This lens took 6 visits to the same antique store, before it was in my possession. The shop owner couldn’t decide on a price.
My copy is in good condition, there are some spots on the rear element and a few odd dust flecks near the front, but as far as I can tell they don’t really affect image quality.
HANDLING
One of the strongest sides of the nFD 50/1.4 in my opinion is it’s size and weight. I hear you screaming at your monitor – “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FAST APERTURE?!” I am ignoring your outrage.
With a weight of 235 grams, this lens is a bit heavier than the Sony FE 50/1.8. , with the added benefit of being faster – it’s small enough that you can pop it in your bag and forget about it. [Don’t forget your adapter, been there done that. Multiple times.]
I like the build quality, it doesn’t feel cheap, the aperture and focus rings are smooth and pleasant to use. [Keep in mind I’m comparing this to lenses of it’s time, not 1 kg gram all metal lenses made to be passed down through generations.]
On a Canon FD mount camera it would be really small, but when you add a Sony E mount adapter, it gets as big as the Sony FE 50/1.8.
OPTICAL PERFORMANCE
I wrote this review when I had different categories in each review, so the structure is a bit different.
Wide Open [at f1.4]: A dreamy, slightly lowered contrast look – it reminds me of shooting on film. The heavy vignetting adds to that old timey look. A lot of spherical aberrations. Sharpness is okay, but with the thin depth of field you might end up missing a few shots[or most shots.] I wouldn’t shoot it focused at infinity at 1.4 , unless you want slightly hazy looking images.
Stopping down [f2 to f8]
At f2, you get a wider depth of field and increased sharpness and contrast – this lens begins to shine. This is where I used the lens most for the month I shot with it. [Why didn’t I grab my 50/1.8 if so?] Vignetting is still visible.
Fast forward to f8 – This is where my copy performs best, sharpness is good center to corners and I feel comfortable at it. Vignetting is gone and contrast is good.
Flare & Distortion
I find that flaring is well controlled, you can force flaring, which will lower your contrast, but hey, you can do that with most lenses. A lens hood improves things to the point where I’ve had no issues with flare.
There is some barrel distortion, which you might notice when shooting architecture – but you usually don’t get a f1.4 lens for that, so I wouldn’t say it’s that much of a problem.
Colors & Contrast:
I like the way this lens renders colors, it produces vibrant and well saturated images.
Wide open, images have lowered contrast, giving images a hazy look. Stopping down does wonders for this lens and bring contrast to an acceptbable level
FINAL THOUGHTS
I like the Canon [n]FD 50/1.4 – it’s a light lens, with reasonable sharpness and contrast and a lot of character. [for some reason I associate it with the color blue.]
Compared to modern and other vintage lenses it’s not that expensive – it usually goes for less than than the M42 mount Super Takumar 50mm 1.4
If you really must have a fast 50mm prime, this is as good of a lens as the next – but hey – do you really need that 1.4 aperture? That’s up to you to decide. I’m just some text on a screen
Conclusion: I’m quite happy with both lenses overall. If I were building a vintage Canon system, I would be well served by either lens. For use on a digital body, either will serve up beautiful images with a small side order of nostalgia.
In this review I’ll be taking a closer look at my current 50mm lens of choice, the Canon FD 50 1.4. I’ve been using this lens for most of my shoots for over 6 months now and I decided that it’s finally time to share my thoughts about it.
Due to their incapability with Canon EF mount, FD lenses do not enjoy the same popularity as Nikon alternatives, which fortunately for some of us makes them some of the best value for money vintage lenses.
CANON FD 50mm F1.4 is a perfect example of great value for money. This is a fast F1.4 prime lens that can be bought on ebay for as little as $50. In comparison to not particularly impressive, modern Canon EF 50mm F1.4 [see this test] which will set you back $400, the FD version is an absolute bargain. For me it’s also better than Canon EF version in almost every way, expect for auto-focusing, which is more useful for photography rather than video anyway. Both EF and FD version are plastic, but FD is a much more solid lens with a butter smooth, long throw [approx 200°] focusing ring. In comparison EF version has a flimsy, not particularly smooth focus ring which will break if you give it a change; I should know as I once broke the focusing ring on the Canon EF 50mm F1.4 just from a gentle knock, which would do absolutely nothing to the FD version. The focusing ring on FD version of course has hard stops, which are essential for proper follow focus use and there are plenty of M and FT marks on the barrel to help you focus accurately. The lens is really lightweight at just 235g, which can be a great thing or not so much depending on how you like them. Please don’t mistake it with the feel of Canon EF 50mm F1.8, the nifty-fifty, because FD 50mm F1.4 still feels solid at this rather light weight.
Combine the FD 50mm F1.4 with a $150 Lens Turbo II you have yourself a 54mm F1.0 [full frame equivalent] on Super35 camera like my Sony FS100.
When it comes to image quality, unlike Canon EF version, FD 50mm is not a boring lens. It has plenty of character which is partially why I love vintage lenses so much. When it hits the sun, this lens flares absolutely beautifully, which reminds me of the flares produced by the legendary Canon K35 cine lenses [rumors are that they are themselves based on Canon FD lenses which is a very good thing, if it’s actually true]. When used in controlled lighting situations [or with no direct light] the FD 50mm F1.4 produces high contrast, vibrant images with match modern lenses much better than some other vintage 50mm F1.4 lenses like Olympus OM [see this test] which is the reason why I eventually picked FD 50mm F1.4 as a low light partner to my Sony 18-200mm [non creative] all rounder.
Combination of low contrast dreamy look and high contrast vibrancy [see video below] makes this lens a great creative choice.
This isn’t the sharpest lens wide open; the images are a little dreamy and lack critical sharpness [similar to Canon EF 50mm F1.4], therefore I used to use this lens at around F2-2.8 for best results, but as video above hopefully proves, Lens Turbo II really improves the sharpness at F1.4 to the point where I’m perfectly happy using it wide open if I need to. Lens Turbo ll also reduces already minimal chromatic aberration. This review is not about the Lens Turbo adapter, but if you are using Canon FD lenses on Sony E-mount cameras, this adapter will make your lenses so much more special!
No lens is perfect, so let’s now take a look at some pros and cons of this lens
Pros:
- Incredibly affordable for a 50mm F1.4 [from $50]
- Smooth focus ring with hard stops & multiple M/FT marks
- Approx 200° focusing rotation for precise manual focusing
- 17 click-stop aperture settings for precise exposure/depth of field adjustment
- Multi-layer Super Spectra Coating for high contrast and consistent colour balance
- Beautiful mix warm/purple flares for creative old-school look
- 0.45cm closest focusing distance for nice close ups
- Quirky Bokeh wide open [subject to taste]
Cont:
- Not sharp wide open [at least without Lens Turbo ll]
- External Plastic Construction [not as solid as many other fully metal vintage lenses]
- Flares Easily [can be a problem in certain situation when you want to preserve high contrast]
- FD mount is a little fiddly making quick lens changes more difficult
- Bokeh might not be to everyone’s taste and 8 blade aperture means that it’s not perfectly circular when aperture is stepped down.
For me pros massively out weight the cons, but it’s good to see a full picture and I would definitely recommend this lens to any Sony E-mount or M4/3 user!
By the way as you might notice on ebay, there are actually 3 versions of this lens. The black version [with green FT lens markings] that you see in my review is the latest one. A version with silver locking ring and orange M lens markings is actually an older version and FL version [rather than FD] is the oldest out of 3. The older versions might look more impressive, but just keep in might that the newer version is actually the one that is suppose to be the best performer. I haven’t tested 3 of them yet, so can’t really say if there is much truth in that.
Either way, if the price is right, you probably won’t be disappointed by either of them.
Feel free to share your thoughts and your own experiences with Canon FD lenses in the comments section below.
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What is a 50mm 1.4 lens good for?
The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens is very useful for low-light indoor photography when a flash is not permitted, appropriate or desired. It works very well in a church or gym for example. The 50 f/1.4 is a good lens and focal length for full-body portraits.
Is Canon 50mm worth it?
If you're looking to buy one lens for your camera, the Canon 50mm is a great option due to its versatile focal length and affordability. It can capture body shots, close-up portraits, without distorting the face, as well as product and detail images. The 50mm is also a prime lens, meaning it has a fixed focal length.
At what aperture is Canon 50mm sharpest?
The edges of images are perceptibly soft from f/1.8-f/2.8, but by the time you stop the lens down to f/4 and f/5.6 corner sharpness improves. Users who want to find the sweet spot and achieve ultimate sharpness should use the lens between f/8 and f/11.
Is Canon FD 50mm 1.4 radioactive?
Unlike the Takumar or FL 58mm, this lens is not radioactive and will not yellow. Great for portraits as well as general photography. But sometimes a touch too sharp for portraits!