2015
Canon FD 50 f1.4 SSC - is it worth the weight?
I could spend hours looking at used lenses. Actually, I do spend hours looking at old lenses in dusty little shops in Tokyo. Their junk sections are usually filled with a lot of, well... junk. However, there are times when, for the price of a meal, or a t-shirt, or a movie ticket, one can find something, not exactly rare or special, but certainly usable.
After bumping elbows for an hour or so with other lens junkies in the tiny space of Fujiya Camera's junk shop, I found this little beauty just hanging out in a bin. Glass and mechanics looked good, so I shelled out a few thousand yen, found some authentic Canon FD lens caps, and took it home. It cost more than I would normally pay for a junk bin find, but it was a lens I wanted to get eventually anyway.
This version of the lens was introduced in 1973. It uses a breech lock mount that came before the New FD mount.
The Canon FD 50/1.4 SSC specs:
Build quality/handling (Excellent/good)
The FD 50 f1.4 SSC is a solid, all-metal lens. The focusing is smooth and the aperture ring clicks between stops very nicely, though perhaps a little too easily, with too little resistance, which could result in the f-stop being changed accidentally. I'm not sure if this is typical of other aging breech-lock FD lenses since this is the only one I've tried so far.
The lens feels a little heavy on the A7s and though not too long, I'd prefer something a little more compact and lighter at this focal length. Certainly, compared to some other fast 50s of this era, the Canon FD is one of the bigger and heavier lenses. In fact, it's only marginally smaller (though quite a bit lighter) than the FL 55 F1.2.
Image Quality (Good, but might have too much 'character' for some)
This lens generally gets favourable reviews on sites like Canon Classics and on other random blogs and forums. According to what most people say, the FD 50 SSC should be quite sharp wide open, contrasty, with good bokeh and colour saturation and perhaps better-performing than the FDn variant. Someone even said that its performance was comparable to a Summicron! Well, to put the high praise to the test, I spent the weekend shooting with the lens in Kamakura and Yokohama. How did it do?
After bumping elbows for an hour or so with other lens junkies in the tiny space of Fujiya Camera's junk shop, I found this little beauty just hanging out in a bin. Glass and mechanics looked good, so I shelled out a few thousand yen, found some authentic Canon FD lens caps, and took it home. It cost more than I would normally pay for a junk bin find, but it was a lens I wanted to get eventually anyway.
This version of the lens was introduced in 1973. It uses a breech lock mount that came before the New FD mount.
The Canon FD 50/1.4 SSC specs:
- 7 elements in 6 groups
- Weight - 305 grams
- Length - 49 mm (74 mm with adapter)
- Filter size - 55 mm
- Min. focus distance - 0.45 m
- Aperture - 8 blades, f1.4 to f16 in half stops
Build quality/handling (Excellent/good)
The FD 50 f1.4 SSC is a solid, all-metal lens. The focusing is smooth and the aperture ring clicks between stops very nicely, though perhaps a little too easily, with too little resistance, which could result in the f-stop being changed accidentally. I'm not sure if this is typical of other aging breech-lock FD lenses since this is the only one I've tried so far.
The lens feels a little heavy on the A7s and though not too long, I'd prefer something a little more compact and lighter at this focal length. Certainly, compared to some other fast 50s of this era, the Canon FD is one of the bigger and heavier lenses. In fact, it's only marginally smaller (though quite a bit lighter) than the FL 55 F1.2.
Image Quality (Good, but might have too much 'character' for some)
This lens generally gets favourable reviews on sites like Canon Classics and on other random blogs and forums. According to what most people say, the FD 50 SSC should be quite sharp wide open, contrasty, with good bokeh and colour saturation and perhaps better-performing than the FDn variant. Someone even said that its performance was comparable to a Summicron! Well, to put the high praise to the test, I spent the weekend shooting with the lens in Kamakura and Yokohama. How did it do?
f1.4/ISO 200
100% edge crop
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100% centre crop
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f1.4/ISO 800
100% crop
centre and bottom left corner at f1.4
centre and bottom left corner at f2
centre and bottom left corner at f2.8
centre and bottom left corner at f4
centre and bottom left corner at f5.6
The centre sharpness looks pretty good at f1.4, and the corners look decent, too (on APS-C at least). There is a slight improvement in centre and edge performance stopping down to F2 (the CA gets better also) and a significant improvement in sharpness and contrast at f2.8. Peak sharpness comes at around f5.6 - f8 with lots of detail resolved by a6000's 24mp sensor.
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As can be seen above, vignetting is significant at f1.4, improving when stopped down but still visible at f2.8. I'm not too bothered by it because I like the look. For those who don't, it should be fairly easy to correct.
Bokeh can be a bit wild and harsh, but smooth results are also possible. Generally, however, the lens struggles with high contrast scenes and in situations with a large separation between subject and background. I actually kind of like the character of the bokeh it produces. Smooth, creamy bokeh is overrated, no? (all shots below were taken at f1.4)
Bokeh can be a bit wild and harsh, but smooth results are also possible. Generally, however, the lens struggles with high contrast scenes and in situations with a large separation between subject and background. I actually kind of like the character of the bokeh it produces. Smooth, creamy bokeh is overrated, no? (all shots below were taken at f1.4)
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The SSC coating does a good job of controlling flare though it doesn't appear to be as good as on some of the FDn lenses I've shot with. The FD 50 1.4 SSC does show some CA wide open, especially in challenging, high-contrast situations. However, under normal circumstances (i.e. not shooting electrical wires into the sun), I've not found it to be a problem.
f1.4/ISO 100
f1.4/ISO 100
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f2.8/ISO 100
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Conclusion
The FD 50mm f1.4 SSC is a good lens - it's sharp, has good contrast, and lots of character courtesy of the messy bokeh and heavy vignetting. However, it's just a little too big and heavy for what it is. I mean, I could just add another hundred or so grams and be shooting with the FL 55 f1.2, which is a more interesting lens. It's also not quite as good as the Canon nFD 50mm f1.4 (reviewed here).
There's an SMC Pentax-M 50 f1.4 coming in the mail (yes!), which is a much smaller and lighter lens even with the added size of the K-mount adapter. If it lives up to its reputation, the FD 50 f1.4 SSC might be looking for a new home.
But let's not end on a sad note. Below are a few more shots taken with the lens over a weekend in Kamakura and Yokohama. There's a video too, and you can find it in the Motion Studies section.
Copies appear to be going for about 50-80 USD on Ebay these days. You can help me create more lens reviews by purchasing through this link. Thanks!
The FD 50mm f1.4 SSC is a good lens - it's sharp, has good contrast, and lots of character courtesy of the messy bokeh and heavy vignetting. However, it's just a little too big and heavy for what it is. I mean, I could just add another hundred or so grams and be shooting with the FL 55 f1.2, which is a more interesting lens. It's also not quite as good as the Canon nFD 50mm f1.4 (reviewed here).
There's an SMC Pentax-M 50 f1.4 coming in the mail (yes!), which is a much smaller and lighter lens even with the added size of the K-mount adapter. If it lives up to its reputation, the FD 50 f1.4 SSC might be looking for a new home.
But let's not end on a sad note. Below are a few more shots taken with the lens over a weekend in Kamakura and Yokohama. There's a video too, and you can find it in the Motion Studies section.
Copies appear to be going for about 50-80 USD on Ebay these days. You can help me create more lens reviews by purchasing through this link. Thanks!
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Sample Images
- Canon FL 55mm f1.2
- Canon nFD 50mm f1.4
- Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.7 Planar T
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- Pentax-M 50mm f1.4 SMC
Sample Images
