| Year | 1981 |
| Lens Groups | 12 |
| Lens Element | 16 |
| Aperature Blades | 8 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/32 |
| Closest Focusing | 1.5 m |
| Max. Magnifcation | 1:9.1 (0.11x) |
| Filter Size | 58 mm |
| Diameter x Length | 71.4 x 125.4 mm |
| Weight | 650 gr (1.43 lb) |
| Hood | BS-58 |
Solidly built lens with excellent image quality--sharp, good color reproduction, good contrast. Fairly fast for a zoom lens from this period and encompasses an excellent range covering 50, 85, 100, 135mm. Works well for portraits allowing the shooter to adjust the focal length rather than move closer or further away from the subject. I have not noticed vignetting but will take the other reviewer's word for it. It is heavy compared to modern lenses but is lighter than the FD version. In my opinion it is equal to the 35-105mm f3.5 in terms of IQ. Those are the best zooms that do not sport an L in their name.
This is a very rare and thus hard to find zoom lens with a quite weird but very useful zoom range from standard to moderate tele lens. With f/3.5 at all focal lengths and an eight bladed diaphragm, the Canon New FD 50-135mm f/3.5 can produce nice bokeh at longer focal lengths, resolution, and contrast are extraordinarily high at all apertures and focal lengths, rivaling fixed focal length lenses throughout the range. On the other hand, chromatic aberrations are visible but easily manageable in a good Raw converter, vignetting is pronounced wide open and distortion only disappears in the middle of the range. Images have a very modern rendering, crisp with high contrast and sharpness. The construction is as sound as the optical performance: heavy but very smooth. Unfortunately, the minimum focal distance is at 1.5 m only and the"macro" setting only reestablishes "normal" conditions (0,6 m) at the 50 mm setting. All in all, the Canon New FD 50-135mm f/3.5 is a real gem, overlooked because of its rarety and the strange focal range. It would be worthy of a Leica or Zeiss label!
Normal imperfections in the images from a lense 30-40 years old , other than that it’s very good , Sharpe , contrastie, nice results , build is great ,nice balance , tested on a Sony A7 .. it’s fine Bought for 80 quid on eBay UK ...