My father recently gave me his pride and joy, a FTB with 50mm 1.4. I'm new to this camera and would appreciate the advices and experiences from the list members. The questions are as follows: 1- The lens has a couple small clusters in the internal surfaces of the lens. I'm assuming this might be fungus. The cost to clean is astronomical around here. Is there a service/repair manual site and is this a do it yourself project? Or might someone who could do this at a reasonable price? I can pick up a used replacement for less but it would mean something to me if I can keep his equipment together. 2- How does the variable 30-105mm f3.5/4.5 compare to the 50mm 1.4 that I have. I take it my lens is the original release since it doesn't have SC or SSC on the lens. Might someone have a constant f3.5 30-105mm for a steal...wishful thinking. 3- Can aftermarket lens be used reliably with the ftb's FD style metering? If so are there recommendations. I will likely do more zooming in on wildlife than close-up flower shots.

Thanx in advance to those who can lead a newbie and I apologize for rambling.

Thanx, -H. Yeh

-- H YEH (HYEH@JHMI.EDU), January 17, 2002

Answers

Hello H. Yeh,

Dust and specks in the lens don't always harm the final image quality. Take some test shots and see if they affect the images. If it is fungus, you well know that it may spread and 'eat' at the coatings or finely etch the lens element surfaces.

Before you take the plunge to clean the lens, consider replacing the lens for comparable cost. The 50/1.4 SSC is available for $50-75. Cameta Camera ( www.cameta.com ) had one or two in stock for about the same cost it would take to ship/clean the same lens.

I have used Camera Clinic's services for lens cleaning and repair. I was pleasantly served with prompt communication, timely service, and a job well done.

I have two of the 50/1.4 lenses, one is the SSC version and the other is the newer FD (aka FDn) version. The SSC has a 55mm filter mount, the FDn version has a 52mm filter mount.

The older design Canon lenses use what is referred to as the "breech- lock" design, and are mounted straight on the camera body and locked in by turning the mount ring--but the lens doesn't turn during mounting. The newer FD lenses use what is called the "bayonet" style- -the whole lens body turns as you lock it in the mount.

Some 3rd party mfrs (Vivitar, Tamron, etc.) still make lenses in the breech-lock design. Some prefer it over the FDn, but as long as the lens fits tightly against the body, you'll be fine.

Anyway, here's Camera Clinic's contact info: Camera Clinic 295 Gentry Way #9 Reno, NV 89502 E-mail: Steven40@aol.com

I can't comment on the 35-105mm comparison, but you will probably find the 105mm end of the zoom a bit short for wildlife, unless you can sneak up very close. And, unfortunately, the quality long lenses carry a hefty price tag. However, there are compromises. I have a cheaper 400mm/5.6 lens that does fine wide open for my purposes of pleasure shooting, but I use a tripod to minimize blurring since it is a bit slow for hand-held shots. If 200mm suits your purposes, the Canon FDn 200/4 is a great performer for the lower price. At any rate, due research ususally turns up opinions on just about any lens.

Take care,

-- Joshua Martin (josh_mar10@yahoo.com), January 17, 2002.

Congratulations!

If you want to better appreciate what you've got, be sure to visit "My Trusty Old Canon FTb" at http://www.gj.net/~redrock/camera.htm .

As Josh alluded, it's a 35-105. Canon didn't make a 30-105 lens to fit the FTb.

Canon lists their FD bodies and lenses at their "Camera Museum" website at http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/ .

The usual advice for lens fungus cleaning is an ammonia and hydrogen peroxide mix applied to lens tissues (never doused directly onto the lens) and then exposure to good doses of UV light from daylight. If the elements are etched, they can't be repaired but you can stop further degradation. See http://www.chem.helsinki.fi/~toomas/photo/fungus/ .

Repair manuals are available on eBay but DO NOT buy one until your certain its not available for free on one of several websites. Try

http://www.canonfd.com/choose.htm

http://www.canonfd.com/acroman.htm

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/repairmanuals.html ,and

http://www.kyphoto.com/classics/articles.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonFD/files/instructions.htm

http://people.smu.edu/rmonagha/mf/manuals.html (that one is part of an immense website; happy reading!)

If you're still hunting for a repair shop, see http://www.acecam.com/srindex.html

Also see http://www.edromney.com/links.html .

About third party lenses, see http://people.smu.edu/rmonagha/third/index.html .

The New FD 35-105/3.5 is a highly regarded lens. Good luck finding one for a steal.

-- Robert Segal (robertsegal@juno.com), January 17, 2002.

Josh/Robert, Thanks for the advice and links. I like to buy a zoom or fixed focus telephoto lens. Any recommendations? I'm looking for around 200mm ie canon fd 80-200mm f4. Again, thanx for the help.

-H. Yeh

-- H. Yeh (hyeh@jhmi.edu), January 18, 2002.

H. Yeh,

The Vivitar Series I 70-210mm f3.5 lens is widely regarded as an excellent lens for a minimal outlay--a deal similar to the 50/1.4 SSC. They are available from time to time on eBay or online camera stores. I got mine for $60. If you're willing to wait for a good deal, I wouldn't pay more than $75. Also, note that there are at least two versions of the 70-210mm "Series I" lens--the legendary one has a fixed max aperture, and the lesser-regarded one has variable aperture.

Re: 35-105mm, one member of Javier Henderson's Canon FD mailing list recently got one for about $180 from KEH.

Link to Javier's FD mail list: http://www.kjsl.com/canon-fd/fd-mailing-list.html

There's also a yahoogroups FD e-mail list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanonFD/

Take care,

-- Joshua Martin (josh_mar10@yahoo.com), January 18, 2002.

Hi H. Yeh,

Your 50mm f/1.4 is an excellent lens indeed.

The 35-105 f/3.5-4.5 superceded the f/3.5 version. Main reason was the desire to have a more compact lens. Unfortunately this had several effects: a variable aperture, what feels like a less robust construction, and what is generally regarded as inferior optical performance. The 35-105mm f/3.5 is said to have quite outstanding performance though does have a large front element (72mm compared with 58mm) and is two-touch (separate zoom and focusing rings).

As far as zoom lenses go, the 80-200mm f/4.0 had excellent performance, and can be picked up far cheaper than the 80-200mm f/4.0L which superceded it. The 70-210mm f/4.0 can often be picked up amazingly cheaply if you look hard, though I've heard very good and also very bad things said about it's performance (maybe there are good and bad ones around?!).

For close-up work, the 70-210 has a "macro" setting which gets you in quite close. The 80-200mm lens focuses to 1m, and was so good at that distance that a special Canon filter was brought out specifically for that lens (at least I think it was for that lens). I think it was the 500T close-up filter, though they are pretty rare.

Good luck!

-- Joel Price (joelyp@hotmail.com), February 04, 2002.