CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Is a 40 year old manual lens any good for wildlife photography? You can be the judge when the lens is mounted to a Sony 24MP full-frame sensor, captured in RAW, and processed in Adobe Lightroom v6.

Canadian goose by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Canon's FD mount was introduced in March 1971, alongside the Canon F-1 camera. The FD mount was the interchangeable lens mounting system for Canon's SLR cameras until 1987, when Canon completely changed to the EOS series of cameras and lenses. During the 21-year production, Canon made 134 different lenses for the FD mount, ranging from 7.5mm to 1200mm focal lengths.

Wood duck


Canon's high-performance L-series FD lenses were the ultimate achievement of Canon's expertise in optical engineering. The first Canon L lens ever was the Canon FD 300mm f/4L, introduced in December 1978. In May 1979 the Canon FD 500mm f/4.5L became the second FD L. The version used for these images is the "new" FD 500mm f/4.5L, updated for the locking mechanism in December 1981. The final generation of FD lenses all had Super Spectra Coatings. In the lens construction, the "new FD" lenses had more plastic to reduce weight.

Pond turtles


The growing popularity of color film photography in the 1950s set for the need for excellent color balance. At every lens surface within every lens design, either going from air to glass or glass to air, the surface reflects a certain percentage of the light (color) that otherwise should pass through the surface. When designing an optical lens, a coating consisting of several layers is necessary to reduce the reflection strength of the surface. Canon's Super Spectra Coating (SSC) was the Canon version of the multicoating layering all manufacturers use to improve their lens designs.

Gosling


The 500mm focal length is a challenge to use. Its 5° angle-of-view encloses the subject tightly within the 35mm frame. With most images taken closer than infinity, only the area in focus is very sharp. Sharpness in front of and behind the main point of focus falls off quickly.

Gosling


The FD 500mm f/4.5L is a high performance super telephoto lens utilizing artificial crystal fluorite and UD glass lens elements in the optical system (UD - Ultra-Low Dispersion) . Despite the large aperture, the lens has sharp image quality throughout the entire frame even when the aperture is at its maximum. The lens features a rear focusing system that does not change the overall length of the lens, and a vari-pitch focusing system that makes focusing easier at long distances.

Canadian goose


The grayish white coating of the longer L series lenses, according to Canon, will minimize the chances of heat accumulation that affects the optical behavior of the artificial fluorite and the UD optics, offering a more consistent performance in extreme weather.

Wood duck


Canon continued to manufacture FD lenses until the early 1990s, unlike the company's current transition to mirrorless EOS technology. Already, 31 EF / EF-S lenses are officially discontinued and no new DSLR models have been scheduled for release. Shown below is the Canon FD 500mm f/4.5L mounted to a Sony mirrorless a7II with a Metabones adapter. An adapter is needed to place the legacy lens to the proper 'flange distance' from the digital sensor as existed for the lens when mounted to the original film camera body.

Canon FD 500mm f/4.5L


Details on the exposure and lenses are provided in the EXIF data from Flickr, just use the image titles as URL links to Flickr.

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Lovely series, Paul. This time of year, the little family pictures are impossible to resist. Cute babies and handsome adults.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Fun series Paul and as always learn something new.

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

Looks good, Not quite as easy to use as your Sony GM 135mm and definitely not as pricy as the Sony G 200-600mm

Quixdraw Loc: x

Very nice set. No surprise though, about the old lenses. We were looking at superb photos made with them a long time before digital. I use both modern and old lenses at an event I shoot every year. Quite often prefer the results gotten with a couple of the old ones.

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Great series, Paul.

ELNikkor

Takes a sharp eye to focus it that well; great photos and explanation!

jdub82 Loc: Northern California

Fantastic series!

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

Paul, The quality of the images you captured with the The FD 500mm f/4.5L are superb. Your technique and lens quality combined makes for great images.Stan

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Carol, junglejim1949, ORpilot, QD, Earnest, ELNikkor, jdub82, Stan! Looking at last year's results from the same North Pond, I decided to add some overall length rather than extended length. This FD 500 was for sale from Canada at a better price than locally on ebay. It came 4 days later in perfect condition. A bit more practice is going to be needed, probably changing to the gimbal on the tripod as the weight on the ball head wasn't a very smooth turn.

photophile Loc: Lakewood, Ohio, USA

I enjoyed them!

steve L Loc: Waterville Valley, New Hampshire

Thanks Paul !!
steve

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Once again, you proved that it is what is behind the camera, not how much the equipment cost, Paul.

joehel2 Loc: Cherry Hill, NJ

Wow, fabulous set, Paul. Especially love all the gosling images.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Karin, Steve, Mike, Joe! I was thinking it might be too early for the duck chicks and goslings. It kind of was because I so many more later in May into June last Spring.