Image Quality on Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5

metamence · Joined: 21 Jan 2018 Posts: 1

I recently bought a Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5 to use on my A6000. I've noticed that the contrast and colors aren't that great. I'm not good at describing image quality but it just looks hazy. I've compared the 35-105mm to the 135mm f3.5 and the images taken on the 135mm look miles better. I'm not sure if this is just because I'm using a prime lens or my 35-105mm has some imperfections on the glass.

Lens Comparisons: https://imgur.com/a/lF65n

I much prefer the image from the 135mm. Is the difference in the images supposed to be this drastic?

sergun · Joined: 01 Jun 2017 Posts: 283 Location: наша раша

I think it is normal for an old zoom lens. It's not fair to compare a zoom and a fixed ). My Canon FD 28-85mm F4 at the long end (85mm F4) shows the same thing.

p/s If you like long focal lengths then You need to take a tele zoom lenses.

Lightshow · Joined: 04 Nov 2011 Posts: 3669 Location: Calgary

I wouldn't call the 35-105 a high quality lens, there are much better ones out there, the Contax 35-70/3.4, Rokkor 35-70/3.4 Macro, Leica 35-70/3.4 which is a Rokkor 35-70 in Leica trim, will all perform much better.

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9097 Location: Houston, Texas

Canon's 35-70mm f/2.8-3.5 is probably a better lens also. Given its price, it certainly should have been (it was a very expensive lens when new).

But I've always felt that the FD 35-105 was a very good lens. I still recall seeing slides my mom shot using this lens when she visited China back in the 80s. Some of those slides were really good. Those memories stuck with me, and ended up being why I bought one for my personal outfit. But the reality was that I much preferred the focal range of my Vivitar S1 28-90/2.8-3.5, and that was almost always the lens I reached for.

Last year, I conducted tests on all the wide-angle-to-short-tele lenses I owned. Two of them were the Canon FD 35-105/3.5 and the VIvitar S1 28-90/2.8-3.5. I was somewhat surprised to see that the Canon's images were in some respects better than the images I obtained with my S1 28-90. Below are two sets of images. The first one is the Canon @ 105mm, at apertures of f/2.8, f/8, and f/16. The second is the Vivitar S1 @ 90mm and f/3.5 (2.8 indicated), f/9 or so (f/8 indicated), and f/19 or so (f/16 indicated).

Most folks here are aware of the Vivitar's all-round excellence. I carried one for years and it was my typical go-to lens back when I shot lots of slides. I was always very satisfied with the results I got with that lens. But if you closely examine the two sets of photos below, I think you'll come to the same conclusion I did, and that is that the Canon is just as good, if not better (especially wide open) than the Vivitar S1.

The camera used for these tests was a Sony NEX 7 @ ISO 100. The images are 100% crops. No PP of any kind was done to them other than cropping.