Canon FD 100-300mm f5.6L on the E-M10. Test for Paul

Other people might be interested as well, who know's.

The Canon FD 100-300 F/5.6L. Fluorite element and no CA from this lens.

Paul asked me the other day about this lens in another thread. Very lightweight zoom compared to what's normally used here and never really used on bird's much. Since he asked and said I would give it a shot or two, so here goes.


Full frame from the E-M10 and resized for here


Cropped and tweaked from above shot.


Once again a full image resized for here


Cropped and tweaked


Above shot cropped even more and its not something you would normally do. Getting a bit heavy that crop ;-)


Another shot for the sake of it. Cropped and tweaked


Sitting on a path to one of the lakes I shoot at. Cropped and tweaked.

So its not a bad lens Paul. All taken at the 300mm end and you've seen the macro shots from it anyway at the other end.



The only issue I have with it is the weight. It really needs a bit more weight added to make it more stable hand held (my opinion only). Its the only zoom lens I've kept over the years. Your FD 300 F/4L is another fine lens, I recommend that a lot to MF users.

All the best.

Danny.

--
Flickr albums ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/

nice shots and shows how good "other" lenses can be

Typo in the heading. Where's my darn reading glasses

Danny, those are awfully fine images from a lens currently available used for USD 14.99 on ebay*. If you keep posting images like that the sales of new lenses are going to drop fast.

/Bill

*with an international shipping charge of USD 50.15.

WGHalvorsen said:

Danny, those are awfully fine images from a lens currently available used for USD 14.99 on ebay*. If you keep posting images like that the sales of new lenses are going to drop fast.

/Bill

*with an international shipping charge of USD 50.15.

Click to expand...

Careful Bill. That's a little too cheap even on ebay. Its the Canon 100-300 F/5.6L .... note the "L" ;-)

All the best Bill.

Danny.

Oh, you're right, I didn't notice that. Going back to ebay I see that the FD 100-300mm F/5.6 L can be had for a bit over USD 100. Still pretty cheap for a lens that appears to be very good. Unfortunately, I have not yet come across one that comes with a Danny attached, which is probably what I need to get great MF images, but I will keep looking.

/Bill

not too shabby Danny, some shots a little better than others. Was the lens wide open for these ?

Peter

I searched the forum for FD Canon lens I couldn't find the answer I was looking for but noticed your post and wondered if you might know.

I have a Panasonic GX7 and I got an adaptor and have tested out an old Canon FD 50mm f1.7 and a Canon 28mm f2.8. I was wondering what the best aperture is to use to shoot landscapes type photos?

Previously I had a Canon DSLR and shot at Aperture of 8 for landscapes to make sure was sharp then when I got the Pan GX7 with kit lens 14-42mm and realised I had to shoot at between f5-f6 to get equivalent of f8. Now I put on a full frame lens does this mean I need to shoot at lower than this? say f4???

is all very confusing. I realise zoom and length of lens changes, but was not 100% sure if aperture does too?

Nice images and a very interesting topic.

On the image below it seems to me like some highlights on the background rocks are rendering as donuts. What's your view on that?

Would you mind posting a link to the macro images you've shown elsewhere?

nzmacro said:

The Canon FD 100-300 F/5.6L.


Cropped and tweaked from above shot

Click to expand...

nzmacro said:

All taken at the 300mm end

Click to expand...

--
Mark

Mark9473 said:

Nice images and a very interesting topic.

On the image below it seems to me like some highlights on the background rocks are rendering as donuts. What's your view on that?

Would you mind posting a link to the macro images you've shown elsewhere?

nzmacro said:

The Canon FD 100-300 F/5.6L.


Cropped and tweaked from above shot

All taken at the 300mm end

Click to expand...

--
Mark

Click to expand...

The lens is used wide open at F/5.6 Mark. It might help if stopped down to F/8, but not sure. Noticed a few times the backgrounds get that look with m4/3, don't really get it with the APS-C, so I'm starting to think it could well be the size of the sensor and the pixels on m4/3.

Seen a few complaints about the backgrounds even with the new Oly 300 F/4 and Panasonic 100-400 with that. Could also be a light thing with the glistening of the highlights. The front rocks out of focus on that shot before the crop is even worse. I still get it sometimes with the 500 F/4.5L, but not often.

That zoom used on the Sony NEX-7 at F/32 with a Raynox DCR-250 added to it

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/58901105

Thousands of macro shots with that setup and never cropped for macro. The Damsels is without the Raynox and just the 300mm end from a distance.

All the best Mark.

Danny.

--
Flickr albums ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/

Ian124 said:

I searched the forum for FD Canon lens I couldn't find the answer I was looking for but noticed your post and wondered if you might know.

I have a Panasonic GX7 and I got an adaptor and have tested out an old Canon FD 50mm f1.7 and a Canon 28mm f2.8. I was wondering what the best aperture is to use to shoot landscapes type photos?

Previously I had a Canon DSLR and shot at Aperture of 8 for landscapes to make sure was sharp then when I got the Pan GX7 with kit lens 14-42mm and realised I had to shoot at between f5-f6 to get equivalent of f8. Now I put on a full frame lens does this mean I need to shoot at lower than this? say f4???

is all very confusing. I realise zoom and length of lens changes, but was not 100% sure if aperture does too?

Click to expand...

Landscapes are way out of my league ;-) I would guess at say F/5.6 as well. This zoom is a constant F/5.6, so hopefully it doesn't change.

Ask in the adapted lens talk forum here at DPR, someone will know for sure. Very popular lens that one on mirrorless.


All the best.

Danny.

Messier Object said:

not too shabby Danny, some shots a little better than others. Was the lens wide open for these ?

Peter

Click to expand...

Wide open at F/5.6 Pete. Probably better at F/8, but that's not how I would want to use it.

All the best Peter, some have gone in the bin and some are keepers. Normal here

Danny.

You mentioned in a previous post that the FD lens has a fluorite element, but I believe the EF version of the 100-300mm L has the same. Do you have any experience of the EF version? Is it in the same league for sharpness.

Tried to remove this post but not allowed. I have just seen on your Dabchick post that you don't have any AF lenses, and the Canon EF 100-300mm L is an autofocus lens.

Ken C

Ken Croft said:

You mentioned in a previous post that the FD lens has a fluorite element, but I believe the EF version of the 100-300mm L has the same. Do you have any experience of the EF version? Is it in the same league for sharpness.

Tried to remove this post but not allowed. I have just seen on your Dabchick post that you don't have any AF lenses, and the Canon EF 100-300mm L is an autofocus lens.

Ken C

Click to expand...

Looking at my favourite site for Canon lenses ...

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/EF-lenses/EF100300mmf56L/index.htm

There seems to be 3 different version's and a quick read seems to indicate that the version with the red ring is the same design as the FD version used here Ken. So more than likely fine with that Ken.

Just off shooting at will go back to that when I get home. The Dabchicks are waiting ;-)

All the best ken.

Danny.

EDIT: Actually just hold off on that one Ken. Another few things come to mind with that lens. I'll get back to you after shooting.

--
Worry about the image that comes out of the box rather than the box itself
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Birds and BIF's ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/

Thanks; really great macro shots!

I can't see any thing I do not like in those images.

That lens has been on my mind for some time and I did some digging a while back. I noted the price was not very cheap for "an old zoom" so I figured there must be a good reason for the high price.

You have shown me the reason.

Thanks again and take care.

Paul

nzmacro said:

Ken Croft said:

You mentioned in a previous post that the FD lens has a fluorite element, but I believe the EF version of the 100-300mm L has the same. Do you have any experience of the EF version? Is it in the same league for sharpness.

Tried to remove this post but not allowed. I have just seen on your Dabchick post that you don't have any AF lenses, and the Canon EF 100-300mm L is an autofocus lens.

Ken C

Click to expand...

Looking at my favourite site for Canon lenses ...

http://mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/EF-lenses/EF100300mmf56L/index.htm

There seems to be 3 different version's and a quick read seems to indicate that the version with the red ring is the same design as the FD version used here Ken. So more than likely fine with that Ken.

Just off shooting at will go back to that when I get home. The Dabchicks are waiting ;-)

All the best ken.

Danny.

EDIT: Actually just hold off on that one Ken. Another few things come to mind with that lens. I'll get back to you after shooting.

--
Worry about the image that comes out of the box rather than the box itself
-----------
Birds and BIF's ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/

Click to expand...

Yeah what was running through my tiny little mind before I headed out, was the manual focus of that EF lens. It does have a M switch setting, but I would be wary of how that works and feels Ken. After a good read it seems to be the same optical construction as the FD version, so no issues there. Just that manual focus feel might be a worry. Its an early version of AF, so it might be fly by wire MF and wouldn't have a clue about the focus throw of that lens.

All the best Ken, for MF I would actually go with the FD version. It is made for MF with an excellent smooth feel and a decent focus throw.

Danny.

--
Worry about the image that comes out of the box rather than the box itself
-----------
Birds and BIF's ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/124733969@N06/sets/
The need for speed ..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/130646821@N03/