# Canon glass.(knowledgable canon LENS users)



## alejandrophoto (May 17, 2012)

I know the L series canon lens have the highest quality.

At the same time a prime lens 9/10 times looks nicer then a variable(zoom) lens.

Would the FD mount canon Lens including primes stand a chance against. An L series prime......

I'm speaking in reference to quality of img not build. For I know that L series is most durable.

Also please don't tell me depends on photographer. I know that also. I WANT FACTS.


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## Overread (May 18, 2012)

You'll have to sight specific lenses to compare - giving a broad overall judgement on the whole range is almost impossible to do due to the variations present. 

One downside is that the FD won't mount to the canon EOS system of camera bodies without an adaptor and this adaptor needs to have a glass element in order to allow the lens to focus normally. The problem here is that Canon only made a limited range of these adaptors and most of them are very hard to find and won't sell for cheap - the rest of the market is mostly made up with 3rd party options and a larger number of them are fairly cheap end products. There just isn't the same demand in the market now for a high end high price adaptor. 

Personally I think it would be best to aim for the quality glass from the EOS line as much as you can, if you want to go 3rd party try to stick to the brands which allow a mount to the canon camera without need of a glass adaptor - although many of these will end up without auto focusing and some might be more tricky to control aperture wise as well. 


I think you'll need to give an idea of the general type of lenses that you're intended to aim for and a rough idea of the budget you're working with/hoping to work with. Some of the FD can be worth it if you can get hold of them; but from what I've seen, this generally applies to the long upper end telephotos which command very high prices in the modern market; and is somewhat less of a case for the shorter focal length primes and zooms.


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## ambaker (May 20, 2012)

As you've already heard, to use FD lenses on EOS bodies requires an adapter with an optical insert to reach infinite focus.

Some adapters have a removable element so that you can shoot short range without the additional lens.  Having a number of FD lenses from my old Canon, I bought an EOS not knowing that it would require an optical correction as well.  

There certainly some very good FD lenses.  However, the L series is Canon's current best. They did not forget anything they knew when they were making FD lenses.  It has been over 20 years of progress, computer aided designs, and more precise measuring.  An L prime, is about as good as it gets.  There might be some FD primes that would show a thing or two, to an L zoom.  But then that is apples and oranges.  Prime to prime, zoom to zoom, the new stuff is better.


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