I just bought a Canon EF for cheap as the electronics are iffy. The only fd lens I have is the 50mm 1.8 but it has a little fungus in so I went on eBay and I couldn’t believe the prices. Hard pressed to find a 50mm 1.8 for under £40 and they generally look like someone pulled it out of their cupboard. I bought my 50mm 1.8 for £12 a few years ago. I also got the 50mm 1.4, which I stupidly sold, for under £100. Can’t believe how much they’ve gone up by
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Canon Fd lens price jump
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Yes, prices have shot up in the last two or three years.
My Canon FT-QL and AE-1 cost me roughly £10 each a few years back. Now they could, it seems, go for 10X that, if the prices asked are to be believed. This TLb with a f1.8 lens cost £25, around the same time. I sold it for twice that less than a year later and thought I was doing incredibly well!
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I have FD's from 24 to 85mm and was thinking of advertising them for sale here but my experience advertising my Nikon lenses has put me off as I hardly got a nibble and only sold one Series E 28mm. There may be demand on ebay as it's a much larger audience but demand here on this site seems weak so I'll probably have to ring a dealer at some point. I have a load of Nikon, Olympus, Canon FD and Minolta primes which aren't getting used and should really go. I did think that now that Canon and Nikon have brought out mirrorless cameras demand might rise but on this site at least it appears not.
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Well I'm not an expert on "EF" lenses and only have two zooms for my EF cameras, but for FD (and same for all other makes of cameras)...... 50mm, 135mm and 35mm even 28mm were so common optically for VG results that there weren't many makes of crap lenses, so assuming same for Canon EF you could check on reviews of 3rd party lenses for EF lenses and they should be cheaper. e.g Tamron etc
The Canon EF is and FD mount camera. It’s the cheaper version of the Canon F1. I hadn’t really thought about 3rd party actually. I did have a cheap 3rd party 28mm fd lens a long time ago and didn’t have any complaints. Other than it felt worn, but it was £10
I’d be interested in a 35mm and/or a 50mm. However I probably don’t want to pay what they are currently worth according to eBay lol. I’m being a bit cheap at the moment, need to buy some camping equipment for a trip in april
Their good lenses from my experience and I suppose £30-£50 for a decent 50mm 1.8 isn’t too much to ask really, it just seems a bit crazy when they were all over eBay for £10-£20. I remember I got a canon A1 with a 50mm 1.8, a bag, a couple of filters and a canon point and shoot for £50
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AH! thinking of when Canon dropped FD mount lenses for new EF mount.
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Unfortunately, if you are looking for a 50mm, there were not very many decent third party options for FD, nor even that many for 35mm either. Third parties tended to go for telephotos and zoom lenses and the occasional ultrawide.
Vivitar did a few 50mm designs, and 35mm in f/2,8 and f/1.9 variants which may be worth looking at,, but I have no experience with them myself
Vivitar did a few 50mm designs, and 35mm in f/2,8 and f/1.9 variants which may be worth looking at,, but I have no experience with them myself
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Yea it was confusing on eBay. Pages of lenses come up!
I’m looking for ether a 35mm or a 50mm really. I’d prefer a 35mm as I have a 50mm equivalent on my Fuji already. I’d like the 23mm f2 for it but not for £300 second hand, at least not at the moment
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For FD....Sigma 24mm superwide II is VG so is the Vivitar 135mm f2.8 (starting with serial no 28), but most of my prime Canon lenses were bought when people were throwing film gear away so didn't bother with 3rd party lenses other than hidden gems mentioned also a few 3rd party zooms I have are VG.
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Well it is well known the Canon FDn 35mm f2.8 is an excellent lens (I have it), maybe you could find an excuse to treat yourself. The only complaints for FDn lenses (not so much for FD) is that they are more plastic and the method of focussing, play etc can be a problem due to lubricant drying out, so worth checking if buying one. But then buying old lenses for any make can be a problem.
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Is the FD lenses the collar mount and the FDn thr bayonet?
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Yes, the earlier style is known as ‘breechblock’
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Breech-lock.
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A few people have a problem with breechlock and the secret is to turn the collar fully to the left, then mount, then screw to the right to lock..an advantage of breechlock is taking out the play if the lens developes one.
Is that the only advantage? The breechlock lenses seem to be a little cheaper, not significantly so but £30 for the 50mm 1.8 is pretty much as high as I’d want to go. The newer ones seem to be £40-£50
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I’m typing on my phone, so cut me some slack
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A quick look on ebay for 50/1.8 FD lenses took me by surprise as well. There are lots with fungus, for example, going for £20 upwards, even one with a jammed diaphragm for £30! Madness. I'm just lucky I got one way back for next to nothing.
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FDn lenses are easier to mount and dismount one-handed and weigh less than their older equivalents
Prices does vary from lens to lens - the breech-lock FD 85mm f/1.2 Aspherical goes for several times the price of an FDn 85mm f/1.2L because it’s popular with the cinema guys
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Well can't think of any other advantages for breechlock (but they are a bit more heavier) as bayonet lenses are much easier to use (the worst are screw lenses).....but I have the breechlock 50mm f1.8, also FDn 50mm f1.8 and F1.4 and haven't tested them together for sharpness etc but would guess you would be happy with the FD breechlock 50mm f1.8 if you can get it cheap and wouldn't see much difference in results......but someone or photography sites e.g. mflenses might have compared them so worth checking out.
Yep. I’ll probably have to bite the bullet and get one. I’d rather do it now while they are slightly reasonable, in theory they’ll only get more expensive. Just kicking myself I sold my 50mm 1.4. I thought I was done with 35mm then I bought an enlarger, thought I might as well get a cheap-ish camera. I have a chinon cs and a ricoh 500g I can sell. They don’t go for much but if the EF is as nice as they seem to be then I doubt I’ll use them much. I had a Canon F1 that I had to return as the shutter dial was very stiff. I was gutted, that camera was really nice to use and had just started to show some brass.
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Those were the days (about 15 years ago) when I bought a Canon FTB with 28mm, 50mm and 135mm for £10..I knocked the guy down because the camera wind on was so stiff.......eventually broke the camera using it (wind on problem) for not having it serviced.
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The last FD f1.2 I saw was £250.
It's a good lens but that price has to be a bad joke!
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Well getting a lens very cheap with fungus? The important thing is not to buy a lens with fungus on the back element or internally unless you want to strip the lens down and clean it. On the front element a small amount of fungus on the front element is no problem optically. But you can kill fungus by UV light from the sun, once killed a small bit fungus on the front element may put people off, but as said optically doesn't make any difference.
Front lens damage:-
Front lens damage:-
Dirty lens article
Do you really need to clean the front of your camera lens before shooting to ensure maximum detail? The answer is no.
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The last FD f1.2 I saw was £250.
It's a good lens but that price has to be a bad joke!
This is particularly the Aspherical version, rather than the regular SSC 1.2.
The same as the FD 85/1.2 (along with the 24mm 1.4L and a few other FD lenses) in recent years it has found popularity with cinema and video people who have very deep pockets,
A piece of trivia: Eddie Houston used to be the bass player in 70s band, Pilot (best known for It’s Magic)
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This is what I have in 35/50mm.
FD 35mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4.
FD Breach lock 50mm f1.8 SC. This would be my choice as I just love the build of the older lenses.
All look to be in VGC without any obvious issues. All have been used on my mirrorless cameras.
Also have a Miranda 24mm f2.8 "Macro," FD 24, 28mm f2.8, 85mm f1.8.
I might list these next week if anyone is seriously interested. Might also list my Rokkors and some of the Zuikos before I ring a dealer.
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Alan, my son would be interested in the 35mm F2.8 and I'd be interested in the Rokkors - please list them here!
I’d take a look at the 50mm 1.8, I’d like the 1.4 but I have other things I should spend money on at the moment, sadly
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On completed items on ebay still some bargains so just wait for one to turn up:-
Canon Lens FD 50mm 1:1.8 F1.8 S.C Good Clean Lens Working For 35mm Film Cameras | eBay
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">This Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 lens is a fantastic addition to your collection. With its manual focus and Canon FD mount, it's compatible with Canon 35mm film cameras. Made in Japan, this lens is in good condition and has been well-maintained...
www.ebay.co.uk
How didn’t I see that! I was on it yesterday.On completed items on ebay still some bargains so just wait for one to turn up:-
Canon Lens FD 50mm 1:1.8 F1.8 S.C Good Clean Lens Working For 35mm Film Cameras | eBay
<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">This Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 lens is a fantastic addition to your collection. With its manual focus and Canon FD mount, it's compatible with Canon 35mm film cameras. Made in Japan, this lens is in good condition and has been well-maintained...www.ebay.co.uk
I’ve got a few things in my watch list, we’ll see. I’d quite like a 28 and 50 if I get a 50mm. I’d rather a 35mm just for ease
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On the bay Canon FDn 28mm start £10 (postage £5) ends in 4 hours but already one bid so could go higher, some scratches on front lens? But IMO won't effect results but needs checking for smoothness of focussing, fungus etc.. worth a gamble if desparate.
Canon FD 28mm F/2.8 Wide Angle Lens | eBay
Condition of viewfinder. Test at both slowest and fastest shutter speed. Shutter curtains open and close as expected. I will generally respond to you within 24 hours and do my best to help you out! Test Result.
www.ebay.co.uk
I’ll keep an eye on it, see how much it goes up to, taOn the bay Canon FDn 28mm start £10 (postage £5) ends in 4 hours but already one bid so could go higher, some scratches on front lens? But IMO won't effect results but needs checking for smoothness of focussing, fungus etc.. worth a gamble if desparate.
Canon FD 28mm F/2.8 Wide Angle Lens | eBay
Condition of viewfinder. Test at both slowest and fastest shutter speed. Shutter curtains open and close as expected. I will generally respond to you within 24 hours and do my best to help you out! Test Result.www.ebay.co.uk
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looking at that lens again and the 3rd picture down looks like a lot of fungus or very bad scratchesI’ll keep an eye on it, see how much it goes up to, ta
The prices of all things analogue have gone up in the past couple of years possibly because the good bits are tending to dry up and the lack of knowledgeable trained technicians to get them up and running properly again. A lot of the older people are reaching or have reached retirement age and are closing down. Even in Holland A dealer in the Hague who's website I look at occasionally taking into account the exchange rate what they have to offer is more or less on par with what we would be asked to pay for here
It may be me but not only is it fungus that keeps rearing it's ugly head but a few years ago we never heard about haze. It must have always been there but no once made a fuss about it and now it is cropping up everywhere with used optics of all ages and even some cameras.
I have a Nikon 35/70 AFD f2.8 constant and that will produce poor contrast with digital but perfectly normal contrast with film. I just cannot fathom it.
I also have a very old Vivitar 28/90 series 1 lens to fit a Minolta MD mount (late70's- early 80's perhaps) which is as clean as they come when new and apart from the focus being a little stiff it works as good as ever. Why is one designers lens apparently more susceptible than another's? Tamron Adaptall 2 lenses don't seem to be affected at all.
It may be me but not only is it fungus that keeps rearing it's ugly head but a few years ago we never heard about haze. It must have always been there but no once made a fuss about it and now it is cropping up everywhere with used optics of all ages and even some cameras.
I have a Nikon 35/70 AFD f2.8 constant and that will produce poor contrast with digital but perfectly normal contrast with film. I just cannot fathom it.
I also have a very old Vivitar 28/90 series 1 lens to fit a Minolta MD mount (late70's- early 80's perhaps) which is as clean as they come when new and apart from the focus being a little stiff it works as good as ever. Why is one designers lens apparently more susceptible than another's? Tamron Adaptall 2 lenses don't seem to be affected at all.
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There’s a 35mm 3.5 on there for £40. 3.5 isn’t amazing but I dont often take photos in low light.looking at that lens again and the 3rd picture down looks like a lot of fungus or very bad scratches
There is 1 or 2 50mm 1.4’s for £70 on there too…to many choices