Matthew Sovern , Sep 04, 2010; 08:58 p.m.
I have a vivitar 220/sl and 3 canon fd lenses. Is there a mount to join the lenses with the vivitar camera body?
JDM von Weinberg 
, Sep 04, 2010; 09:25 p.m.
Only a relatively small number of cameras had "flange to focal plane differences" less than the Canon FD mount at 42mm. The M42 cameras are 45.5, so even if you could find an adapter, the FD lens could only be used as a macro lens and would not focus to infinity (unless an optically degrading minus lens were in the adapter).
The short answer is no. The other way around (using M42 lenses on a Canon FD mount body is simple with a cheap adapter).
See Bob Atkins' page on adapting Canon lenses and various makes of camera (LINK).
Dave Sims 
, Sep 04, 2010; 09:39 p.m.
No. At least for practical purposes, no. Forget the idea.
You can put most other manufacturers' lenses (including M42) on a Canon FD body. On the other hand, you generally can't use Canon FD lenses on other camera bodies. (There are important exceptions to both rules, which I won't go into here.)
It's like having Type AB blood, the so-called 'universal recipient'. Canon FD is the universal lens recipient, but it makes a lousy lens donor. The reason is a lens design parameter called the 'registration distance', which is shorter for Canon FD than for most other cameras.
You can use an M42 lens on a Canon FD camera easily, and mount adapters are easy to find. However, if you put a Canon FD lens on an M42 camera, you won't be able to focus it out to infinity.
I've never seen a Canon FD to M42 adapter. I suspect a few might have been made, maybe by Novoflex or maybe custom-machined. It would only be useful for close-up work. There's better solutions.
[Edit: quasi-simultaneous post with JDMvW. Great minds think alike.]
Matthew Sovern , Sep 04, 2010; 09:58 p.m.
Thank you. I appreciate the detailed explanation.
JDM von Weinberg , Sep 04, 2010; 10:06 p.m.
Indeed. While you're editing and such like, you can't see what anyone else is posting so this happens a lot with new posts especially. Things quiet down as time passes. :)
Bob Miller , Sep 21, 2010; 12:36 p.m.
Dave Sims wrote, "I've never seen a Canon FD to M42 adapter. I suspect a few might have been made, maybe by Novoflex or maybe custom-machined. It would only be useful for close-up work. There's better solutions."
I bought a cheap off-brand one like this years ago. It adds roughly 20mm of extension as I recall. It's also useful for mounting an FL or FD lens onto an extension bellows made for M42 mount.
