I have just purchased a FD 35/2.0 lense (breech mount) and it has a yellow tint when looking in the viewfinder. Also shows up on slides. A Canon tech told me this is normal for this lense, surely not! Is there such a thing as a warm lense?

Thanks, Vince

-- vincent (vincent1967@hotmail.com), February 08, 1999

Answers

Its also got SSC written on it.

-- Vince (vincent1967@hotmail.com), February 08, 1999.

In fact there was an early version of the 35/2 SSC that is said to have exactly the color rendition you describe. I haven't checked this yet, but the same sources say this is caused by some special kind of glass that's used in this lens. However, all this refers to the first FD-version of the 35/2. This version has a concave front lens and can be stopped down to f/16. The newer version of the 35/2 SSC features a usual convex front element and does down to f/22. That's the lens that I use - without any color shifts, of course.

If you own the later version something's definitely wrong. Maybe the lens was owned by a smoker before ?-)

Dieter

-- Dieter Lefeling (lefeling@icsmedia.de), February 14, 1999.

That's probably among the factors leading to speculation that certain lenses are optimized for B&W, since yellow is one filter color used to increase contrast in B&W photography. Years ago when most photojournalists used B&W film a fast 35mm lens was considered a good substitute for the 50-55mm "normal" lens for available light shots in conference rooms, etc. Just a thought.

-- Lex Jenkins (lexjenkins@hotmail.com), March 11, 1999.

Vince, The yellow cast in this early 35 f2.0 SSC with concave from element is from thorium in one or more of its elements. Thorium is used to obtain a specific refractive index in optical glass. I own one, and corrected the color balance using a Tiffen 82B filter. Thorium is no longer used because it is a (slightly) radioactive element. This is not so much of a problem being sealed in glass, but for manufacturing working with raw thorium dust. I was surprised to see coloration in a SSC lens. Maybe it was meant for B+W photography as mentioned earlier. I shoot a lot of slides with it (with 82B) and love the results. Mine also has B+H (for Bell and Howell) markings. The later 35 f2.0 lenses with "normal" convex front elements do not have any color problems. Karl

-- Karl Wessendorf (karl.wessendorf@usa.xerox.com), May 10, 1999.