2015
Canon nFD 100 f2 - good enough to be an L?
I wanted this lens when I first started shooting film with an old AE-1, but it was out of my price range. It was also difficult to find. Well, I should have saved and looked harder because I missed out on years of good fun.
The nFD 100mm f2 was produced by Canon from 1980 until the FD mount was replaced by the EF mount in the early 1990s (my copy is from 1989). There's little other information out there about this lens.
The Canon nFD 100/2 specs:
The nFD 100mm f2 was produced by Canon from 1980 until the FD mount was replaced by the EF mount in the early 1990s (my copy is from 1989). There's little other information out there about this lens.
The Canon nFD 100/2 specs:
- 6 elements in 4 groups
- Weight - 445 grams
- Length - 70 mm (95 mm with adapter)
- Filter size - 52 mm
- Min. focus distance - 1 m
- Aperture - 8 blades, f2 to f32 in third-stops
Build Quality/Handling (Very Good/Front-heavy)
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. I really don't like the nFD aperture ring. It's probably the worst-'feeling' aperture ring out of the legacy lenses I've tried from various manufacturers. It just feels like plastic nervously hopping over some other plastic and is much inferior to the metal aperture rings on the older FD/FL lenses from Canon.
Otherwise, this lens has excellent build quality that's mostly metal and glass - lots of it! The ratio of glass to metal is rather impressive as the barrel is very thin; so thin, in fact, that Canon had to write all the info on the side, not on the front as is usually the case. The lens is quite compact for a fast aperture short telephoto and the fact that it takes 52mm filters is very convenient for those who, like myself, own other nFD lenses. However, its weight does make the camera somewhat front-heavy.
My copy has super smooth focusing via the wide rubberized focus ring. The combination of the two make manual focusing very quick, easy, and enjoyable.
Image Quality (Outstanding!)
I'm impressed with the optical performance of this lens. It's sharp and contrasty already at f2.
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. I really don't like the nFD aperture ring. It's probably the worst-'feeling' aperture ring out of the legacy lenses I've tried from various manufacturers. It just feels like plastic nervously hopping over some other plastic and is much inferior to the metal aperture rings on the older FD/FL lenses from Canon.
Otherwise, this lens has excellent build quality that's mostly metal and glass - lots of it! The ratio of glass to metal is rather impressive as the barrel is very thin; so thin, in fact, that Canon had to write all the info on the side, not on the front as is usually the case. The lens is quite compact for a fast aperture short telephoto and the fact that it takes 52mm filters is very convenient for those who, like myself, own other nFD lenses. However, its weight does make the camera somewhat front-heavy.
My copy has super smooth focusing via the wide rubberized focus ring. The combination of the two make manual focusing very quick, easy, and enjoyable.
Image Quality (Outstanding!)
I'm impressed with the optical performance of this lens. It's sharp and contrasty already at f2.
f2/ISO 400 (click for resolution)
100% crop
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100% crop
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f2/ISO 400 (click for full resolution)
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f2/ISO 400 (click for full resolution)
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f5.6 ISO 400 (click for resolution)
100% crop
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100% crop
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And one more on the Sony a6000 at various apertures.
(click for full resolution)
Expand for 100% crops @ f2 - f2.8 - f4 - f5.6
The bokeh produced by the FD100 f2 is smooth, creamy, buttery, soft goodness (swirly bokeh fans look elsewhere). And that's a good thing because at this focal length, on a full-frame sensor and at large apertures there's plenty of out of focus potential. Also, because of the smooth focusing and good contrast wide open, using focus peaking is a breeze and I get plenty of keepers (which is NOT the case with my FL 55 f1.2 wide open).
@f2/ISO 400
@f2/ISO 400
@f2/ISO 800
There is some light fall-off in the corners at f2, but it's not bad and disappears by f4. Distortion is well controlled and I did not find chromatic aberration to be an issue on the A7s other than occasional purple fringing when shooting high contrast areas wide open (easy to correct). However, there's more significant CA wide open on the a6000.
@f2/ISO 100 - Vignetting wide open
Flare control is impressive for an old lens. This one uses Canon's Super Spectra Coating (SSC), which was first used in the 70s and appears to be doing a great job. In fact, you gotta work pretty hard to get this lens to flare up, and when it does, it's pretty minimal.
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Conclusion
The Canon FD 100 f2 is a beautiful lens. Looking at all that glass contained within the thin metal barrel usually puts a smile on my face.
But looks aren't everything and the FD 100 f2 matches its attractive exterior appearance with excellent optical performance. It's sharp, has great bokeh and contrast, handles really well and has impressive flare resistance. Its performance and focal length make it a perfect portrait lens, but it's also good for street photography as it gives a little extra room to work with while providing good subject/background separation due to the fast aperture/focal length combination. It's a nice size, too, and is a decent fit for the Sony A7s. It's optical performance compares favourably to the FD 135mm f2, sacrificing a bit in subject isolation potential, but gaining lots in portability.
I love shooting with this lens and it's on my camera often, even though I'm more of a 24-50mm kinda guy. Decent copies, if you can find one, seem to be going for around $300 to $400, which makes it less than half the price of the Zuiko 100/2 or the Carl Zeiss 100/2 Makro Planar. I'd be curious to see how it compares to those lenses and might run some comparisons in the future if I can get my hands on any of them. Until then, I'll be perfectly happy looking at, or shooting with the FD 100 f2.
Click here to view a short video shot with the lens.
Related reviews
Sample Images
The Canon FD 100 f2 is a beautiful lens. Looking at all that glass contained within the thin metal barrel usually puts a smile on my face.
But looks aren't everything and the FD 100 f2 matches its attractive exterior appearance with excellent optical performance. It's sharp, has great bokeh and contrast, handles really well and has impressive flare resistance. Its performance and focal length make it a perfect portrait lens, but it's also good for street photography as it gives a little extra room to work with while providing good subject/background separation due to the fast aperture/focal length combination. It's a nice size, too, and is a decent fit for the Sony A7s. It's optical performance compares favourably to the FD 135mm f2, sacrificing a bit in subject isolation potential, but gaining lots in portability.
I love shooting with this lens and it's on my camera often, even though I'm more of a 24-50mm kinda guy. Decent copies, if you can find one, seem to be going for around $300 to $400, which makes it less than half the price of the Zuiko 100/2 or the Carl Zeiss 100/2 Makro Planar. I'd be curious to see how it compares to those lenses and might run some comparisons in the future if I can get my hands on any of them. Until then, I'll be perfectly happy looking at, or shooting with the FD 100 f2.
Click here to view a short video shot with the lens.
Related reviews
Sample Images
