Topics

1

Software & Accessories / Finally (after only 6months) a new EdMika kit launch, the FD35-105/3.5 EOS kit

« on: April 30, 2013, 12:50:51 AM »

Hi Canon fans, here is a new to EOS Canon manual focus lens kit you can add to the existing do-it-yourself EdMika set of conversions.


EdMika FDn 35-105/3.5 EOS kit launch by Ontarian, on Flickr

found here on eBay:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/EdMika-Canon-FD-n-35-105mm-3-5-lens-EOS-conversion-adapter-mount-swap-kit-/171033243028?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item27d2602d94&_uhb=1#ht_657wt_1413

My other kits:

http://www.ebay.ca/sch/ed_mika/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686


Upcoming kits (really close now)

FDn 400mm 4.5
FDn 300mm 4L
FDn 50-300mm 4.5L
FDn 200mm 4 Macro
FDn 100mm 4 Macro
FDn 20-35mm 3.5L


cheers and as always happy shooting- Ed Mika

2

Software & Accessories / EdMika new kit launch - FDn 85mm 1.2L

« on: October 24, 2012, 11:09:44 PM »

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EdMika-Canon-FDn-FD-85mm-1-2L-EOS-mount-conversion-kit-/181006816741?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item2a24d8d5e5

Its finally here, the single most requested conversion kit, the FD 85mm 1.2L is shipping out now.  The FD 50mm 1.2 L is expected to launch in a couple of days as well.


5X 85mm 1.2 lenses by Ontarian, on Flickr

The 85mm 1.2 Aspherical kit is coming along well also.

Also, here is a little video showing how we machine the EdTraveller if anyone is interested, we don't injection mould it, we machine it from a big cylinder of Delrin.

Video from My Phone	Small | Large

3

Software & Accessories / New EdMika FDn-EOS mount swap kit launch. It fits more than one lens!

« on: September 16, 2012, 08:29:06 PM »

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170911278282?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1814wt_1413

This fully reversible and non damaging mount swap kit gives infinity focus and aperture control on all these lenses:

FDn 14mm 2.8L
FDn 15mm 2.8 fisheye   
FDn 17mm 4
FDn 24mm 1.4L
FDn 24mm 2
FDn 28mm 2
FDn 35mm 2
FDn 50mm 1.2
FDn 50mm 1.4 
FDn 100mm 2
FDn 100mm 2.8
FDn 135mm 2

More lenses will be added soon using this base adapter with the development of more linkages (EdLinks) that connect the aperture control ring to the diaphragm.

Its taken a long time to get to this point but things are really starting to come together. -Ed

4

Software & Accessories / new EdMika FD 55mm 1.2 Aspherical EOS kit finally ready!

« on: June 04, 2012, 12:26:16 AM »

I put a (really rough draft) listing up on eBay with a better one and instructional video going up in the next day or so.  I have been asked regularly by many if the kit was ready yet so I'm putting the listing up rough and dirty. http://www.ebay.com/itm/180898801729?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_853wt_1274

Also I'm feeding a baby deer that is just learning how to walk that we found on beside the highway from a baby bottle right exactly now.  Strange times.

Ed

5

EOS Bodies / 5D MrkIII service notice - not really a problem but we'll inspect it free

« on: April 27, 2012, 11:58:32 AM »

Just got this a second ago from CPS

5DIII_ENG by Ontarian, on Flickr

6

Software & Accessories / Free EdMika lens conversion for FD 55mm 1.2 AL (either version)

« on: April 20, 2012, 12:09:01 PM »

Rather than dropping 1.5-2k on the quite rare FD55mm f/1.2 AL and FD55mm f/1.2 S.S.C. AL I am offering a free conversion to the first people who are willing to loan me their lens for fit and performance testing.  I already have the FD55mm f/1.2 S.S.C Aspherical (and the base FD55mm f/1.2 chrome nose and S.S.C. versions) and am 98% sure the same conversion kit will work but I'd just like to make sure.  I expect to only need the lens about 1-2 weeks + return shipping time (to Canada) Also If I break it I buy it at market value.  The conversion will be reversible and non marking/damaging and the original mount will also be returned to you so your lens can be ultimately sold in both original and EOS adapted conditions.

The current kit on ebay is still only for the non AL/Aspherical lens versions but the new kit will be nearly identical with only a special rear lens element holding feature added. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180855493584?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1204wt_1385

Post here or send me a PM if you would be interested in doing this.  Thanks!- Ed Mika edmika.com

7

Software & Accessories / EdMika adapter launch - FD 55mm 1.2 Chrome Nose and SSC (but not Aspherical-yet)

« on: April 02, 2012, 01:54:45 AM »

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180855493584?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649


IMG_2054.jpg by Ontarian, on Flickr

Took long enough to develop for us but it was worth it.  The FL 55mm 1.2 kit has been very popular and seeing as there are 3X as many of the FD 55 1.2 lenses around vs the FL I also expect brisk demand.  A very neat look and image performance that is very similar to the FL with perhaps a bit less flare.  cheers-Ed Mika

8

EOS Bodies / 5D Mark III plays much nicer with Canon Manual lenses!

« on: March 25, 2012, 04:14:36 PM »

So I've been hanging with my new best gear friend the 5D3 for a couple of days and I'm pretty darn happy with almost everything with how the new mainstream full frame camera works with the older Canon Manual focus lens systems the FD and FL.

1.  The plastic around the electric contacts is now designed like that of a crop camera meaning there is no longer a problem with the long aperture lever scoring the plastic like it did with all the previous full frame cameras going back to film.  This is so great, now people can use my EdMika 0.5mm FD-EOS adapter in the normal orientation and not have to bend the aperture lever a bit to clear.

2.  The mirror is 0.45mm lower profile than the 5D2 and classic.  This means both my FL 55 1.2 and about to be released FD 55 1.2 family of lens kit almost makes it to infinity before mirror to rear lens contact.  I do wish the mirror design was like that of the 1D series because these are another 0.3mm lower profile and clear everything.  At least this is a step in the right direction.  Unless you are shooting the horizon you don't ever really have to worry about wether you should switch to live view to clear the mirror or not like with the 5D2 which contacts at about 25 feet focus (though really, live view is a must as far as I'm concerned if you really want to get exact focus accuracy.

The only step back from a manual lens usability point of view is moving the zoom in button from under the right thumb to a dedicated magnifying lens icon button to the left of the rear screen.  This is clunky especially since your left hand is busy focusing.  Also I sure would have loved Canon allowing a switchable focusing screen like in the 1D series. 

All in all I'm quite happy, the 5D3 is a beautiful piece of work that is going to give my 1D4 a run for the money on what I grab when heading out the front door.  I did do a quick test proving to myself that I can still get more fine detail out of a shot of my 1D4 over the 5D3 because of the extra reach of the 1.3 crop sensor.  This means it stays in my kit, if this didn't happen I'd be getting myself a second 5D3.  I was not a big fan of the 5D2 body apart from the hard to argue with great photographic results it generated with ease (which I know is what really counts but still).  The 5D3 seems to have addressed all my dislikes, many which are hard to qualify.

9

Software & Accessories / EdMika Adapters; the less fun side of selling

« on: March 04, 2012, 11:16:11 AM »

On February 2, I sold an EdMika FL 55 1.2 adapter kit to a buyer in New York.  Things have gotten lost in the mail before but everyone I have ever dealt with before has been really great to communicate with and I made sure they got their new items quickly or alternatively refunds if they would like (though none ever did). 

I was told by several people that if a negative rating/ comment would be left, it would not count towards my eBay overall rating if there was communication through the ebay message system.  Well, that’s apparently incorrect. Buyers and experiences like this are why I question why I bother selling on eBay or to be honest the way I'm feeling right now even develop these adapters.  It’s certainly not for the money because I’m still deep in the hole on my investment. I do this for fun and because of the - until now - universal support and helpful prodding from the photography enthusiast community.

Re-reading some of my responses I also see where I could have been more diplomatic in my responses but I think I was reacting to the perceived by me unfriendly tone of the buyers messages and the fact that here was a guy asking me to “fix things” two weeks into sending an international shipment.  Many of my global customers and particularly Germany sometimes have to live with up to 5 week delivery times often because of Customs backlogs and are always friendly and understanding about it.

I have now actually blocked this particular buyer, I really have no desire of ever dealing with him again (though I know that would have been unlikely anyway). I know I really just need to grow a thicker skin (on a side note illustrating this need to grow a thick skin well, it really bothered me to get my first smite or whatever its called here on CR the other day) and really try to follow the rule the customer is always right and that’s what I’ll strive to do. 

I just needed to come here and vent a bit so thanks for that.  cheers-Ed



FEBRUARY 2nd

Buyer XXX purchases an EdMika Canon FL 55mm 1.2 EOS brass conversion kit


FEBRUARY 17th

Hello,
Two weeks past and I didn't received my item.
The tracking # is invalid.
I was hoping to use your adapter for Valentine Day but it's failed.
How we going to resolve the issue?

Regards,
TXXy

FEBRUARY 17th

Dear m****z,

RW626954482CA is a valid tracking number: the below info is from usps.com
Processed Through Sort Facility
February 05, 2012, 5:29 am
ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
Registered Mail?
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Processed Through Sort Facility
February 04, 2012, 7:29 am
GUILDWOOD APT/TORONTO, CANADA
Acceptance
February 03, 2012, 2:11 pm
CANADA

Shipping from Canada to USA by registered mail takes 6-12 business days typically but occasionally it gets caught in customs for varying periods of time. I consider a package lost if it does not arrive within north america one month from the purchase date and 5 weeks for all other international destinations. If it gets to that point I send a replacement but this has only happened twice in over 200 sent. I have no control over customs delays and appreciate your understanding and patience. -Ed

-   ed_mika

FEBRUARY 24TH

A paypal dispute is filed by the buyer

From Buyer – XXXXX XXXXXX
2/24/2012 06:46 PST
Dear Seller,
I purchased the item 180807598906 from seller and I Paid on Feb-02-12 via PayPal.
On 17 Feb 2012 I'd contacted with seller to verify where is the item.
He provided a tracking # RW626954482CA but I still didn't received my item yet. I can't believe that shipping from Canada to US is longer than from Japan or Asia.
I'm asking a full refund including shipping cost

From Seller - Ed Mika
2/25/2012 08:08 PST
I have opened a mail delivery trace with Canada post, reference number 102867331. The original tracking number shows the package arriving in NY just 2days after sending. I have already informed the buyer that my policy is to consider an item lost in mail when shipping to the US 30 days from purchase. At that point I offer either a refund or a new item can be resent. Details from plugging the tracking number into USPS.com are shown below. It is also my policy that if a buyer escalates a paypal dispute to a claim ahead of the 1month period I will block such a buyer from purchasing any future EdMika adapter products that are currently available or in development.

[I know the last line in that comes off as rather harsh, I just knew that if a claim was filed I wouldn’t get the PayPal cut of the transaction back if they were forced to make a judgment]

RW626954482CA
Processed Through Sort Facility
February 05, 2012, 5:29 am
ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
Registered Mail™
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment
Processed Through Sort Facility
February 04, 2012, 7:29 am
GUILDWOOD APT/TORONTO, CANADA
Acceptance
February 03, 2012, 2:11 pm
CANADA

From Buyer – XXXXX XXXXX
2/25/2012 12:35 PST
There is no policy in seller's listing description describing above scenario "... item lost in mail when shipping to the US 30 days from purchase. At that point I offer either a refund or a new item can be resent." The seller sent me his afterwords fabricated "30 days policy" email where he could also say: "I will refund or resend an item after 60, 90, 180 days..." Again, there isn't any policy in seller's description at all.
And after all I just simply asked the seller to refund my money - he is threatening me by blocking me on eBay if I'll escalate this dispute to a PayPal claim.
Of course I will if I didn't receive a Full refund within 24 hours from this post and appropriate feed back for seller.
Thank you and happy weekend.
TXXy

[actually I had that policy listed on all my items until I started sending registered mail and dropped it since I didn’t think it was needed anymore.  I’m going to add that back in]

From Seller - Ed Mika
2/25/2012 13:20 PST
I will update my listings to make this lost in shipping policy clear. I am refunding you the purchase price, enjoy your free EdMika. If the postal trace determines that in the unlikely event the item was successfully delivered to you and that you simply opened this dispute process when you saw the delivery was unmarked in online tracking I will make it a point to widely circulate the news of your behavior. I have worked with several other buyers who have had their items get lost in the mail and I can honestly tell you that your tone, message and demands have been by far the least pleasant for me to deal with.

[The shipment tracking does show that package arrived in NY just days after sending and I’ve learned that many times the registered mail I send by does not indicate “item successfully delivered” which leaves me open to dishonest buyers who see this and use it as proof of non delivery even if the item arrives to them.  I’m not saying that’s the case here but there is a possibility of it.  The postal trace I started came back to me with the message that they can’t do anything until a month after shipment date.  I will certainly initiate one again next week and if I find it was in fact delivered I will take some sort of action.]

A Refund was issued.
2/25/2012 13:21 PST

MARCH 4TH

[The seller left me my first negative ever with the below comment and I lost my 100% feedback rating.]
Lost item Had file PayPal to get refund Seller was threatened me.Very impolite

MARCH 4th
[I sent the buyer a final note.]
Dear m****z,

Thanks for leaving me negative feedback after I fully refunded you only three weeks after internationally shipping you an item and after I had left you positive feedback. My first negative in 7 years btw.

-   ed_mika

10

Software & Accessories / EdMika relaunch of FL 55mm 1.2 EOS brass conversion kit

« on: January 29, 2012, 11:41:25 AM »

Hello all,

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180807598906?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_1648wt_1370

We finally have the FL 55mm 1.2 conversion kits ready to ship.  We have 31 on hand for now.  Our CNC machine has a problem with lubrication and is currently disassembled and the problem is now found and we will hopefully have everything back together in days.  Also I have less than 35 Dandelion reporting chips in stock and I have exhausted the global supply of them.  The plant in Russia thinks they will have another large batch ready to ship on Feb1.  Problem is it takes 2 weeks for them to arrive here in Canada with the only method they use for shipping.

Once those two hold ups are fixed, we are focusing on adjusting the design of our 0.5mm FD-EOS adapter slightly to ensure triggering of the mechanical switch in older EOS bodies.  After that our development work will focus on the three FD 55mm 1.2 lens versions.

11

Software & Accessories / EdMika adapter launch - 0.5mm FD-EOS dual-orientation adapter for super-teles

« on: January 08, 2012, 10:27:20 PM »

Hi everyone, after much new development we finally have the adapters that give infinity focus to all those white old FD manual focus Canon super-telephoto lenses available for sale replacing the old 0.75mm adapter design.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/180820985470?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_2100wt_1156
Edited to update ebay listing since its back up as I have received 45 more chips.
Edited again to update eBay link
cheers-Ed

12

Lenses / EdMika adapter launch - TS 35mm 2.8 FD - EOS conversion

« on: December 05, 2011, 07:40:32 AM »

We finally did it.  The learning and cost curve was pretty steep but we have a full blown machine shop in my father-in-law's garage now and have our first 15 production parts in hand with 60 being made before we switch our focus to making the updated 0.75mm EdMika EF-FD adapter which will be the rotated 0.5mm FD-EOS design followed by the FL 55mm 1.2 EOS kit, the FD 55mm 1.2 EOS kit, possibly a kit for the floating lens element Aspherical FD 55mm 1.2 and FD 85mm 1.2 lenses.  On the drawing board is work on all the fast nFD mount primes up to the 200mm 2.8.  The tilt shift EOS kit has just been listed on eBay http://www.ebay.ca/itm/170742432321?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1314

cheers-Ed Mika

13

Canon General / Canada Post is literally giving me an Ulcer - Ed Mika

« on: September 20, 2011, 05:08:46 PM »

I would like to solicit feedback from people who bought an adapter from me if and when they arrived.  We've been shipping internationally with Canada Post small packet air mail for about a year now with results being about a week to the US, 2 weeks to Europe, 3-4 weeks to Asia, Russia and Australia/NewZealand.  We have mailed out nearly 50 adapters since the canonrumors.com article was published on August 30th but I have heard of only one arriving anywhere yet.

Making matters worse, my chip supplier in Belarus sent 2x50 AF- confirmation chip shipments to me the same way as several times before that previously took about 6 days but now has taken over 20 days and waiting.  I ended the eBay listing after selling 14 adapters I could not yet ship when the chips continued to be delayed.  They still did not arrive today though according to tracking they passed out of customs in Montreal last Wednesday and are still sitting in Mississauga as of the weekend.

A friend of a friend works for Canada Post in Kitchener Ontario and he confirmed that since the postal strike was ended by the Government of Canada back to work legislation things have really slowed down and backlogs have built up with non priority mail.  He blames this on the lack of management approval for overtime but I feel most employees are unhappy with being forced back to work and probably are not giving it 100%.

I've talked with Craig who runs this website and his experience with Canada Post has been fine but he is shipping using the more expensive and tracked priority mail.  If I continue to use Canada Post going forward I will have to raise mailing prices to pay for this higher level shipping method.  Personally I'm so mad at Canada Post right now I'd happily go to Purolator or FedEX.

For those understandably frustrated buyers of my adapters still waiting for them to arrive please continue to be patient.  I will consider the adapters to be lost if they don't arrive to you after 4 weeks to North America and 5 weeks to everywhere else and at that time I will offer a full refund or will resend a new one probably using a different shipping service.

My sincerest apologies for this delay, we have photos taken at the post office of the front and back of each package we've sent out in all cases the same or next business day after your items were purchased.  you can email me at ebaydj@gmail.com if you would like me to send you the picture of your package to confirm your address and see the date it was sent to you.

Again, please comment on this thread if you are still waiting for your EdMika adapter to arrive, it would be helpful if you noted the date of purchase and the country you live in.  I'd especially like to hear from anyone who actually already got their adapters and when too.  Thanks-Ed Mika