Canon FD Lens Adapter

Canon FD Lens Adapter

Canon FD lenses were introduced in 1971 when Canon launched its F-1 camera . The FD lens mount was a new physical standard to connect lenses to camera bodies and during the 1970s and 1980s it enjoyed great success, so much so that more than 130 different FD lenses were launched covering macro to telephoto and everything in between. Many of these lenses still sit in camera bags and collections, and today there's a healthy used market for FD lenses too.

Canon FD lens mount compatibility

In 1987 Canon introduced the EOS SLR and changed its proprietary camera mount to EF (Electro-Focus) to accommodate the new SLR technologies. However, EF mounts were not compatible with FD mounts leaving, in effect, a generation of amateur and professional photographers with a compatibility headache.

FD lens adapters - the solution

Canon FD lenses are growing in popularity once again, testament to their lasting optical and build qualities and relatively low prices. To enable FD lenses to work on EF mounts, the solution comes in the form of adapters, of which there are two kinds now available.

FD lens adapters for Canon cameras with corrective optics

Lens adapters increase the distance of the lens from the camera body, negatively effecting focusing. Adapters with built in corrective optics compensate for this and enable FD lenses to be focused up to infinity.

FD lens adapters for Canon cameras without corrective optics

These FD lens adapters remove an extra layer of optics from between the camera body and lens , reducing the risk of compromised image quality. This makes a perfect option for short range focus and macro use but prohibits FD lenses to focus to infinity.

FD lens adapters - other characteristics

Whilst not being autofocus enabled, Canon FD lenses with FD lens adapters can be manually focused under manual exposure control or by using aperture-priority AE. Adapters without correction lenses do not have aperture control but built in chips enable focusing confirmation with EOS camera bodies.