I was half heartedly looking at the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 a few weeks ago as my next m4/3 prime lens purchase and that got me thinking about the Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens
I have in my EOS-M kit. At around $300 used the Canon FD 55mm f1.2 is about $700 less than the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 and not extremely far off in terms of focal length. Add to that a $17 adapter and you’ve got a pretty decent deal on a manual focus prime lens for the GH4.
Thanks to the more compact design of FD lenses, the Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens avoids look like an elephant riding a unicycle when attached to the GH4 body. Even with the inch or so added by the adapter, the Canon 55mm f1.2 isn’t much larger than the Voigtlander 25mm f0.95. If you do decide to use larger FD lenses the adapter has a nice little mounting plate on the bottom that reduces the strain on the GH4. That’s a good thing to have if you’re using something like the Canon FD 35-105 f3.5 lens.
Another thing to note is that you always have the option of adding a Metabones FD to M4/3 adapter in the future. That reduces the focal length by .71x (78mm instead of a 110mm on an m4/3 body), increases the max aperture by an extra stop, and improves image quality which puts the 55mm f1.2 on a level playing field with the Voigtlander 42.5mm f0.95 and still save you a few hundred dollars.
The Canon 55mm f1.2 prime lens I have is one of the older versions (if I remember correctly) which is why the focus ring looks a little different. This older version is supposed to be slightly softer wide open and lacks a few lens coatings that were added to lenses made after 1973. Still, for the price it’s definitely worth considering. If you’d like a few image samples of the 55mm f1.2 you can find more info here in this earlier post.
Tags: Canon 55mm f1.2, Panasonic Gh4
May 28th, 2014 at 9:30 am
Adapting old Canon FD lenses to the MFT format is a great option for anyone wanting to add to their lens collection on a limited budget. When I got my GH2, I found great deals on Canon 28mm and 50mm FD lenses. I would suggest buying a good adapter if you uses vintage lenses a lot, as the fit on some of the cheap adapters can vary a lot.
May 28th, 2014 at 3:47 pm
I picked up two of the adapters I linked to and both of them were a snug fit on the FD lenses, but I’m sure there are nicer adapters out there. Any recommendations Dave?
May 28th, 2014 at 6:09 pm
I guess my age shows. I bought a 50mm FL in the late 1960’s and after the Canon F1 came out in the 1970’s, I bought the FD version. At the time I made my living as a photojournalist. I still have both lenses as well as a complete set of FD lenses. Now I can use them again. Who’d have thought? BTW – thanks for your wonderful site. It has info that no other site has. Always helpful to us film makers.
May 28th, 2014 at 7:12 pm
I started off with a Pentax K1000 when I was a kid and ended up with a used Canon T90 in the late 90’s when everyone was starting to move to digital. At the time manual focus lenses weren’t worth a lot and I couldn’t afford a full fledge digital camera or EF glass back in those days.
May 28th, 2014 at 9:58 am
That’s not an FD lens. It is an FL lens. They were around before the FD lenses. They have the same type of bayonet mount so you can use the same adapters.
May 28th, 2014 at 3:21 pm
Sorry Elliot I kind of lump the FL and FD together since the mount didn’t change and the FD body is the oldest piece of Canon gear I’ve ever used.
May 28th, 2014 at 10:17 am
Hi.
Please forgive me, but I have only been in the dslr/photo/video world for a couple of years…
I have never heard of this Canon fd 55m f1.2 lens…
Is this a really old lens? And how can a lens with that type of apertue be so cheap, below $300 from Japan on ebay…
Is this lens even electrical (autofocus/aperture)? How to operate this lens on the gh4?
May 29th, 2014 at 6:13 am
100 percent manual. No electronics on it at all. Manual apurature and focus. And they get creamy wide open, which make for interesting shots.
May 29th, 2014 at 2:49 pm
With creamy, do you mean blurry?
Sry, Its hard for me to hang along technical in another language.. =/
May 29th, 2014 at 8:24 am
As Tay mentioned, the lens is 100% manual controls. There is a ring to adjust aperture and focus on the lens. The 55mm f1.2 is a lesser known lens and often overlooked. People are usually hunting for 50mm f1.2 not 55mm f1.2. As I mentioned the lens is missing some of the new coatings and it’s a little soft wide open, but many feel (myself included) this gives the image a less clinical look. Take a look at the raw image linked to in the post, if you like what you see it might be worth considering.
May 29th, 2014 at 2:48 pm
I did download the pic you took with your canon EOS-M…
But Iam interrested in a sample from the GH4, which I do own now…
Maybe the picture wouldnt be so soft with 3840×2160 ?
May 29th, 2014 at 9:34 pm
Just posted this for you and others wondering about the topic. Hopefully that answers your questions.
May 29th, 2014 at 7:39 pm
or you can use Nikon 50mm f/1.2 ais with metabone adapter. 🙂
May 29th, 2014 at 8:15 pm
Only $100 more for a used Nikon 50mm, but it’s about 1.3 to 1.4 times bigger than the FD. Does size matter? 😉
May 29th, 2014 at 9:45 pm
i don’t think it is 1.4 time bigger.
http://www.vnpixel.com/alex/50ai.jpg
May 29th, 2014 at 9:53 pm
Hard to tell from the pic, but you might be right alex. I used to have a Nikon 50mm f1.2 laying around, but I sold it when prices were up to $750. I remember it being rather large, but it’s hard to tell without having them side by side. Your 50 looks pretty reasonably sized on the blackmagic. Nice grip by the way!
May 29th, 2014 at 10:34 pm
without all the focusing ring and 80mm lens cap, it is very small, short.
http://vnpixel.com/alex/50e.jpg
May 29th, 2014 at 10:56 pm
That actually looks slightly smaller. Thanks for the pictures Alex!
June 1st, 2014 at 8:39 am
Another thing you can get for that Canon 55mm f/1.2 FL lens is an Ed Mika adapter to adapt it to the EOS system. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Canon-FL-55mm-1-2-EDMIKA-EOS-EF-lens-mount-conversion-converter-adapter-kit-/181352219773?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item2a396f447d&_uhb=1
I’ve done this conversion on my 55 f/1.2 FL and it works great. The lens definitely has a softer look and really gives that vintage feel.
June 4th, 2014 at 12:30 pm
I also have the Ed Mika adapter on my Canon FL 55mm f/1.2 lens. This adapter eliminated the extra crop and light loss the glass adapter tend to create. The Ed Mika adapter is sold on ebay and seems to be a really well built custom adapter for this specific lens. So far I have shot a few interviews with it and the lens is better than the nifty fifty in some respects. But I do like the old lens look but it does cut well together when shooting 2 camera setups with current lenses.