Advice on FD zoom lens

Scott F

Scott F

Pug Life
Hello all.

I've been so busy with work, haven't been able to pour over these threads like I should. I've been living in a cave, is the FS100 even relevant anymore? Well, I still like it. :grin:

I'm quite happy with the look of the Canon FD lenses and I love being able to change my aperture with no fuss. I have 2 fixed lenses, a 50mm and a 28mm. But I'm thinking for run-n-gun type work, I would love to have a zoom if I can get it on the cheap. This one LINK is nice, but only opens up to 4.

Does anyone have any FD recommendations for a zoom, maybe going down to 2.8? I would love to keep the purchase under $200 and 24-70 works great for me. (i love my EOS 24-70 but don't have the budget for a Metabones or similar)

best,
Scott
 
I have an FD 30-105 f3.5 and personally I think the modern Canon zooms are much better. While Primes have not changed a lot, zooms have. The biggest issue with the FD zoom is that the minimum focus distance is around 3.5 feet while the modern EOS 24-105 f4 is around 1.5 feet. That's a huge difference and frankly the FD is kind of a pain to use just because of that issue. Plus the FD, at least the one I have, only has 5 blades so crappy bokeh.
 
Scott F said:
Hello all.

I've been so busy with work, haven't been able to pour over these threads like I should. I've been living in a cave, is the FS100 even relevant anymore? Well, I still like it. :grin:

I'm quite happy with the look of the Canon FD lenses and I love being able to change my aperture with no fuss. I have 2 fixed lenses, a 50mm and a 28mm. But I'm thinking for run-n-gun type work, I would love to have a zoom if I can get it on the cheap. This one LINK is nice, but only opens up to 4.

Does anyone have any FD recommendations for a zoom, maybe going down to 2.8? I would love to keep the purchase under $200 and 24-70 works great for me. (i love my EOS 24-70 but don't have the budget for a Metabones or similar)

best,
Scott
Click to expand...

I've got a FD mount 28-90 f2.8-3.5. I like the way it looks, but it's bigger and
heavier than modern zooms. Here is a little test video I shot with that lens

http://vimeo.com/33798772
 
There's a Tamron Adaptall-2 35-105mm f2.8 that occasionally shows up in manual focus for under $200. My copy was no sharper than the Vivitar 28-90mm, but it is a constant-aperture f2.8.

The Canon FD 28-85mm f4 is sharper than either of those lenses, and focuses quite a bit closer than the FD 35-105mm .... but it's only f4. (I have one going on EBay soon, if you are interested).
 
Guys, thanks for the quick feedback. akcameradude, that video is great, and perfectly acceptable by my standards as far as the lens goes! maybe i'll be on the hunt for that one.

Primes are wonderful, but in some cases, I just want to be able to zoom. Ahhhhh, if I go all in on a Metabones, one of these days I'll be able to rock my modern lenses.
 
Scott F said:
Guys, thanks for the quick feedback. akcameradude, that video is great, and perfectly acceptable by my standards as far as the lens goes! maybe i'll be on the hunt for that one.

Primes are wonderful, but in some cases, I just want to be able to zoom. Ahhhhh, if I go all in on a Metabones, one of these days I'll be able to rock my modern lenses.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know what you mean. I shoot a lot of stuff that primes just are not practical for.
I've actually bought the Metabones and some canon glass, including a 28-105 f2.8 so
i don't really use that FD mount zoom anymore. I still like the look of the FD mount lenses,
my main objection is that I don't like 'rigging' up my FS100 very often, usually shoot
barebones. That FD mount zoom is just heavy enough that if you are going to use it
for very long, you will want lens support. Anyways if you want the lens, I'll sell it to
you for $20. I only paid like $65 off eBay for it. Like I said though it is heavy enough that
you usually want some kind of lens support. Something about the old FD lenses though....
they are maybe a little 'smoother' then newer glass. Some people have told me it looks
more like film, others have said less detailed....I dunno what it is but just a different look than
the really new glass. I like it myself.
 
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