Phillip, thanks for the article! I am a huge fan of old FD lenses and I love the photos you create with these lenses. I've got a few fd lenses that I've been using with my a7s and a7r. I actually commented on over on your site because one of my lenses (35-105/3.5) made your honorable mentions.
notherenow wrote:
Thanks Phillip. Very interesting.
I don't quite agree about the 50 1.2 FD L. Sold mine when I needed the money but I thought it was very nice even wide open (there is very little in focus at 1.2 but what there was, was sharp). When replacing, I was choosing between another FD 50 L, Mitakon 50 f0.95 and Sony Zeiss 55 1.8. I went for the Sony and am glad I did but it was close. I wanted at least one AF native prime so went against the 1.2 and being able to adapt it to other systems as well (unlike the two E mount lenses).
I love my FD 85 1.2 L(while old, mine is younger than some of the first version EF 85 1.2 L lenses) but mine has that dissolving bearings issue I think (AHHH, so THAT's what happened).
Three not on you list that I would love to see your take on-
24 1.4 FD L (I love mine even though it looks a bit ratty) this lens doesn't get as much love as I think it deserves. It is (probably) the lightest 24 1.4 going and so plays nicely on A7 series cameras and it is actually a very nice lens still.
Most of the focus ring is from .3m to 3m and only the last tiny fraction goes to infinity so it is not really a lens for landscapes (but still does ok stopped down I think). The price of these was just silly but has come down a bit sometimes.
FD L 80-200 f4. Again, I sold mine but was very happy with it and I think it is a lot better than the non L version.
The 35 TS 2.8 I have never owned this but it seems to still get some love.
...Show more →
The FD 1.2/50 L is certainly a nice lens and for it's performance it is remarkably small but I think other modern lenses deliver much better image quality for the same money.
About the FD 1.4/24 L I found no information, if you can point me to some full resolution images that would be great.
I have owned both the 80-200 L and TS 35 and they will be added in the next few days but Jannik had a part in those articles and hasn't found the time to finalize them yet.
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 7:30 AM
Looking at a 10 point Buck White Tail Deer in velvet
Fairly heavily cropped tripod mounted Canon new FD 500mm f4.5 L lens and A7r
ISO 200, f4.5, 1/640 second
Exposure corrected by +0.71 Stops; processed in LR6
August 14, 2015
At Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thead and taken at 7:06 AM
Looking at two 10 point Buck White Tail Deer in velvet
Tripod mounted Canon new FD 500mm f4.5 L lens and A7r
ISO 400, f4.5, 1/500 second
Exposure corrected by +0.36 Stops; processed in LR6
August 14, 2015
At Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 7:43 PM
Looking at 3 Doe White Tail Deer
Heavily cropped tripod mounted Canon new FD 500mm f4.5 L lens and Sony A7r camera
ISO 200, f4.5, 1/200 second
Exposure corrected by +0.12 Stops; processed in LR6
August 11, 2015
At Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
I tried out the FDn 200mm f2.8 and the Metabones SB attached to a NEX-7, walking around my woodlands yesterday. I have avoided this lens in the past due to the local CA, but I did find the results to be pleasing compared to a "bare" lens. Perhaps there is some reduction due to the SB, or wishful thinking on my part...
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken about 23 minutes before sunset
Looking at 2 Doe White Tail Deer
Fairly heavily cropped tripod mounted Canon new FD 500mm f4.5 L lens and A7r
ISO 200, f4.5, 1/200 second
Exposure corrected by +0.48 Stops; processed in LR6
August 13, 2015
At Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
