CANON FD 24mm F2.8 S.C.C.
SPECS
Year: 1973
Focal Length: 24mm
Maximum Aperture: 2.8
Minimum Aperture: 16
Aperture Blades: 6
Weight: 330 grams
Filter Size: 55mm
Angle of View: 84 degrees
Minimum Focusing Distance: 0.3 meters
Lens Hood: BW-55B
(specs courtesy of MIT)
I purchased this mint 1973 Canon 24mm FD lens from an eBay seller out of Japan. The lens arrived at my home in Canada in less than 10 days and was exactly as advertised. A great ebay purchase! The S.S.C. stands for Super Spectra Coating, simply a type of treatment applied to the glass elements. Google it if you want to learn more about it. The lens hood was a separate eBay purchase also out of Japan. I first purchased a lens hood from another eBay seller out of Belgium and waited almost 2 months but I never received it. That seller was very kind and did a reimbursement. In the end it worked out well for me because this purchase out of Japan was almost 50% the cost of the first failed transaction.
On my Fujifilm XT2, this prime 24mm focal length gives me what I don’t currently have in my Fujifilm glass collection … a prime lens with an effective focal length of approximately 35mm. When I work weddings, my Fujifilm 16mm/1.4 and 35mm/1.4 (24mm and 50mm effective focal lengths) are the prime lenses I use consistently and they are stunning performers. But for my own casual use, I wanted the popular 35mm length and what better way to do it then spend 1/4 the money of a new lens on a great manual focus classic. With the focus peeking features of the XT2 via the EVF, manual focus lenses are fun to use! It reminds me of driving a standard automobile after having driven an automatic for many years. I feel more engaged in the processes and it simply is more fun.
This page isn’t about pixel peeping or looking for distortion, vignetting, soft edges, etc. There are other sites for a detailed analysis. This page is about me sharing my experience with a fun, great looking classic piece of glass that is an affordable option for the Fujifilm cameras.
When I first received this lens I attached it to my XT2 via the Fotasy FD-FX adapter I purchased off of Amazon. A well built, low cost adapter. Using my tripod I immediately did a brick wall sharpness/vignetting test to simply get a feel of how this lens performs. I didn’t see any noticeable distortion or vignetting at any aperture (a nice surprise) but found that the lens was too soft for my comfort level at f2.8. But fortunately when I stopped down to f4, the lens became quite sharp and I was pleased. At f5.6 the lens was only slightly sharper, so I concluded that I’ll use the lens at a max aperture of f4 and only push f2.8 if I really have to.
The aperture ring on this lens is quite solid. It moves in 1/2 stop increments and has a nice firm feel. When I set the aperture I’m not worried about the aperture changing when it rubs against my body while walking around. This seems like a pretty minor detail, but the aperture ring on my Fujifilm 10-24/f4 lens is an epic fail in comparison, so this is a welcome characteristic.
I personally find the focus ring on this particular lens a little stiff, but it isn’t a problem. I believe this is more a characteristic of the FD lenses as my other Canon FD lenses have a similar focus ring feel.
I’d like to share another site where a photographer wrote a great, detailed summary of this lens. He is more thorough with the details and also offers his experience with this classic lens. LINK
Below is a collection of images taken with the Canon FD 24mm f2.8 S.S.C. lens mounted on the Fujifilm XT1 or XT2 or the X-Pro1. When shooting with vintage lenses I try to keep most of the images unedited and straight out of camera. When edited, I try to keep it to just cropping and straightening. I usually shoot on Acros+R on the XT2 and B&W+R on the XT1 and X-Pro1. In addition I usually have the highlights and shadows at +1. If shooting in colour, I use the default settings of Velvia.
