Which Canon FD zoom will I be happiest with

[Joshua Wein]

I have a canon A1 which I adore. I would never dream of upgrading to the AF
line. My favorite lens is my 50mm 1.4 - sharp as a tack and super fast when
I need it to be. I have always been a bit of an anti-zoom snob. I also have
the 135 2.8 and the 28 2.8. I recently went on vacation and only brought the
50mm, I did a lot of ambulatory zooming (walking). I came away with a pile
of great pictures.

Now my question is if I did want to buy a zoom for the FD mount which would
I be the happiest with? I would want it to range from maybe 28 to 85mm, not
a huge range. I would be more concerned with edge to edge sharpness and
image quality over speed, but usually the quality lenses are faster anyway.
I am a big fan of stopping down and using a tripod when the light is low,
but opening it up may come in handy.

Any recommendations out there? Was there an "L" class of lens for the
discerning pro that was made for the FD camera? I know it would be
expensive, but you always have to pay for quality. If anyone can help,
thanks in advance.

-Joshua Wein

[pa...@columbusoft.com]

The 35-105 f3.5 is said to be an excellent lens. You can find them
used at KEH and eBay.

Paul

In article <%0C54.2685$Nr4....@news1.wwck1.ri.home.com>,

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Before you buy.

[Tony Zipple]

The Vivitar Series 1 zooms from the late 70's and early 80's were great. There
was a 35-85 f/2.8 variable focus lens, 72 mm filter size, (not a true zoom
because you needed to adjust focus as length changed) that was super. It was big
for its time, though smaller than the EF 28-70 L. I had one and it put the late
70's Canon zooms to shame. Makes you wonder what happened to Vivitar because
they are no longer the leaders that they were then. I used it as my main lens
for years even though I had a 50 mm f/1.4. if you find one in good shape, grab
it.

The lens was replaced with a 28-90 Series 1 that was also pretty good and a bit
smaller/lighter but not as fast, f/ 2.8-3.5, I think. Even though I used it a
lot I never liked it as well as the 35-85. Not as fast or quite as sharp. I had
one for several years because I discovered that my 35-85 did not bounce very
well.... but that is another story.

[KB]

Most Canon FD folks would recommend the 35-105/3.5 zoom. This is the
older version with the fixed maximum aperture. It is a two-touch zoom,
takes 72mm filters (IIRC), and should have been an 'L' series lens, IMHO.

Another good choice is the 28-85/4 zoom, if you prefer the wider angle.

Both of these lenses are usually in stock at places like KEH (http://www.keh.com).

Ken

[Rupunzel_B]

Joshua Wein wrote:
>

> Now my question is if I did want to buy a zoom for the FD mount which would
> I be the happiest with? I would want it to range from maybe 28 to 85mm,

*Canon made a 28 to 85 mm f4 zoom. It's pretty good. They are a
bit hard to find.

> Any recommendations out there? Was there an "L" class of lens for the
> discerning pro that was made for the FD camera? I know it would be
> expensive, but you always have to pay for quality. If anyone can help,
> thanks in advance.

In "L" zooms for FD; 20-35 f3.5, 50-300 mm ( I'm not sure about
the mm range) f4.5, 80-200 mm f4

> -Joshua Wein

Bernice >^_^<

[Hans H. Siegrist]

Joshua

In the range you specified you will find the FD 28-85 mm f/4, the FD 35-
105 mm f/3.5 and the later FD 35-105 mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lenses. Canon
didn't make any "L" lenses in that range. "L" zooms were the FD 20-35
mm f/3.5 L, FD 24-35 mm f/3.5 L (an older model), FD 50-300 mm f/4.5 L,
FD 80-200 mm f/4 L, FD 100-300 mm f/5.6 L and the FD 150-600 f/5.6 L
lenses.
Have a look at www.ebay.com where you will easily find the mid-range
zooms. The extreme wide angle and tele zoom are much rarer.

Personally, I use the FD 28-85 mm f/4 very often on a T70 for travel
and family pictures. The optical quality of the lens is excellent.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Hans

In article <%0C54.2685$Nr4....@news1.wwck1.ri.home.com>,

"Joshua Wein" <jaye...@home.com> wrote:
> I have a canon A1 which I adore. I would never dream of upgrading to
the AF
> line. My favorite lens is my 50mm 1.4 - sharp as a tack and super
fast when
> I need it to be. I have always been a bit of an anti-zoom snob. I
also have
> the 135 2.8 and the 28 2.8. I recently went on vacation and only
brought the
> 50mm, I did a lot of ambulatory zooming (walking). I came away with a
pile
> of great pictures.
>

> Now my question is if I did want to buy a zoom for the FD mount which
would
> I be the happiest with? I would want it to range from maybe 28 to

85mm, not
> a huge range. I would be more concerned with edge to edge sharpness
and
> image quality over speed, but usually the quality lenses are faster
anyway.
> I am a big fan of stopping down and using a tripod when the light is
low,
> but opening it up may come in handy.
>

> Any recommendations out there? Was there an "L" class of lens for the
> discerning pro that was made for the FD camera? I know it would be
> expensive, but you always have to pay for quality. If anyone can help,
> thanks in advance.
>

[C. J. Morgan]

Joshua Wein wrote:
> Now my question is if I did want to buy a zoom for the FD mount which would
> I be the happiest with? I would want it to range from maybe 28 to 85mm, not
> a huge range.

There use to be a Canon FD lens around this range, but I haven't seen one
in a long while. Meantime, for my own part, I've been using a 20-35mm f/3.5
and a 35-105mm f/3.5mm. Both good FD lenses.
C.J.
--
C.J. Morgan
ch...@torfree.net