Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“I think the 50mm lens is an extremely good discipline lens; it requires you to see in a more refined way, not just tighter.—William Albert Allard
The Canon FD lens mount was originally developed by Canon and was introduced in March, 1971 alongside the legendary Canon F-1. The FD mount served as Canon’s SLR standard interchangeable lens mount system through the release of the T60 in 1990. The T60 was the last manual focus FD-mount 35 mm SLR camera sold by Canon. The mount hung around hang around until the introduction of the Canon EOS series cameras, which used the then-new EF lens mount.
The FD mount replaced Canon’s earlier FL mount. FD-mount cameras can use FL lenses in stop-down metering mode.
For camera geeks only: Though never officially explained by Canon, one definition, according to Wikipedia anyway, was that the “FD” stands for “Focal-plane shutter with Dual linkage for diaphragm control.” In reality, there were two linkages and two signals: the automatic aperture lever, aperture signal lever, full aperture signal pin, and automatic exposure lock pin. This is two more that the previous FL lens series aka “Focal-plane shutter, Linked mount.”
Over the 21-plus years of its production, Canon introduced 134 FD lenses in different focal lengths ranging from 7.5mm through 1,200mm and nineteen different zoom ranges. The Canon FD system enjoyed popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and was used by more than a million users. If that sounds like a lot, keep in mind that Pentax manufactured over 24 million K-mount lenses.
How I Made this Photograph: For this image made during a PhotoWalk around downtown Parker, Colorado’s Victorian Square area, I mounted the FD 50mm f/1.8 on the Canon A-1 that I purchased from Japan* using eBay. Exposure was unrecorded. The Fuji Neopan 400 Professional was processed and scanned by The Darkroom in San Clemente, California.
The Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 lens
The myth of the 50mm lens and Henri Cartier-Bresson was that he preferred using that particular focal length with his Leica because it allowed the photograph to “breathe,” whatever the heck that means. In today’s digital vernacular, breathing refers to a lens shifting its angle-of-view when changing focus but my guess is that Cartier-Bresson was thinking something more existentially.
I own two FD-mount 50mm lenses: One is the standard FD 50mm f/1.8 lens and the other is Canon’s FD 50mm f/3.5 Macro lens. The latter is physically larger, slightly slower and has a much longer throw focusing-wise, I expect that’s because of it’s macro focusing ability. Like most of Canon’s FD lenses, the macro lens came in two versions: The older one. sometimes called “chrome ring” (it’s pictured at left and isn’t chrome) and the newer versions. sometimes called nFD, which mounts the way you expect a modern lens to attach to a camera body. The newer version, that I own, will focus from one-half life-size to infinity. An extension tube (FD50) that Canon sold will take it to 1:1.
The FD mount system, with its limited provision for auto-focus, is theoretically obsolete in today’s digital world. But Canon FD cameras and lenses are available for affordable prices on the used market. This makes the system attractive not only to film photographers but also filmmakers and video shooters, which explain the soaring prices for some FD lenses right now. And maybe that explains why I it cost almost eighty bucks for my FD 50mm f/1.8 lens from Roberts Camera.
Canon FD Resources says the FD 50mm f/1.8 lens is “one of the cheapest lens around and more importantly, also offers superb optical performance and is often referred to as the company’s yardstick in exhibiting their best in optical design and quality.” I agree.
Angle of view: Diagonal: 46 degrees Vertical: 27 degrees Horizontal: 40 degrees
Focusing: Helicoid
Minimum aperture: f/22
Diaphragm: Automatic
Filter Size. 52mm
Hood: BS-52
Lens Cap: C-52
Function: Auto Aperture, Full aperture metering (AE operation when used with ALL Canon automatic SLR cameras.
Length x max. diameter: 35mm x 63mm
Weight: 6 oz
*PostScript. Some readers have asked me about what it’s like to purchase a camera from Japan, like the Canon A-1 I used for this post, and if I thought that was a good idea to do so. Well, the process can be fun but will always be challenging if only because of language and cultural differences between Japan and the US. I created a video on this topic for my YouTube channel—Joe Farace’s Videos—and you can see it here.