Heute im Web gefunden - FD/EF-Umbau mit angebl. Einheitsendstück ...

[EdMika]

Unfortunately the price of the kit is very high, if we add the german tax..


Every adapter package I send out is marked as 49 dollars value. My rationale is that this figure covers purely the material/chip costs of the kit where the rest is for my labour/life time assistance with installation and usability issues, a fair and honest argument I believe. It also obviously reduces customs fee impact worldwide.

I'm also trying to automate my production so I can start to lower prices. I expect Chinese copies to come out that I know I can compete with quality wise but will have to do better with prices in the not too distant future. In a full work day only 10-15 adapters can be produced right now. With a second machine coming and with automatic tool change capability (exactly this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X5AS...ure=plpp_video) this should more than double without requiring me or my father-in-law to be 100% at the machine during production.

As for the term "universal" FDn mount. You are right, it is not universal, every lens has its own unique issues with aperture lever connection and many will have 5D mirror interference issues. When I do start to sell kits, they will all still be very lens specific and will clearly list issues and incompatibilities with certain camera bodies.

As for screws, I usually provide new ones. This way people can drill the heads off and then put vise grips on the studs. Also heating up the screw with a soldering iron with some solder on it has helped releasing some really tight fit screws without breaking them for me.

I expect a kit for the 24-35 as well but I'll start with the 20-35 first.

[hinnerker]

Unfortunately the price of the kit is very high, if we add the german tax..


Every adapter package I send out is marked as 49 dollars value.

Unfortunately the customs often wants to see the ebay-transaction documents.. that doesnt help any longer, mostly the declaration is not thruth for them.
So they start long time ago to show the transaction details on custom office.

My rationale is that this figure covers purely the material/chip costs of the kit where the rest is for my labour/life time assistance with installation and usability issues, a fair and honest argument I believe. It also obviously reduces customs fee impact worldwide.

I'm also trying to automate my production so I can start to lower prices. I expect Chinese copies to come out that I know I can compete with quality wise but will have to do better with prices in the not too distant future. In a full work day only 10-15 adapters can be produced right now. With a second machine coming and with automatic tool change capability (exactly this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X5AS...ure=plpp_video) this should more than double without requiring me or my father-in-law to be 100% at the machine during production.

As for the term "universal" FDn mount. You are right, it is not universal, every lens has its own unique issues with aperture lever connection and many will have 5D mirror interference issues. When I do start to sell kits, they will all still be very lens specific and will clearly list issues and incompatibilities with certain camera bodies.

As for screws, I usually provide new ones. This way people can drill the heads off and then put vise grips on the studs. Also heating up the screw with a soldering iron with some solder on it has helped releasing some really tight fit screws without breaking them for me.

I expect a kit for the 24-35 as well but I'll start with the 20-35 first.

Thanks again for your detailed informations. Keep us informed about new developments.. and good luck for your business.

Cheers
Henry

[optikus64]

Hi Ed,

the procedure in germany is as follows:

a./ if the customs office at Frankfurt/Airport (example for my case in Bad Ems) is not interested, the put a green button on the parcel "free from customs treatment" and give the parcel to the forwarding company. Nothing more happens. You get the parcel as sent.

b./ if customs office is interested the open the parcel and expect to find a bill. If there is none or it's declared as a gift the have a look on what is inside. If they decide that it looks to be commercial product the search it - if they find the price declared they calculate the fee and the forwarder brings the parcel with the fee to pay - or you get a postcard from customs to pick the parcel up at the customs and bring with you the orderpapers and the bill -> ebay-copy. If they determine massive differences between the "formal bill" in the parcel and the real price, the begin to lokk what is to find more - not the best situation there ... :( - and your next parcels are visited nearly all.

c./ UPS is solution b./ in the most cases.

d./ DHL was a./ in the most cases I had in the past.

Calculation is easy:

billing prize + tranport cost * 19% is the tax, and something nearby 3% is the charge for import.

Jörg

[CChris]

Hey Ed, nice to see you here.

As I've personally converted and modified about a dozen lenses, I apreciate your efforts to ease any step of that process - especially with well-thought and well-engineered products.
Your 'little collection' of canon-gear sets new standards, to say the least

I can't help you with knowledge regarding the whole mirror-issue, as I own a Canon 50D crop camera.

Concerning your A-list of lenses you mentioned:
I'm not completely sure of the nFD-Version of the 2/35, but the S.S.C.-Version* I converted just ROCKS. Easily one of the best primes I owned. I like the bokeh and it's sharp enough for the demanding crop-sensor like the one of the 50D shortly after f/2.0.
That one definitely belongs to the A-list.
*(the one of the three without radioactive elements)

On a side note, probably related to my copy:
I've yet some problematic front-group mechanics of the floating system to examine on the 2/35, where presumably some degraded plastic parts are responsible for unwanted tolerances of the front group.. I've encountered the extreme version of that issue in a Tamron zoom lens I repaired. There is not much that can be done against this issue, as it purely seems to be natural decay of plastics-related.

Another one of your A-list:
I got the 1.4/50 S.S.C. for a fine price because of stuck aperture blades. While chromatic abberations (showing mostly as purple in f/1.4 photos in bright daylight) are noticeable at f/1.4, those disappear quickly. It deserves a place in the A-list as well - not everybody wants to pay for f/1.2.

Side note: the lens has less problems (especially at sharpness) at close range than another good 1.4/55 for M42 I compared it against.
May have been a special weakness of that lens, but I assume that the 1.4/50 is just thoroughly designed.



I don't have the 3,5/50 Macro, but I've seen the reports of Hinnerker, the MTF graphs and the compared MTF graphs of a Zuiko 3.5/50 Macro I worked with. And those clues say that the 3.5/50 Macro rocks as well and should be thoroughly tested by you