Canon New FD 300mm f/4
8.5
9.5
8.8

Canon New FD 300mm f/4

Year 1979
Lens Groups 6
Lens Element 6
Aperature Blades 9
Minimum Aperture f/32
Closest Focusing 3. m
Max. Magnifcation 1:9.1 (0.11x)
Filter Size 34 mm
Diameter x Length 85 x 204 mm
Weight 945 gr (2.08 lb)
Hood -
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2018-04-11

Guest

IQ
8.5
Build
9.5
8.8
image quality (resolution, contrast, vignetting and distorsion), construction
chromatic aberration, purple fringing

Another sleeper in Canon land ! Even though this lens and the "Luxury" version with UD glass showed similar MTF performance in an 80's Modern Tests comparison, the standard version shares the lack of popularity with other 300 mm lenses without low dispersion special glass. Nethertheless, you shouldn't discount the Canon New FD 300mm f/4 since most chromatic aberrations can be easily corrected (and sometimes even automatically) in modern Raw converters - aside from the aformentioned color flare, my lens offers a solid performance on a 24 megapixel full frame Sony A7, with very good sharpness at all apertures, miles ahead of its Minolta equivalent and similar to its slower sibling (300 mm f/5,6 FDn). Construction quality is top notch, with smooth and precise internal focusing. While the integrated lens shade is quite short, it can be blocked to prevent it from sliding down the lens barrel. The tripod ring (don't buy the lens without...) is very well made and the lens accepts custom 34 mm drop-in filters. On the other hand, there's no front filter thread, even though the front ring is threaded. The MFD of 3 meters is nothing special by modern standards but you can add an extension tube like the FD 50 in order to get closer to your subject. Furthermore, in adding an extender FD 2x-A or FD 1,4x-A , you will get a focal length of 420 or 600 mm - IQ will be lower and chromatic aberrations more pronounced but the result will be still quite acceptable, even with the doubler.