IronGlass Canon FD AIR Rehousing Announced – Vintage Character, Compact Package

Lens News

by Francesco AndreolaMarch 27^th, 2026

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IronGlass has just announced that it is now expanding its AIR rehousing design to selected Canon FD lenses. This modification, aimed at mirrorless camera systems, greatly enhances the usability of these lenses for video production, while offering a more compact footprint compared to traditional PL-mount rehousing designs.

Canon FD lenses are one of, if not the, most popular options among vintage lens enthusiasts, thanks to their balance of excellent image quality and “film-like” characteristics. However, repurposing these lenses for video can prove quite challenging. Indeed, a budget-friendly cine-mod doesn’t overcome the mechanical limitations of their photographic design, while a proper rehousing process does but at a prohibitive cost for most.

Introduced at the beginning of this year, IronGlass’s AIR rehousing platform sits between these two extremes by offering a compact, lightweight, more affordable alternative to traditional PL-mount rehousing formats, developed with modern mirrorless camera systems in mind.

IronGlass Canon FD AIR – vintage look, modern build, tiny in size

Initially, the AIR platform was built around popular Soviet-era lenses, but the company is now extending this concept to selected Canon FD lenses. Particularly, the modification applies to the following focal lengths:

• FD 20mm f/2.8
• FD 28mm f/2
• FD 35mm f/2
• FD 50mm f/1.4
• FD 85mm f/1.8
• FD 100mm f/2.8

The Canon FD character is packed into a mirrorless-oriented lens body with a user-interchange mount. Available mount options for Canon FD AIR rehousing include Canon RF, FUJIFILM GF, Leica L, Leica M, Nikon Z, and Sony E.

Of course, IronGlass can also rehouse the lenses with a stainless steel PL mount via its high-end conversion process, which was also recently extended to Canon FDs. However, the compact AIR design provides a completely different level of flexibility when used on a gimbal, the Ronin 4D, or specialty camera rig, for example.

Once modified, the lenses will be mechanically consistent across the set with an 80mm front diameter, 77mm front filter thread, internal focus mechanism, 180° focus throw, unified position of focus and iris gears, a 15-blade aperture, as well as clear T-stop and focus markings.

Price and availability

The new IronGlass AIR Rehousing for Canon FD lenses is now available to pre-order from the company’s website. Pricing is set at $1,950 per lens if you provide the donor glass, or $2,250 – $2,500 per piece if you’d like IronGlass to source the lenses for you. Shipping should start in Q1 2027. For more information, please visit IronGlass’ website here.

Do you own a set of Canon FD lenses? Would you consider investing in IronGlass’ AIR rehousing? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!