing:If you're familiar with fd lenses and your eos body, someone could hand you this adapter in the dark and you could feel your way around it and assemble everything in less than 5 minutes. The piece of paper in the box was obviously a coaster for your coffee rather than an instruction manual. On a technical note, the optical element inside the adapter screws in and out easily with the tip of your finger. This is extremely helpful if you want to quickly switch from a telephoto to a 28mm (eg) because you'll be able to adjust the optics' positioning on the fly once you figure out what approximate depths work best for your lenses. I was able to get infinity focus with the adapter's optical element nearly flush with a 28mm 1.8 fdn when turned to infinity focus on the lens. Lenses will differ. Word of caution tho...the images aren't tack sharp at infinity so I wouldn't use this adapter if you're a die hard landscape photographer looking for superb images. Optical Quality:For [$] I didn't have super high expectations. Bower seemed to manufacture this item as more of a general use adapter for the whole fl/fd lineup. Like most lenses, the more you stop down, the better the optical quality (less light refraction). In the case of this product, under strong lighting conditions, expect purple and/or cyan fringing on certain subjects at any stop. From the use of a 300mm f4 fdn, I've found that the key to reducing the nastiest of "purple fringing" is tack on focusing and making sure the adapter is in [what i believe] open position. This essentially allows you Av control. When properly dialed in, the Sharpness of your subject shouldn't be affected compared to an AF lens of equal optical quality...I've captured some finely detailed wildlife from 100+ feet and incredibly sharp captures from 50 to 10ft. Summing Things Up:If you have an old telephoto prime and can't afford the inflated prices of the latest and greatest EF[-s] equivalents, this product will impress you. Just make sure to practice good post production technique if you're submitting your photo for picture of the year.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

works

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

it looses a full stop, so it didnt help me with my 1.8 lens. some lens worked fine, but it's a lot of tweaking. I returned it and will save my money for a EOS lens

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

You cant judge lens quality/picture quality by adapter ring. Works perfectly! Added 2 nice lens to my collection with with this gadget.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I picked this up more out of curiosity than anything. I have a couple old FD lenses that I thought could be fun to have the added versatility if I felt like it, so I bought this to try them out. After reading reviews it looked to me like it would be easy enough to get working, just take a little bit of fiddling with the lens in the adapter to get it adjusted right to be able to focus. I didn't make a scientific exercise out of it by any means, but after playing with the adapter for about an hour, I could only get it so clear and able to be focused. I wasn't dead set on it working by any means, and I'm pretty sure if I dedicated more time to it, I could get it closer than I did in my one sitting. For now I just pulled the lens out and I'm using it like a short extension. Without the lens it obviously takes clear pictures, but your focal distance is reduced drastically, to a few feet at best with my lens selection.

Not a bad gizmo to have around, but I wouldn't suggest one to anyone who's looking for something beyond playing with it and having a little fun.

A few quick notes on the other attributes of it. It is kind of confusing to mount. Simple enough, as long as you know how to mount an EOS and an FD lens, I just can't be bothered to pay attention to how it goes on, so I have to re-learn the task every time I do it, which is entirely my own laziness.

The lock ring on it slides a tab on the FD lens to one side. I'm not familiar with FD lenses enough to know what that tab is for, if anything. But the lock ring does move *something* on the lens, it just doesn't physically lock the lens to the adapter, or the adapter to the camera, like some seem to expect.

It would be nice if it came with caps or a case, but I had a body cap for an AE-1, and a lens cap for the lens that is mounted to that camera, I just threw those on there.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

Works excellent, it took a little getting use to the fact that I couldn;t use it at infinity, but after reading some other reviews, I found out that you have to adjust the glass in the lens.. When you get it in the right place it works fine. I would recomend this product to my friends.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

it fits great and i can easily adapt my old canon lens¡¡¡¡

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

Being able to use my old lens is great and so far the results are just what I expected. Only wish I could auto focus too!

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

This item worked great with my Canon EOS Rebel T3. I have a 70-210mm fd lens put that on the adapter and it worked great! Saved me a ton of money!

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

The products works exactly how they say it will, and i had no trouble fitting it on my camera. This peice saved me about 1000$ to buy another telephoto lens so it was well worth the price. Now i can use my colection of film lenses on my new canon rebel t3i.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I'm an old school semi-pro photographer that's recently moved into the Digital field. This FD lens adapter lets me use all of my old Canon DF lenses on my Canon EOS. Also, it has saved me a boat load of money in not having to buy a wide variety of new lenses for my digital camera. The manual focus aspect is no big deal as I'm a fan of manual focus in the first place.

Comments about Bower Lens Adapter - FD (Manual Focus) System to Canon EOS (Auto Focus):

I bought this adapter to be able to use an Canon FD Series 500mm mirror reflex lens. When researching this adapter online, I saw very mixed reviews -- either people loved it or hated it. Some couldn't figure out how to use it and bemoaned the fact no instructions came with it. Mine did come with a sheet of instructions, although they were a tortured Chinese-to-English translation that really made them worthless. Fitting the adapter to the lens and the camera is as easy as you would expect. The tricky part is the lens inside the adapter. It is removable -- it threads in and out, about 10 revolutions or so. With it in place as it was delivered, it was impossible for my Canon T1i to focus on infinity. Removing the optics all together did not solve the problem either.But, by threading it in halfway, about five revolutions, I was able to get good manual focus on an object about three miles away (a rocket on a launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station). You'll need to play with the focal adjustment for your camera, but for [$] I can now use long lens that has been in mothballs for years. It's a good option if you can't afford a new lens. For me, it was well worth the price.