So I guess I am on my own?

@mee but the aperture/iris doesn't actually move? If yes, then it's stuck.

@mee it could be that the aperture is stuck. Is the aperture ring rotating?

Thanks Allenswrench, I really appreciate it, and will put the lens to good use. I will PM you my address.

Well, you can buy a small uplighter in Ikea, and leave the lens on it...that in a week or so gets rid of the yellow hue. Canon did measurements, and if they are to be trusted, the lifetime exposure to carrying this lens on your body is neglible. However, the breech and nFD lenses could not be more different. The breech FDs are very "dark and deep" looking as people tend to say, and after that, the nFDs tend to almost look "blue" or cold. Off course, this is nonsense, as the Samyangs look very "gray" and "sharpened" and they are way more extreme designs (but newer). Really, the old FDs are hit or miss.... most of them don't work with follow focus, but you have to admire the optics and heavy metal make. The nFDs are (from what I have seen) super matched to BCD RAW so many fans will jump onto it, making 70ties clips nobody wants to see. The most ridiculous was the appearance of the RED FD adapter that fried a couple of Epics and Scarlets...I GUESS it's not ready for primetime yet! However, the FDs shot up in price.....

Hi @mee , first of all thanks for elaborating exactely along the lines. I will send you the lens regardless of what opinions are (please PM me for address etc). Please note also that I always write "exactely" in stead of exactly as it makes it easy to google my posts on different sites. I hope the 35 will help you in your storytelling - it sure is very special. There were 2 reasons why it was in the "egg basket"; first, it was an older breech FD, seeming more yellow and contrasty (contrast allegedly due to thorium), and secondly, since its huge focus ring was not made for follow focus and it would move while pulling focus. So, this one is going to Japan :) All my Fd's are my children, and although all being originally japanese, my final set came from all over :)

24 f2 from Japan 28 f2 from @mimirsan (very nice forum member in the UK) 35 f2 from Canada 50 f1,2 from Germany 85 f1,8 from the UK and a non FD 12mm f1,6 from Netherlands (but actually from China)

As I am getting rid of my "egg basket", another 2 lenses will be available... sorry no 35 f2 or so, but I have excellents nFD copies of 50mm 1,8 and nFD 28mm 2,8 . I kept these in case something happened to my fabulous 5 but now I will be giving them away.

@allenswrench that's quite the offer.

I suppose I should have mentioned some other facts about the videos. 1st, I was using a tripod 2nd in the big cat shot I was at near maximum zoom in Ex Tele, and was also probably at F8. Vimeo added a bunch of unpleasant noise to the big cat shot. With the Elephant I was also very zoomed in, though I can't remember if it was Ex Tele mode or not. With the elephant shot I started wide open at f5.6 and stopped it down to 11 I believe. I don't think I messed with the film speed while recording, though it is possible. Then with the Red Panda I was zoomed in, but I am guessing not on ex tele, at this point I had pretty decent light so was probably at F11 or greater. The film speeds I used throughout the day were 125 and 250 for some of the faster animals, but these were likely all 125.

So now to answer your questions.

I am happy with this lens. I chose this lens simply because it was available, it was lighter than other FD's available in my price range and I wanted a zoom lens so I could do a combination of wild life shooting, landmark spotting from hilltops, and candid crowd shots in Tokyo.

I bought the GH2 because I have wanted to make films as far back as I can remember, but it was never within my reach to have the equipment to do this with. Being that the GH2 pretty much coincided with my move to Japan, and many things I wanted to film as a tourist it just made sense to make the leap now, since even if I don't achieve my dreams of making films I will have some wonderful images of Japan to remember for the rest of my life, as well as sharing them with friends and family.

As for what type of filming I want to do with the GH2, it is a pretty wide spectrum. I am planning some documentary's, some short films, and a feature for when I am more comfortable using this camera adequately. I really love filming nature, and traditional life in Japan as well. I also have plans to start filming local car shows and skaters (skateboarders), and I have just started working on claymation. I am an atypical ADD case, so I need to be doing many things if I want to do anything.

Here's a few more videos shot with the 100-300mm lens. Any feedback, bad or good would be appreciated. I am definitely still getting the hang of the lens, so I mean feedback on the lens, not the cameraman. Their are about 4 soft vertical lines in the cat video (one through the right eye), this is from out of focus cage bars in the foreground, not the lens.

Feedback on the lens por favor.

@chazzmoe interesting bit of info. I was not aware of this. What is the reason for the high radiation levels in some lenses?

Being that I moved to Tokyo in March of 2011, I have a pretty decent Geiger counter/dosimeter. I am happy to say non of my three FD lenses showed any rise in radiation. Granted everything is radiated here, but it was a bit lower than usual day when I tested yesterday, at just .10 millisieverts per hour (average is about .13 from central tokyo to kyoto). I forget what the cfm conversion is, but the noise in that video you posted sounded pretty extensive. My counter is beep, or vibration based, though it does use a Mueller tube. If anyone is truly worried about their particular lens model, make post it here, and my next outing I will do my best to test lenses at the shop. I suspect most employees will find this interesting and allow it.

I received my FD adapters from Cieco7 a couple days ago, and finally had a chance to do some tests in my back yard this morning. This is the FD 100-300mm 5.6 lens w/Macro Version II. Same body as L version, and I have read some promising reviews. I am no expert though, so I appreciate feedback on what you folks think of this lens. All videos were shot with Driftwoods VY Canis Majoris Night (will test with day soon), with setting at standard 0 0 0 0

first video was shot wide open at 5.6 with 125 shutter speed and ISO 640 Second video was shot at either F8 or F11 with 125 shutter speed and ISO 640 third video was shot in EX TELE wide open at 5.6 with 125 shutter speed at ISO 640 fourth video was shot in EX TELE at maximum zoom wide open at 5.6 with 125 shutter speed at ISO 640

On a side note, the Cieco7 adapaters are great, however I cannot personally recommend buying the one with the tripod mount because it wobbles too much. I had to place a sock under the lens, and back of the camera to get it someone stable. Next tests I will try it with the regular adapter, and just mount the camera to the tripod. I expect better results. I think Cieco7 could fix this design flaw by making two contact points with the adapter, one towards the front and the current rear one. Or even a solid piece from front to back. Literally anytime I touched the lens to focus or zoom the wobble was unbearable. Considering the point of the tripod mount is to use with TELE lenses that will be more sensitive to movement this seems a necessary fix.

Also after much complication due to the lack of a paypal account, I finally managed to order two Cieco7 FD adapters last week. One with the mount for heavier lenses, one without. I plan on gifting one of them to my father who recently picked up a GF3. He will never get anything other than the 14-42 if I don't open the door for him a bit. I have to wait a bit because Japans post offices are closed due to golden week, so three FD lenses now taunt me until hopefully next week sometime.

@lenuisible I guess it is a matter of personal preference as well, but I find the nFD have a better build quality. All the older FDs I have are rickety and move when used with a follow focus = ruined shot. Also, the thorium lenses are inevitably yellowish to some extent. nFDs I have, on the other hand are compact, sharp and with pure colors. Even the SLR Magic 12mm t1.6 has a pretty similar look, which is why I got it as the widest FD I have is 24mm. If I try to mix the old FDs with the nFDs, the difference is so huge it's incredible.

At one point I was going to sell my set of FD lenses but I'm glad I didn't as I have a very affordable alternative to MFT lenses. For cinematic use it's great since they are much easier to focus manually. I use the ciecio7 adapter for the build quality. My only wish is that it had a lever or switch to go from stop down mode to wide open (easier to focus when the aperture is open all the way). Having to click the aperture ring all the way back to wide open is kind of a pain sometimes.

I have the nFD 50/1.8. The 1.4 version is probably sharper at first but I think I'd invest in another prime before getting the better version.