[snostorm]

Hi All,

Got a first chance to play with a lens I bought on a whim. It's a Canon FD 300 f4 L converted to K mount. I picked it up because the "L" version of lens has a stellar reputation, ED glass to control PF/CA, and is an internally focusing lens which works well with a gimbal since the balance point doesn't really change.It also came with a removable rotating tripod mount which my FA* 300/4.5 doesn't have. This also means that I can have the Q tripod mounted and use the FA* 300/4.5 on my K-5 handheld during a shoot. It's also more suitable for the MF only since the focus ring travel is about 300° so considerably more precise than the FA* 300/4.5 whose focus travel is about 180°. This makes the FA* faster and easier to use even with the 1.7x AFA if I want more reach and the speed and convenience of AF for birding.

Canon lenses are usually not good candidates for conversion to K mount since the register distance is 3.5mm shorter for the FD mount than for the K, and the barrel of the lens would need to be shortened to allow the full focus range. This lens has a very deeply recessed rear element, so the conversion was possible. How well it was done made this a risk, but seeing some samples from the owner who did the conversion and the subsequent owner, I felt that the conversion was accomplished successfully, except for some problems with the aperture ring, but since I would primarily be shooting this lens wide open with the Q, this would not effect my use much anyway. I bought it from a member here on the marketplace for $225, so it was cheap for this class of lens. Cosmetically, it was severely defaced by a long gone previous owner, but a little electrical tape makes it presentable.

Only got a few chances to shoot at birds, as they were off somewhere else when I got to one of my favorite spots, but a Dark Eyed Junco stuck around for a couple of shots which gave me a good indication of what to expect from this lens. Both were shot off a lightweight travel tripod and ballhead with the Wimberley Sidekick mounted, wide open, 1/400, ISO 125, jpeg *** with Sharpness and Contrast turned down. Both of these are only downsized in steps to 1024 on the long side with no other PP. I've included a 100% crop of a section of the second shot. Unlike some of my earlier attempts that I've posted with longer lenses previously, I was able to use the focus assist, so I'm certain I nailed the focus on these. These were shot from 18-20 feet from the subjects.

Bottom line, this lens is very good on the Q. Since FD to Q adapters aren't that expensive, some of these older premium MF lenses for other mounts should be a consideration if you'd like to shoot long with the Q. This particular model, I'd class as a hair above the M*/A* 300 f4 in sharpness, and considerably better in CA/PF control, even though this shows significantly in high contrast scenes. I'd place it pretty close to the FA*300/4.5 in sharpness wide open, but not as good in controlling CA/PF. I'd been looking at this lens as an possible for the Q for quite a while, and when the K converted lens became available at a very good price, I took a chance -- and am glad I did.

Scott

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[barondla]

Looks great snostorm. Would never have guessed that an FD lens could work at infinity on a Pentax K camera. Did require a lot of "sizing". Will you ever try it on the K5? I have an FD 200 macro that needs to be tried on the Q someday. Just need to get proper adapter. Would be interesting compared to my Pentax A*200 macro.

Don't understand the resize in steps. What and why are you doing this exactly?
thanks
barondla
Enjoy the new lens. Want to see more pictures.

[snostorm]

Hi barondla,

The first thing I did was try it on the K-5 with the F 1.7x AFA, and it focuses fine from MFD to at least 100 yds, so it will work with the DSLRs for what I would want to do with it. The FA* 300/4.5 is better with the AFA though. With the prefocusing necessary, the shorter focus throw is faster, and precision isn't needed because the critical focusing is done within the AFA. The FD is also considerably bigger and somewhat heavier than the FA*, so it's not as good as a handheld lens for my use. As a lens for the Q though, it's great since it will always be used with a tripod and focusing precision trumps speed with the Q and adapted lenses.

My understanding is that the A*200 Macro is one of those "best in class" lenses, so I'm curious as to how well the FD will do in comparison. From what I've read, the major advantage it had over the shorter macro versions was working distance, with no real mention of impressive optics like the Nikon 200 Micro and A* 200 Macro are generally known for.

Resizing in steps means that I do it in increments instead of going straight from 4000 to 1024 on the long side in this case. It's been shown that this will retain small detail better, especially if the downsizing is significant as in over 4:1 when you are resizing 12MP or more down to web display size. The theory is that the smaller the steps, the less is lost to the interpolation algorithm. I usually use 5-6 steps -- for the Q, taking the long side pixel count, I'll go from 4000 to 3000, then down to 2500, 2000, 1600, 1300, and finally to 1024. I also will usually add some NR and sharpening in between steps if posting a straight OOC pic is not the intent.

Scptt

[northislander]

love it. Im so hope for a Pentax K>Q mount soon.

[snostorm]

Hi northislander,

Thanks for taking a look. The Q provides a unique telephoto experience with the DSLR lenses. Being able to shoot long with very fast lenses with comparatively very short Minimum Focusing Distances or very long with reasonably fast optics opens up whole new worlds of subjects for me. You're in for a whole lot of fun, IMO.

Scott

[excanonfd]

Looks great snostorm. Would never have guessed that an FD lens could work at infinity on a Pentax K camera. Did require a lot of "sizing". Will you ever try it on the K5? I have an FD 200 macro that needs to be tried on the Q someday. Just need to get proper adapter. Would be interesting compared to my Pentax A*200 macro.

You only intend to use your FD 200 macro with the Q, no interest in converting it to a K mount? I bought the FD 200/4.0 Macro lens converted to K mount back in November from the marketplace, coincidentally from the same seller as the FD 300/4.0 L lens snostorm has. I was extremely fortunate to acquire the FD 200 macro for $200.00, thanks largely to dgaies for giving me a very early heads-up about the listing. My FD 200 macro won't focus to infinity (about 50-60 feet at infinity), and the f-stop detent clicks is missing on the aperture ring. The seller admitted that he had miscalculated the amount of the barrel to grind off. If I knew how much of the barrel had been ground off I would be tempted to grind the barrel down a little more to see if I can get infinity focus but that would be low priority conversion, if ever.

I cannot compare the FD 200 macro with the Pentax A* 200 macro (the latter being unreachable for me) but FD 200 macro is a very sharp lens and the extended reach this has over the 90/100mm macro lenses means more creative lighting methods can be applied.

[westmill]

Bottom line, this lens is very good on the Q.

Dont you meen the Q is very good on the lens lol

[barondla]

Haven't decided if I will get an FD adapter for the Q or not. Macro wise there is very little need since I have the A*200 Pentax macro already in the bag. Would not " deface" it to fit K mount. Now if I found a cheap high speed FD tele it could end up on the Q!
thanks
barondla

[snostorm]

Haven't decided if I will get an FD adapter for the Q or not. Macro wise there is very little need since I have the A*200 Pentax macro already in the bag. Would not " deface" it to fit K mount. Now if I found a cheap high speed FD tele it could end up on the Q!
thanks

Hi barondla,

A quick search yielded 5 FD 200 f2.8 SSCs on ebay for less than $300. A better bet is KEH -- they have 10 FD 200/2.8's all under $200, and some under $100. They also have 2 FD 300/4 Ls at under $300 and 4 of the standard grade 300 f4s under $200 (and an EX+ at $205). The L model is pretty much universally considered a significantly better lens. There are also a number of fast shorter lenses -- 135 f2.5 for under $100, and even some 85 f1.8 for a bit over $200.

I think that the FD series Canons can be a gold mine for Q tele shootiers.

Another low cost alternative at 300 f4.5 seems to be the Nikon H model (the H stands for Hex -- six lens elements, as opposed to the older P model -- penta or 5 elements). This is a pretty highly regarded lens, and KEH has a number of them available for under $200. AI or non AI designations don't matter as this was a change in max aperture calibration for the various Nikon SLR bodies and would be irrelevant to Q users. The ED and ED IF models are supposed to be better optically, but are also more sought after and thus are more expensive on the used market. I haven't used any of these, but my guess is that they will at least equal the excellent K 300/4, and probably the M*/A* 300/4s in performance for a fraction of the cost (even considering the cost of the adapter).

And there are also the Tamron Adaptall 2s to consider. Q users can ignore the need for the now ridiculously expensive ($100+) PK/A mount adapter and get the dirt common and cheap ($20) Nikon AI, Canon FD, or Olympus OM mounts to use these lenses with the appropriate adapter for the Q. You can get a cosmetically beat up "shooter" copy of the excellent SP 300 f2.8 LD [IF] model 60B for $500-600 to get a 1650mm EQ f2.8 lens and take your time to find a reasonably priced PK/A adapter to use it with your DSLR body. There are also the other 3rd party mfgs to consider for 300mm f4 class and longer, especially in Canon and Nikon mounts. Tokina and Sigma made good lenses in these classes, and although they are usually relatively expensive in K mount because of the backwards compatibility of Pentax DSLRs, they should be available considerably less expensively for other mounts.

Some of these considerations are causing a severe case of LBA -- and I'd pretty much thought I was over that. . .

Scott

[barondla]

Snostorm, understand your LBA. There are a lot of lenses on your list that would be great on the Q! The lenses that would interest me most for the Q would be either 35-50 macro or something 400 or longer. Most of my LBA for Q is already taken cae of. I have so many lenses! Have Olympus Om adapter and 50 1.2, 80 f4 1:1 slide duping macro, 100 f2, 135 4.5 macro, 180 f2.8, 180 f2, and 350 f2.8. Oly made.

In Pentax have 31 ltd, 501.7, 77ltd, DFA100 macro, 70.210 f4 constant aperture, A*200 macro, DA*300 F4, 400 F5.6, 500f 4.5. Don't think 400 & 500 will hold up very well to the pressure the Q dishes out.

A 500 or 600 f4 would be fun and maybe a 80-200 ish f2.8 constant aperture zoom. A short Q macro could be interesting - for handheld use it would help to be built for the Q. Flash is a pain for adapted lenses ( not telling you anything here).

So many lenses yet to try! Can thee be more photo fun than the Q?
thanks
barondla

[Aelindgard]

Hi Snostorm. Great photos. Your photos on here and at dpR made me get the K-Q adapter. I have a question about the DA L series of lenses. Will their auto aperture function work with the adapter? Thank you.

[snostorm]

Hi Snostorm. Great photos. Your photos on here and at dpR made me get the K-Q adapter. I have a question about the DA L series of lenses. Will their auto aperture function work with the adapter?

Hi Aelindgard,

Thanks!

There are a few K to Q adapters available, so you must make sure that the one you get has an aperture control ring to use FA J or DA (including DA L) series. DG series Sigma, or Di II series Tamron lenses since they are designed so that the camera body controls the aperture, and these lenses will automatically stop down to the smallest aperture (and stay there) on an adapter without the aperture control feature. You can, of course, physically block open the aperture control lever that sticks out of the back of the lens, but that will only give you max aperture, and whatever you use to block it can fall out and will rattle around in the camera (not a good idea, though I've done it).

On the RJ adapter, the one I have, there is a ring that shows "Open" in one direction, and "Lock" in the other direction. You need to start with the ring rotated completely to the "Open" direction to open the aperture blades to max aperture. The aperture diaphragm will act as a fully manual, stopped down lens, but you can shoot in Av priority lens, considering whatever aperture you choose as your working aperture. The camera will meter and automatically set the shutter speed (and the ISO as needed if you are also in "auto ISO" mode). There are 6 detents in between "open" and " locked", and these roughly represent full f stop positions. Not really automatic operation of the lens, but still a pretty automated mode of shooting.

It's important that when using an adapter with aperture control that you check this ring every time you start shooting with an adapted lens. I have, more than once started shooting to find that the lens is stopped down more than I want because I've twisted the ring while mounting the lens to the adapter or the adapter to the camera. I've made it a habit to check this every time before I start shooting.

Scott

[Aelindgard]

Thanks Scott. Just to clarify, when I have it fully open and inAV mode what should mybf setting on the Q body be set to? Same as I had manually set on the lense or f1.0 as I am sure tge Q will not be able to read the f setting of the lnse as there are no wires etc. I have ordered the same adapter you had.

[Tonto]

I want to see this Frankenstein monster of a lens on your Q!

[pcarfan]

Wow! mighty impressive...I can't believe my eyes.